User:Captaincarrot/Uncovering Yneslea: On The Mind Sounds of the Echmer

On the Mind Sounds of the Echmer

by Kephat Rangidil

An attempt to understand the method by which Echmer may navigate even the darkest of spaces

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Written by IceFireWarden

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Dedicated to my good friend Ley Noddle, with whom I have had many spirited debates on this very topic

Given the ease with which Echmer can navigate even the most abyssal dark of caverns of the Dweech, a layperson could be forgiven to assume that they possess some manner of night vision. This is, as anyone with even an ounce of knowledge about the mysterious Bat Elves of Yneslea, verifiably false. The Echmer use a form of echolocation, much like the bats they resemble, to build a map of their surroundings based on the sounds reflected off their environments. The most curious part of this fantastical power is that these “sounds” should perhaps not be called such at all, since they can only be “heard” (or perhaps detected is a better word?) by the Echmer him or herself!

In my journey throughout the Yneslean archipelago I became quite intrigued in the actual mechanism by which this miracle of anatomy could occur and resolved to get to the bottom of it, despite my Magic User’s license still in the process of being granted. When questioned directly, the Echmer seem surprised or even amused by the question. “It is a part of us,” they would say “a sense as mundane as sight, smell, or taste. Do you wonder how your eyes perceive light, or your ears sound?”

I would then reason with them about how such a sense was unique to them. Even their closest animal cousins, the small bats that still could be found flitting around the entrances of the Dweech, must use audible noise by squeaking to echolocate. Would it not be some kind of magic? After all, an illusion spell can also produce noises heard only by a single individual.

“An Echmer learns to navigate by echolocation as an infant,” the Echmer would say, “Can a babe cast spells? Does a child have some mastery of illusion?”

I then feel compelled to point out that the effect can be replicated by the use of certain enchanted items. Therefore, it must be some kind of magic if the effect can itself be induced using magic.

“A khajiit can see in the dark, whereas a man cannot without some form of enchantment. An Argonian may breathe underwater, but an elf may only do so with magic or surgery. Would you say that a Khajiit or an Argonian do so with magic, or is it merely a part of their being?”

It is usually at this point in our conversations that the Echmer with whom I would discuss this topic makes excuses and takes their leave. I simply cannot wait until my Magicka License is processed at Mustikos’acere so that I can delve deeper into this topic. While it is true that they said it would be processed nearly six months ago (at the time of writing), I remain optimistic that I will receive the good news any day now!