As you can see from the picture above, they are a kind of ambulant octopus/Venus flytrap hybrid. Ecologically speaking, they're very useful. There is nothing an otyugh can't eat. These supreme scavengers can survive almost anywhere and are suprisingly common in urban environments.
I have this mental image of tiny otyughs being given as gifts and then flushed away when they get too big. The fantasy equivalent of alligators in the sewers, but more useful. Maybe somewhere there is a society that works to rehome outgrown otyughs. Or, as is the case in my version of Freeport (City of Adventure! City of Thieves! City of 1001 Surprises! City of Pirates! - yes, Ankh-Morpok in a parallel universe) - in Freeport, the humble otyugh holds an honoured place.
If ever a city needed municipal otyughs, it's this one. So Freeport has GarbageBeGone. This is a highly respectable firm which makes a decent living hiring out otyughs as mobile garbage disposal units. Each otyugh is accompanied by a team of handlers. The creatures are trained to an extent (they are not completely unintelligent) and with patience can be taught to devour specific types of matter.
While GarbageBeGone prefer to get their otyughs young and train them up, they do have a capture and rehabilitation programme for feral otyughs. Given sufficient time and patience, the otyughs will bond with their handling team - helpful when one considers some of the places a garbage disposal team might end up.
From my experience as an animal rescue foster home: people will buy anything as pets, however unsuitable. Really anything (coconut crab, slow lori, komodo dragon, striped grass mice, sloth). So otyughs in the sewers: definitely a possibility.
ReplyDeleteLove the idea of having them work at garbage disposal :)
I can easily believe it. I worry about the way some people think - "I know, I'll get a pet! Which I'm not equipped to deal with, know nothing about and is utterly unsuited to my living space."
Deletelol... love the concept, and the picture.
ReplyDeleteA bit more original then the usual cat, pseudo dragon, weasel or toad. I did read a fantasy story where the girl in it had a Rust Monster as a pet. Apparently it had great maternal instincts towards the girl as a baby and child, thus making an excellent protector. Sadly, once the girl grew up (oh yes, she was royalty of some description in a big castle), the poor Rust Monster spent its days in a dark cellar, pining over the girl who now ignored her. Sad little aspect to the story I felt.
Now that's a princess who needs the Rust Monster to turn up and eat her royal regalia.
DeleteGood post. The usefulness of the otyugh suggests to me they're perhaps bio-engineered.
ReplyDeleteGood point. I can imagine that quite easily now you come to mention it.
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