Overview
Artemis is the goddess of the hunt, a patroness of young girls, and the mistress of beasts and all wild things. She remains chaste, and will have nothing to do with men, perhaps because she has often helped women in childbirth and blames men for all the pain involved. Although renowned as a huntress, Artemis kills only to feed herself and others, never for sport. Artemis loves the rugged life of a huntress, and except for helping women during childbirth, she avoids involving herself in any other mortal matters. She values her privacy, and will severely punish any man violating it.
Description
Artemis appears as a slim young woman wearing rustic clothing and carrying a bow and a sword.
Holy symbol
Artemis's symbol is a bow and arrow on a lunar disk.
Favored weapon
Artemis wields a composite longbow, and either a short sword or a poison dagger in melee. Her priesthood have selected the short sword as their favored weapon.
Realm
Great Wheel cosmology
In the Great Wheel cosmology, Artemis resides within the planar realm of Olympus, which is located on Arvandor (also known as Olympus), the first layer of the Olympian Glades of Arborea. Artemis considers the whole of Olympus her hunting ground and travels across the realm without care. Only occasionally does she return to the bower that encompasses the whole of her personal realm, which mainly consists of a small complex of caves in the side of the mountain. Artemis also spends a great deal of time hunting in the forests of the Peaceable Kingdoms of Arcadia.
Olympian cosmology
In the Olympian cosmology, Artemis resides within the outer planar realm of Olympus, 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.
Worship
Only women may become priests of Artemis, and they must remain chaste and may not marry. They typically like to live away from civilization, tending to the woodlands and the wild animals. Artemis punishes any violation of the rules concerning chastity by the permanent withdrawal of all powers and standing in her church.
Omens from Artemis are always delivered by wild beasts.
In Spelljammer
The inhabitants of Greatspace revere the gods and goddesses of the Greek pantheon, especially Zeus, and as such, Artemis can be considered a native deity.
Appendix
External Links
- Artemis article at the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd Edition Wiki, a wiki for official Dungeons & Dragons content from 2nd edition AD&D.