The Unexpected Adaptation of a Norn

A rather rough bit of genetic luck looked like it might spoil Thrennion’s life. I struggled to keep him happy as I dashed all around Albia, and I was worried that his life would be rather dismal. When I checked in on him, I discovered that he had made a friend! Hybralvao made it her mission to make Thrennion happy, and it was a thrilling moment when I spotted a smile on his face. There were some challenges that would always make things a little more difficult for him than the average Norn, yet he was already finding ways to overcome them. Come to think of it, even fairly serious brain mutations have resulted in resilient Norns in many of my experiences. They know how to adapt, and nothing holds these little guys back. Thrennion looked like he was on the path to a wonderful life!

With few issues to attend to, I decided that this was the perfect time to hatch the final member of this fifth generation of Norns. Meet Zelroo! Although technically a first generation Norn, her genetics were updated slightly to remove things like mutable appearance genes. The Purple Mountain Norn appearance genes have run a bit low in my population, which was how Zelroo came to be. There were no mutations to discuss, yet I loved her adorable face! Once I return to the Creatures 1 spriting project, I hope to give adult female Purple Mountain Norns less of a clownish appearance… Far too much makeup! Zelroo would go through that phase, although I was looking forward to it. There were sure to be plenty of laughs!

One of my Norns was not laughing, though, and that was Pathun. Ever since Athahain passed away, he refused to do much more than sleep in the underground area where they had lived together. I even coaxed him into the lift and dropped him off on the top level, near the beehives. Within a couple of minutes, he was right back where he started. I tried to spend some time with poor Pathun. He was well fed and his needs were met, yet he often just laid down and slept. I felt bad for him, yet no one else in the world was ready to make the journey to that part of Albia. Pathun would remain alone, save for my presence, possibly until the very end.

As it often happens in life, however, there was a bit of good news to even out the bad news! Zelroo learned her vocabulary early on, simply because the floating egg glitch made it impossible for me to let her roam about on her own. She soon found out how exciting the bouncing ball could be, and whom did she find? Thrennion! He left Hybralvao to do a little growing up on his own. I feared he might be upset, but then he flashed a great, big smile! He was going to be fine, and he even had a young Norn to teach all he knew.