Astarte

 

 

 

Background:  Astarte is by far the oldest Sentinel Warrior.  Her true age is unknown, but she was already old when she met Gilgamesh several thousand years ago.  She was worshipped primarily by the Phoenicians who spread her name throughout the Middle East, North Africa, and the Mediterranean.  She was known as both a goddess of war and a goddess of life.  Unlike some other gods of war who fought for the pleasure of it, Astarte advocated battle only when it was necessary—wars against invaders, slavers, evil gods and monsters.  And also unlike other gods of war, Astarte stayed with the mortals after battles, helping with the wounded and the dead.  She was known for her mercy and her relentlessness in battle.

 

One day she met a young man wandering aimlessly through the desert.  Recognizing him as the great warrior-king Gilgamesh of Uruk, she took pity on him and took him home to nurse him back to health.  When she learned of Ishtar’s part in Gilgamesh’s miseries, she decided to help him strike back.  Ishtar was a vicious, capricious goddess of sexual love who’d been moving into Astarte’s territory, leaving death and misery in her wake.  She sometimes let mortals think she was Astarte as a joke and as an insult to her rival.  This affront could not go unanswered.  When Gilgamesh recovered and became aware of his Sentinel armor, the Armor of War, Astarte showed him how to fight gods.  They and Astarte’s relatives destroyed Ishtar and many of her cronies. 

 

The Greco-Roman gods decided to move in while things were in flux.  Gilgamesh helped Astarte and her pantheon fight them, but they were outmatched.  The Greco-Romans didn’t have the power to destroy them, but they managed to imprison them in another dimension where they became almost powerless.  The Greco-Roman gods sent more and more pantheons into exile until fighting broke out there.  Astarte, Gilgamesh, and other allies constantly battled against their enemies in this strange dimension until Hecate came to offer them a chance to escape.  A thousand years of continuous war and strife had made Gilgamesh quiet and melancholy, while Astarte became bitter and angry.  Astarte got involved in a plan to rule the world with Hecate, but Gilgamesh convinced her of the evil and dishonor of such a path.  She turned on Hecate and helped the Sentinels defeat her.  She then lost her immortality saving Gilgamesh from certain death.  Astarte does, however, still retain many of her goddess powers—though to a lesser degree.  She also possesses the Jewel of Life, which augments her abilities.  Astarte and Gilgamesh have since been living with Mia and have begun to talk to each other about their romantic feelings.

 

Good Traits:  Once Astarte got past her bitterness, she became more like her old self.  She was, and is, a defender of the weak, a seeker of justice.  She is an extremely agile and tireless fighter against evil—especially the cruelty of petty gods.  She has a dry sense of humor that has won close friendships with Mia, Zoe, and Trace.  She is highly intelligent and thoughtful, often advising the others in battle and in daily life.

 

Bad Traits:  While Astarte is no longer an immortal, she still often acts like a goddess.  She can be bossy and imperious at times.  She also becomes exasperated by what she sees as childish behavior in the others.  She values expediency over morality as is evidenced in the way she took control of Zane on more than one occasion and when she shot the Lord Of Storms in the back when he was already down.  She tends to believe in end results rather than the means.  Even though she’s promised Zane she would never control him again, Zane doesn’t trust her.  Astarte is usually a very open, straightforward person when it comes to non-personal issues, but her reluctance to talk about her own feelings gave Gilgamesh the impression that she only casually cared about him.  As a result, he never told her until recently how deep his own feelings ran.

 

Abilities:  Astarte can teleport herself and others with her own power combined with that of the Jewel of Life.  She can increase her size and muscle mass some for physical battle.  She is superhumanly dexterous, agile, and quick.  Astarte has long auburn hair coiled in odd braids and vivid, exotic green eyes.  She can control the minds of mortal men with her hypnotic, glowing-green gaze.  She has no special armor—she doesn’t need it.  Most opponents can’t even touch her with their weapons because she is so fast.  Her skin is also so tough that non-magical weapons have a hard time piercing her skin.  Besides the Jewel, her only weapon is a long-sword.  It was made for her by her father, a sky god.  It is not known how strong the sword is, but Astarte has hinted that is can’t be destroyed by natural means.  It is extremely sharp.