Codex Transportica

In the post-war period from ’81-90 the world was divided more than ever before. Not by conflict, but by those that “have or have-not”.

While the victors were enjoying the boom and optimism that came from a resounding triumph, the losers were struggling to find their next meal. In times such as these, those fortunate enough to live near the sea were the true saviours of their time.

A whole generation of fishermen, having lost their boats to either the torpedoes and mines of the allied forces (or due to confiscation by their own militia), once again showed that necessity begets an inspired level of invention.

Large area of algae had always been known in the shallow tropical waters off the Southern coasts, and with some diligent farming, these enormous areas of protein rich algae blankets were cultivated. Traditional boats were useless when trying to navigate through the algae, so a new solution had to be found.

Thus the Octo-Curricle was born – a small cart towed by semi-domesticated octopi, allowing the fisherman – or farmer – to reap the abundant algae for his starving countrymen with ease. Cheap to build and maintain, the main challenge for the would-be algae farmer was to find and tame the notoriously dangerous Immolator Octopi of the Southern reef. Stories are still told of the tragic strangulated octopus-wranglers in the early days before breeding programs introduced a calmer variant of the creature.