Dreen

The Dreen help defend the Castle Wulfenbach

Lurking in St. Szpac

The Dreen are a type of Wulfenbach forces about whom very little is currently known. They may be constructs. They may be clanks. But they are apparently strong, powerful and/or fast enough for Klaus to consider ✣ them good guards for Adam and Lilith. Before we were properly "introduced" to them, Word of God told us that the shrouded, conical-hatted things in the background of this page ✣ are them.

They are of about average human height or a little taller and seem to be built on the upright-quadruped human body plan, though their obscuring clothing makes this very uncertain. Over their bodies is worn a golden or brass-colored conical hat, from which descends a translucent veil, about half the length of the robes. Only their arms are exposed outside of the black drapery, and whether that's black-and-green-striped skin terminating in cyan hands or suit sleeves with gloves, they still have unnaturally long, spidery, claw-like fingers (arachnodactyls) which seem sharp and strong enough to easily penetrate a slaver warrior's carapace.

In the book Agatha H and the Airship City, they are described as 'killing with a touch' and as being the only thing that the slaver wasps seem to honestly fear: "Deep within the midst of the enemies moved the Dreen, two unearthly terrifying creatures garbed in dark wide brimmed conical hats and long, obscuring veils. They killed with a touch, and they alone seemed to scare the Slaver Wasps. Everywhere they drifted a circle of emptiness opened around them as wasps desperately tried to escape."

The Dreen take part ✣ in Wulfenbach's attack on Mechanicsburg, where their reputation is so fearsome that even the normally stalwart Jagermonsters opt to flee from them ✣ . This attitude is promptly shown to be well-founded when Knight of Jove pilot Martellus von Blitzengaard attempts to squash one of them; the targeted Dreen shrugs off the attack and obliterates the Knight with an energy blast, with Tweedle just barely leaping to safety.

Two and a half years later, a lone Dreen appears ✣ in the bowels of the Corbettite Depot Fortress following the Beast's escape-rampage through the fortress's treasure-vaults. Agatha's Wasp eater seems to notice and react adversely to the Dreen which, as seen in the picture above, lurks in some shadows as Agatha and Co. go running past. It is unknown at the current time if this is a legitimate triggering of the Wasp-eater's intended function (ie, identifying wasp-infected Revenants), or if a Dreen is just that scary. Either way, the Dreen is then shown either trailing or pursuing Agatha's group.

Possibly relevant outside information

From a discussion archived on NNTPnews.net:

• The Dreen are the bad guys in a series of novels by John Ringo and Travis S. Taylor.

• Also, another race called the Dreen feature in Star Rider by Doris Piserchia.

• And a race by that name appears in "Man of Two Worlds" by Frank Herbert and Brian Herbert.