Goodbye Googly Eye

Far away from the rest of the group and any other norn I left Arvyn to play, little did I know it would eventually lead to his death. I was horrified to find him some time later at the bottom of the ocean. I don't know how he got to the ocean, I didn't expect him to, but I blame myself for not watching him. To the rest of the world he will have just left the group never to be seen again, nobody will know what happened to him. But I do, and it's sad.

Back at the group Arvs is having trouble staying awake. He's conveniently parked by the bee hive where honey is within easy reach, yet I cannot convince him to eat any. I was eagerly urging him to eat the honey pot that now lays beside him in this photo when he fell asleep again. He's got the same problem that comes with many adult norns in my tribe, where they sleep more than they eat, because they don't have the energy to do much else. It's a deadly cycle. I can't help but wonder if it's due to their liver organ giving out causing them to not be able to store energy, and when it dips too low they're thrust into this cycle. There's not much I can do about it.

On the other hand Orika remains the happiest norn in the world! Her days continue to be spent eating the abundance of foods, playing with the near by toys (sometimes with me), exploring and sleeping! What more could a norn want. She doesn't seem concerned about lonliness one bit. The only difference between her and the other norns is that she knows the whole english language and listens to me when I suggest things to her. She's a good little norn.

Orika awoke and decided to see what was on the other side of the bridge. She expertly balanced on the thin bridge boards while the cool winds whipped past her from such a height, and to her surprise she found some of the old nuts I had placed there quite a while ago! She indulged in eating some of them when I asked her to, but her real interest was in observing them! They don't grow anywhere in Nyrn after all, where would they have come from? They're rare delicacies.

Aku has taken hold up by the ettin egg layer, beside the volcano. His passion has been the mushrooms that grow there for his health. Aku can't help but be baffled by the little things for some reason and seems very confused all the time. He often picks a mushroom to dance with before popping it into his mouth, perhaps as some sort of fun ritual.

I caught Orika peeking at me from behind the purple berry bush. I believe in the original C2 the berries this bush provides were poisonous, but careful checking revealed Orika was fine with eating these particular ones, thank god (Because she was popping them in her mouth one after the other like popcorn!). I could only imagine how delicious they must taste right off the bush!

Current norn population: 7

The Toll Of Old Age

Anya surprised me with another change of colors, darkening into a deep purple as his age advanced. It reminded me that most of the norns are already old by now and many are on their way out. It won't be long before Nyrn may be nearly empty once again. I watched them, considering this, while watching some bad advice being given out. I find it cute that their suggestions for things often are very specific. Anya is suggesting to aleviate being sleepy with sleeping next to something called "dat". Unfortunately the male population never become completely fluent in english. Whatever "dat" is he seems to think it helps you become less sleepy if you sleep next to it.

Arvyn found his way up into the top of the volcano, which brought me some relief. I was worried he would spend the rest of his life by that toy and die there. The coconuts on the other side of the volcano wall grabbed his attention and he began the tough trek up the slope. The odd thing is that there seems to be an invisible wall of some kind between the coconut tree and the volcano wall that prevents him from actually making it there. If I try to lead him by hand it pushes us both away. The only way that he is able to pass is if I pick him up and plop him at the tree.

I checked my norns over with the medical window and found Aku suffering from a lack of muscles. His muscles have completely died, degenerated, whatever you want to call it. Muscles are supposed to regulate gate, make you be able to walk, but Aku seems to be getting around just fine, perhaps because he has a tail fin instead of legs. He enjoys the water of the swamp and it's no wonder since he's a mer norn.

Anya suffers from a lack of liver A, the organ that regulates food/nutrition storage (or bodyfat if you will). Anya is unable to store any energy for the times when there is no food, luckily this shouldn't affect him at all because he lives in a place abundant with food (as you can see!). He shows how happy and content he is in this world with a bright smile over the fruits that surround him!

Akka also suffers from a lack of liver A organ. Like Anya, he doesn't seem to mind, and even takes an interest in the nut dispenser that I plopped down for them to play with. Akka's curious gaze doesn't last long though and soon he goes off to find something else to play with. I was a bit disappointed none of the norns wanted to play with it at all and populate the ground with more nuts. The plants that are growing there are ones I had to plant myself. (Boy I can't wait for more garden box agents!)

