Alkyone of Themyscira

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Background

Powers and Abilities

Alkyone is a particularly accomplished Amazon fighter – one of the best. By mortal standards, this makes her a fearsome mistress of weaponry and combat. She’s able to fight and kill martial arts grand-masters, monsters, demons or entire squads of ordinary soldiers.

As an Amazon, she :

• Has some unclear degree of superhuman strength.
• Is eternally young.
• Enjoys immortality (or something very close to it, though she can die by violent means).

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• Is naturally fit, athletic and attractive.
• Enjoys very sharp reflexes.
• Has extensive education and military training.

Amazons have occasionally displayed some other minor abilities that might be superhuman, but these were never too consistent.

Alkyone is highly driven, and has strong willpower and presence. She’s also genuinely smart, even by Amazon standards, and has proven an able mastermind. She can read the motivations of foes, allies and catspaws alike. She has proven able to anticipate their reactions to her complex (and usually successful) plans.

The Circle is armed with god-forged weapons, presumably the work of Hephaistos . These weapons have textbook DC Heroes RPG Sharpness. They can harm practically anything, but an opponent with superhuman durability can endure multiple such wounds.

Alkyone mentioned that her sword was forged from the poison of decay, the tears of Medusa . She used it at one point to poison Achilles, but never used this property of her weapon again, even against Wonder Woman. Our game stats assume that she poisoned Achilles using a combination of her sword’s nature and a booby-trapped breastplate Achilles was wearing.

A perfect circle

Each member of the Circle members is a highly accomplished Amazon fighter. Although their leader Alkyone is more charismatic and is the one with the Hero Points , her friends are about as skilled as she in the arts of war.

All are true believers in their royal duty. When Alkyone is away the leadership is taken over by Charis, wisest of the four. Except for Alkyone, the Circle members do not speak or emote much – being bodyguards. Their bond of trust and sisterhood is unquestioning. They are professional, disciplined soldiers and unrelenting fanatics.

Charis (the darkest-skinned one) views the delicate clothes and ornate objects that her fellow Amazons like with suspicion, and prefers more low-tech weapons and accoutrement. She uses a pair of spiked clubs, and her cape in particular makes her tastes obvious, being an animal skin and not the light and elegant fabrics her sisters prefer. Charis is a businesslike fighter who doesn’t like to talk, but the few orders she does issue are tactically sharp.

Myrto (the blonde) uses a trident, as befits a fisherwoman. When there is talking to be done and Alkyone isn’t around, she assumes the spokeswoman role.

Philomela (the one with a blindfold) lost her sight to her own Queen’s blade. But as a Circle member, she never complained about that. Originally she fought with two slender swords. After she was blinded she became an archer, and never seemed hindered in any way by her condition. Presumably, Philomela trained in Zen Archery while in jail.

History

Centuries — quite possibly millennia — ago, Hippolyta, the Queen of the Amazons of Themyscira, created a small royal guard. The impetus for this was not quite clear – perhaps the seer Menalippe had foreseen some sort of menace. Hippolyta chose 4 rough and brash fighters among the best on the island – Alkyone, Myrto, Charis and Philomela.

All 4 women were fanatically devoted to the Queen. Being chosen further heightened their loyalty, self-described as ‘dog-like’. They surrounded her at all times, even to the point of taking turns to sleep in alcoves around the royal bed.

Swearing blood oaths beyond even their official duty, the four women called themselves the Circle. They stood guard at all points around the Queen. Part of their loyalty came from their status, as they were unpopular with their sisters.

• Alkyone was the keeper of the armoury, reputed for being a hard, unforgiving loner.
• Charis was the keeper of the menagerie, preferring the company of animals to that of her sisters and disliking refined objects and clothing.
• Philomela was the reputedly bloodthirsty keeper of the hunt, whose tannery workshop was avoided because of the stink of hides.
• Myrto was the keeper of the sea crops, often made fun of for smelling of fish and shellfish despite the popularity of these foods among her sisters.

Their selection to the royal guard did not help their popularity. Philippus, then Captain of the Amazon military, considered them brutal and overzealous. A rivalry existed between her soldiers and the Circle.

