(2026-01-09) Echoes of Dire Maul - Warpwood Quarter

Details

Author:	Alli
Summary:	Gabriella, Haoyu, Mayellen, Miralynn and Stelianna are matched together in their first turn in the Kirin Tor's recently-launched illusion-based combat training facility. They chase an imp and fight trees and demons together, learning each other's strengths. ~4300 words.
Rating:	T for Teen

Chain: ECHO

It is time for an ECHO session! Five participants begin to materialize at the entrance of the Warpwood Quarter of Dire Maul, or at least a memory-reconstructed illusion of it.

"Oh!" Mayellen blinks. "Hello everyone."

"Hallo." Haoyu pinches his arm to test the feels-realiness of the illusion.

Stelianna looks around, gawking, and then yelps when Mayellen and Haoyu speak. "Hello! Hi!"

"Well met," Miralynn acknowledges, but her eyes are carefully taking in their surroundings.

"This is somebody's memory," Stelianna enthuses. "Isn't that amazing?"

An older woman manifests, along with an old dog. "Hm…that was efficient."

[Mayellen]: "I'm Mayellen Hazan, if there are to be introductions. Private Investigator with Apex Investigations in Stormwind, and also a warlock. My husband is the nephew of Lady Ference - for those of you familiar with Cobalt Company. Fair warning… I have not done any combat at all in over a year. I have a baby, you see."
"If any of you find my demon unsettling," she continues, "I can switch to a smaller one. But that one… talks occasionally." She makes a face.

Haoyu leaps at Bheemon, trying to hold his jaws shut. "Wait, this is yours?!"

"One of the Cobalt Hazans," Stelianna nods at Mayellen with a smile. "I'm a paladin. Um, Stelianna Thorne."

Bheemon gazes at Haoyu in annoyed confusion. "Bheemon," says Mayellen. "Stay. Um, sorry… Haoyu I assume? That's my er… battle assistant."

Haoyu looks like he was ready to throw Bheemon into tomorrow. He gently sets Bheemon down and backs up. "Oh."
[Haoyu]: "Sorry, It had a lot of spines. I didn't know. I'm Haoyu."

Mayellen laughs. "Understandable reaction, sorry."
Mayellen curtsies.

Stelianna stares openly at Haoyu. "You're a pandaren." He probably knows that. "That's amazing."

Mayellen laughs good-naturedly at Stelianna. "I had deduced that, from the name. Such a melodic language."

"…What is?" Haoyu looks at his hands, then at Stelianna.

"You are," Stelianna says with a smile, and then looks over at Miralynn and Gabriella.

"I'm assuming…" Mayellen eyes her. "…Stelianna has not met many pandaren before."

Gabriella gives a small nod. "Congratulations on your baby. And…perhaps the less talkative demon will be fine. I am Gabriella Thorne, Gilneas Special Investigation Branch and Gravehowl Pack."
*Cheddar whuffs suspiciously at Bheemon.*

[Haoyu]: "Oh. I'm normal. Can I pet your dog?"

Stelianna looks at Gabriella curiously.

Gabriella looks up at Haoyu. "If you wish. I would not expect much of a reaction. He is on duty."

[Haoyu]:"Oh. I will pet him after the illusion then?"

"Oh a worgen!" Mayellen says delightedly. "My husband is a worgan. Jonas Hazan, of Silverpine."

Gabriella nods plainly to Mayellan. "Yes. I am a worgen. Don't be alarmed when I transform." She directs the latter toward those *not* married to a doggo person.

"We have a well-rounded group then," Miralynn comments. "Good."

"My dad was from that region, originally," Stella says absently, and then looks over to nod to Miralynn.

"And you must be Miralynn Ebek." Mayellen mispronounces the last name slightly. "What is a mistweaver exactly?"

"It is a specialization of the monk discipline, taught by pandaren," Miralynn says.

"Anwyay, I won't be alarmed, I did a lot of stuff with worgen before," Stelianna says with a nod. "Gravehowl ones, even."

"A wonderful group!" Mayellen concludes. "We all have things in common. I'm ready when you are."

"Is that big tree a nature spirit?" Haoyu looks at the Ancient they can see from around the corner.

Mayellen looks to Haoyu and smiles.

"A nature spirit? I suppose, in a manner of speaking, that is true," Gabriella says.

