a customized torfed slave

torfedden adults don't have living animal bodies anymore, really. most of their muscle mass is replaced with a parasitical fungus, most of their organs are transformed and repurposed, even their bones become a bit lighter and spongier

the animal part of the torfed isn't really sentient, and the fungus part can't survive on any other host, and this whole process produces a single creature with a unified, individual consciousness so it's cool

they're still a little bit dead, though. their souls bleed out of their body in dense strands of aurora. they use them to puppeteer their own corpses--not that they can lift themselves up with their souls alone, but the soul inside the leg isn't dense enough, and the meat isn't alive enough, to really coordinate movement without the extra leverage from the outside

the soul cloud can also interact with objects in the world, allowing them to perform all kinds of things while just sorta standing there

torfedden slaves are pretty aces for that. they can just kinda stand in place and move things all around the room from the corner over there if they're good enough.

torfedden bodies heal really slowly, but there's nothing they can't heal, including decapitation, with enough time and care. just like with any other race, the soul maintains its shape even after a dismemberment, so a torfed with all its legs removed will still have their soul fill in the internal circuits of artificial limbs. they'll still need to use their external soul cloud to help coordinate the movements right, but they can work artificial limbs just fine

why cut off the legs and replace them with artificials like this, though?

well, because you can

unlike with other races, where this would be traumatic and MOST civilized societies would at least frown on you for doing it just for fun, a torfed doesn't even feel pain in the same way other races do--they still feel it, for sure, but basically all physical sensations are more... acknowledged than felt. a torfed knows it's in pain, but the pain is sort of distant, sort of illusory. it's no big deal.

so cut off the legs and get pretty ones installed. so long as the artificials are on, the soul won't realize it's missing limbs and they won't even start to regrow.

the scarification flower on the side probably needs to be re-applied every once in a while, though.

why do it though?

to show off your wealth
to allow the removal of limbs as a temporary punishment, just in case
for A E S T H E T I C S
the body mod scene exists and is honestly fairly mainstream--the owner might have gotten an artificial finger with a pen inside it, maybe some subdermal auroral tattoos--why not customize the things you own the same way?
the soft rubber undersides of the hooves are a lot more quiet than the clip-clop of torfedden hooves
because your slave wanted it, and you're a generous owner

as time goes on, patterned neckchiefs are becoming the hip thing to denote a slave. while brands or metal collars or bracelets remain popular, more progressive islands--or places that want to consider themselves progressive--think of slavery as a mutually beneficial situation. instead of using a tool of bondage to mark a slave, using a fashion accessory shows that they're different, but not captives that need to be restrained. in Central, patterned kerchiefs have become the norm, although often worn alongside fashionable collars, bracelets, and branding/scarification. a slave that's only wearing a neck tie is the sign of an owner trying to show that their slave isn't all that far from them in terms of personhood (regardless of how the situation actually might be)