Heir 4 Part 2 (The plan comes to fruition)

During the first term of University, I managed to find a piece of DNA from a rare firefly. I suspect it may have descended from science experiments; its unnatural purple colouring was a phenotypic expression of high toxin resistance. It was an important key.

The first Tuesday after arriving at University, I achieved an important goal:

Of course, I kept up with classes - so did Bragi - but we weren't there for the degree. It became fairly clear to us that our self education meant we knew more than our professors about virtually any topic; the problem was, without the prestige of an actual degree, we would never have the respect we needed for our ideas to be taken seriously. So yes, I spent the nights fishing and collecting rather than studying; yes, Bragi spent the night partying and learning to play table tennis. But we still kept our perfect grade point averages, to the consternation and jealousy of our fellow students.

That completes the insect collection! I have:

• Cleopatra Butterfly
• Firefly Purpureous
• Glow Fly
• Rainbow Butterfly
• Red Assassin Bug
• Silver Skipper
• Spotted Beetle
• Trilobite Beetle
• Yellow Band Dart Butterfly
• Zebra Butterfly

And of course 10 assorted non-rares. I'm skipping only the Rainbow Beetle (plus the Will'o'Wisps, which is allowed), so that's the collection finished. I have already got the metals, the small animals, the rocks, and the gems, meaning that I just need the plants and the fish. This is a happy occasion. :)

As I had plenty of time at University, I experimented with fish, managing to catch a so-called "Death Fish" that may yet hold the key to something far less sinister.

Once we graduated (with highest honours, of course), Bragi became a Sports Agent and quickly rose through the ranks. I experimented with my vast selection of seeds, trying to find appropriate mixes that could survive in the ash blasted soil - often spending entire days doing nothing more than tending my plants. When I had "spare time", I spent it fishing. Neither Bragi nor I have slept even a moment since we became teenagers - there are advantages to having the best of Circe's soldier's technology at our disposal.

Bragi coasted through his job, but still got promoted rapidly, becoming the voice of sport as a Legendary Sports Host. He knew that he had few mountains still to climb before his role in the grand assault would require him to leave me, so we took a trip to China - partly to celebrate his promotion, but mostly because I still lacked a few key answers to my floral and fauna genetic engineering problems that I believed I could find there. I quickly found a Dragon Fish, and after a short time managed to get one that was a big enough beast to provide sufficient samples for my work. A nearby orchard provided me with some interestingly resistant cherries and pomelos that I received permission to harvest and examine more closely at home.

With some of my newly grown pomegranites, we returned to Egypt where I quickly managed to catch a Mummyfish specimen of large size and perfect genes. Much experimentation back at home with glow orbs followed, finally allowing me to capture a perfect Fairy Damsel. In the interim, Bragi became a Team Owner. The Fairy Damsel was the last piece of my own puzzle; combining the many species of flora and fauna, along with several cometary fragments, gems, and metals, I managed to produce an antidote to Circe's toxic magic.

The new fashions that Bragi's achievement heralded, and the sudden dawning of Summer, was the final distraction we needed.

We launched our attack. Generations long lost emerged from their ectoplasmic confinement. Those still amongst the living had been carefully placing themselves for months or even years, and Circe's own soldiers were largely loyal to us.

Her compound fell quickly, her remaining loyal people killed or converted. Of Circe herself though, there was no sign.

We are the clan Arioch. We rule the world, but we are benevolent dictators. You eat our food, drink our water, work in our industries, live in our housing complexes. We own your sports teams, we fund your multimedia, we wrote your favourite computer games and performed your catchiest tunes. There will never again be a winter, and zombies are now merely a sideshow amusement. Animals and plants thought long extinct were brought back by our magitech, and you ride flying cars that we reverse engineered.

Every Arioch of the bloodline has been resurrected by blood and science, restored to their full vampiric powers with Ambrosia and the Immortality enhancer. We permit no other vampires, but we allowed them to cure themselves rather than destroy them, for we are merciful.

We say that winter is gone. But there is a legend that amuses us. The legend says that one day the snow will fall again, and that on that day Circe will return, stronger than ever.