Haoyu bows politely to the Ancient.

Mayellen pauses to speak briefly to the illusory ogre for their objectives.

"I think… this tree is friendly?" Stella peers at the Ancient.

[Mayellen]: "So this is… Eldre'thalas? Oh goodness, the tree has more objectives for us…"

"They must have done a lot of work in here," Stelianna observes.

*Gabriella listens carefully to the objectives as they are explained, making a mental list. She likes lists.*

Mayellen uses a cane lightly as she walks, but her walking pace is brisk.

Stelianna glances back to Mayellen, "Is Eldre’thalas the elvish word for it? I heard this was an elvish place once."

[Mayellen]: "Strange… that imp doesn't look hostile."

"Take care," Miralynn alerts, pointing to a patrolling… less friendly tree.

"Wow, okay… there's a lot of hostiles in here," Stelianna looks around. "I'm supposed to take point, they said. Is everybody ready to explore this place?"

Mayellen takes in the detail of the simulation, looking deeply impressed.

[Haoyu]: "Okay. Don't worry, I'll back you up."

[Mayellen]: "I'm ready! But like I said… I'm … I'm here because I need training. So… apologies in advance."

"Explore, yes, but do not forget our purpose here," Miralynn says. "Treat this as though your very life is on the line."

Mayellen nods to Miralynn.

Haoyu looks at Mayellen. "If you start feeling tired you can sit on my shoulder if you want. My friend does that sometimes."

"You don't need to apologize, dear," Gabriella says. "Training is the point of this place. I need to knock some rust off, myself."

As they approach the imp, it cackles, "If you want the key, you'll have to catch me!" and zooms off.

"Oh… there he runs off…" Stelianna looks after the direction the imp ran.

"This is so realistic!" Mayellen says approvingly.

*Gabby grits her teeth and transforms!*

"Alright then," Stelianna takes a breath. "Let's cut down some memory trees."

[Mayellen]: "May I store your soul, Miralynn? For practice?"

"Do as you would in an active combat situation," Miralynn says with a nod.

Mayellen accurately and carefully uses the soulstone to protect Miralynn's soul for safekeeping.

Haoyu flings himself at the hostile treants, snapping off limb-branches and beating them with their own arms.

Miralynn joins the combat directly, something not typical of a healer, using her own physical prowess against their enemies. A green mist-like energy flows between her companions.

May is slightly distracted by her fascination with Miralynn's techniques.

"Is it safe to be in the green stuff?" Stella asks Miralynn.

"That green stuff is good," Haoyu answers. "The green stuff that these plants make is bad."

"It is a rejuvenating mist," Miralynn answers. "A product of chi flowing from the body. In short, it will heal you."

Haoyu nod nods.

"Fascinating!" Mayellen says.

Gabriella places a clawed hand on May's shoulder, murmuring in a gravelly voice, "Stay focused, girl. Treat this as if the danger is real."

"Like healthy plants!" Stella says. “And then poison plants.”

"This is fun so far," Mayellen observes. "Bit like riding a horse. It's coming back to me."

"Yeah, I feel like a real paladin," Stella says, and then follows with, "Um, I mean I am one."

Miralynn eyes Stelianna.

They catch up to where the imp waits.

"I hold the key to lands of free! Chase me and you'll see!" cackles Pusillin the imp.

Haoyu dives at the imp, flattening him to the ground. The imp phase-shifts and flees.

[Mayellen]: "That's a nice addition, the mischievous imp. I wonder if he's based on a real one."

"…I thought I caught him," Haoyu says, confused.

Mayellen laughs. "They do that. It's called a phase shift."

"At least we don't have to be afraid of him, he's like a memory imp," Stelianna says, staring after him. "You almost had him. Maybe you couldn't, because they didn't before?"

[Mayellen]: "He's built to act like a real imp - they can shift out of this reality briefly, so you can't easily see or grasp them."
"Haoyu you are so fast and quiet, it's quite amazing," Mayellen observes.

Haoyu blinks at her. "I'm normal speed."

"But for your size… never mind." Mayellen flushes a little.

"Oh. Thank you for the compliment," Haoyu says belatedly.

Mayellen smiles. "Humans of your size would tend to be a bit slower, make more noise when they moved. So I was surprised, is all."

"Mind the poisonous plants," Miralynn cautions.

