Once Upon a Time in a New Grendel Generation
On a late spring evening, just as the light was starting to dim outside, a little life began to stir in Albia. It was finally time to begin anew again with a new generation of Norns and Grendels! I recently hinted at the first residents of this world, though there was likely very little mystery. This first egg contained someone rather special, and it was not just his species that made him stand out. Grendel Man, from The Realm, kindly provided me with a genome he worked on to improve multiple elements of the standard Grendel genome. When a Creatures genetics expert offers up such a tantalizing project, one must never turn it down! I could hardly wait to meet the first member of this generation.
After a miniature light show from the incubator, I found myself staring into the eyes of a little Grendel! I promptly named him Dahloi, which is from a naming convention that very few may recognize. This generation’s naming scheme is the same for both Norns and Grendels, so I shall leave it a minor mystery until a few more eggs hatch! Dahloi looked a little different than most baby boy Grendels, as I had a little fun with slight pigment changes. He took his time coming to and starting his journey, though he wore a smile throughout his entire minute or so of getting accustomed to the world. A friendly Creatures 1 Grendel is just about the best thing. Dahloi was no exception!
The most important lesson for a newborn Grendel? The name of the hand! It not only seems adorable to hear a Grendel say one’s name in the Grendel dialect, but it creates an important relationship. I gave Dahloi a tickle when he learned my name, and also encouraged him when he walked towards the hand at the sound of my name. This small lesson would be invaluable later in life!
In most cases, I immediately lead a Norn or Grendel over to the learning computer to nail down his or her verbs before doing anything else. There have been rare occasions where I gave someone something to eat first, which seemed like the right thing to do with Dahloi. An empty stomach was never going to help with learning! Another useful hint I picked up was to give Dahloi the honeypot as his first meal. It was not strictly nutritious, but it didn’t disappear like carrots and cheese. This let me teach him the word, and led to him breaking out into a dance! Perhaps it was just the sugar… All the same, he was rather excited about education!
We spent the required amount of time diving into a grueling language lesson. Dahloi was completely focused, fortunately. No slacking here! It was a somewhat boring time for him, though, when all of Albia was out there just waiting to be explored. I figured I would whisk him off to the garden immediately so that he could have a little fun. Instead, Dahloi surprised me by teaching himself the hardest lesson of all: Rest. To be clear, he was not very sleepy at this point, yet he had moved around and worked his brain enough to make him feel worn out. He curled up with his honeypot, laid down, and mulled over what he learned. I was quite impressed.
Shortly after Dahloi spent some time figuring out the exciting vertical descent in the lift, he found himself out in the open garden. He sampled the carrots like a self-sufficient Grendel. Even though he was still a baby, he was not about to rely on me for everything! He discovered the ball… And seemed slightly confused over what to do with it. At one point, it looked like he wanted to climb on top of it and test it out as the latest form of transportation. Thank goodness that was impossible, or he might have ended up face down in the dirt!
Then, there was something even more confusing to capture Dahloi’s attention. This strange object was carried in by the hand, and he was utterly perplexed. The little Grendel attempted to peer inside the shell, but there was no seeing through that thick covering! It was a little early for another little one in the world, yet Dahloi seemed to already be losing interest in my company. Oddly enough, that made me more attached to him: Such a hard to get little monster! I ensured he was safe and sound, and then raced off with the egg.
Who was it? Well, it was quite obvious that the hatchling was a Grendel! However, she was a little camera shy and decided to pretend to be engrossed with her lesson instead of posing. She had a rather murky look to her pigmentation, which was entirely intentional. Make sure to check back soon to see her unveiled, along with the genetic differences in Grendel Man’s genome! And the Norns are likely not too far off, either!
