The Menagerie

[neathymenagerie]

Pets:
These are the ones who can be found at Middy's home at least some of the time:

Yggdrasil - Desk-plant-sized St John's Lily
Kami - Albino ferret, extremely larcenous
Odin - One-eyed black cat, eye is golden. Parabolan Panther in mirrors.
Mimir - Corresponding Ocelot
Boreas - Fourth City Saker Falcon
Argos - Slavering Dream-Hound
Dagon - Blind Cave Fish, lucky pet of burglars
Erebus - Ninja Bat with Attitude
Circe - Half-Wild Mandrake
Metatron - Blemmigan Secretary
Scylla - Dark-Carapaced Crustacean
Carcinus - Gilded Crustacean
Mnemosyne - Complaisant Frost-Moth
Psyche - Newly-Born Frost-Moth
Aoide - Shimmering Songster
Acheilus - Wall-mounted, living bound shark-head
Turms - Subtle Mole

The Menagerie:
Middy is known as working for the Bishop. These live elsewhere, but she does have them.

Sleipnir - Obdurate Stallion
Grani - Thoroughly Cowed Pony
Aegir - Plated Seal
Blodeuwedd - Hella lazy Bifurcated Owl
Medusa - Hound of Heaven (Not canine)
Argus - Ocular Toadbeast, part-time fog-cloud
Proteus - Rubbery Doggie, on display at the Labyrinth
Sigurd - Tomb Lion
Tarnhelm - Unfinished Hat
Camazotz - Wings of Thunder Batling
The Tears of Ra - Hive of Huz bees
Probably several others

The Terrarium:

The terrarium is a piece of art that dominates the wall of one of the side rooms. It's a Wardian case, a metal frame with glass panels. It generally contains Circe, Scylla, Carcinus, Mnemosyne, and Aoide, although Metatron often inhabits it when he is not writing.

The small space of the terrarium is bordered along the inside with logs carved with semi-regular leafy patterns (thankfully, with no eye-bleeding symbols tucked in there amongst the vines). These finely-crafted barriers hide much of the mess of mud that fills the base of the terrarium, or at least act as breakers for any ripples the terrarium's occupants might kick up. There's space off to one side, studded with rocks of varying sizes and smoothnesses, but giving the residents plenty of access to the mud. Around the entire floor of the terrarium, there are dozens of small bird's-nest mushrooms with iridescent "eggs", alongside Phellodon niger, mostly cropping up out of the mud around the logs, giving them the appearance of flower beds. Here and there, anywhere they find a cozy enough spot, are clutches of slime-molds that crop up like blackberries and ghostly fingers.

Opposite the rock-garden, there is a second major feature. This is a squat tower, made of a hollowed-out ossified mushroom-trunk perhaps four feet in height that has been filled with decomposing matter, soil, and wood-chips — not that you'd be able to tell, because this standing garden has horns-of-plenty, green polypores, turkey tails, and cave hops. They grow out of holes carved out of the trunk like geometric lace, making the whole thing look like a tower made entirely of mushrooms. The entire thing is edible, though the occupants of the terrarium show little interest in consuming it.