Andromedan Pygmies, or simply Pygmies, are a sapient, non-spacefaring species of comparatively small bipeds from a planet orbiting the star Delta Andromedae (not to be confused with the Andromeda Galaxy).
Biology[]
Members of this species stand about two feet (~ 60 cm) in height. They have large globular heads with a single eye in the middle and two mouths located at each side of a prehensile elephantine proboscis that is almost as long as their entire bodies. Both arms and proboscis are used to bring food to the double mouths.
Their skin is hairless and has what has been described as a leaden pallor. They have two arms and two legs, but these appear to be supple and are speculated to be either boneless or have a wholly different skeletal system compared to Earth's vertebrates. They have webbed hands with four digits, united by a translucent membrane. Their feet, also webbed, terminate in long curved claws. Infant members of this species are slightly larger than a guinea pig in size.
Their diet includes insectivorous amorphous masses of flesh which are neither plant nor animal. These are chopped in pieces and then pounded with pestles into a creamy paste for consumption.
Culture and society[]
Andromedan Pygmies live in large communities and make their homes in caves. They wear no clothes, and make bladed weapons out of a purplish metal. They worship a giant monstrous creature which lives in a lake deep inside the cave systems they inhabit, and to which living victims are offered as ritual sacrifices.
They have domesticated a species of 20 ft long "lizard-monsters" with multiple short legs like a centipede, which are used as mounts by multitudes of Andromedans.
Appearances[]
- "Marooned in Andromeda", by Clark Ashton Smith (1930)
- "A Captivity in Serpens", a.k.a. "The Amazing Planet", by Clark Ashton Smith (1931) (Mentioned only)