I am Yggdrasil Arioch. Generations passed in my making, and I am the strongest of all my clan. But if you are reading this, then this journal has been released into the public domain. This can only mean my death, and since all of Clan Arioch are Immortal and undying due to bargains with Death itself (sealed with supernatural flora), this should never come to pass.

But even this eventuality has been foreseen. Read my diary, and those of my forebears; know that Circe may seem unbeatable, but she is neither omnipotent nor omniscient. We beat her; you now know how. Avenge us.

The Death Fish was achieved at Uni as well.

Sports Agent is an extremely easy career to lift. Analyse Statistics a few times seems to fill the bar in only moments, and you can (if you desire) get promoted twice a day if you invite the boss over for a promotion. Personally, I wasn't in that much of a hurry, but you'll rarely find a career that is easier to lift.

On the weekend, I had Bragi water all the plants (a full time job) while Yggrdrasil chose "Weed" and "Harvest", and then went fishing to grab a Perfect Robot Fish and Perfect Vampire Fish, leaving me with just the Dragon Fish, Fairy Damsel, and Mummy Fish to go.

About here I started having technical problems with my game. More details below.

The Dragon Fish was quick and easy. I had to wait a couple of days before Han's Orchard in China thawed for me to harvest the cherries and pomelos.

As mentioned above, I started having some fairly serious technical problems. It began with my trip to China, and inability to save while I was there without getting error code 12. I figured, "OK, I'll save when I get back to my home lot", but it crashed on Return Home.

A reboot allowed me to get to China, get the Dragon Fish and plants I needed, and save - but while I was hanging around in China (I had 8 days left before I had to go home, I figured I'd try and get level 3 visa status) it started with its error code 12 again, and crashing when I returned home. I was able to restore the save after getting the fish and plants and return home immediately, and then managed to save again.

As you can probably imagine, this left me somewhat dispirited, but I only had very little to go, so I decided to push on.

I was able to save, roughly, one time per reboot (restarting the Sims made no difference). It seemed marginally more stable if I had nothing else running; this, unfortunately, meant I was unable to take any further screenshots (I tried a few times, but then I had a subsequent crash that made the screenshot irrelevant, and finally just gave up). I managed to stumble along to get the Mummyfish, at which point I already had everything else and lifted Amazing Naturalist (followed very closely by Sports Agent).

So here endeth the challenge, and I again must apologise for the technical problems that made it such a dry and pictureless ending.

Here was my final score:

• Restrictions lifted: all (including Alien Technology): 29 points.
• Bonuses: 100+ collected books, 30+ unique collectibles, 15+ skill challenges, 15+ unique lifetime wants, 5 unique platinum tombstones, 8 unique gnomes, $2 million+ cash, 10 unused Aging Off days: 83 points.
• Prestige: Admiral Adonis, Amazing Naturalist, Copious Librarian, Prestige Uni start, Prestige Occult: 250 points.
• Penalties: Travelling with children without lifting Forensics, -20 points.

This caps out at the maximum of 229 points. I ended on Week 42 Day 3, which is 289 days.

Other (non-scored) achievements: I almost had a full collection of gems in every possible cut; I was missing just a Skull cut Fluorite, Skull cut Moonstone, Skull cut Opal, Star/Heart/Sun/Moon/Sculptor's Egg/Skull cut Pink Diamond, Moon/Sculptor's Egg/Skull cut Soulpeace, and Skull cut Sunstone. Bragi mastered almost every skill in the game; I think all he missed was Nectar Making and Mixology. At one point I owned all the buildings in town (though I sold a bunch to get to $2 million).

I think I'm done with vampires; next tournament I believe I'll try either Faeries or Werewolves. Not that vampires are bad, by any means - quite the opposite, I found playing the vampires to be very entertaining and quite well balanced - but just because I haven't really experimented with faerie magic or werewolf hunting. I may even try getting a pet next time, though I'm almost certain I'll change my mind about that.

To those of you who have followed my attempt, I hope I was at least occasionally entertaining, and thank you for reading. To those of you still finishing up, I hope to see you join me at the finish line soon! But that's it for me for now. On behalf of the Arioch clan, we bid you all adieu.

