Creatures Caves

This was originally posted on the Gameware forums. Apparently I don't think anyone likes it. And I worked really hard on this.

Please also note that this is after the Magma norn story, and years before the Bondi norn story.

Scroll 1: The Silence of Albia

Amidst this drop of time gone dry
My heart is drowning and writhing
These lies that make me dizzy
I took them and tore them up
And with that, I became lost
In a world of thin darkness.
-Shell, Opening Theme of Witch Hunter Robin

*****

"A barren, waste land. The sky is always yellow and brown, and the clouds had
a red hue. The waters were unhealthy, and all of the goldfish and Zander Fish
were dead. All was lost, all was forgotten, all was to never be revived."

A lone Ettin was sitting in a cavern, surrounded by thousands of cave drawings and
writings. This Ettin was unalike the other Worker Ettins. He did not operate
machines nor did he collect remaining gadgets in his spare time.

He looked carefully among all of the amazing artwork on the stone walls,
painted with the use of smashed berries. One message among all of them looked
very worn down, as if not a lot of berries were used. It was the message
that this Ettin read aloud to himself.

The message was actually in Nornir, a language which many of the Ettins have
learned to speak. They learned it ever since they overtook Albia and found
these cave artworks. All of the other messages however were in Old Nornir,
a language that was older than today's Nornir, but still had many similarites.

Ettins learned the two languages, and it became a tradition to learn it as
the Ettin generation grew. Now most Ettins have gone back to their normal
lifestyles. Now it only seemed that this one little Ettin, was the last Ettin
to be interested in Nornir and translating the ancient scribes.

He grabbed his own stone tablet, and using lead... he wrote down, painfully,
what he had translated from Nornir. He was recording the message. The message
was very true indeed.

Albia is still barren and a waste land. It happened since The Lone Shee had
built the Capillata and left Albia, in pursuit of The Shee Ark. Many
creatures have died during that terrible time. Others starved as the
ecosystem was ruined, and food became extremely scarce.

All the Norns died. But a few lived, not all. Most of today's living Norns
on Albia... were Norns who accidently escaped through The Warp on the
Capillata. Now they too are forced to suffer.

Ettins and Grendels alike were able to survive much easier. And soon
the Ettin population and Grendel population became very huge. Many Norns
got injured or killed by the constantly growing Grendel population.

Albia's balance was ruined. And there seemed to be no way of restoring it.

As the lone Ettin continued to study what the ancients had left for us today,
an elderly Ettin walked inside the caverns. His body was not alike of the
lone Ettin's tender, soft and smooth body. The elderly Ettin was covered
in wrinkles. His grey hair was very long, reaching down to his lower back.
He even had a grey beard that reached down to his chest.

"...Kooroz..." The elder spoke to the Ettin, almost wheezing out every sound. He was
extremely old and could die at any minute, but he didn't.

The lone Ettin turned to the elder in reply.'Kooroz' echoed through the cavern halls, he heard his name
loud and clear.

"Yes, Masrah Heemwal?" Kooroz answered to the elder. Recently Ettins have
also been using Old Nornir words as part of their own names. Masrah could
mean 'Leader' or 'Master'. And Heemwal meant 'Man of Autumn'. For the
elder was born on a cold Autumn's day.

Even Kooroz's name had Nornir origins.

"Kooroz, please return to the Machinery Chambers. You cannot be in the caverns
forever. The others are in need of more help in repairing a machine. Do help
them out." Heemwall spoke sternly, almost in a scolding manner.

"But Masrah Heemwall." Kooroz protested. "All in my life I've had these
caverns. They are filled with history and writings from The Anicent Norns.
These caverns are my life, they are what make me live and breath."

"Also," Kooroz added. "You know I have no interest nor knowladge for
machines. I was never born to learn about machines."

"Nonsense!" Heemwall spat. "An Ettin's duty is to serve The Shee. But since
The Shee had left hundreds of years ago, we have to do the next most important
thing that is part of our destiny! We must care for the machines that The
Shee had left behind!"

