Echo
| n Echo (No tile) | |
|---|---|
| Difficulty | 24 |
| Attacks | |
| Base level | 20 |
| Base experience | 661 |
| Speed | 12 |
| Base AC | 2 |
| Base MR | 50 |
| Alignment | -15 (chaotic) |
| Frequency (by normal means) | 0 (Not randomly generated) |
| Genocidable | No |
| Weight | 1200 |
| Nutritional value | 300 |
| Size | medium |
| Resistances | poison resistance, petrification resistance |
| Resistances conveyed | poison resistance, petrification resistance |
|
Echo:
| |
Echo, n, is a deferred monster that appears in the data of dNetHack, notdNetHack and notnotdNetHack. She is a unique and omnivorous nymph that is strong, amphibious, can teleport randomly while moving, and is capable of flight, swimming and phasing. All 8 points of Echo's AC are in the natural category.
Echo and Synaisthesia were planned to be part of a third "challenge level" that could generate in the main dungeon on the same floor as Medusa's Island and the Grue's Cavern—both monsters are ultimately deferred due to problems with solidifying the level's design and translating the intended gimmick.
Echo has a weapon attack, a claw attack that can steal items and a second claw attack that can initiate seduction and allows her to steal even more items. She possesses poison resistance and stoning resistance.
Generation
Echo is not generated at all in a normal game: she is coded to always generate hostile, and is not a valid form for polymorph.
Origin
In Greek mythology, Echo (from ἦχος (ēchos), "sound") was an Oread who resided on Mount Cithaeron. According to a tale originating in Ovid's Metamorphoses, Zeus (or the Latin Jupiter) loved consorting with beautiful nymphs and often visited them on Earth. Eventually, Zeus's wife Hera (or the Latin Juno) became suspicious, and came from Mount Olympus in an attempt to catch Zeus with the nymphs. One nymph in particular, Echo, proved diligent and had been ordered to protect Zeus, doing so by distracting her with lengthy conversations. Hera eventually realized what Echo was doing, and cursed the loquacious nymph so that she could only repeat the last words spoken by another person.
Later on, Echo would encounter a young man named Narcissus while he was out hunting deer with his companions, and immediately fell in love with him, following him quietly. During the hunt, Narcissus was separated from his companions, called out "is anyone there" and heard the nymph repeat his words. Startled, Narcissus answered the voice, ‘come here,’ only to be told the same. When Narcissus saw that nobody had emerged from the glade, he concluded that the speaker was running away from him and called out again, finally shouting "This way, we must come together." Taking this to be a reciprocation of her love, Echo concurred ecstatically, "We must come together!" However, when Echo rushed to Narcissus, ready to throw her arms around her beloved, Narcissus spurned her and declared that he would rather die than let her enjoy his body. Though she fled after being scorned, humiliated and shamed, Echo's love for Narcissus only grew.
Unbeknownst to Echo, Narcissus had been cursed by Nemesis, the goddess of revenge who proclaimed that Narcissus would never be able to be loved by the one he fell in love with—this curse was in response to the pleas of a young man, Ameinias, who had fallen for Narcissus but was ignored, and cursed him before dying by suicide. Similarly, when Narcissus's mother inquired with the prophet Tiresias regarding her son's future, Tiresias proclaimed that he would live a long life only if he never "came to know himself". Both premonitions would come true simultaneously: when Narcissus leaned down to drink from a pool of water, he was entranced by the beautiful being he saw and fell deeply in love with them, not realizing it was his own reflection. Echo could only watch as Narcissus wasted away before his own reflection, either becoming a narcissus flower or transforming into one after dying—Echo herself would waste away as well, leaving only the sound of her voice.