There can be no child

When Alkyone heard a rumour that the Queen was beseeching the gods to have a daughter, she was horrified. The subject of maternity was a sore one on Themyscira. The Amazons spent their immortal lives without the possibility of children, yet have the usual range of maternal instincts.

Some Amazons longed so badly to have a child that they discreetly carried small carved effigies of infants (“whittle-babies”).

Alkyone herself wanted a baby, but repressed such thoughts so utterly that she was not consciously aware of her need. This neurosis was the root of her horror. She instinctively considered that a child born on Themyscira would shatter Amazon society, as it would leave all Amazons as jealous and bitter as she would herself be.

Unable to examine this further, since it would mean admitting to herself that she pined for motherhood, Alkyone grew increasingly rigid and aggressive on the subject. This, in turn, resulted in her taking the first step on her road to madness.

The royal guards accidentally discovered that Gennes, one of Themyscira’s playwrights, had gone a bit batty. Gennes had created a life-sized pottery doll of a newborn, and when alone would sing lullabies and “care for her baby”. Terrified that Gennes might have somehow had a real child, Alkyone was consumed by rage upon discovering that it was just a doll.

She had the creation of any life-sized doll outlawed, and told the rest of the Circle to execute Gennes lest her insanity spread to other Amazons. Right after giving those orders, Alkyone herself started carrying a whittle-baby made of sandalwood as a pendant, hidden under her breastplate. She saw herself as being ‘diseased’ just like Gennes had been, but kept this a secret.

The dragon

Queen Hippolyte eventually announced that she would formally petition the gods for a child. The Circle was crushed. They were simple, unsophisticated women, and came to believe that once the Queen would have a baby she would no longer care about them.

They let themselves grow convinced that only they loved the Queen enough to do what had to be done. It was necessary destroy the aberration, the dragon, the Queen’s daughter, as soon as it came.

Fascinated with the possibility of watching the birth of a child, Alkyone stealthily followed the Queen and witnessed Diana’s creation. Though she could never speak of it, she thus became one of the very few who knew the source of the clay Hippolyte used to fashion her daughter.

This further convinced her that Diana was an abomination, though it did little to dampen her unspoken desire to also have one.

Alkyone sneaked back to her companions, and they armed themselves and walked to the Queen’s chamber. They knew that Hippolyte was exhausted, and would probably not awaken until it was too late.

The Circle strikes

Having never trusted the royal bodyguards, Captain Philippus was standing guard just in case. But she never had a chance against four warriors, and was badly wounded and left for dead. The guards entered the Queen’s bedroom and Alkyone prepared to murder the toddler. But the rest of the Circle lost their heart upon seeing the baby, and even Alkyone faltered and hesitated.

As she did a golden eagle — a bird not native to Themyscira, and whose appearance was considered by the Amazons to be a major omen — flew by and shrieked, waking the Queen.

Hippolyte grabbed her sword and fought off the traitors, slashing both of Philomela’s eyes and badly wounding Alkyone. The Circle was duty-bound not to strike her and were arrested when, despite her wounds, Philippus arrived with a squad that took down the royal bodyguards.

The Circle survived the fight, and were thrown into cells under the royal palace. The Queen decreed that she would see them each year and ask them if they would repent and be freed. For decades, the Queen annually did this, and each year the four Circle warriors would refuse.

Somewhat ironically, their prison, hidden deep within the basement of the palace, allowed them to survive many crises that befell Themyscira over the years, particularly during the late XX^th century.

The Circle is free

In 2008, invaders stumbled upon the four cells of the Circle. Themyscira had been emptied some weeks before by divine edict, and the Amazons exiled. Only Hippolyte was allowed to remain – and the four prisoners. Learning that Themyscira was vacant and defenceless, the Society had one of its many members, Captain Nazi, order his superhuman Fascist troops to take Paradise Island.

The modern-day SS were surprised to find prisoners, and not being sure what to do took them to their commander. At that point Wonder Woman and allies stormed the island to retake it. Leveraging this distraction, the Circle killed the Society’s tin soldiers, recovered their god-forged weapons, and prepared to kill Diana.

