chapter 13 - mostly birthdays

Discworld LegacyChapter 13

Mostly

Birthdays

Welcome back to the Discworld Legacy. Sorry for the long delay, I got a little distracted by university (the real thing), on the plus side I've now graduated and don't have anything serious to do until October so hopefully updates will be a little more frequent (but then I've said that before).

The quality of this update may go down in the second half because I'm writing it over three months after actually playing and so I'm not always quite sure what I was going to say.

Anyway when I left off Casanunda had three children - Druellae and Detritus the alien spawn and Dibbler with his wife Amber.

Hi there, it's me again Casanunda Discworld.

As you can see things have changed around here since last we spoke, but let's start from where I left off - Druellae was a teenager, Detritus a child and Dibbler a toddler.

Things went as expected for a while - promotions happened, money came in and the house took shape.

Before long it was time for Dibbler to join Detritus as a child.

At the time we celebrated what we thought was the end of the toddler years (well at least until the grandchildren).

The boys got on extremely well, I think Detritus was glad to have a playmate his own age again.

He was certainly working hard in school and was quickly bring home A's like his big sister everyday

And what about Drue?

Well, I'll admit I was a little worried at first when she showed no interest at all in the neighbourhood boys. In fact she seemed positively disgusted by the thought of any kind of romance with them.

It was only when she came home with one of her female classmates that I realised that she had more in common with me and my mothers than I'd thought.

Admittedly her ideas of romance were a little odd at first (something she probably got from her grandmother).

But after some subtle pointers she was soon sweeping her off her feet.

Things progressed from there and Druellae and Viola were soon dating.

I can't help but feeling that Drue was a little more aware of what was going on when she was a baby than I gave her credit for - she's certainly got the moves down.

[I really need to move my sims around more when they're on a date - I don't think this pair moved from the one spot until the date was over.]

Unlike me Druellae is quite happy to commit herself to one sim only and Viola quickly became a regular at the house and happily befriended the rest of the family.

The only dark spot during this time was something that happened at work. It turns out that one of the women I had a fling with didn't realise that that was all it was. I tried explaining it to her, I really did, but it didn't seem to help. After I became a coach she managed to get a position on the same team and kept following me around everywhere.

Every time I was promoted I hoped I would be free of her but it did no good. Even when I reached the Hall of Fame she was still right there.

The final straw came when she invited herself into my home and tried to get close to the children.

Rather than cause a fuss, which would draw far too much attention, I decided to change career. I found myself a job in Show Business, I will admit that dropping my mother's name may have helped with that, and have been climbing the ladder ever since.

[Seriously this woman came home from work with Casanunda four days in a row before I got him to change his job. I really didn't want him ruining his marriage and I want to use her genes in the legacy at some point.]

Now, I'm sure you remember what I said last time we spoke about there being no more children...

I really shouldn't say things like that!

Things had been progressing well with the house and we'd bought a new bed in preparation. Perhaps we were just a little too enthusiastic testing it out.

When Amber first started feeling ill we wrote it off as a stomach bug, after all we'd been using protection, there was no reason to think otherwise.

It as only when Amber's stomach expanded that we were forced to accept that we would be parents again.

After the shock had worn off we were actually quite pleased. After all we'd already raised three to childhood, heck I'd looked after Drue for quite a while on my own, one more couldn't hurt.

Funny how things never quite turn out how you expect them to.

After the discussion with Amber I needed to clear my head so I took a walk outside. I found myself oddly attracted to the telescope I had bought Drue for her birthday.

They say that alien abductions are a once in a lifetime experience, they say you'll be extremely lucky if you even know someone who has met aliens. Well I say they're wrong!

This made my fourth visit to an alien spaceship (once as a teen, once in college, once via the dance sphere, and now once again).

I suppose I should feel flattered that I'm so attractive to those green beings, but I just feel violated.

I tried at first to pretend that nothing had happened, that we were still only expecting one new addition to the household.

But it soon became all too obvious that I had been impregnated again.

