Echidna is an alukite and a member of the Ligeia Club. When in human form, she appears as "a cheery, tubby woman in a green-grey garment like a baggy dirndl" and goes by Mrs E, although she prefers another shape, and at the edge of the desert in Marrakech she doesn’t always bother with human form.[1] It's known by skolelkosophists that Echidna once was the Name of gods-from-stone. When assisting the Forge Apostle in their great work, Echidna is mentioned as having "taloned hands" and may be in her inhuman form.[2] She says that she is much more accommodating than her fellow Ligeians, and that while she is a woman of her word, she is also not a patient woman.[3][4]
She styles herself Mother of Monsters, and has "notorious milks" which in at least one case drew a Labhite and led to his degeneration into human(ish) form. It is important to note that her milks were not the proximate cause of this degeneration, rather, the act of consuming something that did not come from the sky. However, Echidna is still said to have corrupted him.[5] She is stated to have birthed "so many children", some of whom yet survive.[6] In fact, some of Echidna's children are "born" and others are "won". She seems to have had some success in winning over the creations of other powers to her service. Labhites seduced by her milks are one example of such "children". The Ligeian Echidna learnt those "shaping arts" in the world's dawn, and even now the Lionsmith values her skill; so every year they meet in the desert, among the furnace shadows of the Seven-Coiled temple, to share their knowledge of how monsters were made.
She owns the Biting Key, that opens the Savage Door, that "was known in an age before other gods" and apparently was employed by the gods-from-stone.[6][7] Her associated animal is a Lion. The token of her assistance is a small brass chimaera-head, resembling a lion.[6][8] Her sacrificial animal being a lion as well is possible, but given that her Key can occur only in the presence of monsters, it is possible that "lion" here is used metaphorically, as it seems to be in some other places, as shorthand for created monsters such as those made by the Lionsmith. However, the Lionsmith’s lions are also probably perfectly literal, so it’s difficult to say.[9][10]
One account of slaying of Seven-Coils states that Milk-Thief (who would ascend as the Mother of Ants) conspired with the future Chilliarch and Echidna to "unseam the Seven-Coils with feathers and drown her in salt". Later jealous Milk-Thief, once the Colonel's priestess, seduces Echidna into lending her the Hissing Key to enter the Mansus through the Savage Door, beginning her own ascent to Name and ultimately Hour.
Other Notes[]
- Her name, as well as her title of Mother of Monsters, both explicitly tie her to Echidna from Greek mythology.[11]
- She frequently refers to players by pet names, such as moppet or sweetie, and refers to herself as Auntie E.[3][12]
- She knows the Exile's Foe, Duffoure, and knew the Exile’s mother and had "high hopes" for her.[13]
- Khalvites are mentioned as creatures that drank Echidna's milks and became monsters. However, it's unclear if they are one of seduced by her milks species or the name applies to every monster that was seduced by Echidna's milks.
- She must be fed an exalted follower before she gives her aid, unless the Apostle is of the Society of St. Hydra, in which case she says "I see we both suckle serpents. As my sister likes to say: Ligeia remembers. I'll indulge you. (Did you ever wonder why it was five, not seven? Two missing Histories. Well, why only two? But we don't have time for that now. I'm not a patient woman.)"[4][14] This is generally interpreted as implying that there may be more than five Histories, or that two Histories out of a former seven are lost or missing.
- Additionally, the phrase "we both suckle serpents" may imply that Echidna has some relation to some other serpent-related entities, most probably the Seven-Coils, especially given the Seven-Coils’ apparent connections to the Histories, for instance in the Enigma, and the fact that St. Hydra probably refers to the Seven-Coils himself.[15]
- It's unknown what "used to be the Name of gods-from-stone" means. Echidna is either more like a corrupted Long now or she is still the Name who serves the Twins along with other Ligeians.
Sources[]
- ↑ Mrs E., Echidna
- ↑ The Last Pieces of the Great Work
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Petitioning Mrs E.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Someone Tasty
- ↑ Decide the Fallen Labhite's Fate, Fallen Labhite
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Phase X – Solution
- ↑ THE DAWN
- ↑ Mrs E.'s Assistance
- ↑ Lionhunter's Rifle, A Complication: #ee.devourer section
- ↑ Visit a Brazen Shrine, The Lionsmith's Least Works
- ↑ Echidna (mythology)
- ↑ 'LIGEIA REMEMBERS', Down In One, #op.echidna sections
- ↑ Intelligence, #op.echidna sections
- ↑ A Good Reason
- ↑ Phase VIII – Solution