Alkmene Halkias is a powerful shapeshifting druid and the twin sister of Anatolios Halkias, better known as Amalgami the Betrayer. Alkmene was raised by priestesses of Artemis to be a druid. After leaving the temple to travel across the world she became seduced by the power of Hades. She became a willing servant of his while also working with the Rebels of Xoria. Her power and position allowed her access to the Druid’s Prophecy at the moment the ritual was being prepared. She almost corrupted the ritual to free Hades from the Underworld, but failed. For her actions she was punished severely by Zeus.

Alkmene’s father was named Adam and her mother, Alkmene, shared her name. The birth of her and her brother, Anatolios, was long and difficult. Anatolios was born first, at high noon, and twelve hours later Alkmene was born under the full moon’s light. The priests of Leto saw this as an omen and insisted that the children be sent to the temples of Apollo and Artemis when they were barely able to walk. The priests gave Anatolios and Alkmene each a magical amulet to focus their fated powers.

As Alkmene’s prophesied talents grew she was drawn to the shapeshifting arts of druids. She became a master bear shapeshifter, able to harness the full power of the ursine form. After her training was complete, Alkmene took her amulet and left on a pilgrimage across Cimmeria.

While traveling through Those Blasted Islands in the Caspian, Alkmene’s destiny changed. She stopped for a time on Devil’s Holt to battle the unnatural creatures that lived there. In the process she became enthralled with their power. Alkmene sought to contact their master and made a connection with Hades, Lord of the Underworld. She forged a pact with him and became a secret servant of the Dead King.

Alkmene continued her pilgrimage and made her way to dragovinian dominated Xoria. Hating the injustice of the vile undead, Alkmene joined the Rebellion. Her strength and wisdom were a powerful force for the Rebels. Over time she rose through the ranks until she was one of the key figures in the Rebellion alongside Princess Tarigananata and Major Dactirian.

Alkmene used her position to manipulate events surrounding the Druid’s Prophecy. She wished to use the prophecy to revive Hades from the Underworld. Unfortunately, when she tried to retrieve the prophecy pieces herself she was repulsed by the dragovinians. Alkmene waited for others to gather the lost pieces of the prophecy and the ingredients. Once that task was complete, Alkmene offered herself as the one to perform the ritual. As she brewed the sacred potion she attempted to corrupt it by altering the recipe to revive Hades rather than Zeus. Fortunately, she was stopped and the ritual was successfully completed to return the Thunder God to health.

Zeus enacted a cruel punishment on Alkmene for her treachery. Two invisible furies were endowed with Zeus’s power to follow Alkmene for the rest of her natural days. The furies carry hot iron rods that they beat her with at all hours of the day. If any interfere with her punishment the furies beat that person mercilessly until they are dead. Alkmene returned to the mortal realm hounded by the furies and no one knows what became of her after that.

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I’m Isaac

Welcome to the GoCorral website! I’m Isaac Shaker and this is a place for me to write about D&D and occasionally other topics. I host a podcast called Setting the Stage that interviews different DMs about their campaigns. I’m currently focused on completing the Cimmeria campaign setting and turning it into a book.

Setting the Stage Podcast

72 – Calico and Psychomortis (Part 1) Setting the Stage, Campaigns for D&D and Other RPGs

CalicoVisions tells us about his game system and setting Psychomortis. The game is constructed to challenge players and characters to look inside themselves to find what's really important to them. In the far future the Earth has suffered from the arrival of the Iris which caused vast changes across the world. PCs are trapped beneath the Earth in a vast maze known as Pandora's Labyrinth. They seek an exit and/or spiritual absolution as they survive and explore in the dark depths. The experience is simultaneous a dungeon crawl and philosophical exercise.This is the first of two episodes about Psychomortis. Calico contacted me about how the game and setting had evolved since our first recording. This is the first recording which has the original version of Calico's world and game. The second one is more refined and filled in which you can see in part 2!Psychomortis is still in the early stages of development, but its playable! If you're interested in the game you can learn more on the Psychomortis Discord Server: https://discord.com/invite/JkhpUTYMTCYou can also follow Calico on BlogSpot: https://calicovisions369.blogspot.com/And on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/calicovisions.bsky.socialOur website: https://gocorral.com/stsWant to be on the show? Fill out this survey: https://forms.gle/U11TbxtAReHFKbiVAJoin our Discord: https://discord.gg/Nngc2pQV6CSupport the show on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/SettingtheStage Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
  1. 72 – Calico and Psychomortis (Part 1)
  2. 71 – Aaron Ryan and Dissonance/The End
  3. 70 – Sensei Suplex and Project Aurora
  4. 69 – Siix and Godstorm
  5. 68 – John and Tahlvaen