Hunters of Artemis

The **Hunters of Artemis** are maidens (which can be human, god, demigod, or nymph) who have sworn loyalty to the maiden goddess Artemis/Diana to join her in the Hunt and reject love for as long as they live. They gain eternal youth and semi-immortality as long as they don't break their vows, or are slain in battle.

## Description

The Hunters of Artemis immensely enjoy hunting monsters and whatever else they see fit at Artemis's side. They are her maidservants, her companions, and her sisters in arms. Usually, only about twenty of the Hunters accompanied Artemis at a time, while the remaining girls engaged in their own activities at the current location of the Hunt. They are usually accompanied by animals that will help them hunt, such as wolves and hunting birds.

As the protector of maidens, Artemis would punish men who dare to lay eyes on her Hunters. Additionally, because of their oath, many of the Hunters have become so isolated from males that they have come to distrust them, dreading even travelling with them, as seen in *The Titan's Curse* and *The Last Olympian*, though there have been a few males that were accepted into the Hunt. However, some hunters like Thalia Grace are completely fine with travelling or interacting with men.

As revealed in *The Tyrant's Tomb*, the Hunters have their own PO box in Wyoming that can be used to send messages to them through the US Postal Service.

## History

Shortly after her birth, Artemis requests to be taken to Olympus to see her father Zeus. He swears on the River Styx to grant her anything for her birthday. Among others, she asks for a group of all-female followers, marking the beginning of the Hunters. After acquiring a bow and arrows from the Cyclopses and a pack of hunting dogs from Pan, Artemis assembles her group of followers. Many mortal girls and nymphs were delighted at the idea of living freely in the wilderness without being married off or courted by lovesick gods.

Desiring a herd of golden deer to pull her chariot, Artemis gathered the Hunters to assist in capturing them. Britomartis, a demigod whom Artemis would later reward as a minor goddess known as the "Lady of Nets", sets snares and concealed nets to capture their prey. The other Hunters make noise to lure out the golden deer, and as expected, four of them charge straight into the traps. The fifth runs off to safety and is given Artemis' blessing.

Artemis punished several men who dared to lay eyes on her Hunters. Actaeon was one such man who fell victim to Artemis' wrath. After a hard day of hunting, he stumbles upon Artemis and the Hunters bathing one night. Falling in love at the sight of Artemis, he reveals his presence to the goddess and insists that she marry him. Angered by his words, Artemis transforms Actaeon into a deer and rouses his own fifty hunting dogs from their sleep to tear their master apart.

Another day, a boy named Sipriotes catches Artemis bathing one time. Begging for mercy not to meet a fate similar to that of Actaeon, he is instead changed into a female by Artemis, who offered him the choice of death or gender change. Having accepted the latter, Sipriotes then joins the Hunters.

Artemis' favorite Hunter was Kallisto, who accidentally attracted the attention of Zeus. While she was separated from the other Hunters, Zeus appeared to her in the form of Artemis herself. He attempts to seduce Kallisto, but when she rejects his advances, he reveals his true form and has his way with her. Ashamed of what had happened, Kallisto attempts to keep the encounter with Zeus a secret. Her pregnancy is exposed, however, when the Hunters go swimming in a lake one day. Angered by her father's actions, but unable to forgive Kallisto for lying to her, Artemis sadly transforms her former best friend into a bear, warning Kallisto that the next time they meet she will have to kill her.

Following this incident, Artemis befriends the giant Orion on the island of Delos. Impressed by his hunting skills, she allows Orion to join as the first ever male Hunter. Soon, he and Artemis become close friends, so much so that Apollo fears his twin sister would be renouncing her oath of maidenhood. He inflicts insanity upon Orion, who starts hunting all animals he finds. This rouses the mother earth Gaea from her sleep and counters by sending a giant scorpion to kill Orion. When Artemis finally found Orion's corpse, she honored him in the stars as a constellation with the scorpion nearby, thereby immortalizing his story. In some myths, Apollo challenges Artemis to a archery competition with Orion disguised as a rock.

