Drakh

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Londo Mollari talking to a Drakh

The Drakh are a fictional alien race in the Babylon 5 universe. The Drakh were dark servants for the race of First Ones known as the Shadows. They appeared in the fourth and fifth seasons of Babylon 5 as well as the television movie, A Call to Arms. In the series there seem to be at least two species of Drakh. One appeared in the episode "Lines of Communication," where this Drakh shimmered when seen in person, and was referred to as Srakh Drakh. The other species first appeared in "In the Kingdom of the Blind".

Mongoose Publishing's Babylon 5 RPG game has released a Drakh Sourcebook.

1 Biology
- 1.1 Keepers
2 History
- 2.1 Centauri
- 2.2 The Drakh & Earth
3 Current status
4 Notes

[edit] Biology

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

The Drakh are stocky in build and have heavy endo and exo-skeletal systems. The Drakh have scaly skin that is dark grey or green in appearance.

The Drakh may have some kind of group mind as Drakh can communicate with other Drakh over long distances. They appear to regard the name "Drakh" as both a collective name and a personal one.^[1] In "Lines of Communication" their emissary interrupted Forrell before he could utter Delenn's name, dismissing it as "unimportant." On the other hand, they're familiar enough with the notion of individual names to recognize Delenn's once it was spoken.

They are heavy users of bio-technology - examples of this are the plague released on Earth, or Drakh Keepers. How much of this technology they created themselves and how much was scavanged from the ruins of the Shadows civilization after they left beyond the rim is an open question.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Keepers

The Drakh grow Keepers - sentient beings that connect to victims on a physical and neurological basis - that they use to control others. Most of the time the Keeper does not directly control its victim. Rather, the Keeper monitors the behavior of the individual. They can make it impossible for a person to move, or inflict varying levels of pain that can force an individual to bend to the Drakh's will.

Keepers burrow deep into the neurological systems of the hosts. While the outer part of the host can be removed, there is always an interior part of the Keeper that would grow back quickly as seen in "Racing Mars". The only known way to do so would be to either force or kill the Drakh that spawned the Keeper. That is due to the fact that there is a symbiotic relationship between the Drakh and Keeper, and the Keeper cannot function without the Drakh who spawned it.^{[citation needed]}

Keepers can be affected by the state of its victim. If the host drinks enough alcohol, it has been demonstrated that the Keeper would fall asleep and the host would regain control of him or herself for a short period of time. If the host's life becomes endangered, the Keeper's life is just as endangered.

[edit] History

Prior to the Shadow War of the mid 23rd century, it had been several hundred years since the Drakh had last been seen. When the Shadows began their rise to power, the Drakh assisted them in much of their activities.

When the Shadows decided to leave the galaxy to join the other First Ones, the Drakh were left behind on Z'ha'dum until the planet's destruction. When Lyta Alexander triggered the planet's self destruct systems, the planet was destroyed. Shortly before the explosion, a large fleet of ships was seen leaving Z'ha'dum by John Sheridan and his colleagues aboard the White Star. They did not know it was the Drakh.

Soon, the Drakh began attacking other races, especially those who had fought against the Shadows. They had also begun seeking out contacts among other races. One contact they made was with a member of the Minbari religious caste, who was unhappy with the turn of events on the homeworld, and offered their services in return for a homeworld of their own. When the Drakh had found out Delenn was aboard, the Drakh betrayed the Minbari ships, and managed to destroy one of the Minbari vessels. However the Minbari turned the tables on the Drakh, and destroyed the nearby Drakh mothership.

Due to the reemergence of the Drakh in galactic affairs, John Sheridan convinced several worlds to allow the White Star fleet and the Rangers to patrol the borders of the various worlds. This helped reduce attacks on shipping, and also laid the foundations for what would eventually become the Interstellar Alliance.

[edit] Centauri

Unknown to anyone at the time, the Drakh had made their way to Centauri Prime after leaving Z'ha'dum. This was keeping in Morden's final warning to Londo that even if the Shadows had lost the war, the servants of the Shadows would seek out the Centauri and make them pay for their actions. When they did eventually arrive on Centauri Prime they quickly made their presence felt. The Drakh attached a Keeper to the Centauri Regent, and over the next year, he was forced to do their bidding.

In the year following the founding of the Interstellar Alliance, ships from Alliance member worlds began to find themselves under attack. At first, no one knew who was behind the attack, as the attackers left no survivors. But the Alliance soon discovered that Centauri vessels were behind the attack. What they did not know was that these ships were under remote control, and that most of the Centauri government did not even know about these ships. The Alliance then blockaded Centauri Prime space. The Centauri fought back against the Alliance, which eventually led to several races attacking Centauri Prime. The Alliance imposed heavy sanctions against the Centauri.

During the Alliance attack, the Regent died. The Drakh decided to replace him with Londo Mollari. They forced Londo to consent to having a Keeper attached to him, otherwise they would have detonated fusion bombs on that world. They also forced him to give John Sheridan and Delenn a gift for their unborn baby - an urn with a Keeper buried in the base.^[2]

Over the next 16 years, the Drakh molded the Centauri into an instrument to be used in their vengeance against the Alliance. When Sheridan's son David turned 16 Minbari years old, they gave him the urn. When he was alone with the urn, the Keeper burst out and attached itself to David. Under the Keeper's control, David stole a vessel and left for Centauri Prime.^{[citation needed]}

Sheridan and Delenn soon arrived on Centauri Prime to rescue their son. They were captured by Centauri forces. Ambassador Vir Cotto blew up the Tower of Power, the main Drakh installation on that world - revealing the presence of the Drakh to all.^[3] Despite the Drakh killing millions of Centauri, Londo decided to stop cooperating with the Drakh. In a deal to secure the freedom of the Centauri people, Londo released Sheridan, David, and Delenn. He soon fought the former Narn ambassador G'Kar to the death, in order to keep the Keeper from betraying him.^[4]

The Drakh abandoned Centauri Prime a short time later. The Alliance, realizing the Drakh played them for fools, joined forces with the Centauri in finding the Drakh and making sure they were no longer a threat to the galaxy. The Alliance also helped the newly proclaimed Emperor Vir Cotto in rebuilding Centauri Prime.^[3]

[edit] The Drakh & Earth

The Drakh had also turned their attentions towards Earth as well. During the fight against President Clark, a member of the Martian Resistance was found to have had a Keeper on him. The Drakh had hoped to put this man, Captain Jack, in position to assassinate the Martian Resistance leadership. The plot failed when the external part of the Keeper was shot off. Jack took off and killed himself before the Keeper could grow back and take control of him again.^[5]

About five years after the founding of the Interstellar Alliance, the Drakh released a deadly plague on Earth. The plague was designed to activate after five years and kill all life on Earth.^[6] But due to the efforts of the Excalibur and others, a cure was found for the plague.

[edit] Current status

The current status of the Drakh has not been revealed. After their presence on Centauri Prime was revealed, they left the world, with the Centauri and the Alliance in hot pursuit.