And now for something completely different!

[Originally written July 3 2020]

I already have an established Creatures 1 world that I’ve been playing at the same time, but I might as well document this one as well. This is what I’d call a “vanilla with a cherry on top” world – I don’t have a whole bunch of third party COBs or breeds or whatever, just a handful of modifications that I would consider to mostly fall within the realm of bug fixes and quality of life adjustments:

• Grendel Friendly. The world itself is hardcoded to change any interaction by a Grendel into a slap, regardless of what the intent was. This removes that script and allows the Grendel to make its own choices.
• Grendel Button. In Creatures 1, Grendels are not selectable without a COB like this.
• The Drive Computer. While I’m perfectly happy to use the provided Holistic Learning Machine in DS, in Creatures 1 and 2 I prefer to teach vocabulary the traditional way. There’s just one problem with this: in Creatures 1, as it comes out of the box, there is no way to teach adjectives. This COB effectively patches this problem without significantly altering the gameplay itself by adding a second computer under the temple that teaches adjectives.
• Sprite fixes for Pixie and Purple Mountain Norns.

As this is an already-running world, I’ve got quite a few creatures running around, so this post will mainly be an introduction to Albia’s inhabitants. The naming here has so far been alphabetical, loosely by generation – in the sense of when they were born, roughly, not how far removed from hatchery eggs they are. Even that’s rather loose and has more to do with my sense of time than the actual ages of the Norns.

	Angela was the first Norn in the world, and quite fond of the Grendel. Back in her day there were some soap opera antics going on; she often preferred Greg’s company over Aaron’s, and the latter was not happy about it. The hatchet has long since been buried though, and now Angela is an old lady who values her alone time.
	Aaron has not aged so gracefully. He’s just the provided male Purple Mountain Norn from the kit. He’s not always a good eater but he’s generally pretty obedient and gets along well with others – even Greg, nowadays.
	Beth, their first child, is… problematic. She listens when she feels like it, does what she wants, and enjoys hitting other creatures. She caught a very nasty illness when she was young that took forever to fight off, but she plowed on through with her high life force. I suspect she’s a Highlander or something because her life force is perpetually in the nineties, even when sick.
	Bill is Bill. He’s a hatchery Norn. I… honestly can’t tell you much more about him. This is, in itself, all you really need to know, I suppose.
	Carlos is Bill’s son with Angela. He takes after his father both in appearance and in being unfortunately forgettable. He’s not a very good eater and that’s all I can say off the top of my head.
	Cathy is Carlos’s sister, but she gets her looks from her mother. She’s a shy, timid Norn who reminds me of my dog Maggie: adorable but overwhelmingly terrified of random things for no apparent reason. She spends a lot of time running in fear, although I usually can’t tell what she’s actually running from, which makes it hard to get her to eat or follow the hand.
	Damien is the spitting image of his father, Bill, and has none of Beth’s Purple Mountain Norn looks. He did, however, inherit her temperament and love of bullying the other creatures.
	Derek was a welcome break from the parade of Banana Norns. He’s Carlos and Beth’s child. Quite the opposite of Damien, he got his charming appearance and high life force from his mother but thankfully not her aggressive tendencies.
	Erika is the newest Norn, child of Cathy and Damien. I have no idea how that pairing happened; they seem like the least compatible couple in Albia! There’s not much to be said about Erika yet, but I’m sure she’ll be quite a character.
	Last, but certainly not least, Greg the Grendel. I love this little guy! He’s easily my favorite creature of the lot, and by far the best behaved. He takes care of himself well enough, and is my most obedient creature, nearly always coming when called and eating when told to. While Norns get distracted by each other and by random objects, Greg will generally listen to me above all else – save for his precious ball! He’s also a shining example of why the Grendel Friendly COB exists; Greg is incredibly gentle, and doesn’t seem to have an aggressive bone in his body, early life conflicts with Aaron notwithstanding. He’s been on the receiving end of a few slaps in his time but tends to turn the other cheek rather than fighting back.

From what I’ve seen on the internet, most people’s C1 Grendels tend to spend their lives on the island. Greg, for whatever reason, can usually be found in the house, garden, or occasionally temple, although he sometimes nopes out to the jungle when a large crowd of Norns congregates nearby. Because of his usual location and his tendency to actually obey when he hears “come hand” it’s become something of a tradition for Greg to accompany young Norns on their journey to the adjective computer and sit through their lessons with them. This time, however, he opted out, and after briefly greeting Erika near the lemons, he went back to the garden. In his stead, Grandma Beth escorted her to the computer and back.