Dreikmen
Dreikmen are creatures of legendary horror, animated corpses driven by unnatural powers. In tales they are often men killed in unjust wars, their souls bound to their decaying bodies for eternity as punishment for their crimes. They particularly feature in the folk tales of the Natorn Isles, both as a warning against doing evil in life, and to inspire fear of magic. According to legend they are said to guard treasures and ancient tombs.
Folkloreplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigFolklore
Folklore
This is in a series of articles about oral traditions, tales, folk practices, and folklore.
topics cult1
This is in a series of articles about oral traditions, tales, folk practices, and folkloreplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigFolklore
Folklore
This is in a series of articles about oral traditions, tales, folk practices, and folklore.
topics cult1.
Dreikmen could also be corpses animated by necromancers. These corrupt sorcerors cast spells in battle to mobilise the dead soldiers against their enemies, using elementals to animate them like puppets. It is unlikely these corpses could have been much use in battle, but would certainly have inspired terror.
Corpses could also be animated by the gods, to attack wrongdoers.
Recently dreikmen have appeared in a spate of Hartheran fiction, following a modern fad for horrific tales.