“Then straightway there rose up against him the trim-ankled maiden (Atalanta), peerless
in beauty: a great throng stood round about her as she gazed fiercely, and wonder held all
men as they looked upon her. As she moved, the breath of the west wind stirred the
shining garment about her tender bosom.”

Long before my life taught me the strength of women, and long before my death showed
me how little I had comprehended, among the Greeks, some women won, no, demanded
respect and admiration, even as their peers sneered at them for nothing but their birth.

One was Atalanta, fair and delicate just as she was deadly and bold.
She was an exceptional huntress, swift-footed, silent, and terrifying with a bow.
Not many could outshoot her, and no one could outrace her.

Artemis, the goddess of the hunt, cared about her, seeing her as a mortal version of
herself, someone who incarnated the principles she represented.
Just like the goddess, Atalanta refused to be bonded to a man, nor did she accept the
courting attempts of those who desired her simply for her beauty.
Just like the goddess, she loved the wilds, shunning roofs and beds, choosing earth and
trees instead.

The Nether is a cage to her. Too gray, too soft it is, too peaceful. No prey runs before her
and no beast attacks her, no one issues a long-awaited challenge there, in the idle
tranquility of the Nether. She, Atalanta the wild huntress, was trapped.

You can imagine her joy when she understood that the ethereal bars of her prison were
crumbling.
She sprang up and leaped into Hell with the boundless energy of a freed animal.
Nothing more does she desire than freedom, nor does she long for Lucifer's seat. Yet,
once the infernal power is restored, the borders will tighten again, and the souls of the
ones who lost the challenge will be sent back to the Nether.
This, she won't allow. If she has to become Hell's dark queen to remain free, if she has to
fight against heroes and demigods, she will.

Life

Atalanta's life had just begun, when she was first confronted with injustice and prejudice.
Born a woman in a time in which men ruled, she was an unwanted surprise for her father,
who felt no remorse when he exposed her.
A she-bear found her, tiny and naked. She raised her to be strong and wild.
Until some hunters found her and taught her how to be a human and how to draw a bow.
But clothes and weapons could not change her soul, and she remained as dangerous and
feral as any wild animal.

Among the Argonauts, she was the only woman, and she showed the crew what a
formidable fighter a woman could be.
After their long and perilous journey, she came back, and hunted the monstrous
Calydonian boar with many men, once again forcing them to respect her for her
unmatched ability.
Sometime later, a man, helped by a goddess, won her hand. Hippomenes, who could not
outrace her, therefore tricked her. He who won her hand through deceit, but moved by
true love.
The legends say that they were transformed into lions due to some terrible sin.
I prefer to believe that it was a gift to Atalanta, to be finally free from her human skin and
turn into what she was all along.

Regalia

What could such a huntress bring with herself from the mortal realm, if not her bow? She
who could shoot better than any man would not be complete without it.
It is not magical or enchanted. It is a simple bow, sturdy, very hard to draw, but nothing
divine. Her hands are what make the difference.
Anyone who underestimates her for her lack of equipment dies shortly after.