Heir 4 Part 1 (a life of luxury in a gilded cage - is still not free)

So it falls to me.

I'm 10 years old - most kids my age are studying math, English, history. They're doing sports. They're making best friends. The girls are laughing at the boys, and they tease each other about how many boyfriends they've got.

And I guess to some extent, that's who I was too. But it's not all I was. I was a 10 year old girl when everything fell to me - and I still had arithmetic homework, I still went to scouts after school, I still watched cartoons.

But I was also the head of the Arioch clan. That's right - you've heard of us, I know. We're everywhere - the town is ours. If you buy groceries, you're buying them from our shops, with food that was grown in our farms. When you're sick, our doctors treat you. When you go to work, you're working for us. Does that make us dictators?

Well, of course it does. But at least we're benevolent. Sure, we might need blood from time to time, but we're careful not to take too much. You've got a higher standard of living than any of your ancestors had, even before Circe.

And that's because we took her down. It took us generations. But she fell.

From my position here, I don't know what you were told. I think it's likely we didn't tell you the whole truth. We probably figured you weren't ready. Maybe you still aren't. But if you've found our diaries, then we have to trust you. The plan was always to keep these very secret unless very specific circumstances arose - but we'll get to that. I'm getting ahead of myself - literally, in a lot of ways.

My brother and I led a fairly charmed life. Our grand matriarch, Freya, had lived from day to day dodging zombies, paying horrific taxes to the mob, dealing with immense corruption and even the Sun itself rarely shone - which admittedly isn't really the terror it is for us that it was for humans, but we're symbionts - humans need food, and we need humans, and without a Sun it was touch and go for both.

That wasn't our life. We never went hungry. Except on full moons, we could pretty much go wherever we wanted, at any time of night - it was safe, even if the cops occasionally got on our case about curfew. The zombies were essentially contained, the Internet was back up, and we had access to lots of cool toys stolen and reverse engineered from Circe's troops. Our house was huge, and if there was anything we wanted, we had plenty of cash in the bank to get it.

But it wasn't enough.

The people we were fighting for, though they had hope, were still living crushingly short lives, and we still had bitter winters despite Great Uncle Odin's fairy contacts. We'd managed to create a stable, edible food supply, but it was hardly tasty.

Things were better than they had been - life was even good - but the Arioch clan doesn't leave jobs half finished.

So we went to school, and I went to scouts while Bragi took ballet lessons. Dad looked after us, technically, but we didn't really need it. Mum had unlocked her full vampiric potential; while I still had the mind of a child, all of her experience was there in my head, any time I needed it. It took me years to really get my head around it all.

That's just one of the gifts Mum left for us. And Mum's gifts were just the latest in a long series all the way back to Freya.

We missed Mum, but we didn't miss her much. We knew we'd see her again - and it wouldn't seem so long. What are a few years of childhood measured against eternity?

Not really a lot to say mechanically. The child phase proceeded uneventfully, in a sense, except that now I could (and did) have the kids do all the funny opportunities that cropped up, halting only on the travel ones (since I couldn't be bothered travelling again until they were teens).

The standard procedure was followed - play hopscotch, play chess, play on the toy oven, and now play with the blocks was added.

Our childhood seemed to pass swiftly. We required only one thing further from Dad at this point - driving instruction, so that we could use the vehicles we had reversed engineered from Circe's technology to travel in comfort.

Dad's task was unfortunately going to be unpleasant. We needed a family member to pass through a door sealed to all non-ectoplasmic entities. We had rallied our ancestors, but Circe had coded her defences against those already dead.

So we needed Dad. He took it reasonably well, knowing he would be the last of the clan to die for the cause.

With a Motive Mobile, the immediate task on transition was learning to drive. A human Sim in a Motive Mobile can gather forever; a vampire Sim needs only to stop occasionally to replenish thirst. (Of course they must be home for full moons as well). So while Bragi is learning to drive, Yggdrasil waters the plasma fruit (ending up with Gardening 4 - she's a Green Thumb, and she got 3 instantly from her time in the scouts) and then has a go in the cerebral enhancer to reprogram her personality, ending up with Angler, Gatherer, Genius, and Green Thumb.