Having heard that the Nazis had shot down the Queen, they immediately blamed Diana for failing to protect Hippolyta in their stead. Furthermore, upon seeing no Amazon left on Themyscira, they assumed that their fears had come true and the birth of Diana had destroyed their civilisation while they were imprisoned.

Their Amazon bodies unaffected by centuries of confinement, the Circle swiftly took the grievously wounded Hippolyta with them. They forced Diana to run a gauntlet to recover her mother – presumably so their Queen could witness the Circle killing Diana. Though they were hardened warriors with excellent tactics and god-forged weapons, they were overwhelmed.

Alkyone had a nervous breakdown, swearing that she would kill Diana while mumbling that she should have been the one to have a daughter. After nearly gutting Wonder Woman with her sword, Alkyone threw herself from a nearby cliff into the sea. The other three were imprisoned anew.

The god of war

Alkyone survived her wounds and the fall. She was living in the Themysciran wilderness when the divine edict was lifted and Amazons returned to Paradise Island. Bereft of any other ally, she called upon Ares, God of War and sworn foe of the Amazons? Yet, she knew that he would probably manipulate and betray her.

What exact deal the master manipulator struck with Alkyone was not revealed and may never be known. Ares also gave the renegade Amazon a gift. It was a sinister-looking, magical whittle-baby holding the soul of the immensely powerful monster Genocide.

Alkyone came to see Genocide’s soul as her baby, and was taught a ritual that would allow her to ‘give birth’ by bringing Genocide back.

When Ares proceeded with the next step of his plan, immense sea monsters attacked Themyscira. Hippolyta had all Amazons take arms, the prisoners — including Myrto, Charis and Philomela — among their numbers. When the Amazons fought against the creatures attacking the island, Hippolyte was downed and crashed on a beach.

Alkyone emerged from the jungle. She and the rest of the Circle formed on the unconscious Queen to defend her. Hippolyta soon recovered and fought alongside her royal guards. Wonder Woman eventually won the battle, but was then exiled by Zeus.

In the wake of the battle, Ares died at Wonder Woman’s hand, making any deal Alkyone may have struck with the god of war moot. Zeus then decided to have a new race of immortals, resurrected men known as the Gargareans, come to live on Themyscira. They were to mingle with the Amazons to form a new culture of worshippers.

Illiad

The chauvinistic Zeus decreed that the new ruler of Themyscira would be a king rather than a queen. He designated his champion Achilles, of the Argonauts, as the new ruler. Treading between Charybdis and Scylla, the hapless Achilles tried to create some understanding between the Amazons and the all-male Gargareans.

He decided as a symbol to quickly marry an Amazon as a symbol of union between the two cultures. Having seen that Alkyone was one of the fiercest fighters in the war against the sea monsters, he proposed to her.

Though shocked at first, Alkyone eventually agreed to a purely political marriage, making her Queen of Themyscira. She soon started manipulating Achilles to advance her own agenda. Alkyone’s goal was to kill Wonder Woman and restore Hippolyte as the one and only Queen.

Being chosen once more for an important function may have started to mollify her. Yet she was once again confronted with her own issues when five Amazons inexplicably became pregnant as part of another Ares plot. Thus Alkyone remained mad and bitter.

Traps and schemes

Alkyone had Achilles tell Wonder Woman that they were holding Hippolyte hostage to ensure that her daughter would stay out of Themysciran affairs. This was meant as a trap, as Alkyone knew that Diana would come to the rescue. Alkyone ensured that Donna Troy was present.

Alkyone knew of the enchantment recently placed on Wonder Woman’s lasso, which filled Donna with murderous hatred toward her sister Diana. She had presumably learned this by communicating with “her baby”, the figurine holding the soul of Genocide. Alkyone didn’t really care who would win the battle – either way one of the aberrations would be killed.

Though Wonder Woman realised what was going on with the lasso and defused the situation with Troy, she was still checkmated. Hippolyte submitted to the will of Zeus. As a consequence she ordered her daughter not to oppose the rightful King and Queen of Themyscira, even if that meant the death of the previous Queen.