"Bad green," Stelianna nods.

Haoyu scales up the bodies of the massive corrupted ancients to rip off sections of rotted bark.

"Some of my green is bad too," Mayellen says with a wry smile.

"I once tracked down a cat burglar who weighed 300 lbs and somehow managed to squeeze himself down chimneys," Gabriella comments. "To this day I've no idea how he did it."

"You hold your breath or you take some bricks out," Haoyu guesses.

Mayellen laughs and nods. "Skill is a wonderful thing."

"Oh yeah, the fel green," Stelianna nods to Mayellen, and then gapes at Gabriella's story.

They catch up to the imp yet again.

"Still alive? You do surprise. Watch me as I flee!" chortles the imp, and… flees.

Stelianna tries to throw a shield at the imp, but it clatters on the ground. "No fair. I had him, I was sure of it."

"He makes it feel even more like a game," May observes with a smile.

[Mayellen]: "So is it true, Stelianna, does it really hurt when they hit you?"

Haoyu fetches Stelianna's shield and brings it back to her.

Mayellen smiles at Haoyu.

Stelianna smiles at Haoyu and takes the shield back. "Thanks. You're a lot more graceful than I am. And yeah, not quite like reality, but it feels really real."

"Thank you," Haoyu says politely, but he still seems a little confused.

"Have you trained a lot, Haoyu, or is that grace natural?" May inquires.

Stelianna clomps on after the imp. She is not particularly graceful, indeed. She trips over a tree root and stumbles a few steps.

"I am the clumsiest of us," May says without any sign of self recrimination. "Luckily I don't have to do much, physically, other than keep up."

"We had a lot of training in school," Haoyu says.

May nods at him.

"It's good that you're focused on training," Gabby says to May. "Our bodies all fail us eventually. But these are not insurmountable obstacles."

Mayellen gives Gabriella a warm smile.
[Mayellen]: "Miralynn, you seem experienced. You must have studied martial arts before the Pandaren joined the Alliance."

The team catches up with the imp yet again.

"Turn that frown upside down!" the imp shouts.

Mayellen briefly glares at the imp.

"I have. Training in various forms of combat has been my life's work," Miralynn says. "I train others as well."

Stelianna smiles at Miralynn, "We're lucky to have you with us, then!"

The imp flees again.

"I think it ran upstairs," Stelianna says. "We've got it cornered now."

[Mayellen]: "By the way… those runes some of these demons hold… just leave them. They'd only be useful for casters, and they'd hurt you if you tried to use them. They're basically handheld forms of the "Life Tap" spell warlocks learn, from what I can tell."

Haoyu jumps at a satyr from behind, grabbing onto its horns as handholds, and kicks it in the back of the head.

Mayellen watches in astonishment!

"It is useful to have the knowledge of a warlock in a place such as this," Miralynn says.

Mayellen looks pleased.

Stelianna nods. "Yeah, with all the demons around.”

[Mayellen]: "Speaking of which, there he is again, the imp."

[Stelianna]: Is it gonna fight when we corner it?

[Mayellen]: "Let's find out."

"Something feels off," Miralynn warns.

"Be ready…" Mayellen sobers and prepares herself.

"This is the end of the line, no friends of mine!" the imp taunts, and then summons a bunch of other imps.

Haoyu snatches one of the summoned imps and swings it around like a maul.

Light erupts under Stelianna's feet as she smashes her shield into the imps.

"Aha! Finally, one of our objectives!" Mayellen says when the battle is done, pointing to a dropped tome.

"Hm. An ambush." Miralynn brushes off her knuckles once the fight is over.

"That was exciting," Mayellen says calmly.

Gabriella sniffs at the dead imps and recoils. "Ugh, they smell so real. Wonderful."

"We so called that ambush though, right?" Stelianna grins.

Mayellen nods at Stelianna and gives her a little wink.

Stelianna winks back.

"Is it still an ambush if you knew it would happen?" Haoyu asks Miralynn. "Or is it just a bad one."

"It was an attempt, at least," Miralynn answers.

"Do you have super smell, since you're a worgen?" Stelianna asks Gabriella curiously.

Mayellen nods, though she wasn't asked.

Gabriella nods. "Yes. I have 'super' smell."

[Mayellen]: "It was one of the first things I noticed about Jonas, before I even knew he was a worgen, that I found odd."

