Are We Only Up To Generation Four?

That's what I asked myself because I've had so many disastrous mistakes and glitches througout this whole project that it's almost unbelievable!

My last post was a bit morbid and I'm sorry about that. I'm er...still trying to recover from the wreckage of my DS concept and find a way to piece that back together to give it another shot. I can't promise that this newest post about my C1 Horse Norns will be any less dismal. XD

Not only that, like everyone, I've just been busy! Christmas is looming...well, maybe that's not quite the right word for such a joyful celebration. Anyway, I've been rather preoccupied with shopping, work, health issues and other such things. But I'm currently on 3 weeks annual leave so I was able to find time to play Creatures again.

I apologise in advance to my readers. Please read on ahead at your own risk...and maybe have a box of tissues or a stress ball beside you.

What do the words Cabbage and Manky have in common? Apparently not much as Goku fell asleep after finding a can full of manky atop the pianola, leaving poor Cabbage to curl up by his paws all alone. It was quite possibly the worst introduction to the new Grendel, ever.

Yes, Cabbage is our newest Grendel in the newest world after the previous one crashed. He is a total cutie, born from the Grendel mother. Apparently he was lonely and looking for some company.

The crash happened this time due to my error rather than a COB. I exported a pregnant Honey after my Hand had become frozen from picking up a  half eaten carrot from the carrot vendor that had disappeared. Without the Hand able to move at all, the best option, I thought, was to export everyone and import them into a clean world. I forgot one important thing. Pregnant Norns can crash a world if you try to re-import them. This is exactly what happened.

Luckily, I had only tried to import Honey, so everyone else was still safe. I had to leave the pregnant Honey in a saved .exp file and go locate the baby version of her before starting to import Norns all over again. I imported three of each gender, thinking to import the remaining gen four Norns as these six passed on.

Cola was one of the six and to everyone's happiness, she had become pregnant again and given generation five another egg. I believe the father is Boots this time. So far, all the gen five babies have been boys so I was hoping for a girl.

 

Honey, meanwhile, didn't look too happy having to start life over again. She peered up at me past Strider as though she knew that they had been expecting an egg before the world had crashed around them. But it couldn't be helped. Thankfully, Honey still had the same appetite and intelligence she'd displayed growing up previously, which pointed towards a hopeful future and mayhaps some new eggs to replace the one she could never have.

 

Cola's egg shattered open to reveal a grinning baby boy. He was another male, which meant I may have to fall back on my supply of downloaded female horse Norns in generation five, but with his curious green tint that almost matched his shell, he was nevertheless a most welcome addition. (That is twinge of green in his fur, right? My eyes aren't playing tricks on me, are they?)

 

The world was just beginning to take off and get back on its feet when something terrible struck. Goku had journeyed with his new friend, Cabbage, to the tropical island. There were currently no available food sources and I noticed he had a bit of a cold. I hurriedly opened my injector's kit and searched through the list of COBS for my handy dandy carrot vendor to offer some food but it was taking longer than I thought because I couldn't remember what it was called.

 

I had just found it when I realised the number next to it said 0. With a sigh of exasperation, I realised I'd have to reinstall the vendor, along with a few other COBS, and was zooming off to the garden to fetch Goku a carrot or two when my observation kit and everything else closed, alerting me to a little DEATH bar on the bottom of the screen.

 

Goodbye dear Norn, and rest in peace. May there be all the carrots you could ever wish for in the next life in silicon heaven.

 

No one would have suspected that Cola would contract the illness from an already deceased body.

 

***

 

Everything was going fine after the loss of Goku, and Cola headed back across Albia, ending up in the garden. I imported a few more Norns to fill the gap he had left in the population, introducing Clause and Harper to the kitchen area.

 

That was when Cola let out a cough. Soon, everyNorn around was coughing and sneezing.

 

Cola's health began to plummet as I tried to get her to eat something. In a crowd of other sick Norns, it was almost impossible. Ctrl and S repeated the command to everyone, yet only Harper and Clause seemed to listen. Trying to isolate them wasn't working either.

 

Cola's health dipped dangerously low and when I saw the gravestone icon, I knew there wasn't much else I could apart from ask her to eat. I resorted to tickling her instead and occasionally saying 'push food'.

 

But despite all my efforts, Cola passed away. Boots wasn't faring well either, although I had managed to quarantine him up the top near the computer. He spun in miserable circles with a carrot every time I asked him to eat.

 

Amidst all the chaos, there was a ray of light. Harper became pregnant...where they found the time or energy to kisspop I have no idea but good on them! Ensuring the survival of the next generation in a selfless act of giving.

 

I knew that Boots was a goner and tried to make him comfortable in his last minutes of life that were quickly ticking away. In between the times he rested from sneezing and spinning, he got tickles and we played with a ball.

 

Good news was that Harper looked like she and her egg would both make it! She became healthy thus I tried to steer her clear of the other sick Norns.

 

Boots' life force plummeted and I held my breath, knowing it would soon be time to bid him farewell. He had lived longest out of most of his fellows, still it was too soon for a stupid illness to claim him.

 

One last attempt at coaxing him to eat food...

 

But Harper discovered his seemingly sleeping form moments later...still clutching his carrot. Her expression said enough for us all.

 

I tried to add a few more Norns, now that the plague's last victim had been claimed. Although Clause's life force had dipped very low, he had become healthy again and survived. But something must have been against me. Biscuit lay still upon being imported. He wasn't dead yet he could not move at all. I had no choice but to export the still form.

 

One last thing to lighten things up was the final appearance of Harper's egg. Another lucky to live another day. I would love to find out who the father is and this will be revealed when they hatch.

Next time, the update should be more cheerful. For now, get ready to meet the occupant of that new blue egg!