Note by the way that until Yggdrasil becomes a young adult, she has Hunger - which means that the Motive Mobile perfectly restores her mood. This is why I am aiming to do as much of the gathering process as possible while still a teen.

With the advanced vehicle and my tracking device, I roamed around town first looking for insects.

Between semesters, we took a trip to France. I found and tagged a bunch of small animals, taking DNA samples and then releasing them - I need to find animals able to tolerate the harsh conditions caused by Circe's magic.

I also caught many insects and brought them back for further study.

The trip had been successful - and even profitable, thanks to the market for identifying small animals and bugs. So we took another trip, this time to Egypt. While I searched for more insects, Bragi impressed the locals in the hopes of getting us better visas for our next trip. We repeated this in China, where I found some more rare insects for my collection.

I still needed more Egyptian insects, so we returned to Egypt on our next vacation.

You have to understand - this is not a case of me being bloodthirsty. Teens can live on their own, but you can't move out adults leaving only teens - so Dameon had to die (he is, after all, surplus to requirements). And with the moodlet manager, there's no downside - I can just zap away the mourning moodlet.

On the trip to France I found all the small animals I needed, and many of the bugs:

• Rainbow Butterfly
• Silver Skipper
• Spotted Beetle
• Trilobite Beetle
• Glow Fly
• Firefly Roseus

Egypt yielded no new bugs; China yielded the Yellow Band Dart Butterfly and Red Assassin Bug. And after returning, I got the Zebra Butterfly. Now I needed only 2 out of 3 of the Rainbow Beetle, Cleopatra Butterfly, and Firefly Purpureous.

With a trip to Egypt, I grabbed the butterfly:

I found a key piece of DNA in an Egyptian butterfly. The Cleopatra butterfly is especially resilient in desert environments - properly extracted, it possesses qualities that may help similar animals to thrive even in the toxic-magic laden soil of home.

I found several unique fish specimens that looked promising, but I need to find a larger subject. Our vacation was coming to a close by the time I realised that some of the wild plants near our new vacation home might provide some tempting bait for this "Mummyfish"; I gathered what I could before we both returned home, and planted them in our hot house.

This occurred with 10 days to go on the vacation, with spring 6 days away. I considered it possible that I might be able to get the Mummy Fish as well. Unfortunately, though, I wasn't able to get better than Excellent on this trip - which is doubtless due to no bait.

While waiting until I could travel again, I had Yggdrasil do some fishing:

We next returned to France. While Bragi performed various tasks - mostly cooking for the local cafe - to increase our visa level, I collected plant samples of the various grapes. France's grapes seemed to be still not only edible but nutritious - there was surely something there I could use - I guess you already know how that turned out. Remember me whenever you're toasting at your weddings.

Note that normal is good enough for the Ninja Starfish.

The trip to France was sufficient to collect all the grapes (including the rare ones), as well as eventually get my Visa status to level 3 (so now I have a vacation home in all three world adventures locations).

On my 18th birthday, I got the look I still have. Oh sure, my fashion sense improved - once we had fashion - but I stopped aging, as did Bragi. If you're wondering why this picture looks just like my recent TV appearances - that's why. And yes, vampires can be photographed just fine - silly superstitions you mundanes have.

We then became the first of our family since the Ancestor to attend University. Bragi got a 2292 out of 2400 for his aptitude score, which is apparently some sort of record, and was offered a number of credits. His chosen major (Physical Education) gave him 18 credits towards the degree. My own score of 2126 was certainly good enough for 18 credits towards Science and Medicine.

Thus ends my teenage journal.

Both teens are now young adults; thanks to frequent trips, they've had a lot more actual time. Bragi, in particular, has mastered a lot of skills, even though he rarely used the brain enhancer. To make sure that I get trips as quickly as possible, both took the Adventurous trait. I also made both Immortal. It is Week 36, Day 1, which means that they have (60 days) until Week 44 Day 5 to finish their lifts.

Yggrasil is Adventurous, Angler, Gatherer, Genius, and Green Thumb; she has mastered Athletics, Fishing, Gardening, with a smattering of other skills (Charisma 6, Logic 8, a few others).