"That's really cool," Stella says. "Though also maybe annoying, when stuff stinks."

"It has its uses," Gabriella agrees. "And its downsides."

"In fact, Jonas's sense of smell saved my life," Mayellen says proudly.

"Were you in a fire?" Haoyu guesses. Wrong.

Stelianna brightens, sensing a story there. "What happened? Did a double try to replace you?"

"I was poisoned," Mayellen says. "I appeared to just be sick, but he could smell it, so he got me help quickly."

[Haoyu]: "Ohhh."

"Good man," Gabby nods firmly.

[Mayellen]: "It's why I'm slow and clumsy. Nerve damage. But I would have died, and quickly."

"Tell us if we're going too fast," Haoyu says, looking back at Mayellen.

Mayellen smiles. "Oh believe me, I'm not one to suffer silently. Thank you."

"I'm glad you're here with us," Stella nods. "Thanks to a super smelling worgen. And oh, yeah. I get excited but I can slow down if we need."

"So far so good!" Mayellen says proudly.

"Normally I like breaks," Haoyu says, "but the illusion is different."

"I'm not sure if snacks would taste good in here," Stella considers. "Or if they'd taste like the memory of snacks."

"Feeling confident enough to try rain of fire soon," Mayellen says. "Try not to be alarmed if fire falls from the sky. Won't hurt you."

"Okay," Haoyu says.

"I appreciate the communication," Miralynn says.

"Fire… also good," Stella nods.

"I suppose there are no warlocks in Pandaria?" May asks Haoyu.

"I don't really know," Haoyu says. "I've never been to Pandaria. I'm from a place called the Wandering Isle. We didn't have any warlocks there."

"Oh, my mistake!" says Mayellen. "You know what they say about assumptions…"

[Haoyu]: "…I don't know. What do they say?"

[Mayellen]: "Oh, it's a joke in Common. When you 'assume,' you make an 'ass' out of 'u' and 'me.' Because of how it's spelled. I'll show you later."

Stella laughs as they fight the next group of plants, which are trapped between rising Light and falling fire.

"Oh." Haoyu nods.

"Have you been to Pandaria, Miralynn?" May asks.

"No," Miralynn answers. "But my son is serving there."

"Oh, you must be so proud!" Mayellen says with a smile. "Will be a bit before my daughter is serving anywhere… she's nine months old."

Miralynn nods. If she is proud, it's hard to tell.

"Oh, I wouldn't have guessed you were that old!" Stelianna says brightly, and then blushes. "I mean, that is, I meant you look young, but… um…"

Mayellen covers a smile.

"Be at ease," Miralynn says. "I make efforts to keep myself fit and healthy. If you have mistaken that for youth, so much the better."

Stelianna smiles gratefully at Miralynn. "Sometimes I say things before I think them through."

"I can relate," says Mayellen. "Though I'm getting better about it."

"Maybe I will one day," Stella says with a sheepish grin. "I suppose there's time. And really I've heard enough lectures about speaking with intention, so at some point they'll have to sink in."

"Your paladin trainers I assume?" Mayellen says sympathetically.

Haoyu seems to have a good sense for where the stealthed satyrs are, moving to intercept them before they can reach the back line.

"Yeah," Stelianna says, ducking her head. "They're really very encouraging about other things. And anyway, they could tell I really wanted to serve the Light."

As warned, Mayellen has been a bit slow and/or conservative with her spell use thus far, as though she's just brushing off the cobwebs from her training.

Haoyu uppercuts a satyr in the jaw as it begins to cast a rain of fire. "Stoppit."

Mayellen giggles.

"That satyr was trying to copy you!" Stella says.

[Mayellen]: "Yes, those hurt when they're not mine."

Haoyu bows politely to the water elemental. "Hallo," he says to what he imagines is probably a friendly water spirit.

Hydrospawn is not a friendly water spirit.

"That one seems agitated," Mayellen warns.

"Haoyu, be careful," Gabby warns.

"Oh… Uh Oh…" Stella says. "I think we have to fight him."

[Mayellen]: "I think the fel influence has gotten to it."

Haoyu yelps as he's blasted with a jet of water. He jumps to a rock, unwilling to wade into the pool.

Stelianna wades out into the water, swinging her weapon.

The water elemental falls.

"There's a little passageway here," Stelianna says. "I think it might be the way."

