Coming to Terms with Creatures Sadness
In the land of Creatures 1, my biggest concern was breaking up a terrible feud. Hleengar and Preetar were so caught up in slapping one another, that they forgot how to eat! I managed to separate them, and Preetar was the first one to return to his senses. His arrival in this part of Albia was a consequence of his narrow escape from an early death. Able to focus again, he gave me a warm smile once he lapped up some of the honey. It’s a wonder that Norns aren’t covered with the sticky substance all the time! Preetar was back to his healthy self, although I wondered if he was the cause of the excessive slapping.
Hleengar took a different path. First, he became an old Santa Norn! It was likely brought on a tad early from his encounter with Preetar. He decided to try his luck with a much nicer and quieter crowd, namely Brekennion and Athahain. They may have looked old, yet they were expecting another egg together! They were also excellent eaters, which I hoped would inspire Hleengar. He really was completely uninterested in food, and mildly afraid of it. Nothing a little hard work and love couldn’t fix!
Just then, my plans came crashing down. Hleengar was labeled as sick in the Observation Kit, and I saw him cough… And sneeze. I quickly isolated him from the pregnant Athahain and older Brekennion. This contagious illness could spread very easily, and spell doom for many of my Norns. I was successful in isolating Hleengar. It wasn’t a perfect quarantine, yet I was lucky that everyone else was in good health. I had all the time in the world to take care of my little old guy. As I was just about to find out, however, time was not on our side. Hleengar’s life force had been at a decent level of about 70% after not eating for so long. Now he needed to eat more than ever, for his very life depended on it.
The Science Kit didn’t have any good news about this illness. Histamine B was also present, but there weren’t enough lines to graph it alongside the rest of the monster. Young Norns typically have a better chance of fighting off illnesses, due to the intitial concentrations of antibodies at birth. Hleengar had to start with nothing in his system, which was quickly eating up all of his energy reserves just to have a chance to get rid of the antigen. On a side note, this graph got me even more interested in studying Creatures 1 illnesses. Antigens, unknown toxins, and histamines all show up in unique ways at different levels. The antibody response is about the only uniform function. Perhaps a lot of it does come down to random chance, yet I never fully appreciated how advanced this system is within Creatures.
I worked as quickly as I could to get Hleengar interested in food again. Just one carrot could keep him going a little longer. All he needed to do was to take the first bite. I got as far as getting him to look at the food, but it was apparent that it was no use. A single slap has been my last-ditch method to get a Norn to eat again, and it’s had very good success. For Hleengar, it did nothing. Likely the incessant slaps from Preetar affected the way he perceived punishment and food. Even positive reinforcement when he looked at food had no effect. His life force plummeted, yet I continued to fight for Hleengar’s life.
Oftentimes I’ve references how important glucose is for producing antibodies, and I finally created a visual representation. The production of antibody 3 required a combination of antigen 3 and glucose. Normally, glucose is broken down from starch, the main source of nutrition in Creatures 1 food. By not eating, Hllengar’s body recognized that it needed glucose. Where was another source of it? Glycogen, the long-term energy storage and the measure of a Norn’s life force. The process works in just the opposite way, where glucose can be converted into glycogen. Sadly, Hleengar didn’t have a chance to survive without eating. At the time I took this screenshot, it was already too late. His body simply didn’t have the necessary glycogen reserves to keep him running without any food.
Strangely enough, we both came to terms with the situation at the same time. I tried to make Hleengar as happy and comfortable as possible. He got a little joy from watching the ball bounce, and then he calmly laid down and stared at it. I might have read too much into the action, but I hoped that he was reliving all of his happy memories when he played and had a good time in Albia. Hleengar passed away at the age of 8 hours and 19 minutes. His life was cut short, but not before he became a father to five future Norns. Farewell, my Hleengar. You stayed far past the holidays, and it was all worth it. Rest well.
The clouds above the ocean looked like they were in turmoil, as Albia grieved the loss of the first fifth generation Norn. It was a terribly sad way to see Hleengar go, but his final moments were as happy as they could be. On a slightly brighter note, I was thrilled to read through the first responses to the current Discover Albia survey! There were plenty of things to look forward to, even though I was still upset over Hleengar’s demise. Call me silly, but I do get attached to my Norns and Grendels. I’m sure many of you enjoy following them through their lives, too! Let’s just hope that my world has many more silly, happy moments to outweigh the sad ones.