Diana was forced to surrender to save her mother. Alkyone took to wearing Wonder Woman’s tiara and bracers to mark her own status.

The woman who would be queen

One of the reasons Alkyone had agreed to Achilles’s offer of a political marriage was that she was far more aware than the Gargarean of the laws of the land. And Themysciran laws and traditions put much of the legal powers in the hands of the Queen, a King having never been envisaged.

Alkyone used her royal prerogative to order the execution of Princess Diana. Though Achilles opposed it, she pointed out that he could not legally object. Alkyone added that she was most likely carrying out the will of Zeus, and that Achilles would never be able to rule the Amazons as long as Diana was around.

At the same time, Alkyone sent her Circle to arrest the Gorilla Knights living on the island. She saw them as spies of Wonder Woman and was offended that they had served as a royal guard during the time the island was deserted.

Lastly, she offered a leather breastplate for Achilles to wear. This gift had been made with her own hands and bore Amazon heraldry that Achilles assumed would help establish his legitimacy. However, the breastplate was secretly filled with potent poison distilled from the tears of Medusa.

Long live the Queen

Alkyone proceeded with the execution ceremony, though it was obvious that the Amazons would riot to save Diana. This was, in fact, her goal. She wanted the Amazon to wage war against the Gargareans until they killed them all, no matter the cost – and then turn against the Circle and execute them for their crimes.

Thus, with the Gargareans dead and herself, her Circle, Diana and many of the Amazons killed, only Hippolyta would remain to rule over the survivors.

As part of her plan, Alkyone also ‘birthed’ her ‘baby’. She and the Circle had mingled their blood over the Genocide figurine. While the ritual did not bodily recreate Genocide, the entity’s power possessed the 4 warriors, greatly enhancing their strength.

Lastly, Alkyone did not plan to actually sacrifice Wonder Woman. She wanted to destroy Diana more thoroughly than that. Thus, the hooded woman who was brought to the execution was not Diana but Phinea, a hapless aide who trusted and obeyed her Queen.

When Alkyone executed the masked Phinea, it was meant as yet another sacrifice in her plan. This one a blood sacrifice to summon Diana’s real father for all Amazons to see.

Dawn before darkness

Alkyone’s plan went awry at its apex. Though the Amazons and the Gargareans saw the horror that is the father of Wonder Woman’s flesh rise from the ocean, they did not react as their current Queen had expected. When Wonder Woman engaged her ‘father’ in combat, the Gargareans and the Amazons united.

Artemis led her sisters to fight at the side of their Princess, and Jason of the Gargareans decided to have his men fight at their side. The warriors who had been locked in bitter warfare minutes before surged together toward the ocean. The Circle — who expected to atone for their crimes through death in glorious battle — were ignored in favour of saving Diana.

The Circle did find battle, though – when Achilles came to confront Alkyone. Alkyone had planned for that and caught him flat-footed. She ran him through with his own Athena-forged spear using the strength conferred by Genocide. Achilles was not that easily killed, however, and got back up to fight the Circle.

Even with their Genocide-enhanced ferocity, the Circle found a righteous Warkiller too much to handle… until Alkyone poisoned him using the breastplate she had made.

It was too late, however. Hippolyta had been freed. She rallied all forces around her, then shot Alkyone with a volley of arrows. Badly wounded and shocked by having been shot by her Queen, Alkyone stood stunned and possibly dying.

Wonder Woman then had the enormous mass of her father crash upon the Circle, throwing them into the ocean. Diana reclaimed her bracers from the sinking Alkyone so she could use them to kill her opponent.

Amazons were then seen fishing out the inanimate Circle members from the ocean, but their status is unknown. Given their Genocide-given strength it is entirely possible that they survived.

A circle never ends

Philomela clearly appears in the 2017 Wonder Woman / Conan Limited Series. And she’s blind, so these events necessarily take place after the Circle turned under the Queen.

On the other hand, this LS likely doesn’t take place in a shared continuity.

Description

See illustrations.

