The Luggage
|
|
The Luggage appears in some of the Discworld novels by Terry Pratchett. It is a large iron bound chest made of sapient pearwood (a magical, intelligent plant which is nearly extinct, and only grows in a few places outside the Agatean Empire). It has hundreds of little legs protruding from its underside and can move very fast if the need arises.
Its function is to act as both a luggage carrier and bodyguard for its owner, against whom no threatening motion should be made. The Luggage is fiercely defensive of its owner, and is generally homicidal in nature, killing or eating several people and monsters throughout the books (including dragging sharks ashore and jumping up and down on them - the Luggage has to have some fun too). Its mouth, the feature often remarked upon by those it is about to consume, contains "lots of big square teeth, white as sycamore, and a pulsating tongue, red as mahogany." The inside area of The Luggage does not appear to be constrained by its external dimensions, and contains many conveniences: Even when it has just devoured a monster, the next time it opens the owner will find his underwear, neatly pressed.
One of the greatest features of The Luggage is its ability to follow its current owner anywhere including such places as inside the Octavo, off the edge of the Disc, and Death's Domain. You name it, it has been there. Hopefully when its owner was there as well, because like all luggage, it's constantly getting lost and having to track its owner down...
The Luggage first appears as the property of Twoflower the tourist in The Colour of Magic. When Twoflower returns home in The Light Fantastic he gives the luggage to Rincewind, and it follows him through several sequels. Twoflower says he got it by asking for "travelling luggage" at the store - which is exactly what he got. When Rincewind eventually visits the Counterweight Continent, Twoflower's home, he finds many similar items of Luggage travelling with their masters.
Pratchett says (at the beginning of Sourcery) that he got the idea for the Luggage when he saw a tartan suitcase with dozens of little wheels moving as though it had a mind of its own while an American tourist pulled it along. However, he has also stated (in The Art of Discworld) that it was loosely based on an idea from a roleplaying game he had designed - that being of a similar item that would do only and exactly as it was told.
The Luggage savages passers-by in: