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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