Echkin of Vvardenfell

By Eis Vuur Warden, Wayward and Contract Scholar of the Ebonheart Pact Circa 2E 583

While I frown down on the open and hostile arguments of the young Phrastus of Elinhir and Lady Cinnabar Taneth, I must admit this work was inspired by them. I was reading ‘Subtropical Cyrodiil’ shortly after returning from my researches in Valenwood concerning Daedric artifacts when I was called to Vvardenfell immediately by the Great Moot.

Upon landing on the island territory of Morrowind I met with a member of House Indoril named Falos. As soon as I saw the giant bat head impaled on the spear beside him, I already knew what the problem was. Having read my book Echkin of the Wrothgarian Mountains, Falos knew what the bat creatures were and how to handle them without complaint. However, that wasn’t the reason why he requested my presence here.

“These Echkin are different Eis,” he said bluntly. “And I want to know why.”

I questioned his statement. How in the world could they be different? Falos led me to a rather large cage which housed what seemed to be a giant bat, except it was different from any Echkin I had ever seen before. With bright red eyes, a chitinous outer shell, and an ash coloring, I was taken aback by the creature.

“This is not an Echkin,” I stated firmly, but even I didn’t believe my own words. This was without a doubt a giant bat, just one of a variety never encountered before until this year.

According to Falos, his men encountered these Echkin when driving off a group of annoying cliff racers from one of their camps. As the flying beasts flew past a cave wall, a dozen giant bats flew out of the crevice and attacked them! A brutal battle for the sky soon emerged, and the Echkin emerged victorious. They beasts then turned their sights on the Dunmer below and swooped in for the kill, only to be slayed and captured by Falos and his squad.

Never before had the Dark Elves encountered giant bats on the island, not even in the ancient times when the Dwemer still walked below the ash. But being me, I had my own list of theories already developing that I soon put to the test. I stayed for seven months on Vvardenfell, studying cave systems and the giant bat specimen. The results of these observations can be found below:

The Echkin in Morrowind must have become separated by the Echkin in either High Rock or Skyrim (presumably the latter, due to its close proximity) due to some sort of incident. These migrations were probably caused by underground cavern systems being caved-in, isolating groups of the monsters from other parts of Tamriel. Eventually these Echkin traveled to Vvardenfell, where they stayed hidden in their tunnels feeding off the insects and other creatures sharing the space with them. Their open hostilities were probably the result of the cliff racers encroaching on what they seem to see as their territory, thus causing them to rise above ground to attack the Morrowind native.

(This educated guess comes from Falos’s account, where the Echkin didn’t feast on the cliff racer remains and instead preferred to kill them instead. Clearly a show of dominance between the two creatures.)

So, the question on their being in Morrowind and their recent discovery is answered. But what about their bizarre appearance compared to their northern and western cousins?

Well if I understand my Tower Lore correctly, Red Mountain (as is White-Gold, as is Crystal-Like-Law, as is Falinesti, as is the Throat of the World) is constructed on one of the joint-points of Nirn and is thus a conduit of palpable reality. These Towers are able to conform and utilize said reality by the command of its creators or current masters. Thus, it is possible for the environment of a particular province that is host to a Tower to be controlled and changed depending on the mentality of the dominant race in the region. As Lady Cinnabar put it in her book, Cyrodiil under the care of the Ayleids was a jungle and Cyrodiil under the care of the Nedes (who disposed of the Heartland Elves in the legendary Alessian Rebellion) became a temperate forestland.

What I’m composing is much more intricate and must be expanded sometime in the future (probably by myself): but what if the Towers are capable of not only changing flora, but fauna as well?

A good example for this would be Trolls. Although all of the subspecies of the monster have the same regenerative ability as well as the three eyes, they differ in both appearance and mannerism based on geographic location. In Skyrim, the Frost Troll has a white pelt and a resistance to cold, preferring to dwell in the icy mountains and caves in the province. In Cyrodiil, the Heartland Troll has a murky greenish-black pelt and is much more openly hostile, living in caves in the hills or in the plains far from civilized areas. In Valenwood, the Wood Troll has a bright greenish-brown coat to blend in with the trees, which it both lives in and also uses as a form of camouflage. By applying Tower Lore to this theory, then it is quite possible in saying that the different subspecies of Trolls are caused by the mystical properties of that region’s Tower.

So in my opinion, the Echkin of Vvardenfell originally looked like their distant brethren in the Wrothgarian Mountains before migrating here in some earlier era, presumably the First. It was here that the giant bats were caught under the influence of Red Mountain and its Chimer masters, and slowly overtime took on the appearance they have today. It could even be worth noting that the mystical change of the Chimer into the Dunmer might also have a powerful effect on Red Mountain, resulting in the surrounding flora and fauna to change to better suit the new appearance and habits of their masters. However, I would be climbing down into the realm of speculation and how I hate speculation.

Now I head back to Eastmarch, my new temporary base of operations as soon as Cyrodiil becomes safe again to visit. Perhaps I shall do a book on the Echkin of Skyrim whenever I’m ordered to or when I’m bored and have nothing else to do. Nothing says I’m finished with a research topic like completing the set of essays about it.