» Tue Apr 14, 2015 1:00 am EXORDIUM
Xenophobic and isolationist, the http://s5.postimg.org/atzk8aduf/Echmer_Concept_Art_01.jpg are perhaps the most confounding non-Tamrielic race the Empire has ever encountered. Technologically advanced and culturally scholastic, they served as the chief advisors on all mechanical matters during their time as vassals of the Empire. But now they stand on their own again after three hundred and sixty-four years of governance under the will of the Septims, returning to the authority of their native Council of Dull Chimes in 4E 10. As of 4E 201 they remain as distant from Tamriel as they possibly can, and take no side in the ongoing hostilities between the Mede Dynasty and the Aldmeri Dominion – but if this is because they wish to remain neutral or because they have their own ulterior motive remains to be seen.
The Echmer (/EK-MER/Ech-mer in pronunciation) – also known as the Echo Elves, the Echo Folk, or the People of Echoes – are a race of batlike beastfolk that dwell on the islands known collectively as http://s5.postimg.org/sfyp4yo47/Yneslea_Map.jpg in the Padomaic Ocean. A major misconception (as well as a matter of much debate) is that the Echmer are literally elves; this is not true, or at least not in the conventional sense. A shy, prideful, honorable, loyal, factual, astute, and intelligent people (yet also aloof, magnephobic, pessimistic, world-weary, and sardonic), they are the most dominant and influential of the four prominent species that live on the island (the other three being the Hyu-Ket – a race of insectoid goblins the Echmer have a troubled past with – the Terenjoe – a primitive underground sharklike people – and the Broh-Kah – a savage species of hairy frog humanoids that are considered more akin to monsters than an actual race) and used to view all foreigners as hostile intruders and meddlers in their domain. Now their demeanors are only slightly as icy as a mountaintop in Skyrim due to the three-hundred and sixty-four years they have spent adjusting to the denizens of Tamriel.
The collective name for their race uses words from the Dwemeri (and therefore Aldmeri) language, which they would go on to modify and adapt to form their native tongue of Echi. In Aldmeri the word ‘ech’ means mirror, trace, or (most importantly) echo. Therefore some translations of Echmer can be the ‘Echo Folk’, the ‘Mirror Folk’, or the ‘Trace Folk’. But the most symbolic and chosen of all of those translations is Echo Folk, for in a sense the Echmer are the last living echo of the Dwarves. When the Ynesleaic archipelago was brought under Imperial rule the word ‘ech’ became synonymous with ‘bat’ due to the appearance of the Echmer, which resulted in them being referred to as the ‘Bat Folk’ throughout the Empire. Although the Echmer are indeed descended from the ancient bats that once populated the islands they were at first disillusioned, mortified, and annoyed by this translation. It wasn’t until several years passed that they eventually grew used to hearing the title and began to use it themselves with an emotion they still deny to this day is pride.
WELCOME TO THE UUTAK MYTHOS!
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Uutak Mythos Archives act as definitive guides to the races, worlds, and concepts that the mythos has either created or expanded upon. Be sure to find and collect them all!
ECHMER
Echmer are an entire race of warrior-scholars, although they only decide to wage war when war has been waged upon them. Their martial praxis is so deeply entrenched with their pedagogic society that it is sometimes hard to tell where one ends and the other begins, and both bleed into other sections of their culture easily. Their outlook on the gods and magic is considered blasphemous in the eyes of other races, and their incredible skill with technology and science is thought uncanny. Lastly, their omnipresent Law watches and judges their every action instantly with no exceptions, rooting out criminals and bringing harsh truth to those that break it.
HOW THIS ARCHIVE WORKS
Uutak Mythos Archives: The Echmer contains everything you need to know in order to understand the Bat Elven people in vast detail.
Within this tome you will find the definitive guide to Echmer, their peculiar history and incredible culture, and the effects – both positive and negative – their actions have had on the Mundus at large. You will also find several beautiful pictures depicting the Bat Elves and their homeland of Yneslea throughout these pages. The Council of Dull Chimes have taken an interest in you, so show your worth to the Echmeri people and go out and impress them!