At least there would be plenty of space for the two new additions, as I mentioned earlier the structure of the house was finished and we had moved what little furniture we had in.

It was certainly sparse, but we had everything we needed to raise the children.

It wasn't long before Amber went into labour.

[I know this looks like the old house, that's because it is, it just works better this way.]

Producing our second boy Dios, he looked identical to Dibbler at that age, but then I suppose that's inevitable given Amber and my genetics.

[Dios is the slightly insane High Priest of Djelibeybi who never ages. He lives in a Valley which he rules over with the same laws he began with, 7000 years previously. Kings come and go, but Dios remains, and interprets everything for them so that nothing changes. His agelessness is explained by his visits to the Necropolis. He appears in the novel Pyramids]

We both took full advantage of the time we had with Dios as the only baby in the house knowing full well it wouldn't be long until there were two.

But before that it was time for Detritus to join his sister as a teenager (and I breathed a secret sigh of relief as there would be another set of hands to help out with the babies).

Detritus grew into a handsome young man.

Growing up as he has in such cramped conditions and with so little stuff he decided his aim in life was to obtain as much wealth as possible and in doing so become a force for justice.

[Aka Detritus is a wealth sim with the life time want of becoming The Law]

The very next day I felt the all too familiar pains of labour

It seemed to take forever but at the end I was holding my new born son Dorfl.

[Dorfl is one of the old golems baked from clay. He collaborated with several other old golems in making a golem king, hoping that the king might lead them out of slavery, this failed but one result was Dorfl owning himself and thus being free. He then joined the Ankh-Morpork City Watch, and is the force's first "ceramic policeman". He is an atheist, and resistant to thunderbolts and hellfires (very important in a world where gods tend to throw thunderbolts around).]

Drue especially was quite taken with her new baby brother. It's funny really, each of my alien children has been progressively less alien in their colouring - Drue with nothing from me, Detritus with my eyes and now Dorfl with my eyes and my red hair.

[Dorfl is half-sibling to the rest as he has a different alien parent]

Time passes quickly with two babies to take care of and it was soon Dios' birthday.

Of course toddlers are even more of a handful to take care of but they're more fun, and closer to childhood.

Dios was a very playful and talkative child, however unlike his siblings he's far more content to remain in one place while he plays, I don't have to chase him all over the house at least.

[Dios is a Taurus - 6 neat, 10 outgoing, 3 active, 10 playful and 6 nice]

As I had taught Dibbler most of his toddler skills Amber took her turn with Dios and was thrilled when his first word was Mamma.

Then it was time for my little green Dorfl to age.

For that his colouring was more like mine than Detritus' his features were quite alien, although I'm sure I can see some of myself in him.

In personality he's proved to be very similar to Dios - outgoing and playful but laid back.

[Dorfl is a Libra - 4 neat, 10 outgoing, 5 active, 9 playful and 7 nice]

I took great delight in teaching my son everything he needed to know for a good life.

And perhaps some things that would just make life more fun.

[I know this was ages ago but at this point I had just got Freetime (as soon as it came out which tells you just how long ago I played this) and this was the first thing I did with it - so cute!]

Meanwhile Detritus was proving himself to be a responsible and hardworking young man (so unlike myself when I was that age) and had reached the top of his teen career.

And my other kids were growing up before my eyes, next was Dibbler.

He became yet another handsome young man (but what do you expect, they've got my genes) who wanted to become a successful entrepreneur, but I got the feeling that he was less interested in the money and more in the people he'd meet in the process.

[Dibbler rolled popularity and his life time want is to own 5 top level businesses. Normally I curse him but it's so fitting for the character he's named after I'll give it a go]

Next up it was Dios' turn to become a little more independent.

As a child he is still as happy and laid back as he was as a toddler, I admit it's kind of a relieve after chasing after Drue, Detritus and Dibbler [all 9 or 10 active]

And then it was time for my youngest son to age. I've always felt the closest to Dorfl for some reason, maybe it's because he's the only one with my hair.