"Masrah, I am aware of that." Kooroz replied. "But I'm not like the others.
I am very different. My blood isn't pumping to serve the remains of The
Shee. It's...... it's pumping for something else. Although I am not sure
what it is."

"What you say is nothing. You must follow the Ettin Code. Because you are
an Ettin, you must help us with machinery. I know what the Ancients left
is amazing. Some Ettins decided to study about it for awhile. Our culture
slightly changed. But now we are going back to our lifestyle's roots.
Machines - now!" Heemwal chited.

"...Yes, Masrah Heemwal." Kooroz said and followed him out the caverns,
not without forgetting his lead writing stick and records. Masrah Geemwal
often got angry when he didn't get this way, and was a strong believer
of the Ettin culture.

Ettin life in Albia was still the same. Ettins had to live through
gloomy and lonely underground life. But ever since things changed dramaticly
in Albia, their lifes became worse. Still it slowly got better. As the
Norn population dropped quickly, the Ettin population and population of
Grendels quickly rose, as stated before.

Ettins soon moved to new areas and found the machines that The Shee left
behind, and saw it as their duty and destiny to take care of the machines...
They had no true reason why to do that. It wasn't because they were waiting
for The Shee, for they knew that the The Shee had gone to bigger and better
places.

Very few Ettins in years once thought The Shee would actually come back.
They were denied upon many Ettins, but still they waited. And yet The
Shee never did came back, and probably never will. Some Ettins had once
reported that The Lone Shee had returned for a short time, and rescued
a Magma Norn from a Grendel. Although this was just merely a rumor to
many of the surviving creatures here.

Kooroz didn't believe The Shee would came back. He still had an interest
in them, for the ancient writings of Nornir had some words about The Shee.
Kooroz still vowed to one day discover every secret the caverns held.

*****

Near the volcanic caverns were two female Ettins, walking and talking
about daily Ettin life. They had two jobs in Ettin life. For now, they were
allowed free time from machines. They also worked as Nurses and were doing
just that. Ettin nurses were assigned to take care of Ettin eggs.

The volcano's heat would help warm up the eggs. And when an egg was close
to hatching, a nurse would quickly take the egg to the proper chambers where it
would hatch. The eggs were also always safe. For the Grendel population
lived in a different volcano. Ever since The Lone Shee's departure, another
volcano was opened up.

"Did you see Janrah today?" One Ettin nurse asked the other.

"No, why?" The other replied. The two continued to chat about things.

They had no idea that an old wall was slowly crumbling part. The wall that
was giving away, almost seemed as if it was revealing something. The Ettins
were too busy chatting to even notice what was happening to the stone wall.

"Janrah did this... and that... blah, blah." The two were talking non stop.

The wall kept on making cracking sounds. At last it crumbled away, revealing
a very small and narrow opening, that seemed to lead far above the volcano.
When the wall quickly gave out, a small object rolled out. And landed near
the feet of one of the Ettin nurses....

"...Huh, what's that?" One asked.

The other looked toward the new opening. "The wall must have crumbled,
and it rolled out there."

One of the Nurses went inside the opening and looked up. "My golly, it's
really cold here. Hmmm, seems to be an opening above too. I see no light
though. Maybe this thing fell down here."

"Well, it certainly feels freezing. Must have been there forever.
Uh? It's warming up now, must be the volcano's heat." The other replied.

"Hold it Bumee, that.... that looks like a Norn egg!"

"Good golly, a Norn egg! It's covered in ancient dust... this must have
been produced by The Ancient Norns."

"Don't assume Buumee, that's just silly. Besides, it's probably a dead
egg by now."

"Yeh, I guess you're right. C'mon Keerii, let's go."

The two Ettin nurses left the areas, heading toward a metal lift. The lone
egg just stood there still. The dust made the egg shell look completely
grey, left with two Ettin handprints from one of the nurses. Still the
volcano was slowly, very slowly warming it up.

