Albia in All Its Sadness and Glory

Kaw was the first to enjoy his reanimation in Creatures 1! I had left my Norns and Grendels for a fair amount of time during the CCSF 2012, which gave them a little bit of a vacation. To celebrate the occasion, Kaw decided to indulge in some music. He needed a break from the others as it was: His testosterone levels were quickly diminishing, which was a clear sign that he was stressed out. His beloved Henwen was still far away on the other side of Albia. Although it was a bit of a stretch, I still believed that part of his sadness was due to the lack of her presence. A little individual time was all Kaw needed to find his happy place again! Or perhaps the music soothed his heart and soul.

As joyful a reunion as it was, I quickly discovered why I had delayed my return to the game: Gurgi. Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted him running around the garden with the most tired look on his adorable old face. In an instant, he was gone. His 11 hours and 45 minutes were filled with wonderful memories, though it would be difficult to imagine how the group would get on without him. I have always found that each Norn or Grendel plays some role. Some are the comedians, others are the reliable independents, and others require extra care to reach their potential. Gurgi was on the comedic side of the spectrum later in life, though his true claim to fame was his fertility: Ten eggs! Quite a feat to accomplish in his life.

Before his body disappeared, Gurgi was visited by several of his close friends. Kaw stopped by to stare at his fallen comrade, and Achren paid her respects. Orwen took the loss much more personally. After all, her one and only egg had come from Gurgi. It was a touching moment when she laid down beside him. Gurgi was never alone for long in life, and Orwen made sure he wasn’t alone when he departed the world. I knew I would miss him dearly, even though he gave me some worries with his overzealous love! Take care, dear Gurgi.

There was a much happier mood on the desert island, where Gwydion’s proportions still made me laugh. Ellidyr seemed rather confused, too, though I suspected his eyes were focused in on the real prize: The delicious honey! Melyngar watched on with a degree of confusion, although I was thrilled to see that she had been eating on her own. Actually, the worst life force was 72%! This independent streak was certainly very promising!

The rest of the group decided to crowd together in some sort of formation. Rhun had recently grown into an adult, and he reveled in his new role! Orgoch, Orddu, and Llyan often ignored him, but he was no longer the baby Norn who could barely keep up with the adults. The only downside to this little posse was how they completely and utterly ignored me. Food? Toys? Nothing was more exciting to them than their group! It was a nightmare convincing anyone to eat on their own, but eventually they picked up the concept. I was no longer needed… Though that was about to change!

The final member of the third generation made his entrance at the perfect time, when I needed a baby Norn to occupy my time and be dependent. Meet Taran, the son of Inndyr and Junkerdal! He was just about the cutest little guy, though I always say that about baby Norns! The Forest Norn genes were still very strong in this generation, though many were courtesy of the breeding machine known as Ranulf! Taran was a quick learner, and Achren ended up teleporting in during his lessons. His unique appearance was coupled with a fairly stable genome, save for one interesting mutation. Welcome to the world of Albia, Taran!

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.

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

This gene controls when a Norn shivers, based on the amount of coldness. There is a very minor mutation in Taran’s genome, where the nominal value mutated from zero to one. A nominal value is the default or base value: In essence, this receptor always sends a small signal to induce shivering. I thought this would not be noticeable, but Taran went into a few shivering fits in his first few minutes. I labeled this as a negative mutation because shivering increases tiredness and fear. This shouldn’t cause Taran too many issues: I’ll probably be the one who suffers from watching his pitiful shivering all the time!

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