The world is pretty quiet at the moment, peaceful, and hopefully it will stay that way. Till next time.

Dead By A Nose

 Yes I decided to play again today! I got the urge after watching Jessica's latest video - and as soon as I entered the world I was greeted by Anya's glycotoxin infection. Why do you have glycotoxin Anya? Try as I might I could not see the cause. I watched for the longest time to see if she was showing interest in anything she shouldn't have been, but she only remained crouching there with a pitiful look on her face staring at me. Akka was there for support and comfort and didn't leave Anya's side.

I was surprised to be slapped in the face by a death icon (that's what it felt like at least) and quickly clicked to transport over to the poor norn. I found Adalhard on the ground in a peaceful death pose, gone after a long and full life, and began the solemn routine of taking notes about his death - when suddenly I noticed the elevator began going up... and taking Adalhard with it! By his nose!!! I could not decide whether to suddenly burst out in laughter or feel horrified for his poor body! Disturbing the dead is wrong. After a couple up's and down's I couldn't figure out why the elevator was doing that, but then realized it was because a poor ignorant norn was riding it and had no idea Adalhard's nose was caught in the door. I can't help but facepalm still... at the memory and at the image in my head of (what if this were real life?) A poor little creature dead with his nose stuck in the door, flopping up and down as the elevator moved, it's just game physics don't allow realistic physics. XD

Anyways, rest in peace Adalhard.

 At the volcano Aldobrando was still just as I remember him, keeping the deathcap seeds under study and trying to figure out a way to eat them, as he has been doing his whole life. Aldobrando stood over them with a worried expression and both paws on his cheeks as he thought to himself how daunting a challenge it was to figure out how to make these things edible! Oh how the norn tribe would benifit if he could! Quirin had just about given up on them long ago, and on Aldobrando, and thought he is a bit crazy for still trying. He decided to look for greener pastures and actual food, while Aldobrando hardly noticed his leaving.

In front of the ettin egg layer Quirin found a patch of mushrooms he had found a few times in the past and had a long dinner. He often went long periods without eating anything as his research on the deathcap mushrooms (with Aldobrando as his partner) had always taken priority.. but now that he has given up pretty much on that, it's time for a well deserved meal!

 I had just left Aldobrando standing over the seeds when I was surprised by his death. I was dearly sad to see him go, he was one of my favorite norns. He has lived a very long life for a norn however and was very old when he passed. I spent a few moments staring at his lifeless body, still looking cute among the seeds he spent his life around. It's such a shame that he couldn't pass on his genetics to a son or daughter. Hopefully now he will be able to meet his son though.

I decided to end my romp down memory lane with goofy little Arvyn here. I was surprised to find him at the top of the volcano playing with this little punchy toy here. I don't know what it's called. I couldn't help but giggle at how goofy he looked with his googly eyeballs bobbing around above his body while the sound of the toy getting hit by him rang out. He provided me with a much needed chuckle before I left the game for the night.

Current norn population: 8

What?

Ok so.. I just got angry. I have been waiting for C4 to come out when it was promised and when the time neared I became super excited and stopped playing Creatures in anticipation! I never intended to stop playing Creatures forever. Then it never came.

One of my pet peeves about game releases is when they're put off. I understand that things go wrong, things take longer than intended, but when a promise of a game release is made and not kept it Pizzes(Not a real curse word) me off. I believe promises should be kept.

Do I want a buggy game released? I can put up with that! I am willing to help the developers work through their bugs and in fact love to play tester. Updates can be made, the game can be improved while it's played. I've close beta tested many games in the past and enjoyed the poop out of it. (Maybe i'm one of the minority?) My belief is that people should keep their promises. Skyrim pushed back release for a long time and I was so angry about that when it happened that I nearly didn't buy the game when it finally was released.