*****

Kooroz sat on a round stone in a room of Albia. It was near the other Ablian
rooms where the Ettins made their home. This room was rather high and was
a stone and metal alcove. You could look out of it and got a very
good sight of Albia's remains, and sometimes a sight of its suffering too.

Kooroz was quietly sitting alone, thinking to himself. Like Masrah Heemwal
had ordered him, Kooroz was forced to help repair a machine. He had begun
to help hammer in some screws and rewire. Suddenly he made a mistake by
banging too hard, and almost caused the weak machine to fall apart.

The Ettins were very angry at him, and Masrah Heemwal quickly dismissed
him. Kooroz left, only to come here and sit down.

"Why must I be forced into machinery? Masrah Heemwal and the others know
I have absolute no knowladge with machinces. Yet they forget that every
time, and force me again and again." Kooroz sighed to himself, finally speaking
some words after many minutes.

There was probably no hope for him, they'll always forget and force him.
Will Kooroz ever get enough time for himself? Free from machines and able
to stay in the ancient caverns until his heart's content? Probably never.
He sighed hopelessly and stood up, looking down the alcove before him.
Although even what his eyes saw, it was still a pretty calming place
of Albia.

Below him were more stone grounds, with some brown patches of grass here and
there. The grass was actually dead and never seemed to rot away. There was
also some tall stone figures and fallen down trees everywhere. And everything
was quiet, hence why is was calming.

But then something else caught Kooroz's attention, he heard some faint
'grahs' and other grunts. Looking closer, he saw a small group of Grendels
in the far distance. Grendels were often moving about from one place or
another in the remains of Ablia. So it was no surprise to see them there
and now.

Upon a second look, Kooroz noticed that they were eating some meat scraps
from some bones. The bones were big enough to have come from a Norn, Ettin
or even another Grendel. Even with Albia's Norn's population close to
extinction, Grendels still sometimes found a living Norn and preyed on them.

But most times, Grendels saw the Ettin kind as an alertnate. They were common
and thus easier to prey on. Although some of the Grendels suffered from the feared
O.H.S.S... and thought Ettins didn't exist, and continued to find Norns with no luck
until they died from starvation.

But most of today's Grendels were smarter than that. The meat could have
probably came from an Ettin. It didn't bug Kooroz too much, for Grendels
gotta eat... and Albia's ecosystem was half dead. How else were they to
feed themselfs? Only the Ettins were lucky when it came to natural food
sources. But they too still had little.

Many of the Ettins and Kooroz too are aware that one day, Worker Ettins
on Albia would be extinct. When every single one of Albia's Norns are engulfed, Grendels will
turn to the Ettins in order to feed their hungry mouths. And once the
Ettins are extinct, the Grendels would have extreme trouble in finding
food.

And then the Grendels would be forced to cannibalism. The Grendels would
be forced to eat their own kind. And when the last Grendel in Albia stands,
it would have nothing to eat. And thus have no chance of survival. And once
that single Grendel dies, the Grendels will be extinct too.

It would be the end of Albia when life stops in Albia. In perhapes a couple
of years, life would stop standing on Albia. But there was nothing the
Ettins, Grendels and the few Norns could do. If The Shee had returned,
maybe there would be hope. But there is no hope, for it was fact that the
Shee would never return.

Albia will end, for its balance has been ruined.

Kooroz left the room, leaving the Grendels to finish their small and quick
meal. Just watching them made him ten times hungry. But all of the Ettins were limited
to a single meal per three days. As you can imagine, they were starving too.
But the Norns had it far worse.

To be continued....

The screw thing was meant make Kooroz look stupid when it comes to machines. But I guess you're right.

Scroll 2: Born into Albia's Hands

Thy profile looks very much like that sword point.
Lurking in the sadness and anger
The only ones who know your true heart are the forest spirits
Only the spirits, only the spirits...
-Quoted from the ending theme of Mononoke-hime. (Princess Mononoke)

A few days had passed. The young Kooroz was in the ancient caverns once again. Masrah Heemwal had left Kooroz to himself
lately, which was rather quite strange. It was unusual for Masrah Heemwal
to not go out and find Kooroz and force him upon another job.