Bragi is Adventurous, Ambitious, Athletic, Bookworm, Genius, Workaholic (bonus trait from social group). He has mastered Athletics, Charisma, Cooking, Guitar, Logic, Martial Arts, and Sculpting (with several other skills - remember, almost all of this is "natural" as opposed to Yggdrasil who used the brain enhancer more freely).

Besides Immortal, they have a smattering of other LTRs such as No Bills Ever, Fireproof Homestead, and of course the usual Multitasker and Entrepreneurial Mindset for Bragi (who also has Prepared Traveller, of course).

Heir 3 Part 2 (wherein our hero's siblings ready for the grand push)

My siblings and I now settled in for some time off. Love Day came and went, and there was the boy's graduation, and it seemed like months passed before we had to go back to work.

You know, I would pay actual money for a version of Generations that removed the days off. Combined with Seasons "Love Day" my Sims now had 2 days off in a row minimum. Nanna, who will doubtless by hit by the promotion after midnight bug, would normally lose another day there; I can avoid that by Work at Home to make sure she has maxxed the bar (or near enough that she'll still get promoted), but I'd prefer to just get close and call the boss over - can't do that, though, because she doesn't have one.

I know, I know - first world problems.

After what seemed years, but was apparently merely days, Nanna completed her takeover of the less savoury aspects of Circe's organisation.

We were immediately released from our requirement to pay what they laughingly referred to as "protection money" - as if we needed protection from them. Nanna also brought back some proper vampiric coffins - the type our ancestors used, and one of the few reasons not to discard the traditional for the modern.

But we are stronger than our ancestors. Even their immortality is no longer denied us. And we have access to the strange devices owned by Circe's soldiers - not merely stolen, but reverse engineered. We continue to plan.

The combination of Multitasker + Entrepreneurial Mindset, plus a little judicious Work At Home, allowed me to defang the promotion after midnight bug (but I still lost so many days due to silly holidays - it's the reason that Nanna still finished first).

In any case, this is actually a good lift. Once Alien Technology is lifted, Criminal becomes very attractive, as it unlocks the Moodlet Manager - a contender for the strongest item in the game. The Motive Mobile is good too, but it only refills human needs (so vampires don't get Thirst from it) - the Moodlet Manager has no such restriction.

Of course, no more mob payments either. In my case, since I've been collecting gems in their various cuts and paying protection on them, it will save me millions of simoleans.

Borr's progress was rapid. He gathered incriminating evidence on many of Circe's top lieutentants. Finally, with sufficient blackmail material to make their lives extremely difficult, we made offers.

They were reluctant. While Circe's mental compulsion is something we can deal with - our own vampiric powers are fairly similar - they were well aware that in a world not led by Circe, their status would be somewhat dubious. But Borr was persuasive. When the time comes, we now have traitors on our side.

Forensics was the missing piece of the puzzle so that the next (last!) generation can do things like after school activities and the like. It is Week 31, Day 2, meaning that there are 16 days remaining for Lofn before she must leave. Since I only need 2 more kids, that is ample, but it's probably about time to start thinking husband.

With that in mind, I've had Nanna working on Social Networking. She's already good enough to use the transmogrifier to make friends, but more importantly she can use the Sim Finder to create customised Sims to my specifications.

Nanna said she'd managed to hack in to the world DNA database, and that she'd selected the perfect mate for me - one Dameon Sprague. She invited him over for me to meet.

I confess I was not immediately swept off my feet. But I always knew this duty lay before me, so I did what all my forebears had done before me, turning on the charm in the way that only a vampire can. I did not propose right away, but I did invite him to my bed. However, that felt a little wrong - I wanted to set an example for my children - so when it became clear to me that I was pregnant, I decided to make an honest gentleman of him.

I crank out the following specifications:

• Male
• Young Adult
• Traits: Athletic, Bookworm, Genius, Loves the Outdoors, Natural Born Performer

The idea being that this spouse will lift Movie Director by means of Magician.

His career proceeded well, especially after my gift took hold and he was freed from the muscle poisons that slow down merely human magicians. We were soon the proud parents of twins.

He of course has no skills (if you're specific with the Sim Finder, it will create the Sim for you - from scratch), but that's OK.

