Annoying Little People- Jermlaine

The plainsjan I described in my recent Baator post reminded me of some creatures that have been skulking about right here in Diamond City.  I considered including them in my vermin post, but I didn't want to be insulting, so I'm presenting them right here in their very own series of Annoying Little People posts.

First up, we'll have a look at the jermlaine, the grumpy-looking, baggy skinned creatures you may have seen hiding behind your neighborhood sewer grate, or peering at you from the window of a local abandoned building.  The jermlaine are ambushers from the Underdark of Theta.  No one knows how or why they were brought to Diamond City, although some speculate that they were undesirable slaves of the Neogi who, in order to be rid of them, dropped them off in our unsuspecting city.  Others tell of an elaborate trap involving fifty infiltrated crates of dried fungi and a crashed spelljammer in the outskirts of Alam.  Either way, the jermlaine are now everywhere in the city where there are rats, which is to say they are everywhere.



The jermlaine are trap-masters, pick-pockets, and ambushers.  They swarm their prey in great number, and strip them of their belongings if possible.  Valueable items pilfered by jermlaine often appear for sale in the sleazier corners of the city.  They accompany, and even ride, rats, giant rats, dire rats, and any other type of rat you may run across.  Sometimes a wererat will even lead a clan of jermlaine.  Jermlaine serve as a sort of garbageman for the city, collecting scraps from all corners and hoarding it, eating it, or burning it.

Jermlaine Mite
The jermlaine mite is a young jermlaine that is still learning the finer tactics of ambush.  If he survives long enough, he will become a bane midge.  The mite's tactics are limited to surrounding an opponent and attacking.

Jermlaine Bane Midge
Most adult jermlaine are referred to as bane midges.  These critters have mastered the use of the sluggy dart, a thrown dart coated with a simple paralytic poison.  Once an opponent is 'sluggy,' the bane midges move in to attack with pikes.

Jermlaine Jinxkin
The jinkxin are the jermlaine leaders.  Each raiding party has at least one, often up to five.  The jinxkin engage in stealing their opponents belongings while their allies distract them.  Troublesome targets are hit with a net to incapacitate them.