Echo Lakatos

Echo Lakatos was the mother of Holynn and the wife of Casper Ash. She was born as an Arylian citizen, but lived the majority of her life in the city of Dai'kober. She committed suicide during her enslavement to Strom.

Origins
During her youth, Echo enjoyed exploring the mountains north of Arylia. During one of her longer hikes, she came across a young elf, also wandering the mountains. His name was Alistair, and the two soon developed a close bond, meeting each other every few weeks to simply to talk and admire their surroundings. Alistair soon began to express his interest in pursuing a romantic relationship, but Echo insisted on remaining friends. Being the zealous young man that he was, Alistair searched for a magical solution to his dilemma. What he found was a forbidden curse, which claimed to "sow seeds of true love, should that love prove pure."

The next time Alistair saw Echo, he cast the arcane magic upon his object of affection. Unfortunately, the curse existed as a cruel trap, and was designed always to recoil, for one truly in love would not require the use of such a spell. Alistair comprehended what he'd done almost instantly, and ran from Echo, never to see her again. Echo, at a loss, simply returned home, unaware of the ill-effects the curse had wrought. However, when she arrived in her village, she was turned away, and informed that a dark essence hung around her. She was given the choice of exile or death. Shocked, Echo burst into a fury, pressing for more information, but was only told that she was a threat to the community. She was permitted to collect some belongings before she was forced into the wilderness.

Exile
Echo wandered aimlessly, confused and upset. She did not know where to go or what to do. Mostly though, she was scared. The curse had yet to rear its head, and she feared its power. Furthermore, the paths she now traversed, unlike the mountains to which she was accustomed, were home to dangerous creatures and nomads. Surprisingly, the first thing she encountered was a friendly band of travellers. They invited her to camp with them for the night, sharing both food and legend with the young elf. Echo slept soundly that night. In the morning, she awoke to a quiet atmosphere. She had expected the travellers to have been packing up, preparing to move onward. She entered the tent of one man, and gently tried to rouse him, but to no avail. She tried to stir some of the other members, but none of them awoke. They were dead.

Echo ran, farther and longer than she had ever run before. She tried to blink back the tears, but they inevitably began to stream down her cheeks. Eventually, Echo ran herself into exhaustion and collapsed. She was recovered by another group of travellers, and they too died in their sleep. Echo's life became a continuous nightmare of death. People who discovered the bodies spread rumors, but they were nothing more than tall tales. Echo relaized that the curse reacted to acts of kindness, and so she avoided accepting anything from anyone. She would ultimately tire herself out, and was always saved against her will. However, there were many aspects of the curse that remained a mystery to Echo, though she would eventually discover them.

It was a chaotic lesson of love. As Alistair's motives were selfish, the curse stripped him of all magical ability. He was banished from his village, leading him to drift purposelessly across Edvensfall. Echo was condemned also to a life of wandering. However, should she find someone who could offer the honest love that Alistair could not, Echo's side of the spell would be reversed. The spell was like a parasite, which would provide Echo, its host, with a small bit of protection until she found a person from which it could truly thrive. It was, of course, riddled with ill-effects, namely the deaths of those whose offers of love were not adequate enough to satiate the curse.

Dai'kober
After a year of travelling, Echo drifted into Raeslyn. She hoped that she had finally reached an uninhabited region where she could no longer harm innocent lives. But, as she traversed the outskirts of North Raeslyn, she was spotted by a young man. Echo had not anticipated the presence of another person and instinctively ran. The young man chased after her though, catching up to her. He introduced himself as Casper Ash and offered her a place in Dai'kober to rest for the night. Echo reproached Casper, informing him that he would die for his kindness. She also refused to endanger a city's worth of innocent lives. Nonetheless, Casper insisted on a proper place to rest, and brought her to a makeshift shelter where he liked to meditate.

The next day, Casper was still alive. Though she was happy, Echo was shocked and began to question everything she thought she had known about her curse. She gradually accepted the idea that the curse was gone. She moved to Dai'kober and eventually fell in love with Casper. They married and had a son, Holynn. Echo lived twenty happy years in Dai'kober with her family.

Capture
Echo was one of Strom's motivations for carrying out the Dai'kober Raid. Prince Daelin conducted an interrogation between Echo and Casper. Echo finally learned the full scope of her curse, as Prince Daelin relayed what Alistair had told him. Her husband had been the antidote, but should he die, the curse would again take effect. Casper was slain beside Echo.

Death
Echo was dispatched into a small town as a trial run, to test her abilities. Accompanied by two Strom soldiers, she was ordered to go to shoppes and eateries, where warm and welcome environments were commonplace. Her entire world had fallen apart, and it was all she could do not to cry. But she remained resilient so that when a chance to escape came, she would have the element of surprise. Echo got her chance, seizing a dagger from one of the soldiers, and driving it into her heart. Reportedly, her last words were, "I'm sorry, Holynn. You will have to bear this now."