Echo looks at you with a mischievious smile and says "Ah, you think
my name is unusual heh?"
Echo smiles at you. "Well, Have a seat. Let me tell ya how my name came about while I
tend your wounds."
You ask Echo a question.
Echo replies ," Where am I from you ask? I was born and raised in Altene.
Echo begins examining you.
You ask Echo another question.
Echo responds, "Why did I come to Iridine? Well that my friend is a long tale, one I
don't commonly share with all but if you wish I will tell ya' you were good enough to
trust me with your troubles."
Echo smiles comfortingly at you.
Echo says to you "It all began back with my grandfather. Quite an adventuras spirit
he was. He was a sea Captian from the time of his youth. Only thing he loved more then the
sea was his wine. Man adored it. I do believe he had to have sampled every sort of brew of
it there was. He spent many a year transporting wine from one sea port to th' other."
Echo begins probing your wounds with her fingers.
Echo says to you "Well anyway I don't believe anyone ever knew his real
name...probably never had one. But he was known to all as Captian Vinum. And of course as
you know vinum is a common word for wine."
Echo pulls a bandage from her bag.
Echo says to you, "Well as i'm sure you've noticed all sailors have a thing for
barmaids. Captain Vinum was no different. That man had a hankering for this one particular
woman everytime he came back home to Altene. A beauty she was, but not one interested in
being the 'settling' type."
Echo's blue eyes seem to laugh as she continues, " Story goes that one of his visits
to her seemed to have left her a little tied down, so upon his next arrival to town she
boarded his ship and left him a little surprise. Three days later one of the shiphands
came to the Captain with a surprise in hand. It was a baby girl not even a year old. Well
'course by that time it was to late to turn back so the captain was left with a choice.
Toss the babe overboard and save himself a headache or keep the babe and allow it to be
raised on the ship. Fortunatly the babes smile and ocean blue eyes made the decision for
him."
Echo carefully wraps a bandage around your arm.
Echo says to you, "Well surprisingly the captain grew quite fond of this little one.
She had a spunk to her that stunned the crew. Seemed she could raise hell just as good if
not better then those on the crew. Wasn't long before the crew started noticing their
captian had found something he loved as much as his wine. This led to the girl, who later
would become my mother, being named Wine."
Echo looks at you with a sly smile.
Echo says to you, "Well Wine of course was allowed to remain with the captian on the
ship being raised by sailors and the like. As she grew so did her spunk. Yet she always
kept her dignity and never doubted herself no matter what others thought. She grew to be
quite admired for this. Often the captain would return to Altene for extended stays in the
hopes of giving Wine a little bit more of a life. But this didn't interest her. Her love
for the sea was in her blood. So she would spend her days in Altene hanging around the
harbor docks where before long she would end up falling in love with a dashing young
pirate and set sail with him upon his ship. Their love was quite strong and before long a
new bond between them was formed. Wine was expecting. She then decided it would be best to
return to Altene to to have her child.Which of course was me."
Echo smiles at you. .
Echo continues, "Well while she was carrying me, my father chose to return back to
sea promising to return to her as soon as this next voyage ended. Well, needless to say he
never returned. Wine decided to stay in Altene with her father's support and wait for her
love's return one day. She never gave up hope. During her 15 years waiting she became
close friends with a healer and began to make a life for herself. Her beauty was so
stunning many a man would have died to claim her as their own. But she was a spirit not
easily tamed and no man could seemed to be able to lure her away from her hopes of the
return of my father."
Echo probes the wound on your thigh.
Echo says, "Well, every town has men that want their own way and will stop at nothin
to get it. A man named Seraes was such a man. He was a top raking constable. Known for his
blantent misuse of power and for getting whatever he wanted. One thing he wanted was Wine
Vinum. On many occasion he tried to bribe and convince her be with him but she would not.
She despised him from their first meet."
Echo cleans your thigh with antiseptic.
Echo sighs and continues, "This constable was also known for his shady dealings with
pirates oft' smuggling illegal goods for those who could afford it. He knew others were
getting close to catching him with his last shipment so he came up with a plan. He issued
a warrant for Captain Vinum charging him for smuggling illegal goods into Altene. He then
told Wine if she would be his mistress he would drop the charges on Captain Vinum.Wine
agreed to this as much as it was killing her. She would die to help Captian Vinum. She
owed him her life and everything in it. So she sent me to live with her healer friend in
town and moved in with Sereas."
