A Very Busy Second Generation of Norns

The incubator area and garden could not hold Junkerdal for very long: She made her way to the jungle, and tapped her foot, as if to say that the long walk was nothing. At least she was not inclined to visit Albia’s dangerous deathcap mushroom! As ArchDragon recently pointed out, her arms make it seem like she is wearing long gloves. Her pose certainly made it clear that she was proud of them! Junkerdal was just one example of how mixed Norn breeds can create such unique characteristics. And then there was the whole personality side, which was different for each and every Norn!

Not wanting to waste much time and leave large spans of time between the Norns, I headed off to the genetics kit like a mad scientist. I hoped that probability would be on my side and make this unborn Norn a male. Lo and behold! The last second generation Norn was the son of Ranulf and Nordis, whom I named Korgen. He was quite comfortable in his egg, and immediately showed his disdain for his new surroundings. Luckily, his sadness was short-lived, as I coaxed him to the lift to begin his lessons. After such a grueling generation, every Norn had been hatched! Korgen, along with the other three Norns, still had to live out their lives. All in all, it was a relief to know that the third generation was just around the corner. Be very careful when it comes to breeding Norns: They multiply!

Korgen was born with a very interesting genetic mutation that deserves attention. Most of the mutations I report on are very minor, and the analysis is included as a little taste of genetics. These sections can usually be skipped over if they seem uninteresting. However, I recommend reading on for a brief summary of an unusual mutation!

Lobes

Brain lobes include important information about how the different parts of the brain work, from how concepts are learned to how a Norn goes through the decision process. These genes can greatly affect the learning process.

122 Emb B Mut Lobe #=8 Suscept State Rule: end end end end end end end 0

It’s amazing! It could mean a brand new Norn! It’s… A useless mutation. I had to include this here for reference: The only difference is that the very last variable was changed from “end” to zero. The cardinal rule of state variable rules, though, is that all variables after the first “end” mean nothing. In essence, nothing happens.

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.

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

Here is where things get interesting! In the standard Norn genome, the associated chemical is hotness. This makes perfect sense, since this gene basically controls how much hotness is injected into a Norn in response to hot air. Korgen actually receives sex drive when his body senses hot air. This could make for a very interesting breeding cycle! He might be able to kisspop very often in warm climates, while his body would return to normal in cooler areas. Talk about a hot Norn! Since I have experienced letdowns with a few seemingly interesting genes, I will have to take a closer look at this. However, I was quite surprised with this mutation: Hopefully it will make Korgen a bit more unique! He might be the one to beat Ranulf’s record…

Is my hand a hovering plague in Creatures 1? Not long after Korgen was left to his own devices, I found Inndyr playing happily on the island. In an instant, he contracted an unpleasant concoction of antigen 0, two unknown toxins (one not shown), and histamine A. Inndyr was all on his own, so I had no worries about the others contracting the illness. I hated to see another Norn suffer through an illness that took a lot out of him. His life force slowly fell, although I was on the lookout for a problem, and quickly brought him an offering of carrots and honey. At least antibody 0 was not terribly slow in rising. I hope to experiment with a set of new genetics for Creatures 1 down the line: A much more realistic immune system would be awesome! Part of my case study on Dee featured examples. The standard genes do not simulate a realistic immune system.

During the recovery process, Inndyr grew a little! He began to remind me of his father, Ranulf, in many ways. Forest Norn heads have never been my favorite, yet the freckles on the males are the cutest. Inndyr had himself a taste of the ugly tomato, which was fine by me! However, I hoped that his experimentation with bad plants was over with. I certainly did not need him to fill his system with glycotoxin! Perhaps he chose the ugly tomato due to its fancy yellow spots. It was not ideal, yet at least it was not the worst weed in Creatures 1.

The youth of Albia was quickly making way to maturity. Hopen, Junkerdal, and Korgen started an interesting game of mirroring one another at the lemon trellis. Such silliness! Even as Norns age, I fondly watch as they still act like youngsters at many times. This seemingly harmless game turned into a slap fest before long: Apparently there was an argument over who had actually won! Korgen was maturing into the most unusual of the bunch with his bright red body. No camouflage for him!

I noticed one more very strange occurrence in Inndyr: He never experienced hunger! I made sure that this was not a universal problem, and sure enough, all of the other Norns experienced the correct hunger cycles. I searched through Inndyr’s genetics to see if I missed a gene, such as a mutated or missing hunger receptor. I was unable to delve in on a deep level, but it is clear that Inndyr has some of the Forest Norn genes, but not all. In particular, he is missing both the floating glycogen receptor, and the floating hunger emitter. Taken in conjunction with other missing Forest Norn genes, this would explain his complete lack of feeling what hunger is. This will be quite nice in keeping him happy, yet it is also quite dangerous, since Inndyr should never truly feel the need to eat to satisfy his hunger drive. A sneaky bit of biochemistry!

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