Hedonike

Hedonike is the impetus goddess of pleasure with the body of a humanoid butterfly and the restraint/self-control of a kid in a candy store.

She can spread pleasure spores from her butterfly wings that, in small doses, can act as a painkiller. In large doses, send creatures into states of euphoria. The thicker the atmosphere, the stronger and more communal the reaction is; even experiences moments of pleasure from a victim's memories.

From refugee goddess to pleasure icon to Psygonaut, Hedonike (literally meaning "victory over pleasure") guides the Psygonauts back to the Dodonan Roots while inspired to undertake an quest to learn self-control while on her way to reconnect with her mother.

Origin:

Born to Psyche (mortal turned goddess of the Soul) and Eros (god of love Hedon (her birth name) lived a pretty stereotypical life as a highly-extravert goddess and member of the Pantheon hegemony.

That is until the Invasion of the Progenitors.

Escaping to Demeter's grove (becoming the Dodonan Roots cluster) with her mother and the other suppliants, the rest of their family wasn't so lucky.

With her father (Eros) and grandmother-in-law (Aphrodite) dead, Demeter gave Hedon and Psyche a legion of followers in the form of the Lipsikki: a new race of butterfly humanoids who cared for the needs of the two women, the grove, and Demeter's suppliants.

Even so, Hedon refused to face this new reality.

Psyche tried to guide her struggling daughter. Rather than confronting her feelings of unease and displeasure, Hedon explored every pleasure she could find in Demeter's Grove.

That is until the Weeping Grove Massacre. When a cabal of conspirators unleashed a swarm of Thesprotines who then murdered the remaining goddesses and their Pantheonic suppliants.

Psyche snuck her daughter onto a shuttle out of the cluster as her Lipsikki loyalists fought back against the humanoid grasshoppers.

Mistress of Pleasure:

Left to wander, an anxiety-stricken Hedon wasn't left alone for long. A band of raiders kidnapped her and brought her down to the Karian Bog.

In a cluster residing inside an eternal cloud of smoke/gas/shrapnel, Hedon's freedom where a small-time soak owner named Kronog purchased her freedom. Hedon would work off her debt as an entertainer at her soak.

It was here, Hedon found her Ichor could created spores that infiltrated the semi-permeable skin of the frog people and fill clients veins with pleasure.

In no time, Hedon's stock soared to new heights.

Every Ackarn in the sector flooded to Kronog's soak to experience Hedon. When it came time when Hedon worked off her debt, Kronog played into Hedon's impetuous nature and need for constant appeasement.

Hedon agreed to stay while Kronog enterprised the first-ever Karian pleasure palaces. A multi-storied public bath/casino in concentric rings centered around Hedonia: mistress of pleasure performing for their guests and saturating the soak's water source in her intoxicating spores.

Delusion vs. Restraint:

As Kronog's pleasure palace kept expanding, the matron gave her star everything she ever wanted while making money hand over fist. Marketing her as a madonna of pleasure on merchandise and products sold around the sector.

Hedonia lived a life of unrestrained pleasure seeking until the day Ulysses "Ollie" Dylos, AJM-001, Eucidrie and their Psygonauts arrive. Their crew nearly mutinying if they didn't stop to relax after spending weeks getting chased through the Bog, nearly burning to a crisp in the Thermetolian Wedge and nearly dying at their first Sarissamachy.

Stopping to ask for directions to the Dodonan Roots, Ollie runs into Penny and Galia in the palace. Before they can pursue them, Kronog greets the infamous Commander-Ultimos and escorts the trio to Hedonia's private quarters.

While inside, the trio plead to let their loved ones free. She ignores their pleas and proceeds to seduce them.

Unphased and pleading for Galia and Penny, a frustrated Hedonia sends them into a state of communal euphoria.

While seeking pleasure in their collective experiences, Hedonia lives in Ollie & Eucidrie's memories with Penny & Galia. Rather than finding pleasure, Hedonia finds fulfillment.

Snapping them out of her trance, the trio breaks out of her trance and try to free Penny and Galia. However, they're stopped by palace security and arrested.

Questioning what she felt to Kronog, the owner accosts her star attraction, telling her fulfillment isn't their business, how she knows who she is, how Kronog has her contractually bound for her eternal life, and commands her to get back to work.

Caught in a dilemma to either stay in a guilded cage or return to the Dodonan Roots and find fulfillment, Hedonia chooses the later.

She springs the Psygonauts from their cells and escape the pleasure palace with an angry Kronog in hot pursuit.

Escaping the Karian Bog by the directions of Hedonike (now "victory over pleasure"), she helps guide the Psygonauts back to the Dodonan Roots where she reluctantly goes to confront her painful past and reconnect with her mother Psyche.

Will she follow the hard path and find fulfillment overcoming her painful past? Or will she take the easy path and descend into her old ways of numbing herself in her pleasures?

Greek Equivalent: Hedon - Daughter of Psyche & Eros

Home Cluster: Dodonan Roots (currently resides in the Karian Bog)

Species: Lepsikki (humanoid butterflies a full-blooded goddess in disguise

Affiliated Organizations:

• Ackarn Pleasure Palace
• Caretakers of Demeter's sacred oak
• Throne Room of the Golden Twelve (Aphrodite's family)