In fact, Masrah Heemwal hasn't been out of his private chambers lately either.
The other Ettins were not the least bit worried, and dared not to call for their leader. The
consequences could be very bad if an Ettin were to disturb their own leader
in any way.

Kooroz did not worried that much either. He knew the leader was probably busy
with some important matters. And if he was sick, he knew Masrah Heemwal would
have a speedy recovery despite his age. That is what Masrah Heemwal was like,
always strong and stubborn.

So for now, Kooroz could enjoy the caverns. The knowledge, the history,
the silence. It was all empowering, and he seemingly yearned for it.

*****

The lone egg in the nursery near the volcano was often forgotten by
the only two nurses. Buumee and Keerii the nurse Ettins were busy with
the other eggs. Ettin eggs, which were more important to them than just
any norn egg.

Even though they saw the dust stained egg as dead, they had no care nor
time to think about disposing the egg.

Buumee was busy polishing a black Ettin egg, in spit and shine style. While
Keerii was counting all of the Ettin eggs in store that were slowly
warming up from the volcano's heat.

"Four. Yes, all four eggs accounted for." Keerii smiled. "All four don't
seem to be close to hatching yet. They probably will be soon."

"That's good... but don't our Ettin eggs usually hatch quicker? The eggs
have been in incubation stages for quite awhile, that's a little abnormal
if you ask me..." Buumee said to her, not looking up from the egg she
was polishing.

"You're right. But us the Ettins have been going through a lot of
generations. I think its just a harmless mutation affecting the unborn
ones." Keerii replied.

"Well, I do hope it is harmless. A single bad mutation could ruin the
Ablian Ettin population..." Buumee sighed depressively. Buumee often worried
about the fate for Ettins in the future.

"Aw don't worry, Buumee... everything will be fine." Keerii assured her.
Keerii was different, she was positive about the fate of their population.
Although she was still aware of what will happen in Albia....

The two continued their work. Buumee was still polishing and Keerii went
to clean up some of the machines that was used in the nursery. Keerii
always had a thing for shiny and clean things. And the volcano's ashes
often got the machines and eggs dirty.

Keerii leaned down to one of the machines to begin her work. She used
a strange brush that didn't seemed to smudge the ash, but rather clean it up.
It was one of the few inventions that the Ettins themselfs had made. She
was completely unaware of the supposed dead, norn egg near her.

As she cleaned off every speck of ash she could find, the egg moved an
inch. She didn't noticed it, niether did Buumee. Still it had moved an inch on
its own.

Buumee looked at Keerii for a second, having finishing up with an egg
and about to polish another. Then something caught the corner of her eye,
the norn egg. She thought she saw it moved. 'That egg is just dead...'
Buumee thought to herself and continued work.

The egg was obivously moving on its own and it was alive, despite being
a very old egg.

It moved again, but this time it started to make a soft cracking sound.
Keerii had good hearing, she looked up from her work. "I thought I heard
something crack... Buumee, you be careful with those eggs!"

"I am being as careful as butterfl-" Before Buumee could finish her sentence,
a cracking sound was heard again. This time louder and Buumee was able to hear
it. "Where is that cracking coming from?"

"None of our eggs seem close to hatching..." Keerii reported as she franticly
looked over each and every Ettin egg they had.

Buumee looked around her. When she noticed the norn egg, she began to see
that is really was moving. "Keerii, the norn egg..!" she exclaimed.

Keerii looked over to Buumee, dumbfounded. "What do you mean? That norn
egg is dead, remember?"

"No, look!" Buumee said as she pointed directly at the norn egg. Keerii
took a quick glimpse and was shocked. She thought that the egg was for sure
dead. Was there really an alive norn inside about to hatch?

"I do not believe this! I was really sure it was dead!" Keerii panicked.
But there was no time for panicking. Her nurse instincts kicked in, and she
grabbed the egg and carefully made a run toward a metal lift.

"Keerii, where are you going with that egg?" Buumee called out to her.