"Oh, it led to a satyr," Stelianna sighs. "Another satyr. This one seems like a big honcho type guy, altar and skulls and things," Stelianna peers at him.

"An objective!" Mayellen says with satisfaction. She, like Gabriella, seems to enjoy checking things off lists.

"Everyone ready?" Stella looks around.

"Okay," Haoyu says, and approaches with the same lack of fear he's had all day.

[Mayellen]: "Ready!"

Gabriella reloads her gun and nods with a growly grunt.

Miralynn nods.

Stelianna charges into the satyr without hesitation, her weapon raised.

Haoyu snatches the satyr's tail and knots it around the satyr's legs. Get tangled, you jerk.

Mayellen's demon charges in too, tentacles quivering, while she stays back, casting curses and other afflictions.

The satyr unleashes a spell and Miralynn is teleported onto the altar, fel chains wrapped firmly around her as her life force is leached away. The green mist stops healing the party.

Haoyu rushes to Miralynn's side and goes, "Uhhhh." He pulls at a chain.

"What? No… this isn't supposed to…" Stella splits attention, tossing healing Light towards Miralynn.

Mayellen is so focused on her casting she doesn't even notice!

Gabriella snarls and levels her aim at one of the chains, firing off several shots in the hope of weakening or breaking it.

"Focus… the satyr…" Miralynn growls through gritted teeth.

"Kill the satyr?" Stella says, and it sounds more like a question than an order. "Maybe the chains will break if we kill it, yes!"

Mayellen belatedly sees what's going on, and stays calm, keeping her focus on the satyr.

Haoyu nods and kicks off the altar, pulling his limbs close to his body as he launches himself at the satyr like an angry cannonball.

Stelianna attacks the satyr with extra judgment this time.

Seeing the chain is unharmed, Gabby turns her rifle back on the satyr, taking her time with precision shots to try to end him quickly.

"They weren't kidding when they say they try to make these genuinely scary and uncomfortable," Mayellen says calmly as she hurls a shadow bolt.

Haoyu grabs the satyr's horns from behind and hangs off of them with his full body weight.

The chains release, and Miralynn rolls off the altar, a bit dazed. She returns to the fight as soon as possible, the green mist once again enveloping her team with soothing energy.

Stelianna breathes a sigh of relief, and goes all in for ending the memory of a satyr.

Mayellen lets out a breath of relief as it falls. The satyr did not have time to imprison anyone else.

"That one certainly had some realistically nasty tricks up his sleeve," May comments.

Haoyu goes to check on Miralynn.

"You all right, Miralynn?" May asks from a distance.

"Clever, too, grabbing our healer," Stelianna nods. "Was the pain realistic for you?"

"I have to hand it to the designers on the realism of this place," Gabby mutters.

"I am well enough," Miralynn says, brushing herself off. "And yes, though I imagine it was much worse for the original team."

"I suppose pain comes from the mind, so it is easy to fool yourself into feeling it," May muses. "If only it worked the other way around…"

"That would be something," Stelianna nods.

"Some masters can do that," Haoyu says. "Ignore pain."

"Really?" Mayellen's attention swivels toward Haoyu. "I might have to look into that."

Haoyu nod nods.

"Oh, even I can smell this area," Mayellen says. "Smells like a forest."

Stelianna takes a deep breath. "It does, doesn't it!"

Mayellen sets some hostile trees on fire with raining mini-meteors.

Haoyu approaches an ancient that does not look corrupted and bows politely.

"Thank you, mortals. There is but one service that I may offer to you before I return to the Dream. I shall open the door at your command," says the Ancient.

Mayellen smiles at him.

"We should probably clear out the bad things in the forest," Stelianna says. "I bet the Ancient would appreciate it."

"I love how respectful you are, Haoyu," Mayellen says. "Humans have a tendency to just assume everything is beneath them. It's unfortunate."

Haoyu blinks. "Humans don't learn manners?"

"We really don't," Mayellen says wryly.

Stelianna belatedly bows super low to the Ancient. She wasn't assuming, honest!

[Mayellen]: "It's a good thing the Alliance has introduced us to people like the kaldorei and pandaren. Humans are a lot like children, in some ways. I mean culturally. Not as individuals, necessarily."

Even though nobody tells the Ancient to open the door, he turns and goes to open the door anyway. Maybe it's programmed into the illusion.