ECHMER ANATOMY
Bat Elven body structure is very distinctive compared to the anatomy of the Tamrielic races due to their rather unique origins. Once the Echmeri were normal bats descended from the very first bats of Nirn (which originated on Yneslea before flying off to colonize the other landmasses on the planet) before their physicality and souls were accidentally altered by Dwemeri tonal architecture, a type of immensely powerful sound magic. Their intelligence and natural growth accelerated tremendously, and when the Dwemer began to view them as sapient beings their souls became black under the Laws of Arkay. All of these things were factors in their evolution from simpleminded beasts to the merish intellectuals that walk the archipelago in modern times.
The typical Echmer – http://s5.postimg.org/xmrrflfh3/Echmer_Male_Concept_Model_04.jpg or http://s5.postimg.org/dobwd7us7/Echmer_Female_Concept_Model_01.jpg – stands at a height of about five to six feet, and generally weighs around one-hundred and fifty to three hundred pounds. They are naturally slim and well-muscled, with greater strength than the actual merish races besides the Orcs. The skin of an Echmer is a fair caramel, but is covered by a light fur ranging from various shades of brown, grey, white, and black. Echmer do not have hair in the normal sense, but they do stylize and dye their fur in ways similar to Nibenese tattoos. The skull still carries many bat characteristics, and slightly protrudes forwards. Their ears are slightly merish but much larger and extended, as well as being closer in shape, appearance, and function to the ears of a bat (allowing them to hear exceptionally well and pick up sounds that other races can’t). They have four-fingered hands with opposable thumbs and four claws on each foot along with a back claw that allows them to hang from the ceiling (but they commonly choose to either sit in chairs or sleep in beds when in the company of Tamrielics).
The Echmer are capable of seeing through the use of both their natural eyes (their normal vision is weaker than the vision of most Tamrielic races, so the majority of the race makes up for it by wearing spectacles) and a biological trait known as echolocation (their ‘reflected sounds’). Their eyes are well-adjusted to darkness due to naturally living underground, and since the First Era have grown more accustomed to sunlight. With echolocation they are able to see things through the use of sending out ‘mental noise’ into an area, and having the sounds reflected back to their mind – this results in a black and white afterimage displaying objects immersed in complete darkness. When one combines the above with their highly developed hearing, it is considered absolutely impossible to sneak up on an Echmer.
The most remarkable physical trait of the Echo People are the membranes attached to the undersides of their forearms, remnants of the wings all normal bats have. They do not allow the Echmer to fly, but do let them glide very well. Most Echmer have made it a practice to have the membranes removed, however, due to them being linked to a terrible disease that stems forth from them ripping/tearing.
The http://s5.postimg.org/8yhdavedz/Echmer_Concept_Art_06.jpg usually give birth to live young after nine months like the other merish races, with one offspring at one time, although twins are somewhat common. A unique trait that Echmer women have is that they can control the exact time they give birth for an additional three months in case the determined time is not suitable for whatever reason (usually in periods of chaos or strife where one would not wish to raise a child). An Echmer female can have about four children in her lifetime. The typical bat elf lives to about one-hundred and fifty years of age, with their fur becoming silkier as they grow older, but a particularly healthy individual can live to see the age of two-hundred.
ECHMERI SUBSPECIES
The Echmer race is compromised of four suborders, their uniqueness mainly stemming from how they must consume a certain type of food on a daily basis (although they are not restricted from eating other foodstuffs as well). Each of the four groups can trace their origins back to the different species of bats that lived in the Dweech before they were changed by the tonal architecture of the Noraken Dwemer.
The Hemaechi (‘Blood Echoes’, or ‘Blood Bats’ in Tamrielic) are usually the largest Echmer in both size and muscle. They are descended from vampire bats and because of this their main source of nourishment is blood. They usually drink it (sometimes even making interesting wines out of the liquid) or eat it in gelatin-like morsels. Hemaechi can drink the blood of most mortal creatures, although they refrain from drinking the blood of fellow Echmer and Tamrielics out of respect. Most of their blood stores come mainly from the yak, the prized herd animal of the Echmer race. Tamrielics visitors to the islands have often confused the Hemaechi for Echmer vampires – to tell the difference between one and the other (and to avoid offending the Hemaechi in question) it is best to remember that Bat Elf vampires usually have pure white eyes and translucent (note: not pale) coats of fur.