Anyways i'm so very annoyed at that (I've finally just today calmed down enough about it to post a "what's going on?" post in my blog) that I may not be playing Creatures 3 for a VERY long time, though i've not given up on it entirely. Sorry folks. :T

Orika Accross The Ocean

Orika and I were just chillin' beneath her tree house when she suddenly showed an interest in using the little boat off the deck! She has shown interest in these water fairing vessels once or twice before in her lifetime but no more then that so this was a super rare occurrence and one I never expected to see again! All previous attempts norns have showed at crossing the oceans revealed that the boats don't quite work the way they're supposed to and they always end up in the ocean... so I was very apprehensive about her interest in using it. However, I was curious to see if.. just this one time.. she could manage to figure out how to use the boat correctly. I was disappointed as I watched in her attempt to get into the boat that she quickly fell to the deep depths of the ocean bottom below. I quickly pulled her out, only to have her repeat this process making me cringe as she landed.

About the third time she attempted to use the boat I went to try and save her again only to find she successfully and immediately used the little spring at the bottom before I could lay a finger on her and rescued herself! I was very impressed! A few norns have visited the bottom of the ocean by mistake and not one could ever find a way out without my help, yet Orika seemed to know exactly what to do! She may have rescued herself the first few times as well had I not gotten in her way!

I felt really bad for her and helped her across the ocean with a lift of my hand. She seemed overjoyed to be on the other side as soon as I set her down gently on the wooden boards! She immediately headed for the fruit to fill her tummy! I find her child-like excitement at being on the other side and seeing the fruit very endearing.

Orika filled her tummy with the delicious fruit that didn't grow anywhere near her tree house, and once that was done she spotted the most interesting looking lift near by! I left her to play around since there was nothing dangerous.

Back with the rest of the norn tribe I spent some time with each norn individually, giving them a routine checkup. I was sad to see that Arvs seems to be making a slow decline in health, which is not unusual at an old age. I saw that for some reason, Arvs had very little to no energy, not even enough to grab a bite to eat from the honey pots right next to him. He slept for a long time, woke up to smile at me, grew sleepy again and then fell back asleep. The idea that he was getting nothing to eat worried me all to heck and I immediately shoved a honey pot into his tiny hands and convinced him to drink it up! Of course I also checked for sleeping sicknesses or bacterias, or toxins in his system that could be causing this but came up short. While he did get that honey pot in him it won't keep him drinking more but there's not much I can do. It's just a matter of time before it's his time to go. I just hope he's having a good time while he's here.

Before I left I flicked back to Orika to see how she was doing one last time. She was oh so happily playing with the speech robot toy, which I was very glad to see! I'm always happy when a norn takes it's own education into consideration... even if Orika already knows everything!

A Sad Hatching

 It wasn't long after the hatching of Orika's first child that she and Quirin tried to sneak another quick romance together when I wasn't looking. I was just lucky enough to scroll past them in the middle of a kisspop!

 I eagerly watched Orika throughout her pregnancy with somewhat of a protective nature myself. Quirin never strayed from her side the whole time and he is proving to turn out to be a little Romeo. Orika soon enough proudly layed the cream colored egg beside a bottomless source of food for norns ensuring the child would have plenty of nourishment upon hatching, the bee hive!

 From that egg hatched a little girl named Badala, proudly sporting her fathers harlequin head and large, goofy ears! She has her own charm to be sure, even if she is a little awkward looking. She hatched with a bright smile on her face and an eye on the golden jars of honey! Her mother's idea sure paid off.

Once she was sure Badala was safely out of her shell and filling her tummy with nutritious honey she moved on and took a short trip accross the swamp bridge. On the other side, in the small mushroom farm she found some norns she had not yet met and became quite smitten with one particular one, who also took a liking to her. I was very pleased to see them get along so readily upon meeing, and it wasn't long before Orika decided to grace the world with another pregnancy. Aldobrando was only too happy to oblige!

Orika spent all of her pregnancy by Aldobrando and made sure to lay the egg right where it was conceived. The warmth of the nearby volcano to incubate the egg was a good bonus, but she wanted to make sure Aldobrando also had a chance to witness his egg too.

