Lions, Tigers, and Housecats

[malymin]

Current C3DS save is named "Cat's Cradle." I started with six norn eggs: siamese norns, bengal norns, and the tawny, maned hardmans. Two of each species, one of each sex.

So far, the Hardman Norns have killed seven grendels.

Prior to writing this, one norn has died: Sassy, the female siamese norn. She was an adolescent, and 28 minutes old. She was killed by a grendel in the Jungle Terrarium.

Bengal and siamese norns are both pretty "normal" norns. Bengals belong to the base genome type that shipped with the game. Siamese norns use the same genome that chichi norms use - a little more resilient to disease/poison/injury than the non-dlc norns, and an innate desire to use warp portals (the online feature that no longer functions, lol).

Hardmans are tougher still than chichi reskins, and are assholes. I kind of love them for it, though? It's charming when a virtual pet is an asshole. Part of the appeal of some of my favorite Catz breeds. Although Hardmans being assholes often has more...lethal consequences.

The underlying mechanic, as I understand, is that they get scared (including of things that don't scare other norns), instantly metabolize their fear into anger, and then want to hit other creatures (mainly grendel, but also other norns) in order to release that pent-up rage. Deep down, their anger management issues stem from them being scaredy-cats!

The first norn to get pregnant and lay an egg has been Tigress, the female bengal, after mating with Sophistico the male siamese, and she laid her egg in the treehouse of the Norn Terrarium. I've named the daughter Tabby. The second norn to get pregnant has been Lioness, the female hardman, after mating with Tyger the male bengal, and she laid her egg near the door to the Jungle Terrarium. I've named the daugher Tigone.

Lionel, the male hardman, is the first norn I've successfully taught Handish this run. For whatever reason, he'd decided to wander into the Norn Meso, guarding the entrance from any grendels who might come nearby (even though the door is locked for grendels...). After some time of Lionel being alone, Tyger joined him.

Tigone has been taught words. This will make it easier for her to communicate her needs with me. And she's killed her first grendel. She's also learning that hitting the mecha-grendel helps alieviate her boiling, hereditary rage. She got some toxins in her, and I fed her a potion to help her recover from them. When that wasn't enough, I took her back to the jungle to eat some peppers to boost her immune system.

Lioness is pregnant again. I think it's with Tyger again. A second liger (this one male) has been born, named... Liger.

Tigone has grown old enough to have sex, and did so with... her father... it's fine, Norns are like that. o_o; She laid her egg in the jungle. Lioness is also having a second child. Tigone has had a second pregnancy with Sophistico.

The plants provided with the Hardman Norn Pack, which grow natively in the terrarium once injected, make the Jungle an interesting place to raise norns. It's not as kind a place as the Norn Meso or Norn Terrarium - it's still full of diseases and the haunt of grendels. But with the Awkwood vines, food is even easier to find than in the terrarium for a starving norn - the pellets it leave behinds seem to never decay the way most edibles do. And the peppers provide more vitamin C than other fruits, which helps norns recover from injuries they get from being slapped by grendels. (Or each other...) I feel like "high risk, high nutrients" is a realistic trade-off for living in the rainforest compared to the typical norn regions.

Lioness is hungry, but seems to have forgotten how to eat. Her attention is focused on the food in front of her, she just can't... pick it up? I think she may die soon. Ok, nevermind, she remembered how.

I terraformed the Desert, aka the Ettin Home, some, by planting tubas ("food" plant) and bramboo ("fruit") in the soil. I hope this is at least part of the reason my ettins are still alive after... two hours. I think they're the first ettins the game spawned. I always feel bad for the ettins dying, I wanted them to live a little more comfortably.

The tigers have had an egg together, laid in the Norn Terrarium.

Omnikitty (the siamese/hardman/bengal) died in the desert. She was a child, and 18 minutes old. Most likely, she died to the grendel that was also in the desert.

EDIT: An ettin has died. Most likely, it was to disease and toxins from a grendel, considering the hover-doc autopsy. She was two hours and sixteen minutes old.

EDIT: An second ettin has died. Most likely, it was to violence from a grendel, considering the hover-doc autopsy. She was seven minutes old, and an adolescent.