Hecate, the Lady of the Night, is a goddess of the moon, magic, abundance and the undead from the Olympian pantheon (also known as the Olympians or the Greek pantheon).[5][1][2][3][4] Hecate is the daughter of the titans Crius and Eurybia[2] (or possibly Asterie and Perses).[6] Hecate has few allies among the Olympians (beyond Persephone, the queen of the Underworld) and they prefer not to associate with her more than they need to, although they will approach her for advice from time to time.[2]
Overview[]
Hecate is the goddess of the moon, magic, and plenty, and due to her friendship with Persephone, queen of the Underworld, she can command the undead. Hecate is the defender of children and the provider of abundance in food, riches, and other desirable things. She also wanders the night with a pack of hellhounds, which she sets on those foolish enough to travel at night. Those who cast spells draw upon her power, as she is the source of all non-clerical magic.
Hecate is an independent and capricious goddess. She often aids or hinders mortals for no reason other than having nothing better to do. Any being doing injury to a child has a chance of drawing her notice, in which case she will exact an appropriate vengeance. At night, she sometimes appears to lonely shepherds, and has been known to protect their flocks on more than one occasion.[3]
Description[]
Hecate often appears as a beautiful woman with lustrous dark hair, and is always accompanied by at least one hellhound. In her true form, Hecate has three female heads and the body of a ravishing woman.[1][3]
Holy symbol[]
Hecate's symbol is a setting moon.[5][1][2][3][4]
Favored weapon[]
Hecate wields a dagger[1] that causes any being it strikes to fall into a trance, allowing the goddess to control them as if they were undead.[3]
Possessions[]
- Hecate possesses a dagger that causes any being struck by it to fall into a trance, so that they may be controlled by the goddess as undead.[3]
- Hecate possesses two spheres of annihilation which accompany her at all times, and move to attack any enemies as directed. However, they move independently of her once she has commanded them to attack and cannot be controlled by mortals.[4]
- Hecate commands a pack of nine hellhounds who are sent to hunt those who oppose her.[4]
- Hecate is believed to possess the Eye of Gruumsh which was originally put out by the elven deity Corellon Larethian.[2]
Realm[]
Great Wheel cosmology[]
In the Great Wheel cosmology, Hecate maintains two independent realms, both known as Aeaea.[2] The first is located on Pluton, the third gloom of the Gray Waste of Hades.[7][8][9] The second is located on Minauros, the third of the Nine Hells of Baator.[7][8][10] Aeaea is a chilly, desolate realm enveloped in a thick shroud of fog that renders the land practically invisible., and even causes those with an infallible sense of direction to quickly become lost. The realm is littered with thousands of strange sculptural devices, blinking with eerie, infernal light, clanking and howling as they move to fulfill some obscure purpose. Hecate's priests claim that these devices generate the magical energy used throughout the multiverse, and that if they were somehow shut down , all spells and magical items would cease to operate. While the veracity of this claim is unverified, what is known is that souls are fed into these machines, which convert them into divine and sorcerous energy. The devices are capable of consuming other entities, including extraplanar beings and mortals, and when the available stocks of souls run short, the least of Hecate's servants are often fed into the machines.[11]
Olympian cosmology[]
In the Olympian cosmology, Hecate resides within the outer planar realm of Olympus,[1] a great mountain which stands at the center of the world. This mighty peak rises so high above the world, that its heights form a distinct planar realm. It serves as home to the majority of the Olympian deities, not including Hades, and each deity maintains their own personal domain within this realm.[12]
Worship[]
Hecate is typically worshipped by those who use arcane magic, including wizards, illusionists, sorcerers, bards etc. She has few priests and most of them are multi-classed as wizards or sorcerers. They usually work in solitude, performing magical research, making magic items and hunting for legendary treasures. Her priests are expected to sacrifice honey and black ewes to her on nights of the full moon. Failure results in a total loss of magical powers until the proper sacrifice is made on the next night of a full moon.[1][3]
Omens from Hecate generally come in the form of some magical communication, and are accompanied by the eerie sound of baying dogs.[3]
In Spelljammer[]
The inhabitants of Greatspace revere the gods and goddesses of the Greek pantheon, especially Zeus, meaning that Hecate could be considered a native deity. However, the darker gods are not openly worshipped, including Ares, Circe, Hecate, Oceanus, and Hades.[13]
Appendix[]
External Links[]
- Hecate article at the Forgotten Realms Wiki, a wiki for the Forgotten Realms campaign setting.
References[]
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 Rich Redman, Skip Williams, James Wyatt, Deities and Demigods 3rd edition, 2002, (Wizards of the Coast), ISBN 0-7869-2654-6, The Olympian Pantheon, pages 117-119
- ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 Colin McComb, On Hallowed Ground, 1996, (TSR Inc.), ISBN 0-7869-0430-5, The Greek Pantheon chapter, pages 123 and 125
- ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 James M Ward, Troy Denning, Legends and Lore, 1990, TSR 2108, ISBN 0-88038-844-7, Greek Mythology chapter, page 117
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 James Ward, Robert J. Kuntz, Deities & Demigods, 1980, TSR 2013, ISBN 0-935696-22-9, Greek Mythos, page 69
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 Mike Mearls, Jeremy Crawford, Player's Handbook 5th edition, 2014, (Wizards of the Coast), ISBN 978-0-7869-6560-1, Greek Deities, page 298
- ↑ Rich Redman, Skip Williams, James Wyatt, Deities and Demigods 3rd edition, 2002, (Wizards of the Coast), ISBN 0-7869-2654-6, The Olympian Pantheon, page 99
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Colin McComb, On Hallowed Ground, 1996, (TSR Inc.), ISBN 0-7869-0430-5, Appendix 1: The Powers by Pantheon, page 174
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Mike Mearls, Jeremy Crawford, Player's Handbook 5th edition, 2014, (Wizards of the Coast), ISBN 978-0-7869-6560-1, The Outer Planes table, Appendix C: The Planes of Existence, page 302
- ↑ Jeff Grubb, Bruce R. Cordell, David Noonan, Manual of the Planes 3rd edition, 2001, (Wizards of the Coast), ISBN 0-7869-1850-0, Chapter 7: The Outer Planes, Gray Waste of Hades section, pages 108-111
- ↑ Jeff Grubb, Bruce R. Cordell, David Noonan, Manual of the Planes 3rd edition, 2001, (Wizards of the Coast), ISBN 0-7869-1850-0, Chapter 7: The Outer Planes, Nine Hells of Baator section, pages 115-123
- ↑ Robin D. Laws, Robert J. Schwalb, Fiendish Codex II: Tyrants of the Nine Hells, 2006, (Wizards of the Coast), ISBN 0-7869-3940-0, chapter 2: The Nine Hells, Layer 3: Minauros section, pages 48-49
- ↑ Rich Redman, Skip Williams, James Wyatt, Deities and Demigods 3rd edition, 2002, (Wizards of the Coast), ISBN 0-7869-2654-6, Olympian Cosmology, pages 99-100
- ↑ J. Paul LaFountain, SJA3 Crystal Spheres, 1990, (TSR Inc.), Origin of Greatspace section, Chapter 5, pages 31-32
Connections[]
| Greatspace |
|---|
| Celestial Bodies of Greatspace |
| Lanth (Primary) | Karrington | Skora | Thesalys | Lagor's World | Longpoint | asteroid belt | Hecht | Boran |