"Humans are, unfortunately, less connected to nature than many other peoples," Gabriella explains.

Mayellen nods. "I grew up on a farm, so I have a bit more appreciation than city folk."

"Oh, yeah, I grew up in farmland too," Stelianna says, looking around the remaining hostiles. "And my mom's an herbalist, so…"

"Nice," says Mayellen. "Like my Aunt Niris."

[Mayellen]: “Aunt Niris writes articles and things about plants, all the time. Gets in fights with other herbalists. It's funny."

"Oh, wow!" Stelianna says. "I wonder if she ever got in a fight with my mom! Probably not, I don't think my mom writes articles. Then again, have I ever asked her if she writes articles…?" Stella ponders.

[Mayellen]: "Arguments, I suppose I should say, not fights. Given our context. She doesn't melt their brains with shadow magic or anything, though she could."
Mayellen is, by the way, very conspicuously wearing Cobalt Company colors and logo on both sides of her body.

Stelianna's eyes widen a little. "She must take herbs very seriously."

"Oh she really does," Mayellen laughs.

Haoyu rips a man-eating plant apart.

"Never call Khadgar's Whisker Khadgar's Whisker around her, for example," Mayellen warns.

Haoyu nods obliviously. He knows nothing about local plants.

"It's shadewhisker only," May clarifies.

[Haoyu]: "Okay."

Stelianna giggles.

"She gets so angry when they name plants after people. I'm not sure if it's on behalf of the plants, or the people, or both." Mayellen laughs.

"Ah, shadewhisker. I recall that name from my youth," Miralynn says.

"If she favors the plants, maybe she thinks it's an insult to a perfectly good plant," Stella considers. "Though, you know, Khadgar… he's pretty cool."

[Mayellen]: "The whisker bit is a bit cruel though. Do you know how he got his gray whiskers?"

"Getting old?" Haoyu guesses. "You lose pigmentation."

[Mayellen]: "He's had them since he was about eighteen or twenty years old. It was evil magic, actually, in his case."

"Oh. Evil magic." Haoyu nods. He could never have guessed this.

"Normally humans don't start losing pigmentation until their forties or so," Mayellen clarifies for the pandaren amongst us.

"Oh! That's so sad," Stelianna says in sympathy. "I hope he likes the color, at least."

Haoyu still has no idea who Khadgar is, and he doesn't seem inclined to ask, either.

"I'm glad I've not gone gray yet," says Mayellen. "I have enough old lady traits."

“I regained my pigmentation when I was cursed," Gabriella comments. She even sounds a little sour about it.

Stelianna notes the sourness, and asks, "Did you prefer the color?"

Gabby gives a little shrug. "I suppose I felt like I earned the silver in my hair. And I've never been one to look backward."

"Elder Gabriella…" Haoyu tries out.

Miralynn nods her approval.

"I like that way of looking at it," May decides aloud.

"Another objective!" May says with satisfaction, pointing to a large satyr.

"I think it might be the last one!" Stelianna exclaims.

"Ready when you are." Mayellen rolls up her sleeves, though she doesn't have to.

"Let's get him!" Stelianna says.

Haoyu launches himself at Alzzin the Wildshaper in a running tackle.

"Nice," says Mayellen.

The satyr is defeated!

"We did it!" Mayellen says. "I think we… won? But I think we're supposed to report back to the pretend tree and so forth."

"Oh," Haoyu says. "That was the last one? Good job. Maybe we can take this tunnel back to report our objectives complete…?"

"Yes, we're the best!" Stella enthuses. "You're all wonderful!"

"It seems that way," Miralynn says, checking for more traps.

The ECHO conveniently lets them teleport back to the beginning.

"That was kind of fun," Haoyu says. "I saw a stand selling ice cream. Does anyone want to get ice cream afterward? The ice cream is real ice cream in Dalaran, not in the illusion."

"Ooh, I'd love to!" Stelianna says. "Real ice cream."

"I could go for some ice cream," says Mayellen.

"Okay," Haoyu says. "Good job, everybody."

Gabriella's form shifts and loses mass, becoming seemingly human again. She looks a little more tired. "I..haven't had ice cream in a long while. Alright, I'll join you."

"Thanks, everyone, it was a great first echo," Stelianna says with a smile.