Ja'va

Ja'va is a monster, in the swamp. Locally, the swamp is known as "Nikolas's Garden", after the failure of several attempts by the Ratte-Kinge to drain the swamp. Ja'va is largely responsible for these failures.

When the Ratte-Kinge first attempted to drain the swamp, he sent in three crews of workmen. Ja'va, previously dismissed as a folk tale, plucked out the workers' organs and smoked them in its lead organ pipe. This was considered to be a failure.

Next, the Ratte-Kinge sent in soldiers, to find and kill the monster which had so brutally murdered his workmen. Ja'va breathed coal dust on them (anthracite being a staple of its diet), and then set them on fire. Their organs burned excellently.

The Ratte-Kinge himself, infuriated at the monstrosity's atrocities, walked into the swamp to confront Ja'va. He vanished for three days and two nights; then, on the third day, he emerged again, smiling, if somewhat sooty. The Ratte-Kinge announced that he had met with Ja'va, and had tea-time with him. Henceforth, Nikolausse's Garden (as it was now known) would be a Ja'va preserve.

And it is said that, even unto the end of his reign, the Ratte-Kinge would occasionally walk into the swamp, to smoke human organs with Ja'va.