"...I... I don't know!" Keerii replied loudly. "I think I'm taking it to
the chambers!"

*****

Masrah Heemwal was sitting in his private chambers, alone in the dark and
away from the other Ettins. He knew his followers were loyal to him and wouldn't
dare disturb him, especially now. Masrah Heemwal had gotten another illness,
and was treating it all by himself.

And as many Ettins would guess, he was recovering pretty well and fast despite
his almost ancient age.

In his frail palm he held a bone whistle, craved from an old bone that belonged
to a Norn he used to know. A Norn that was a strong Norn and was one of
Heemwal's childhood friends. That Norn had died by the claws of a Grendel,
and Heemwal saw him being eaten alive by the beast. It was a truely gruesome
death.

And it scarred the mind of Heemwal. This bone was made from the Norn's
remains, and thus Heemwal kept it very close and dearly to himself. And only
himself alone knew about the whistle and his past Norn friend who died.
He dared to tell no one, in fear that bad memories would return to him. But
the memories still came, and he still didn't dare to tell anyone.

His small red eyes followed the line of blow holes on the whistle. This
bone was old and fragile, and had to be held with care. But what the most
interesting thing about this bone, it was crafted well to make any tune if
played. But it made not a single sound whatsoever.

And so Masrah Heemwal had dubbed it, The Whistle of the Silence.

He was about to put the whistle against his lips in hopes to make one, just one
sound. There was a large commotion outside of his chambers and it distracted
him. The silence was broken as echoes filled the rooms, and Heemwal
became deeply irritated. Grumbling and still suffering from illness, he
treaded outside to see what was going on.

Ettins were all gathered around one thing and discussing loudly. This only
gave Heemwal a headache and he couldn't quite clearly hear what
they were saying. And there was a lot of Ettins, and he couldn't see very
well at all.

Kooroz was returning to his sleeping quarters for a nap. He had
also heard the commotion and arrived to the scene. Like Masrah Heemwal,
he was quite confused as to what was going on.

Boom, boom!

A large and heavy wooden stick was banged on the ground twice.
It was very loud and all of the Ettins ceased speaking and turned to its
source. It was Masrah Heemwal's doing. Whenever he banged this stick on
the ground loudly, all Ettins who hear it are assigned to be quiet or else.
The whole room was now silent.

Heemwal spoke out in a loud and clear voice, and everyone heard him. He did
coughed a little too.

"Ettins of Albia, what is going on? I was resting in my private chambers.
If this was unimportant, then there will be consequences!"

"I ask, what is going on? If anyone is the cause of this, please, step
forward." Heemwal finished his command.

Keerii the Ettin nurse, still holding the dust stained egg in her arms
stepped forward. "Masrah Heemwal, I apologize for making such a rucus.
I came to tell the other Ettins about this egg. But its difference
caused the discussion."

"Nurse Keerii, this egg is rather different. I can see why some Ettins
would be bothered by it, especially by an egg they never seen before.
This isn't an Ettin egg. In fact, I know that this is a norn egg."
Heemwal said.

Keerii gently handed the egg over Masrah Heemwal, who handled it with great
care and gentleness. After blowing some of the dust off of the egg, and coughing some more, he
carefully inspecting it. He nodded to himself.

"Ettins of Albia, you have all never seen an egg like this. It is not
an Ettin egg, so rest assured... this isn't a mutation." He bellowed. And
most of the Ettins sighed in relieve.

"This white egg with black spots is a norn egg." Heemwal stated.

Some of the Ettins were surprised. Norns had never came around to their
chambers for years. Many became confused and asked each other a dozen
questions. Where did the egg come from? How recent is it?

"Silence!" Masrah Heemwal boomed and banged his stick twice again. All of
the Ettins were silenced.

"Having a norn egg is nothing to fret. I do realize that many of you
are surprised and wonder where the egg came from. For now we do not
know, but I shall ask Nurse Keerii if she knows anything." Heemwal said. He
coughed once more.

"Yes, Masrah Heemwal." Keerii obeyed. "A few days ago, a wall near the
nursery crumbled away. It revealed an opening that seemed to have an above
tunnel, perhaps leading up to The Above."