The Entoechi (‘Bug Echoes’ or ‘Bug Bats’ in Tamrielic) are regarded as the most athletic and perceptive out of the rest of the Bat Elven population, and their eyesight is considerably better than the vision of others of their kind. They are descended from insect-eating bats, resulting in their present diet consisting of the creatures that make up the insect family (as well as a few arachnids like spiders and scorpions) – because of this, they are somewhat responsible for the low http://s5.postimg.org/q8710yizb/Hyu_Ket_Male_Concept_Model_01.jpg population due to their insect-like physiology. Their favorite delicacy however are the giant mites that live within the http://s5.postimg.org/47cwf3w5z/Dweech_Concept_Art_02.jpg, which they tend to stuff with all manner of creams and herbs.
The Pomiechi (‘Fruit Echoes’ or ‘Fruit Bats’ in Tamrielic) are almost in direct contrast to their Entoechi cousins, being the most flexible and charismatic Echmer. They are descended from fruit bats, making their main source of food fruit of course. They are known for adding fruit into multiple dishes and beverages, as well as making absurdly sweet types of wine that are actually made from fruit other than graqes, or at least contain very little of their flavor (for they think that ‘ordinary’ wine is boring in terms of taste). They are understandably in charge of the creation of Echmeri clothing, as they make most of the color dyes from fruit juices and crushed insect shells.
The Lactechi (‘Milk Echoes’ or ‘Milk Bats’ in Tamrielic) are the hardiest Echmer, and their endurance is said to only rival their coyness. They are descended from milk-drinking bats and are responsible for the manufacturing of cream, butter, yogurt, and cheese of which they make an interesting variety of flavors. According to their own records they have created over a hundred different types of milk alone, and it is their creations that serve as Yneslea’s major trade items for other nations. The delicacy known as ice cream – a cold dessert that became extremely popular in the later years of the Septim Dynasty – was also created by the Lactechi.
WOES OF THE FOURTH ERA
These are dark and troubling times for the Echmeri people, who find themselves in a situation best described as surrounded by enemies with no true allies. Decisions made at the beginning of the current era have seemed to turn into wrong choices, and now the Bat Elves lie uncertain on how to go forth into a world that seeks to do nothing but exploit them.
The Ynesleaic archipelago consists of dozens of islands that the Echmer have control over, but each and every one of those islands are being threatened by countless problems. The Mede Dynasty in its hope of gaining the Echmeri Directorates’ support violates Yneslea’s borders and builds embassies in order to house members of the Penitus Oculatus. Likewise, the Aldmeri Dominion ships countless Thalmor operatives – officially and unofficially – out to the archipelago to monitor the bat elves and report their every decision back to their superiors. The Echmeri military is far too stretched to even think about taking action against these incursions, with the majority of its servicemer being stationed out past Esrionet on the Padomaic Rim to push back the Kamal (the Echmeri’s greatest foes), and are therefore reluctant to start a conflict.
Broh-Kah are beginning to become much more of a nuisance than ever before as their population grows, their insanely high reproduction rate striving to match their equally high mortality rate. The savage monsterkin continues their plundering lifestyle by assaulting all manners of settlements above and below the earth, providing more evidence to the conscience decision of the Echmeri not classifying them as their own sapient race.
Recently a large ship of Yneslean convicts shipwrecked far to the south on the ancient island of Maelstrom, a place the Echmer refuses to discuss due to its foul and sickening nature. Apparently many vile magicks and technologies were developed there and can still be found in the crumbling facilities of which they were built, but the island has been closed off to the outside world for centuries after some terrible event caused those facilities to seal themselves away. High-ranking Echmer individuals believe that criminals probably wont be able to find a way through the island’s deadly defenses, but probability is not certainty.
And alongside the living, it seems that the dead and the mechanical are also seeking to punish the Echmer population. [Protoechi](http://s5.postimg.org/cqwacv4if/Echmer_Concept_Art_03.jpg) ghosts and Braeravetifegros (Living Echoes) are showing up in unnatural abundance throughout the archipelago, striking terror in the hearts of the natives. Dwemer automatons have also been reactivating within the silent halls of their creator’s ruins to walk the countryside to torment individuals, forcing the Echmer to enter these structures (which are already buzzing with angry Noraken spectres) in order to discover the source of this eccentricity.
To gain time to think on a course of action the Council of Dull Chimes has banned travel to and from the archipelago, abruptly ceasing all military and trading routes to the ire of many. Now effectively sealed off from the rest of the world, the Echmeri hope that this ‘solitude’ will allow them to slowly recollect themselves in a few precious moments of peace. But Nirn isn’t known as the Arena for nothing: the notion of peace is a fleeting one on a world such as this.