Yggdrasil will be our final weapon. We vampires are associated with death, but she will prove we have the power to bring life as well as death.

Bragi has a more modest goal. Perhaps it is vanity. But when we destroy Circe, we do not wish to be wearing old tattered clothing - we will be looking fine. It's up to Bragi to make that happen - the key will be sponsorship deals for the various sporting teams we promote.

So, the last four restrictions are:

• Movie Director. In progress, with Dameon. (It's slower than Acrobat, because I can't just train Athletics - but it is still reasonable, especially compared to the Film career).
• Rockstar. In progress, with Vali (on level 9, should clear next day).
• Sports Agent. Bragi will do this.
• Naturalist. I'm going to bite the bullet and attempt Amazing Naturalist despite my (considerable) misgivings, and I'm going to do it with Yggdrasil.

I already have all the rocks, the gems, and the metals. I'm not worried about plants or fish. I am - perhaps just a little - concerned with the insects and small animals. But then again, I'm armed with a Collection Helper - if there is ever a time I can do this, it's going to be now.

IT IS TIME CHILD. SEND YOUR SIBLINGS TO ME.

I guess I'm just going with that now. At my command, Nanna, Hoenir, and Borr moved out. They said they knew where to go. They'd see me soon.

I am supposed to be in charge. One would think I was in the loop for the final plan. I can only do my best with the information I have.

You know, that wasn't funny the first time, and it's getting tedious now. Whoever that is - stop it, OK? You're harshing my mellow.

The first to fall is Rockstar.

Circe's grip is slipping. First, her soldiers began to come out in platoons to watch Hoenir perform his Acrobatics. Now, I have had to hire new mail carriers purely to deal with Vali's fan mail - and, curiously, women's underwear, which I'm fairly sure Vali doesn't wear. Vali, if you're reading this, and I'm wrong - I honestly don't need to know that. Really.

Rockstar doesn't really open up much by itself; for example, most of the LTR are restricted by Rockstar, Entertainment, and Movie Director. However, it isn't useless. With both Entertainment and Rockstar lifted, I'm allowed to build two live venues in addition to the parks that I'm already allowed to play at, which is handy (though hardly critical) for Dameon. I can't really be bothered building any more than 1 - a really basic coffeehouse.

How quickly they grow up. Vali has decided to remain on and help me raise the kids for the time being. Dameon still has more people to impress with his illusions, whereas Vali - as a rockstar - can make his own hours.

But Dameon has not forgotten his responsibility.

Note the existence of actual toys now.

With the library now open, a few hours it all it takes to read all 9 books to the toddlers, and they have plenty of time left over to learn all the toddler skills, peg box, and xylophone. Even a little time to get to know each other with the play table.

Circe's soldiers are now an undisciplined, ruly mob - more interested in talking about Vali's latest hits, or Hoenir's fantastic acrobatic shows, or Dameon's illusions, than they are at defending their mistress.

That leaves merely Sports Agent and Naturalist.

My babies are growing up fast. But I have received sad news. Perhaps not sad - melancholy? I will not be around to watch them grow much longer. My part in the plan has been revealed - a coordinated hacking attack on all Circe systems, to provide a distraction for the physical penetration of the compound where she remains locked away. She cannot run - we control the military, the police, even her own soldiers are loyal to us (save for her elite guards). But it will take more than the Arioch clan alone to defeat her.

There is much to do, and it will consume all my time. I will try to ensure my children have the best start in life before I must leave them; I pray that the years will not seem too long before we are reunited, but sometimes immortality can seem a curse.

One thing I noticed. After lifting Criminal, I ditched all the bunk beds for new vampire coffins, which not only look cool they are quite quick at restoring energy. Alas, it would seem children cannot sleep in them. I still have the double bed though, so as soon as the twins know each other well enough they'll be fine.

Yggdrasil has the traits Angler, Athletic, and Genius. (Some of these are placeholders; as a teen, she will grab Gatherer or Green Thumb, but neither is available before you become a teen). I've had a chat with my fellow adjudicators, and I believe the rule is that a teenage Amazing Naturalist may begin to gather, plant, and fish; I think I'd be pushing my luck if I had her start fishing as a child. I've enrolled her as a scout to pick up a bit of Child Gardening though.