"We found this old and once dusty egg inside of the opening. Myself and
my partner thought it was a dud egg, a dead norn inside to never hatch.
But today we found out it was alive and about to hatch!" Keerii added.

The egg began to move a little in Masrah Heemwal's arms.

"This egg does look rather old. I do not believe norns of today can produce
this size of egg nor its texture and colour. This egg could have been
produced by The Ancient Norns. It is a miracle that this survived for so
long." Heemwal exclaimed.

"It may not be another Ettin, but we shall take care of it. I know we
Ettins used to have a thing for The Ancient Norns but not anymore, we shall
still take care of this little one. It has no other norns to be
with." Heemwal added.

Many of the Ettins were a little doubtful, but agreed to the idea. Kooroz
was still watching from a distance. Usually himself and other Ettins would
have no care in the world for other Norns, but this single unborn Norn
seemed to interest Kooroz a lot. For what reason, he did not know.

****

Masrah Heemwal had returned to his private chambers, not without dismissing
the others and ordering another female Ettin, Uiida, to watch over the
norn egg. Keerii had to return to the nursery, she couldn't stay in the
Ettin home forever.

Ettin sleeping quarters were all shared by the Ettins in a few chambers.
Likewise, Uiida had to share with everyone else. The sleeping quarters
were all the same. Beddings are made by very small piles of dead straw which were
laid on the ground. Sometimes the hay piles would have little bad bugs
inside them, and most Ettins got many a bug bite.

Uiida was sitting on her pile of hay, which she shared with the norn egg.
All of the egg's dust was cleaned up, although its shell still seemed to carry
the appearance of grime and age.

Near by was Kooroz laying down on his own pile, asleep. Studying in the
caverns can be hard work. It worked the brain and sometimes muscle when
recording writings in a stone tablet. Kooroz didn't record much though,
so he exceeded the most in brains more than strength.

"Ouch..!" Cried Kooroz, suddenly awaking from his sleep. A bad bug had bitten
him on the leg. He sat up and looked and where the bite mark was, just on
the thigh and a little above the kneecap. The kneecap was red after many
days of sitting in the ancient caverns on his knees.

Uiida turned her head to Kooroz, watching him gently rub the bruise with his
right hand. Kooroz then growled in disgust, seeing that the little bug bite
was drawing out blood. Uiida chuckled to herself and Kooroz heard her.

"Why are you laughing?" Kooroz acquired. "This isn't funny."

"Well for most Ettins, it wouldn't be." Uiida replied, half giggling. "But it is funny when
a fool like you is bitten."

"Fool, fool, fool... you always call me that." Kooroz angrily said.
"Why do you and the others call me that anyway?"

"Because, you are one." Uiida replied calmly. "Once a fool, always a fool.
You're terrible with machines and have no interest in it. And you spend
your whole life in the ancient caverns."

"Ettins used to have a great interest in the ancients..." Kooroz tried to argue back. What
else could he had said?

"I know that. And we based our culture on some Nornir culture. My name is
Old Nornir for 'child of the weeds'." Uiida replied. "But Ettins worked in
the caverns long ago. It's time we went back to our true culture."

Kooroz sighed and gave up. He couldn't argue with anyone about this subject.
He turned to his side and laid back down on his hay pile, not caring if he got
another bug bite or if blood stained his bedding. He hated arguing about
this, as the other Ettins would always find ways to counter his
arguments.

The egg moved around again. A single crack was sounded and when Uiida looked
over to the egg, there was a small crack on the shell.

"Oh! The norn is hatching, I think!" She exclaimed and hopped off her hay
pile. Kooroz rolled over and watched the egg.

The egg kept on moving and cracking, some tiny bits of the shell fell off.
Kooroz stood up and took a closer look, this would be the first time he
would witness an egg about to hatch. It was exciting...

"Back off fool, if you're not careful you could make the egg fall!" Uiida
snapped at Kooroz.