The last male to join the Hunt was Hippolytos, a handsome prince who had no interest in romance whatsoever. For this reason, he incurred the wrath of Aphrodite. When Hippolytos visited his father, King Theseus of Athens, Aphrodite heightened their anger during an argument, resulting in Theseus drawing his sword and striking his son dead. When Artemis received word of this, she immediately rushed to Hippolytos' tomb and took his body to her nephew Asclepius, the best physician in all of Greece. Using the Physician's Cure, Asclepius brings Hippolytos back to life. She then takes Hippolytos to Italy, where he becomes a priest of one of her sacred shrines and lives to old age.

## Known Hunters

### Leaders and Lieutenants

* Artemis/Diana (leader)
* Zoë Nightshade (former lieutenant, deceased)
* Aria Clarke (current lieutenant and Artemis Council Member)

### Former members

* Hemithea (now mortal)
* Josephine (now mortal)
* Orion (formerly, deceased)
* Hippolytus (formerly, deceased)
* Britomartis (became goddess)
* Syrinx (turned into a minor plant)
* Polyphonte (before giving birth to Agrius and Oreius, later turned into an owl after giving birth)
* Kallisto (formerly, turned into a bear)

### Deceased members

* Phoebe (killed by Orion)
* Naomi (killed by Orion)
* Celyn (killed by Orion)

### Unknown fate

* Sipriotes
* Parthenos

## Oath

If a maiden wants to become a Hunter, she must say the words of the oath. Once Artemis agrees to that oath, it is binding and the Hunter must live by it for the rest of their days. If a Hunter falls in love, Artemis will remove their immortality and may turn them into an animal, depending on her discretion. As implied in *The Tyrant's Tomb*, Artemis does not allow lesbian relationships within the hunt either.

## Abilities

* **Eternal Youth**: Hunters are immortal (can't die of illnesses, age, etc.) unless they fall in love or they fall in battle.
* **Archery**: They have excellent aim with their bow and arrows.
* **Enhanced Physical Prowess**: They are naturally stronger and faster than a mortal, demigod, or nymph. Percy describes them as running "as fast as a cheetah".
* **Zoolingualism**: They can talk to wild animals. Particularly wolves.
* **Photokinesis**: They can produce a silver glow.

## Equipment

The Hunters carry special equipment that makes setting up a camp site easy. For example, they have small boxes (about the size of a pack of chewing gum) that can easily be carried in their bags, but can expand into a full sized silver tent. In the summer, Hunters wear white shirts, silver jackets, silvery camo pants and black combat boots. In the winter, they wear silver ski jackets, blue jeans and the same boots.

### Magic Items

The weapons appear whenever they are needed by the Hunters.

* Moonwater
* Silver bows
* Silver arrows able to kill monsters
	+ Fart Arrows
	+ Trip wire arrows
* Hunting Knives made out of Celestial Bronze
* Swords

## Trivia

* While the Hunters carry around weapons that are the color of silver, Zoë mentioned in *The Titan's Curse* that their hunting knives are made out of Celestial Bronze.
* The hunters have a PO Box in Wyoming, as revealed in The Tyrant's Tomb.
* In *The Dark Prophecy*, it is revealed that Hunters must reject *all* romantic forms of love, including non-hetero forms.
	+ However if a hunter does fall in love with a fellow hunter, she may negotiate with Artemis to leave, much like priests and nuns in the Catholic Church.
* Thalia, Annabeth, and Piper are all offered the chance to become a hunter
	+ Thalia only accepts Artemis's offer the second time, she refused the first time because she would have to leave Luke and a younger Annabeth.
* The Hunters are often mistaken for Amazons, who are allowed to fall in love, don't worship a certain goddess individually and can die from old age unlike the Hunters.
	+ However, the Hunters and the Amazons have some connections and are known to work together.
* In many myths, the Hunters were in fact Nymphs while Artemis becomes the source of their lifeforce, which make all Hunters nymphs of Artemis herself.
* In some myths, Atalanta was a huntress.

* Revealed in *The Titan's Curse*, the Hunters have won Capture the Flag 56 times in a row
* Contrary to popular belief, the Hunters are not allowed to have relationships with women.
* It is strongly implied that if a Hunter falls for a man or is impregnated by one that they will be turned to an animal, similar to Kallisto, although Artemis said in *Percy Jackson's Greek Gods* she only did so because of the hunter's attempt to deceive her.