Jadinkos

A very detailed black and white drawing of the queen.

This page serves as a  source of information about jadinkos as it is applicable to World 42 roleplaying characters. Everyone is invited to add to this information.

Brief History

Jadinkos are reptile-like plant creatures that can be found on Karajama, which seem to find sustenance from a diverse species of vine plant that grows in portions of the jungles on the island. Not well known, these creatures first started to be recognized in the late Fifth Age, with no history to be found predating that time period. A single large figure known as the queen births the colony's population from vines near her base, with many varying types of jadinkos to serve different roles for the colony. All jadinkos start life as an egg of sorts formed on the birthing vines and hatch as small reptile-like creatures which walk on four legs. It is as they grow that they eventually begin to fulfill the roles they had been born for.

One cast spends their entire lives in the caves, this is the male. The males, upon reaching maturity, have one soul purpose: to pleasure the queen. Males who cannot fulfill that duty are used as guardians for the nest. The most well known cast are the collectors, which make runs to the surface to bring in needed materials for the nest. The collector cast varies greatly, some variants targeting only certain kinds of vines and resources to bring back to the nest. Recently some of the queen's birthing vines have started to go bad, resulting in mutated offspring that attack anything on sight, though this calamity has been effectively contained.

Aside from the mutation situation, most members of the colony lead very active lives, rushing busily about to fulfill the roles they had been born for. The collector cast also serves a role for humans; as the target of special hunting and herblore related practices. A counterbalance to killing the collector caste is that some humans aid the queen and her guards in keeping the mutated offspring under control, and those humans who do so are often rewarded by the queen.

With all the hustle and bustle of the active hive life, as well as the alien appearance and behavior, it is unknown if Jadinkos have any sense of culture, or at least any that we can understand, but the gratitude displayed towards those humans who help the hive is something to think about.

In the sixth age, the Easter Bunny took some eggs and with the help of a dwarf, managed to successfully create his own colony of Jadinkos at his warren where they became feral and started their own colony. The Easter Jadinkos appear to consist of young Jadinkos and Jadinko Guards but these 2 also split off into several sub species such as Timid Jadinkos and Brutish Jadinkos. The 'Easter Jadinkos' appear to not have a queen and seem to fully consist of guards and Jadinkos yet to become guards. The Easter Bunny also now uses specially trained Jadinko's to transport Easter Eggs, probably the only Jadinkos most people will see.

Overall, the jadinkos are a solitary race, but one that does not mind the intrusion of others (at least to a point) and prefer to tend to themselves and their colony.

Accepted Lore

• Papa Mambo came up with the name jadinko.
• Jadinkos act much like bees, as they have a stationary queen that lays eggs.
• All members of the hive are born from the queen.
• When a birthing vine is tainted, the result is a mutated offspring.
• Combative jadinkos are known to be able to influence vines through magic as an attack method, but this is uncommon, as many prefer to simply use brute force.

Debated Lore

• It is unknown if there are other female members of the colony other than the queen.
  • It could be possible that since the hive structure resembles a bee colony; that the majority of jadinkos are female, while males only exist for breeding purposes.
    • If this is true, then the collectors who move about the jungles above are females.
• It is unknown how long the life span is of many of the variants seen.
• It is known that the queen is at the very least partially sentient. What is unknown however, is the level of the intelligence of her offspring.
• It is unknown if jadinkos are edible to eat.
• It is unknown if there are any Jadinko colonies aside from the Karamjan and the Easter Colony.
• It is unknown if all Jadinkos are capable of laying eggs, as the Easter colony appears to not have a queen.

Common Mistakes

• It is highly unlikely to find a member of the species off the island of Karamja, aside from those from the Easter Colony.
• Few would know how to care for the very special needs of these creatures, and taking one off the island to have as a pet would likely mean the death of one.
  • A jadinko would also likely hate being taken away from the colony, as service to the queen is an integral part of its existence, and is an action that would likely be obsessively compelling to carry out.

Other Information

• Some jadinkos look remarkably similar in build to some early forms of theropod dinosaurs.