In the Final Moments
Written onAfter a handful of nail-biting minutes, Ingelill laid a beautiful white and purple spotted egg. I could rest easy, knowing that her death would not take an unborn Norn with it. For anyone with a pregnant elder Norn, I highly recommend keeping a close eye on her. I kept Ingelill as still as possible, since moving about uses up precious energy. She had the time of her life! It was bittersweet to know that this would be her final pregnancy, yet Ingelill looked as happy as ever. Her job was complete.
I graphed the very end of her pregnancy to illustrate how slowly the levels of progesterone and gonadotrophin usually fall after an egg is laid. Most interesting, however, was the level of aging in Ingelill. When this chemical is no longer present in a creature, that creature dies. It is a very slow process, though, and I realized that Ingelill had a fair amount of time left. She was already well into her twelfth hour: It was up to her to set the record for the longest living Norn! Her longevity had to be due to a low amount of stress in her life, since she did not have a genetic mutation that would allow her to live exceptionally long. Perhaps she discovered the secret to life early on and enjoyed each and every moment she spent living. This is how Norns all live for a different amount of time.
I expected Ingelill to be the next Norn to pass away, but I was surprised when I found Kari in the garden. She lived a total of 11 hours and 26 minutes, which was still quite a full life. She had experienced the first death in Albia, and it took her some time to recover. With seven eggs of her own, though, Kari would live on in the next generation, and beyond. Rest in peace with all of your lovely makeup and memories.
Fortunately, Ingelill brought a positive mood to Creatures 1. She constantly said “Ingelill good” and did a little dance, where she lifted one foot in the air, put it down, and then tapped her other foot. All the while, she kept an enormous smile on her face! It was one of the funniest things I had seen her do. She repeated herself over and over again, and I was glad that she was so joyful in her old age. Ingelill also played with the spinning top and robot for a little bit: It was happily ironic that she was acting like a youngster again!
I graphed the most common digestive chemicals to show another typical path. Glucose and glycogen often follow a similar path in a healthy Norn who takes care of himself or herself. Starch is the nutritional chemical consumed with food sources: Note how hunger only seems to increase when there is no starch present in the bloodstream. One might guess what Ingelill ate to get such a boost in starch: Indeed, the choices really only range from a carrot, lemon, piece of cheese, or honeypot. The answer? None of the above! Unless I seriously missed something, her starch suddenly increased while she was dancing around. There was a honeypot in sight, but it was on the ground. Glitchy, or just plain lucky? Albia seemed to be doing some strange things. Such was the way with Creatures 1.
I stayed with the wonderful Ingelill up until the very end. She seemed to sleep a lot, but was very happy. It’s always a shame when a Norn or Grendel dies in sadness or pain. This little Horse Norn lived to the ripe old age of 12 hours and 35 minutes! She even survived several illnesses, which didn’t seem to slow her down. Six eggs would soon hatch to reveal her children. Not surprisingly, Ranulf played a role in creating half of them! Albia was down to just two Norns now. Ingelill would be missed, yet I could rest assured that she had passed with a smile on her face, and in her heart.
Only two more to go :( Who are we left with now? I know Ranulf is one of them, who is the other?
The digestive system confuses me a little. It seems odd that Norns would get hungry when they’ve still got so much built up energy with Glucose and Glycogen. I wonder sometimes if it’s the equivalent of my Norns being fat.
Knowing that stress can have such a huge effect on a norn’s lifespan, I feel a little bad for removing the gene that turns anti-oxidant into ageing and thus makes them live longer. I just found it to be too unpredictable, some of my norns didn’t seem to want to age at all! I think the carrot variety pack, which I see you’re using as well, comes with some types of carrots that have anti-oxidant in them, which was really frustrating to me before I figured out what was going on. What do you think, was it a good thing that I removed it?
Good to see that Ingelill enjoyed herself right up to her death. I love the little ‘happy dance’ they do when all their needs are met.
Arch: Nordis is the other remaining Norn in Albia at this point. She’s about two hours younger than Ranulf, but with her faster-than-average aging, we’ll see if she ends up living an extra two hours.
That is a good point about the digestive system! It’s very simplistic in C1, although it isn’t exactly intuitive. I think it might have made more sense if hunger was tied into glucose or glycogen, in addition to starch. I think fat storage was introduced in Creatures 2: I remember seeing the chemical fat tissue, and wondering if my Norns would start sporting some blubber! Ha ha!
Tarlia: I really like the fact that your updated genomes don’t include the antioxidant reaction! As unpleasant as it is to know that high amounts of stress can shorten a lifespan, I think it keeps the population in control. Those who are constantly stressed out live for a shorter period of time, and probably produce fewer eggs. In essence, only those Norns with lower levels of stress will eventually procreate. Although it might be nice to have a way to reverse the process, it doesn’t quite interest me. Permanent stress damage!
I’ve seen a couple of different happy dances, all of which are hilarious! Sometimes creatures seem to create a whole new gait to express their happiness. It’s even better when they decide to play an instrument, and seem to dance right along with their own tune!
Man… Down to two now… Death in Albia is acting like Hades in Kingdom Hearts. Y’know, where he flips out and screams “How dare you have a happy ending?!”
Yeah. That’s what I think of whenever I read a death post like this… Tragic, really, but maybe she’ll be reincarnated into an egg laid on the spot she died?