The Best and Worst of Times in Docking Station
Written onJust after starting up Creatures Docking Station again, I was greeted with an ominous death icon. Sadly, it was one of Tentha’s two daughters who had passed away: Santia. She had a smile on her face at the very end, along with a friend. The Hover Doc indicated no bacteria, toxins, nor high drives. I took a quick look at her genetics, and didn’t see anything that stood out. Santia lived for 17 minutes, which seemed to be long enough to flush out a serious genetic issue. I have a feeling I’ll never quite know what happened to her. Hopefully her sister, Kiarya, will be able to keep the family line going strong. Farewell, little one.
Fortunately, there was a new birth to take away the sting of such an early birth. Meet Iveera! She was yet another daughter from the alpha couple. Her birth was also interesting because she was a single Norn: There is a very high probability for litters in this world, but Iveera must have figured that she was special enough to take the place of a few Norns! She was brought to the Norn Meso where she could try to be the center of attention.
Fortunately, Fawkix and Naeda had a set of twins on the way in no time! I nearly danced with excitement when I met the first baby: A little male named Denlex! Finally, another Norn to begin the alpha male succession test! He had a huge personality from the get go, as he put on an angry face and tried to interact with his twin’s unhatched egg. Jealosy already? Denlex reminded me of his mother and how she had acted right after birth. Such a cute little guy! It’s so difficult not to get attached to Norns.
This has become my favorite picture! Denlex’s identical twin brother, Frimtio, was born minutes later, and their meeting in the learning room was priceless. They actually have a mutation in a facial expression gene, which probably explains Denlex’s face. I had to laugh from the hilarious look on his face, though! The brothers were a bit aggressive towards one another, which could have come from their Hardman Norn genes they inherited from Naeda. They looked like they were wearing boxing gloves! Nothing could ever compare to their funny expressions.
Back in the Scribble Room, Fawkix and Naeda were closer than ever. Soon, there were two eggs on their way. Oddly enough, Ryleen still had yet to pay much attention to the alpha male. She was much more interested in playing with the various toys and stuffing her mouth full of berries. Fawkix didn’t mind much, though: He constantly expressed his love for Naeda, which was more than enough to keep him going for awhile.
The first egg held another young male, which was great news for the next generation! I named him Lundio. There would be a huge age difference between the eldest, Prindar, and these three new brothers. Who knew whether experience or sheer luck would be the deciding factor! Lundio joined his two brothers in the learning room near the Norn Terrarium, for they still were stuck there. Their constant fighting had distracted them from exploring past the door to find some food. I was somewhat concerned.
There was no time, though, for another egg had hatched! Zinsi was a very happy baby Norn, although she would be joining an already packed Norn Meso. There was still enough room, but I could tell that some of the young females wanted to find somewhere that would be a little more spacious. I figured that it might be a good idea to export the alpha couple and work with the current Norns. With so many of them, it was hard to find the time to give them individual attention!
One major event passed by without any photos, but it was quite touching. Denlex, Frimtio, and Lundio remained in the learning room for an unusually long period of time, and none of them showed any interest in traveling through the door. They started to make the whimpering noises of Norns who have not eaten in a long time. I was tempted to intervene, yet the idea of the alpha male succession test is to make it difficult so that only the strongest and smartest males will pass. I kept hoping for one of the males to lead the group to the plentiful food just on the other side of the door. Would they all perish?
Suddenly, as unexpected as a Grendel in a litter of Norns, Prindar came through the door into the learning room! He promptly left, but returned again a few moments later. This was repeated a few more times, until Denlex noticed the new visitor. He saw Prindar use the door, and he followed right after him! In a few minutes, Frimtio also made it into the Norn Terrarium. Both twin brothers gorged themselves, and finally understood what a full stomach felt like. The youngest, Lundio, took a little longer, yet he also traveled through the door. It seemed like Prindar had sought out his brothers and helped teach them a valuable lesson. Very interesting!
I was just about to export Naeda and Fawkix when they kisspopped… And had a litter of four on the way! It certainly was not something I expected, yet I guess they wanted to make up for lost time. As they rested together, Naeda had an idea that this would be her last pregnancy in this C3/DS world. Perhaps there would be a few more males to join his brothers in the alpha male succession test and up the stakes a bit. Prindar was no longer all alone in the world!
Santia :/ In my current world there were a couple of norns that had their lungs start declining right from their birth and ultimately fail at adolescence, causing their death. But I just couldn’t figure out what it was in their genes that caused it.
I hope Denlex will be the next alpha male, though probably he won’t, but he’s my favorite to be sure :]
A question, how much more time is there to submit second link norns to CreatureLink? It’s taking me forever to get through the second generation in my world – I was planning to import Knear into my world when the third generation females were about and send you some of the children.
Perhaps it was just bad luck with Santia. At least it looks like she didn’t suffer, and she had a friend nearby when she passed away.
Denlex is quite the character, although I also have a soft spot for Prindar! I really wish I had captured some of the moments when he helped his brothers figure out how to go through the door.
With the new CreatureLink web site, now you can send in descendants at any point! No worries about taking your time.. I know how it is and getting through a population sometimes!
Go Prindar! My own Alpha was put through his own test.
(I just put him on the far side of the…”hallway” in DS and had all but the Meso door locked. Then I made the two other doors invisible. Then I removed the camera. >_< Then I gave him a spank after I had opened the door, then opened it again to send him back to let him do it himself… Then I gave in and created the shower of ctrl-shift-e food. Then I did the door thing again… He finally figured it out, but even creating food from that big dispenser on the other side of the door didn’t seem to help King Albert with the dilemma of the door.)
He finally managed it, but your boys certainly seem smarter than my first Alpha! The only reason I cheated and gave him food is that the first Alpha as not technically supposed to be tested at all.
Meanwhile, my Siamese seems to have slapped my Draconian to death… So it’ll just be the Butterfly, Fallow and that killer Siamese to try for the ChiChi’s affections. (If the experiment hits the 10th generation, or so, Draconians will be up for the “new blood” slot.)
And now I’m done spamming your comments with adventures inspired by your exploits! ;)
One difference might be the breeds: I use Creatures Full of Edits (CFE) genomes in all of my Norns. These include an assortment of very necessary updates to the genome, which often makes more successful Norns. Some breeds are already based on the CFE concept, while you can pick up the updated original breeds from Creatures Heaven. I hope your world is successful!