I felt kinda sad when I took him to his cake - the last of my toddlers.

But I can't stop time and so my little green guy became a little bigger.

He's still just as creative as he was as a toddler and loves to draw.

But his true passion is music and dance

Something that Amber loves to encourage him in

In fact he's getting so good he was invited to join a special club, although at the moment he's only allowed to go if one of us accompanies him.

Meanwhile it was time for my oldest child and only daughter to leave for university. I'll let her letters speak for what's been going on there so far.

Hi, dad, I've reached uni fine, the dorm isn't bad, bit basic though, I might investigate the Greek House you set up when you were a student. I wonder what I'm going to have to do to gain entry.

Anyway, I've been meeting lots of really cool people

It's kinda weird to be surrounded by people that aren't family.

I've got my first class in ten minutes so I'll write more latter.

Bye

Hi dad, I got fed up of the dorm, no one has any sense of privacy.

I called up your old Greek house to see if I could get in and guess what, they said I was a founding member and so had automatic membership.

[This amused me greatly, Drue was of course born at university and was there when Casanunda founded the Greek house. I hadn't realised that she would be considered still a member after having lived in the main neighbourhood since Cas graduated.]

I've been spending a lot of time around campus recently, you know, trying to meet someone special. But so far I've had no luck. They've all been too dumb

or too ugly

or just not quite right, I know exactly what I want and I just can't find it.

Anyway, that's enough for know. Bye

Guess what dad. I found her!!!

I know what I was looking for in my perfect woman - Viola.

She turned up at the greek house the other day to try and become a member, I don't know if she realised I was running it or not.

Of course I let her in with minimal of entry tasks (I wasn't going to let even her get in completely freely).

So she's living here now which is great, we're having so much fun together.

Bye

Dear dad,

Got through first year with perfect grades, so where's that check you promised me?

Drue

It was not long after Druellae left for university that I got the shock of my life...again!

I mean how am I meant to get sad about my kids growing up when we keep having more of them!!

[Funnily enough this is the only baby this generation that I actively tried for. I've already got my heir, I just really wanted Amber to have a girl.]

The time seemed to fly past (I kept well clear of the telescope this time) and it wasn't long before Amber was giving birth for what had better be the last time.

It was harder on her this time than before, probably because we're not as young as we used to be.

But eventually she was holding our last baby (and I really mean it this time), our daughter Dee.

[Dee is the jar'ahk'haga (Ideas-taster) of the Low King, she appears in The Fifth Elephant]

Dee's babyhood passed uneventfully and she was soon ready to transition to toddlerhood

She turned out to be just as outgoing as the other children, like Dios and Dorfl she' a calm child and has the same serious streak as Druellae and Dibbler.

[Dee is a Leo (like her parents) - 6 neat, 10 outgoing, 4 active, 4 playful and 3 nice. It says something about this family that Detritus with 6 outgoing points is the shyest of the lot, everyone else has the full 10 points.]

Everyone adores Dee and is constantly flocking to take care of her.

[Dee looks a lot better with hair]

Although she was a complete surprise I think Amber is very glad she finally had a girl and I certainly wouldn't give up any of my children now I have them.

I do sometimes wish I hadn't been chosen as heir, just think I could be living in a bachelor pad somewhere with nothing to do but woohoo ::sigh::

[Nice dream Cas but it is a very rare sim that doesn't breed when I'm in charge, they have to be both ugly and boring, and Cas isn't either.]

Even Dorfl who had got used to being the baby of the family couldn't help loving Dee.

And then it was time for the next of my children to leave the nest as Detritus headed off for university.

The house really is getting emptier now and there won't be any babies to replace the ones that leave until the heir comes home, and this time I won't be forced to take back those words.

[Cas and Amber are now too old for more pregnancies, although I'll probably keep them from becoming elders until the heir moves home]

That's it for this time, in the next Discworld update the children will continue to grow up and leave home and there will be more college days (in carefully rationed portions).