Bragi has Athletic, Bookworm, and Genius. He's enrolled in ballet (as a sports agent prospective, he has no real skill requirements at all, so I might as well do something different).

I'm choosing not to send my kids to boarding school, largely because I don't believe that they will get as many skills there as they will under my command.

It is time for us to leave. Dameon, I give my babies over into your hands - we will need you too, but your role has not yet come. Watch over our children. And when I call you, come to me.

It's Week 33 Day 2 - technically I have 2 more days before Lofn and Vali have to leave, but it's a Monday and that makes it nice and neat. Dameon is hanging around another 6 days so the twins can become teens. But it's time to bid goodbye to Lofn, and see what Yggdrasil has to say.

Heir 3 Part 1 (wherein our hero begins to take the attack to Circe)

So, not only do I have to help look after the kids, not only do I have to help unlock the secured network that Circe set up, but I have to be in charge as well?

I so did not sign up for this.

My name is Lofn Arioch. I am the daughter of Sif, daughter of Frigga, daughter of Freya. I am 16 years old. And I am a vampire.

Wow, that sounds like some sort of AA meeting. So let me be clear right out of the door - I am glad to be a vampire. Vampires rock. Especially since we can subsist on cloned plasma that my uncle Tir arranged for.

So, now that I've lifted Alien Technology, I get myself a Motive Mobile and a Collection Helper. The former is really cool - although it doesn't affect Thirst, unfortunately - the latter is (to me) absolutely indispensable when it comes to Amazing Naturalist. I then have Sif snap it on (set to "Rocks and Gems" and go scouring the neighbourhood.

Just as Magni and I finished looking after Hoenir and Nanna - at least for the most part, they're not toddlers any more - Mum presented me with two new twin boys (Vali and Borr) to look after. I swear she hates me, or something.

Two more kids, bringing me back up to 8 Sims.

Our 18th birthdays. We knew what we had to do - we'd been training for it practically since we were born. My job was to revive the Internet; Magni's was to use the new connectivity to spread the brain games we'd devised, so that we could counter senility.

We made rapid progress, and I continued Mum's martial arts training - I found within in the key to inner harmony and physical perfection.

Both of them straight into Video Game Developer, of course. Lofn has the LTW of Physical Perfection (just Martial Arts needed; handy in any case to smash space rocks for fun and profit), with the traits Ambitious, Athletic, Bookworm, Genius, Workaholic, Computer Whiz (bonus). Her skills at the time of transition are Athletic 10, Charisma 2, Logic 10, Painting 8, Writing 8.

Magni has the LTW to reach maximum influence in all social groups; his traits are Ambitious, Artistic, Bookworm, Genius, Workaholic, Computer Whiz (bonus). At the time of transition he has the skills Athletics 10, Charisma 2, Logic 10, Painting 10, Sculpting 4, Writing 7.

We continued to teach the youngsters, but I had much to do. I had to learn to take care of the plasma fruits that we'd been carefully growing since Great Grandmother Freya's time - fortunately, our advanced technology made that sort of skill fairly straightforward to acquire, if somewhat unpleasant.

Lofn is now Physically Perfect. Both the twins are now in their different branches, and also raising the toddlers. Sif is an elder, but for the moment she's hanging around. Tavares has one more Vaudeville book to finish in order to complete the last Writing challenge, and after that I want him to hang around for a while longer so I keep access to his Book Club. (He has 11 days until he becomes an elder, and it's Monday - so that's two more book club cycles before I will move him out with Sif).

Dad finally managed to perfect his technique of writing Vaudeville novels lampooning Circe and her people. It was subtle enough that we could never be condemned for it, but obvious enough that it was clear public opinion was beginning to turn.

Now I just need 18 more books.

And then I checked the wiki, and confirmed it with my fellow adjudicators - there is actually no uniqueness requirement for the collectable books.

There seemed to a sort of weird vortex encase Dad for a few moments. It was as if the very universe itself was dithering, unsure of itself, unable to make a decision - and then suddenly, it was over, and Dad smiled.

