A Norn’s Neverending Pregnancy
Recall that Olennia recently showed signs of a genetic mutation affecting her progesterone and estrogen production. Specifically, these are inversely related, with a certain amount of progesterone always in her system, without the presence of a fertilized egg. Making his rounds around Albia, Brennis soon encountered Olennia. I was very interested to see how her pregnancy would progress, but after monitoring her hormones shortly after she became pregnant, the outlook was grim.
I plan on charting a normal Norn’s early pregnancy hormones very soon, in order to give a better perspective on how incorrect this graph is. Note the rapid production of gonadotrophin in plateaued steps: This should occur more gradually. Much more alarming, however, is the fact that Olennia’s progesterone level actually started to drop.
At this point, her progesterone level has dropped to zero and her gonadotrophin production hovers around the maximum amount. The result is very interesting in the observation kit.
Usually, a Norn will lay an egg when the pregnancy number reaches eight. In Olennia’s case, this number has gotten all the way up to 60, reverted back to one, and is now climbing again. Sadly, this means that she will never lay her egg, nor be able to attempt another pregnancy. Her life force often falls quicker than the rest of the Norns, which is most likely due to the fact that she is perpetually pregnant and still eating for two. Poor Olennia! She is the only living child of Timren, and one of the few links back to Adria. Any ideas on what could be done to help her out?
Ah, I see I was unfortunately right in my prediction about Olennia’s mutation causing trouble… I suspected this might happen. Since she only produces progesterone when fertile, and gonadotrophin pretty much kills her fertility… yeah. (I believe gonadotrophin is also responsible for the heightened need to eat/life force dropping quicker, but I could be wrong about that.)
By the way, the number you see in the Observation Kit is actually a bug. Notice that Olennia is 4:36 hours old in that screenshot and the pregnancy counter is also 36? When a norn’s pregnancy counter is less than 1, it will show the norn’s minute counter number instead of 0. You’ll normally only see this if you’re watching the Observation Kit the second a norn becomes pregnant.
I believe there are COBs which will allow you to inject a norn with progesterone or help her lay her egg, but it’s been a long time since I played C1 properly so I could be remembering wrong. Either way, there’s a 50/50 chance Olennia’s baby will carry her mutation, and this is especially bad if it turns out to be a male, as he could spread the bad gene throughout Albia and produce a horde of essentially infertile daughters. So in a way it may be for the best that Olennia doesn’t lay her egg.
I had an idea that her mutation might also cause issues, since an estrogen level of zero doesn’t allow for a logical inverse function. I was hoping for the best, but I guess it just wasn’t meant to be! Many might think Olennia is a prime candidate for exportation, but I still enjoy having her in the world. She and Evrietta have formed a close bond near the incubator, and I would hate to break up a friendship.
Funny you should mention the observation kit bug! Each time a Norn gets pregnant, the number has been something ridiculous like 30 or 50. Now it makes perfect sense why Olennia’s number switches back over at 60! Thanks for this piece of information!
I believe you’re right about the COBs, Tarlia, bvut I agree with you that it probably isn’t such a good idea for Olennia to ever lay her egg. I suppose it brings up the important point that even after many generations, without enough diversity in the population, entire families can die off from one small mutation.
For now, I’ll be checking up on Olennia more often to ensure that she’s well taken care of. Has anyone ever had other cases related to special needs Norns who need constant or extra care? Kind of brings up an idea I had long ago about having a world solely to care for special Norns…
You know, if you wanted you could open up Olennia’s .gen file and tinker with it using the genetics kit, thereby fixing the wonky gene.
I had a norn once who had a mutation that made him always hungry, I ended up exporting and “euthanising” the .exp file, but that was before I realised the genetics kit could be used to alter living norns.
Jessica: You should probably check Timren as well (using the D-DNA Analyzer, you can find his gene file through Olennia’s) to see if the mutation didn’t originate in him.
September Rain: Actually, that won’t change living norns. Norns are created from their .gen file, but once they’re born, they cannot be altered. Think of the .gen file as the recipe from which they’re created. Changing the .gen file will, however, ensure that offspring cannot inherit the mutation.
Also, the baby that Olennia is currently carrying still doesn’t actually exist in the game and is “just” a .gen file at this point, so if it does have the mutation, the .gen file can be fixed before it is born.
So I suppose that is an option, unless you consider it “cheating”. Fix Olennia’s gene file, fix the unborn baby’s gene file if necessary, help Olennia lay her egg, and if she should become pregnant again, keep helping her. Future babies would be free of the mutation provided her .gen file is fixed.
I would also recommend gene therapy.
As I recall, C1 and C2 norns can be “edited” during their lifetime, but they have to age up for the new characteristic to show. I seem to remember turning a norn into a grendel this way..
As for the egg, lummox jr’s pregnancy kit with c-section is good.
Great ideas for altering and somewhat solving the issue! However, I’m one for letting nature take its course. Olennia may not lead the most fulfilling life as far as becoming a mother is concerned, but I like having her in the world as she is. A bit of a needy Norn, but as I posted earlier, I enjoy having one or two of those around from time to time!
Tarlia, you mentioned checking Timren to make sure that the mutation did not begin within him. I haven’t gone through his genome yet, but he only fathered one or two unhatched Norns. If any turn out to be males, though, I’ll be checking up on them to ensure that the gene isn’t dormant and ready to show itself in any future females.
Thanks again for all the information!