The Last of a Creatures 1 Generation

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then this one sets the standard! Xenops left the comforts of home to explore, all while growing up a little bit. At least he still had his playful spirit! While the latest antigen attack had lost the battle, Pipit was assaulted by another curse: Old age. Niltava stood nearby, ironically not much taller than Xenops. This trio looked pretty happy, but what if I was to say that it was actually a party of four? Pipit’s rather saucy pose was a celebration of sorts, for he was to be a father again! Good thing I managed to get Niltava to eat a few carrots since her last egg…

On the subject of toys, Adaon fell in love with a ball. He stared at it with his red Grendel eyes. In old age, I wondered if he had lost his eyesight and assumed that the bright red on the ball was another Grendel’s eyes. As soon as he tired of sitting around and doing nothing, he started bouncing it. Over and over again it bounded across the floor, with Adaon in tow on an invisible line! He was rather exhausted and hungry, yet he continued on. No sense interrupting a Grendel’s playtime! He could set a record!

Oh, Pipit! He might have gotten a little gray and his eyelids might have started to droop, yet he was one very happy Norn. The bridge overlooking the mountain and treehouse area hadn’t been very popular with my Norns and Grendels, yet they were starting to flock there. One interesting and somewhat disappointing fact is that the mountain doesn’t really exist… Albia is a disc-shaped world with nothing in its center. The background is there mainly for our benefit, although I always thought it would be neat if the background elements could be explored. What would a Norn do on the top of the mountain? What about those strange buildings that can be seen in the garden? Alas, it’s mostly just speculation. Part of what makes Creatures 1 so unique is its slightly nonsensical background! Kind of fits in with the whole Creatures theme of mystery.

Then, it was time for a monumental turning point of this generation: The final Norn. Out of 41 total babies, 14 were part of this generation. Meet Yuhina, daughter of Taran and Orwen! She is actually a full sister to Whydah, with an identical appearance. However, the two did have a number of genetic differences. It might seem odd to have two full siblings when there were many other Norns to choose from, but I spent a good deal of time planning out who would be used this generation. Yuhina was the very last baby of the last couple. That counts as someone very special!

Receptors

Chemical receptors define parameters for a certain chemical. When these parameters are met, an element in the Creature is affected. These genes can increase drives, define life stages, control fertility, and more.

Default: 234 Emb B MutDupCut Creature, Sensorimotor, Invol 0=’flinch’, chem=Pain++, thresh=65, nom=0, gain=255, features=Digital
Mutation: 234 Emb B MutDupCut Brain, Noun i/ps, Threshold, chem=Pain++, thresh=65, nom=0, gain=255, features=Digital

This explanation best begins with an explanation of the default gene: It states that a Creature will flinch when the pain increase chemical reaches a certain threshold of 65 units. Fairly straightforward! The confusion occurs with the mutation. It likely looks like gibberish! Remember that a receptor works from right to left, in that it uses the chemical information to cause something to happen in either the Creature or the Creature’s brain. From my experience with Yuhina, this mutation made her unable to flinch from a slap. Pain increase didn’t seem to interfere with her brain function, although it likely sent a signal to her lobe associated with nouns. Then again, she was kind of sheltered from the rather violent group, so this could cause some issues if a slap-happy Norn or Grendel were to find her!

Default: 237 Emb B MutDupCut Creature, Sensorimotor, Invol 4=’shiver’, chem=Coldness, thresh=141, nom=0, gain=255, features=Analogue
Mutation: 237 Emb B MutDupCut Creature, Sensorimotor, Invol 4=’shiver’, chem=Coldness, thresh=141, nom=1, gain=255, features=Analogue

The infamous shivering mutation! This should look rather familiar, as it is shared by Whydah and Xenops. It basically alters the nominal value, or resting value, of this gene from zero to one. Effectively, this gene is technically always triggered, and all of the Norns with this mutation shiver more than usual. It hasn’t caused me much concern, though, particularly since it only lasts a few seconds and has never interfered with their usual lives. They all have their father, Taran, to thank for this gene! What a lovely way to be remembered: “It’s the shivering Norn family!”

Emitters

Chemical emitters define specific conditions within a Creature in order to affect chemicals. Some examples include experiencing stress from excessive drives, becoming cold due to environmental conditions, and more.

Default: 137 Emb B MutDupCut Creature, Sensorimotor, Air is this hot, chem=Hotness, thresh=0, samp=24, gain=49, features=Analogue
Mutation: 137 Emb B MutDupCut Creature, Sensorimotor, Air is this hot, chem=SexDrive, thresh=0, samp=24, gain=49, features=Analogue

Another lovely inherited mutation! This one, along with the following stimuli genetic mutation, came from Yuhina’s mother, Orwen. In the default genome, this simply states that when the air is hot enough, a Creature has an increase in hotness. In other words, he or she feels warmer. For Yuhina, hot air will actually increase her sex drive… Not exactly ideal, but not a big problem! Her mother never struggled with coldness, although the interaction between this gene and the one that causes Yuhina to shiver a lot might be interesting. Or, she could simply be ready to kisspop more often.

Stimuli

Stimuli genes define the chemicals that a Creature expects to receive in response to an action. These actions can range from interactions with the hand to involuntary actions like coughing or sneezing.

Default: 102 Emb B Mut ‘I am quiescent’ causes sig=0 GS neu=255 int=0 => 8*Boredom++
Mutation: 102 Emb B Mut ‘Object comes into view‘ causes sig=0 GS neu=255 int=0 => 8*Boredom++

This gene should also be familiar, since it came from Orwen and was also inherited by Yuhina’s sister, Whydah. It usually causes a slight increase in boredom when a Creature is quiescent, or doing nothing. The mutation causes a slight increase in boredom when an object comes into view. This led to raised boredom in Whydah. I found that separating her from all sources of conversation and letting her quietly rest for a bit helped. Yuhina will likely need a little extra help to combat her boredom. At least it’s good to know that no Norn has ever actually died from boredom!

That little egg of Pipit and Niltava’s grew quite quickly! She sat down next to it, likely pondering over its growth. Indeed, it was almost the same size as her! Pipit decided to stretch up as high as he could to show that egg who really was the tallest. Actually, his head was in the wrong position, since there is a case of mixed up sprites with the male Banana Norns. At least it made for a funny pose, rather than a problematic one. He was quite the prolific Norn, now that he was virtually the only one in the area. The only other mature male was Manakin, who had retired to the Norn settlement. He wasn’t completely alone, though, and Xenops still had his chance to pass along his genetics.

Elsewhere, my other Grendel was just beginning her elder life stage. Arianllyn was a little more faded, and sported a head full of gray hair. She was happy to find Towhee, who tagged along with her on her underground journey. With the two Grendels nearby, it seemed probable that they might add onto their brood. On that subject, the next generation will continue on as usual, but the generation after it will involve some genetic changes. These will create easier genetic analyses, and fix some default genetic issues. Otherwise, I would likely be starting over. Not exactly natural, yet it will let these Norns still live on through their descendants!

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