Drens
Also known as: Corpselight Whisperer
The Greyland is home to many surprising forms of life for a plane of death. The Drens exist in only a few areas and, much like the Gebharik, much is only speculated about these creatures.
To most, they appear as withered trees with features of a corpse surrounded by softly glowing lights. On closer inspection, one realizes the tree is actually a camoflague for a large mantis-like creature, the Dren. The lights are strange butterfly-like creatures that occassionally alight on some of the 'branches' to hang like a leaf; these wisps do not glow when at rest on the "branches." In a strange case of sexual dimorphism, "wisps" are actually the males of this species, while "Dren" commonly refers only to the females.
The corpse whisperers are actually seen as a sign of good luck, for Dren help to ward off the predations of hungry ghosts that sometimes swarm in the Greylands. However, wandering souls may still have reason to fear them due to their habitual gathering of pnuema flint shards. The wisps seem to gather shiny materials, like pnuema flint, and use themm to decorate the Dren. These trinkets are often lost sometime after the initial courtship, for they simply fall off the female or grow too numerous to carry.
As the Dren ages, an unsettling "ribcage" develops by the slow fusing of some limbs. Within this ribcage, some claim to see 'organs' which are actually egg sacs. In a mature specimen, one egg sac will contain one Dren and a number of male wisps. Immature Dren only produce egg sacs full of wisps.
Young Dren will stay close to the mother Dren, their bodies often remaining swaddled in the silken threads of their egg sac alongside "skin" flaps that will one day stiffen into their hard, wood-like exterior. This process has lead to many myths about ghostly maidens or nymphs connected to trees. As they age and their skin stiffens and takes on a molted, camoflagued coloration, however, young Dren will appear more like branches of the mother Dren. Eventually, she will leave the mother while half of the male wisp swarm depart with her.
The legs of a Dren are inserted into the ground most of the time and actually do act as roots, drawing nutrients from the soil. Like the Moving Grove, they will shift to where substrates are richest, drifting through the ground as if upon a slow-moving river.
The wisps can range quite far from their female and will act aggressive toward wisps from other females. The branches upon which the wisps alight contain pores from which the Dren excretes a nutrient rich sap that feeds the wisps and also slightly alters their essence so that they can communicate better with the wisps of their swarm. In some cases, wisps will capture lone wisps or defeated wisps of another swarm and force them to drink the sap. From then on the wisp acts like any other member of that swarm.
It it worth noting that Dren are omnivourus and, despite their relative slowness, are still capable of ingesting the flesh of more mobile prey. Larger creatures may be treated to strange warning light shows that dazzle and confuse while drawing their female closer at the same time. The real danger is if the Dren becomes aggressive. While the wisps have only an annoying bite, a Dren can bisect an adult Malok.