Personality

Alkyone is a tragic character, in the Ancient Greek sense. She’s not, originally, evil – just somebody who is avoided by her sisters because she’s neither graceful nor charming, and feels unloved and lonely. This self-esteem problem (which she shared with other Circle members) meant that she became utterly, fanatically devoted to her Queen when she was chosen.

To her Hippolyta was sacred. Serving her was more important than life, since the attention of the Queen made up for everything she ever lacked, and validated her. Her love for her Queen remained total even in the most awful circumstances. But unlike with Philippus this was love as a liege and not in the romantic sense.

Alkyone’s other tragic flaw — and the one that sets her on the road of madness, as usual with Ancient Greek dramas — is just that she wanted to have a baby.

Jealousy

Alkyone began as a hardened, somewhat bloodthirsty soldier. She then turned out to be a crafty, manipulative strategist with layered plans. She learns very quickly, and considers a wide range of options. But despite all her cold intelligence, her core goal hinges on the emotions of a little girl.

She wants to serve her Queen forever, with nothing ever happening to disturb this bliss and no competition to take the Queen’s love away. Such as a daughter, or favoured servants beyond the Circle.

Alkyone and the rest of the Circle are possessive, jealous, and want to be the only ones walking alongside their beloved Queen. When her plan disintegrated and the Amazons rallied to Diana, all that master strategist Alkyone could think of was that she and her buddies should kidnap Hippolyte and find a desert island where Hippolyte would rule and they would protect her.

As hinted by her name, Alkyone sees the days of yore — before Wonder Woman — as a paradise lost. She blames Diana for everything that befell her sisters since her creation. This is of course jealousy speaking. Diana took the love of Hippolyte away, is the magical baby Alkyone secretly pined for herself, and is the embodiment of the graceful charisma and popularity denied to her.

The irony is that, meta-fictionally, Alkyone is right.

Fear and loathing in Themyscira

Alkyone’s is driven in large part by self-loathing. Presumably, one of the reasons she aches for a baby is to have somebody who will love her despite her (venial by non-Amazonian standards) shortcomings. As such, and though she looks tough and in control, Alkyone is desperate. Her entire reason for existing could vanish at any moment.

This mounting despair leads to the cold escalation of her plans. Eventually, the self-loathing drives her to embrace the sacrifice of herself and her friends, the glorious death for the Queen that would grant respite from their anguish.

While she yearns for a baby, Alkyone — like all other Themysciran Amazons — has lived for millennia without ever seeing a man. To her eyes they look weird and icky. Like most Themysciran Amazons she considers them pretty much as another species.

Men are certainly people to talk to, to work with and the like. But the notion of heterosexual intimacy is just gross and cringe-worthy — including for those Amazons who are not attracted toward women.

Even after her marriage to Achilles, Alkyone immediately excluded any possibility of physical congress despite wanting to have a child. What she wants, like most other Amazons pining for motherhood and carrying whittle-babies, is an immaculate magical baby daughter like the Queen’s.

True blue

Alkyone and other Circle members see themselves as the purest of all Amazons – they were chosen by the perfect Queen, after all. They are those with eyes open to the real dangers their more pampered sisters ignore, and those who have the force of will to go all the way no matter the cost.

They clung to this true believer hogwash almost to the end. They always persuaded themselves that they were acting out of love for the Queen, and for the good of all Amazons, to save their culture and to return to a golden age.

Quotes

“I’ll save you, Hippolyta ! I will make us whole again ! I vow it !”

“You were not there. You can’t know. What this place was like before she, before the dragon, was born. ”Paradise Island”, we called it. And it was. Since then, it’s been endless war and invasions and death and pain. And yet the Amazons still love her. Still see her as the helpless baby in the rain.”

(Bound, with a gun pointed on her head, looking right in the soldier’s eyes) “Oh, dear. The threat of death. How frightful you are, in your little black boots.”

By Sébastien Andrivet.

Source of Character: Wonder Woman v3 run (2006-2010).

Helper(s): Nonsense, Darci.

Writeup completed on the 5^th of January, 2011.