Joda

The joda (pronounced /ˈdʒoʊdə/) is a jellyfish-like breed of hacus, in widespread use in the Ecemerese Alliance. While not among the most powerful of hacus, jodas are often useful because of their flight and because of the reach they are granted by their long tentacles. While they are often used as personal companions, hacus are also used as part of aerial hosts—or even the entirety, with some flying strike forces made entirely of jodas.

Description

The joda has a roughly hemispherical main body, or bell, the bulk of which is surrounded by a glassy dome, though in places some patches of organic matter cover the dome, and networks of thin metal and wire are laced over it. Within the dome some pulsing organs are visible as well as gears and other metal mechanisms. Often the patterns are said to resemble a human skull, though the resemblance is superficial at best, not to say contrived.

Dangling from the bell are, in a healthy joda, twenty tentacles, ten of them tipped with vaguely crescent-shaped blades, the other ten lacking blades but slightly longer and more muscular. In fighting, the joda can either slash at foes with its bladed tentacles or grasp them with its blade-free tentacles, lift them far above the ground, and drop them. The joda's tentacles can regenerate if severed, but take weeks to do so, and the bladed tentacles another few weeks to regrow their blades.

Though jodas are created with many different color schemes, the most common is a combination of bone-white and various shades of lavender or puce.

Diet and behavior

Like most hacus, jodas require a combination of petroleum-based fuel and oil to keep their gears and mechanisms lubricated and other organic nutrients. The oil and fuel they take in through one of their (bladeless) tentacles, which, although slightly larger than the others, looks similar enough to not be readily distinguishable without a close examination. Solid food it must ingest through a mouth on its underside, using its tentacles to lift the food to its mouth.

In the wild, feral jodas pursue predatory lifestyles, hunting down and feeding on other fauna. They often lurk in mountains and forests, where they can swoop down on victims from hiding places above. Feral jodas can also be found in slum areas in cities, nesting on roofs and feeding on pigeons and rats and other urban life... not excluding inattentive humans.

Abilities

While all jodas can grasp prey with their tentacles, and slash them with their blades, some jodas are designed with extra abilities as well. It's not uncommon for jodas to have envenomed blades, or to be able to shoot jets of digestive acid from their unbladed tentacles. Less common is for jodas to have their tentacles strengthened to be able to damage prey by constriction. Some jodas also have their static blades replaced with chainsaw-like mechanisms.

Upgrades

Though jodas are often constructed from scratch, they may also be upgraded from other forms, most commonly clodders and uaus. Jodas in turn can be upgraded to more complex breeds of hacus. Among the most popular forms to upgrade jodas into are rocus, ophadias, and janthides. Other somewhat popular upgrades resemble larger versions of jodas, but have additional special powers, such as the ctamas, which can petrify victims, or the sularac, which can shoot beams of searing light.