Aldobrando and Orika walked off into the heat of the volcano together after convincing me to open the door. Normally I would not let norns in there, but they seemed to stick by each other and take care of each other so well I thought it might be alright to let them explore where no norn has ever been before. Behind them, the egg eventually hatched out one of the cutest little boy norn's i've ever seen! Sadly... he only had a few seconds to live before passing away with the same happy smile he hatched with. I was unable to determine the cause of his passing and was so sad to see such a cute little thing go.

Orika and Aldobrando soon joined me in gazing at the lifeless little body of their newest son, may he rest in peace. Though Orika and Aldobrando sported smiles, there was a solemness to them. They stayed around Ashibaal looking at their new son for some time and wouldn't leave his side. Perhaps they knew about a norn afterlife they were wishing him well in.

Life goes on.. and after Ashibaal disappeared in a puff of sparkly smoke Orika and Aldobrando decided to explore the volcano independently. Aldobrando became intrigued by a group of deathcap mushroom seeds! Never before has there been this many all together! The volcano is a breeding ground for them! They just call for inspection!

Meanwhile, Orika took delight in finding the metal lift in the volcano and pushing the button to see where it went! Orika's heart bloomed with the wanderlust that her sister exhibited! She did an expert job of patiently waiting for the lift to stop moving before trying to walk out of it rather than repeatedly bumping into the wall like most norns, I was so proud of her!

I followed Orika accross the inside of the volcano and helped her over the sand dunes to the right side of the island. I watched her joyfully pick coconuts from the tree and helped knock down ones she couldn't quite reach. She didn't even seem concerned when a few storm clouds passed overhead. Tropical weather can be so unpredictable! But still, the cool tropical breezes, soft, warm sands and all the coconuts she could eat gave her the brightest smile yet! The disaster of earlier seemed ages away now.

Expanding Nyrn

We left Orika pregnant last time and I was really eager to see if she carried the same messed up gene as her sister or if she would be able to lay the egg. Orika pleasantly surprised me with a bright, mustard colored egg soon after I started up my game! Orika then fell asleep immediately afterwords with a proud smile on her face. I knew that Orika would make a good mother.

The idea of the tribe expanding so soon and so quickly worried me. I didn't want a huge tribe like I usually have, but I just can't help myself! I love norns! From the egg hatched a little boy I named Asha-Ammu and he fit in right away! Asha-Ammu showed that he was a curious little norn and while he didn't yet know what all of the things around here were, or were for, he expressed an eagerness to find out the good old fashioned way! Asha-Ammu sampled, pushed and pulled everything! I made sure to give him rewarding tickles for all of the good actions he discovered as well as teach him some words for things in his immediate vicinity. When I was content that he was on the right track I left him to go see what visitor was knocking at my warp chamber door.

A pretty little male norn arrived in my chamber and was showing his over-eagerness to become a member of my world by walking repeatedly into the door. I hurried to let him out before he hurt himself too much! In spite of how much he had already hurt himself, he had a bright smile on his face. I just love his pastel colors, so the idea of adding him to my world is a pleasant one! I just hope his high generation doesn't carry any hidden con's.

Most norns go about doing their general things, eating and sleeping as well as playing with toys. Arvyn isn't an exception. He remains by the volcano door happily living off of mushrooms and playing with the toy doggie. I check on him every now and then to make sure he's not hurting himself by walking into the door repeatedly, but he has fun surprising me with staying fairly focused on the toys and not the door. Arvyn seemed to show a lot of pride in how he could successfully push the toy unlike some of his other norn friends! I had hopes that he would become adventurous enough to join the main group so that I could perhaps have some little norny babies with floating eyeballs, but Arvyn seems to like solitude and doesn't show an interest in girls.

In spite of his high generation Quirin showed great intelligence when it came to the little IQ test. He passed quicker than I had expected and I found him enjoying the fruits and foods of the lower meso. I quickly introduced him to Nyrn and the C2toDS metaroom and he acted like he had lived there all his life! The other norns accepted him with open arms as one of their own. I hope he has a chance to pass his beautiful pastel colors on. Welcome Quirin.




Current norn population: 10
9 adults, 1 child