Echo Wine

Historical Basis

The myth of Echo Wine likely originates from pre-Fall attempts to preserve heritage wines from old world vineyards that were thought to hold curative or spiritual qualities. Records from the last decades before the Fall mention “memory vintages,” wines distilled from rare, ancient grape cultivars grown in estates now reduced to ruins. Some survivors found partially preserved casks in the wreckage of a noble estate near what is now Camp Hope. Though the wine itself was never tested or consumed widely—most samples spoiled or became toxic—the story of a mystical wine that could connect drinkers to memories was passed down by early settlers and religious figures. Subtle chemical properties of the ruined vineyards’ soil, contaminated by unique mineral deposits and organic decay, may cause mild hallucinogenic effects in fermented fruit, providing a faint scientific basis for the myth.

The earliest known written account dates to roughly 35 SE, about 22 years after Camp Hope was established. This was during the era when early settlers were beginning to collect fragments of pre-Fall knowledge and oral traditions to preserve what little history remained. The myth appears in a tattered manuscript titled Whispers from the Vine — a compilation of folk tales, survivor accounts, and fragments of pre-Fall alchemical texts discovered in the ruins of a nearby noble estate.

The text describes the mysterious vineyards and the strange sensory effects attributed to the wine made from the old grapes, emphasizing its ability to “reach into the souls of the lost.” Scholars debate whether this early manuscript was meant as allegory or based on real experiences, but it became the foundation for all later references to Echo Wine.

The events the Echo Wine myth describes are said to have occurred shortly before and during the Fall, roughly between 0 SE and 10 SE.

This was the final decade before and during the collapse of civilization, when the old world vineyards still thrived but were already beginning to be abandoned or ruined. According to legend, the wine was crafted from the last harvests, as people desperately sought remedies or spiritual solace amid the growing chaos. The “tears of the lost” watering the grapes symbolize the immense suffering and loss experienced during this era.

By the time Camp Hope was founded in 13 SE, the vineyards were mostly overgrown or destroyed, and the wine itself became a fading memory—preserved only in stories and myths passed down by survivors and their descendants.

They say a glass of Echo Wine doesn’t just carry flavor—it carries remembrance. Every sip is a communion with those who vanished, every vine a root tangled in memory, every bottle a whispered elegy sealed in glass.

Cultural Reception

The Church of Hope views Echo Wine as a dangerous, blasphemous relic of the pre-Fall world—something that tempts mortals to defy divine will by seeking forbidden knowledge. The Doctors see it as an intriguing but hazardous artifact to be researched for clues about the past and possible medical benefits or neurological effects. The Farmers Guild regards it as a strange superstition with little relevance to their daily lives, while the Solstice Syndicate exploits the myth to sell bootlegged batches as an illicit narcotic with mysterious side effects. Among “Others” and the Awakened, Echo Wine sometimes takes on a cult-like status as a symbol of transcendence, a bridge between human and corrupted existence.

Across Camp Hope, Echo Wine appears in sculpture, relief, and illuminated manuscripts, always as a threshold between the present and what has been lost. The glass is sometimes painted glowing softly in a dark room, as if lit from within by voices; other times it’s shown shattered, with spilled wine forming ghostlike silhouettes. In every piece, the wine becomes more than a beverage—it is depicted as a medium through which the dead still speak, the past still ripples, and the soul, for a moment, is made audible.