#lamorn

.The Last One.

The first game I had them try was Metroid Prime Remastered. Astrid played through the opening segment on the Orpheon at a brusque pace. They scanned only what was necessary to activate elevators and the like. They beat the Parasite Queen, fled the exploding frigate, and basically put the game down with no interest in returning. It was disappointing, but I wasn’t going to push them. They did also try the demo of Metroid Dread for fun, and had a decent enough time, but wasn’t too into it.

However, Astrid did have a slight interest in playing Metroid Prime 4, largely due to its focus on combat. One day, while I was spending the weekend at Astrid’s place for a couple nights, we made a deal, I would try out Forsaken, a game they enjoyed, and they would try the intro of Metroid Prime 4. So they played through the introductory segment at the UTO Research center, and when I reminded them that learning about the environment and enemies was possible through the scan visor, they very quickly began scanning everything in sight, learning everything they could and even putting off the main objective. They beat Aberax with a healthy amount of challenge and from that point on, they were hooked. As soon as they arrived on Viewros, they were immediately scanning everything in sight, spending several minutes at time in each room, scanning everything they could. To make a long story short, we ended up cancelling our plans for the whole week because Astrid wanted to keep playing Metroid Prime 4. They ended liking the characters a great deal, making jokes about Myles being in desperate need of estrogen, and Nora being me (I AM NOT NORA ARMSTRONG I HAVE NO CRUSH ON SAMUS). They beat the game and thoroughly enjoyed their time with it… except the mines… they have been very vocal about the mines. However, besides Sylux’s theme, Astrid did say their favorite bit of music had to be the Omega Griever boss theme. A surprise to be sure but a welcome one.

Armed with this newfound understanding for the gameplay of the Metroid Prime series, they actually approached Metroid Prime Remastered again recently. This time, they were far more interested in scanning everything in sight. As with on Viewros, they would scan everything in sight, leaving no stone unturned. It was very interesting to see them piecing together the clues of the creatures around them and the logs of the Space Pirates, literally asking aloud “What were they doing?” It was such a complete 180 that had me super exited. Thus far, they have done a little bit of exploring into the Chozo ruins, scanning all the way.

Lamorn from Metroid Prime 4: Beyond, but it looks like garbage instead of an axolotl. 🤪 Please be kind I have never drawn one before and this was on a whim.

UPDATE i drew another one :P

The green rain being an attempt to rejuvenate the world using an untested mutagenic chemical is the dumbest shit imaginable and I don’t think the Lamorn deserve to be that dumb. I want to elevate them to just as dumb as humans, at least.

Instead, the mined Elogium (what I’m calling Green Energy) was distilled into a liquid that enhanced the Lamorn’s psychic potential, leading to the Psychic Age. Rather than being a utopia, it was an age where those who were most psychic ruled over those that were weaker, with the weak requiring more Elogium to keep up.

Elogium eventually got into the water supply, to the point it fell like acid rain across the land, turning it into a desert and messing up the wildlife. Wars were fought over pure Elogium supplies, over dwindling resources and fertile land, until eventually society collapsed.

The Lamorn split into three factions, the Grievers, heavily mutated by Elogium but also suffering withdrawals from lack of a good supply, the—let me pull out a thesaurus real quick—Soro. You know, sorrow. These guys are equally mutated, rabid Lamorn, but they’re pumped full of Elogium and were highly psychic to start with. They can be an elite foe, a kind of ‘black knight’ / equal to Samus, but also an enemy of Sylux and his space pirates.