Echo says to you, "I bet you wonder if Sereas kept his word huh?"
Echo waits for you to nod.
Echo says rather spitefully with a fire in her eyes, "ah, ya the creep kept his word,
that Da' Daeu but he also payed a group of hooded men to kill Captain Vinum in the street
upon his release.The hood that drove the knife into the Captain's back was none other then
the son of Sereas."
Echo carefully wraps a bandage around your thigh.
Echo continues, "Well Wine heard of what happened to her father and knew who was
responsible. The day had come to extract her revenge. No one would suffer at this man's
hands again. So that night while he lay in his bed expecting to take advantage of Wine he
got one hell of a surprise. Wine quickly pulled out his sturdy oak quarterstave from under
the bed and proceeded to beat him to death with it in a fit of seething rage ."
Echo gets a dark look upon her face.
Echo's eyes grow cold as she says to you. "....and as you may know killing a
constable is considered treason...punishable by death. Though many fought for her pardon
the law got it's way and my mother was hung."
Echo looks lost in her memories as she continues on.
Echo says, " I was allowed to see my mother one last time before her death for about
15 minutes. During this time she told me of how Sereas and his son had blackmailed many of
the people in Altene and had forced many prominant daughters of Altenes to become
mistresses to them and their friends. I vowed to my mother that Sereas' son would pay. I
would not let the slime live on to breed and foul the earth with his family presence no
more. That night I followed him to his favorite tavern and approached him at the bar. Not
knowing who I was and in the poor attire i was wearing he assumed I was a just another
alley wench looking for pay. I decided to play along with his game to get him alone. He
tucked a sen into my hand and took me to his home expecting to have his way."
A cold blank expression comes over Echo's face.
Echo continues as if talking to no one in particular. " Well he sat on the bed and
proceeded to undress.When he wasn't looking I reached in the sack I was carrying and
grabbed the crudely made fire-hardened fangstave i had made for this purpose. The room was
still dark at this point mind ya. I waited for him to light his lantern for I had wanted
him to know who it was that would end his spree in Altene. When he looked at me his face
turned white as if he saw a ghost. I can remember the fear in his voice as he exclaimed to
me, "you're dead! I watched you hang today! This can't be real!" I remember
looking at him the pitiful excuse of a man and cackling before I told him I was the echo
of Wine and it was his turn to pay. He actually thought I was my mother Wine. For it was
always known I was exactly like her in everyway. I attacked him with my fangstave and
there was a struggle. He managed to hit me knocking me to the floor causing me to drop the
fangstave. He laughed as he finished undoing his belt strap. I only recall his words of
"i'll have you to" and a rage grew up inside me so strong. I cursed my weakness
,flew up determined to die killing him, managed to grab my fangstave and in one quick hit
drove the fangstave through his neck driving it out the other side. "
Echo blinks as if coming back to the present,
Echo says to you, "at that point i knew i had to get out of there. The sound of his
body landing on the hard wood floor seemed to echo through the house. I remember looking
around for some way to disguise myself. On the back of the door hang a hooded cloak. I
grabbed it and swiftly threw it on pulling the hood close about my head. I ran out the
door and took cover as guards come rushing at the shouts of a servant. Not knowing at that
point for sure if he was dead I knew I could not return home. I headed to the woodlands
and kept going. Not knowing where I would end up. With only a simple knife, a few rations,
the hooded cloak and the anger I had towards myself for being so weak."
Echo sighs as she says, "that cloak is about the only thing that kept me alive.Its
warmth protected me on those wet cold nights. There were many bandits and such along the
way that would have gladly attacked someone in the shape I was in. But fortunantly no one
could tell a young frightened girl of 15 was under the hood so they didn't dare challenge
for fear someone greater then them would be wearing that hood and lead them to their
death. I never once took it off till I came to a city where I knew no one would know of me
or of the events in Altene."
Echo finishes examining you.
Echo's eyes sparkle as she smiles at you and says, "you my friend have survived
another day. Be thankful our paths were able to cross this day...be safe friend"
Echo waves to you as she heads down a hall at the toga.