Taken back by such a rude remark, Kooroz sat back on his hay pile. "Well
you didn't have to be that rud-"

"Shut up, it's hatching!"

Kooroz placed a hand on his head and sighed. There was just no way
of dealing with Uiida.

'Well, at least I haven't been dismissed to leave the room. I can watch
quietly from here...' Kooroz thought to himself and nodded to the idea.
It would work.

"Actually Kooroz, why don't you leave instead?" Uiida asked, not keeping an
eye away from the egg that was hatching slowly.

Kooroz frowned. He just couldn't believe it.

"Kooroz, leave now." Uiida ordered him. Kooroz gave up again and quickly
left the room, saddened that he wouldn't be able to see an egg hatch.

More movement and cracking of the egg followed. Uiida watched intently. Like
Kooroz, she never got a chance to see an egg hatch either. And thus she
selfishly decided to keep the whole experience and sight to herself.

Masrah Heemwal had walked into the sleeping quarters, coughing again, and Kooroz was following
him. Uiida looked up and wondered why they came, and why 'that fool' returned.

"Kooroz, I thank you for retrieving me. I wished to see the egg hatch
too." Masrah Heemwal spoke to him. All three Ettins watched the egg hatch.

Uiida was silently saddened and angry. She wanted to see this new experience
all to herself. But it looks like she lost her chance. But in due time,
she knew she'll seek her little revenge...

The shell of the egg cracked open and the tiny figure inside moved about,
causing the egg to gently sway back and forth. The norn inside began to
rise up, but its ears were the first to pop out. Masrah Heemwal could tell
that this norn is a brown Hebe Norn.

But its ears were larger than the average Hebe Norn... and they resembled
an almost bat like appearance. And like most Hebe Norns, it had hair
stalks growing under its ears and near its cheeks. The hairs were a lighter
brown, and also seemed to be a longer length compared to the
common Hebe Norn.

It also had dark green eyes, which almost resembled the once common
undergrowth of Albia. That undergrowth is absent today.
This norn was very different.

Masrah Heemwal was quite amazed. Was this norn really a close relative of The Ancient
Norns? For The Ancient Norns had very similar appearances to what this little
norn was bearing. Kooroz noticed this a little too. But Uiida, never seeing
a single norn before thought this appearance was normal.

The norn attempted to climb out of its shell. It was very weak from all the
times it had been trying to hatch out. But Masrah Heemwal feared the weakness
could be due to a mutation. He and the other Ettins always had
a fear of mutation.

Good mutations do exist, the bad kinds are unfortunately much more common.

After successfully climbing out of its shell, the norn lightly panted from
exhaustion and proceeded to lay down on the hay pile, soon going into a deep
sleep. Most norns when born aren't this exhausted, and it worried Masrah
Heemwal a bit more.

Kooroz noticed how worried some Masrah Heemwal was. This wasn't like the cool
and collected leader of the Worker Ettins. Kooroz would have asked him right
then and there, but this was probably not the time to do so.

"Masrah Heemwal, what are you so worried about?" Uiida broken the silence
and asked her leader.

'Never mind....' Kooroz thought to himself and rolled his eyes.

"This norn, breaths out the dust of The Ancient Norns. I'm not sure why,
but I just have a sense that it for sure is related to The Ancient Norns. Indeed, most Ettins are no longer
interested in them... but I still am." Masrah Heemwal replied, speaking with his
eyes closed in deep thought. He coughed again.

"But I am worried for its condition." He continued. "I do not know whether its
exhaustion is caused by a mutation, or something else. I request that anyone
who will be watching it, observe its condition carefully."

Masrah Heewal turned the other way and proceeded to leave the sleeping
quarters.

"I must tell the other Ettins of this news, please
watch over it while I am gone." And with that he left.

Kooroz glanced over to the sleeping norn. He had witnessed an egg hatching,
and out came a norn related to The Ancient Norns.. or so Masrah Heemwal
supposed. It was indeed a miracle to Kooroz... but now that he thought
about it, did he truly care about this baby norn?....

To be continued.