MORE THAN A NAME
The story of Echimp.
Echimp is a floating bat spirit whose enormous ears give every small sound an audience. Across Duskfen's hollow roots and damp caves, its soft body and scalloped wings develop into the broad, attentive silhouette of Vesperveil.
Hollowbell Cavern contains a chamber where a dropped pebble seems to answer from the wrong direction. Early pathfinders marked that place as unsafe until they noticed Echimp returning to it with patient regularity. The spirits were listening to a buried stream, not an empty trick of the walls. Following their pauses revealed a dry passage that remained usable when the lower cave flooded after heavy rain.
Duskfen guides now teach travelers to leave silence after a call. A Veilbat uses that pause to sort the returning sounds and choose its next roost. The oldest story tells of a Vesperveil that refused to leave the cave entrance until a missing Wickip reappeared with a group of lost walkers. Its Echo Veil was remembered less as a spectacle than as the moment every footstep finally seemed to belong somewhere.
Origins & background
Despite its batlike outline, Echimp belongs to the Spirits family. Its ears are soft, elongated structures that tilt independently, and its wing membranes develop scalloped edges around strong curved fingers. No shed bones have been found beneath its roosts. Residents instead recognize a settled colony by neat hanging marks in moss and an unusual absence of jumbled echoes.
A PLACE TO BELONG
Life in Duskfen.
Echo caves and hollow night groves.
Behavior
Echimp turns toward quiet recurring sounds and avoids chambers filled with clattering metal. Veilbat circles beneath a new roost before settling its paws. Mature Vesperveil chooses a hanging or floating resting posture, carefully keeping its sensitive ears clear of neighboring wings and dripping roots.
Diet
It takes small night insects and drinks moisture from cave moss. Captive feeding observations suggest a preference for quiet feeding places over any especially rare ingredient.
Place in the ecosystem
The line connects cave and nightwood food webs by following insects between entrances and hollow roots. Its repeated roost checks also draw attention to changing underground water routes before surface travelers notice the shift.
Neighbors & bonds
Velvowl shares some of its hollow cedar trees without sharing its hanging roosts. Wickip is a frequent traveling neighbor; its steady lantern gives a Veilbat a familiar point around which to sort unfamiliar footsteps.
ONE BOND, FOUR CHAPTERS
The Echimp lineage.
Evolution combines experience with a meaningful milestone. A WildKin may keep its current form until its keeper is ready.
Echimp ↗
Echimp floats below its enormous soft ears, with small scalloped wings and hanging paws tucked close to its round body. A pale muzzle makes its face easy to find, even when the rest of the spirit blends into a dark hollow.
Veilbat Current
Veilbat's wing fingers lengthen and the membranes between them spread into deeper curves. Its ears lean outward more confidently, and it begins choosing listening positions that cover separate passages rather than remaining beneath the nearest convenient root or branch.
Gloomwing ↗
Gloomwing grows swept temple hooks and a broader membrane span as Gale joins Shade. Its wing thumbs become more prominent during turns. It learns to separate the sounds of a moving group, keeping its body clear of crowded cave walls.
Vesperveil ↗
Vesperveil combines wide scalloped wings with tall listening ears and a curling tail held behind its paws. Its face stays gentle despite the dramatic span. It becomes a reliable keeper of familiar passages, checking each entrance before resting near its bonded companion.
INSTINCT & ELEMENT
How it holds its own.
Listening Wings
An enemy moving nearby reveals its position for a short time.
Echo Veil
ShadeAn echoing veil marks moving enemies and briefly disrupts their targeting.
A WildKin equips up to four moves. Its secondary element joins at Prime, alongside its signature move. Read the battle and evolution rules →
FROM THE KEEPER’S NOTEBOOK
Meeting in the wild.
- 01
Pause after making a small sound and watch which passage the ears turn toward.
- 02
Keep jangling equipment still when approaching a known roost.
- 03
Find the dry listening passage rather than chasing echoes into flooded chambers.
“I whispered that I could hear nothing. The Echimp turned both ears toward me, evidently considering this an interesting description of my own limitations that evening.”— Hearthwild field notes