HA. FOOLISH VOICE. YOU DO NOT COMPREHEND EVEN THE BASIC FACTS OF YOUR EXISTENCE. HOW CAN YOU POSSIBLY SEEK TO UNDERSTAND MINE?

We now have control of Circe's library. It appears she may have already removed all her spellbooks and such, but there is still a wealth of knowledge to be had.

Magni was making friends - a lot of friends. I later discovered he was actually sampling their DNA and working out how best to assimilate it into his own body to unlock vampiric mastery. It was an unusual approach - the first time any in our clan had attempted this - and rather than just pick any random individuals he focussed on those with influence. One cannot deny the results.

is lifted after all. That's awesome, it means I now have full career control and in addition can buy skill books and even go to the library.

Wait, what? HTML issues again? Come on fellas, whoever it is, this isn't funny anymore. Just own up, and we'll forget about it.

No?

Fine. Anyway, with the large underground bunker of bookcases, I have about 200 odd books so that's another prestige. I'm keeping Tavares around for a while longer anyway; he can tutor the kids.

Having both unlocked our most powerful abilities, Magni and I quickly both achieved our goals. I managed to create a sneaker net, that allowed not only the Arioch clan but the entire wider community access to everything that Circe wanted hidden - we had mobile telephone service, search engines, even a few computer games. The first thing we did was disseminate one of these that Magni had created - a brain teasing game designed especially for senior citizens, so that they could combat the dementia effects of Circe's magic.

Jock was probably the trickiest, simply because it's hard to raise without assistance - table tennis, for example, needs two people (Nerd has the same problem - more so, really, since at least a Jock can practice the school cheer on his own). Of course I used every opportunity to buy influence as well.

With this achieved, Mum (now with her full formidable intellect restored) decided it was time for a secret plan. Taking Dad and Magni with her, she said only that we would know what to do when the time came. She refused money, technology - everything. "It will only slow us down," she said. I will miss her, but at least I get to be the first Arioch that doesn't command my family to die.

There was room in the house for me to get married now and have 2 children of my own. But I decided to wait for a while; we Ariochs have been used to large families, but I would like my children - who will be responsible for striking directly at Circe - to be raised with every available comfort. My siblings can arrange for this; I began to plan accordingly.

Firstly, we would need the mob off our backs. Nanna could take care of that; her combined sex appeal and brute strength would make her an irresistible recruit, and they would never see her coming.

Secondly, my kids would require toys, and other distractions. We had some, of course, but Circe had kept the best of these to herself, locked away to entertain her vat-grown soldiers with their simple minds. That was the key, of course; the simple minded fools would love to see a true live performer able to twist his body into pretzels. Hoenir had shown little aptitude for this, but I persuaded him not only that he'd enjoy it, but that he'd enjoy it more if he forgot all about it until he turned 18.

If Hoenir's acrobat feats fail to be sufficiently impressive, Vali will become a rock star. Let's see how Circe likes it when the crowds are cheering, "Blood and Souls! Blood and Souls For My Lord Arioch!"

Borr would become chief of police. That way, he could overturn Circe's ridiculous curfews for kids, and my children will be able to actually enjoy themselves.

Gamer and Artist are now both lifted. Gamer is quite powerful - the strongest of the tier 3 restrictions. Artist is less so, but it' not useless either; being able to control elders can be either largely irrelevant or extremely important with very little middle ground.

It's an exciting time; finally a Sim leaves my household with the same number of internal organs that they had when they joined. Note that I could have moved out Tavares and taken Sif along at any time, but I had Tavares helping to train Nanna to Athetlics 10 and making Sleeping Elixirs. I'm actually beyond the point where the latter are really all that helpful, but might as well make the most of my time. Lofn, of course, never sleeps - she just hops in the Motive Mobile when she gets tired. (Though unlike a human she does still need to drink plasma occasionally; only human motives are refreshed).

I've decided to clear Criminal, Entertainment, Forensics, and Rock Star with the other siblings. Entertainment is going via Acrobat, and previous experience has shown me that it is best to have no Athletics skill before starting. I did get 3 points from Hopscotch, but other than that Hoenir has studiously avoided even looking at the treadmill. I could do Rock Star with singer, but it's simpler to just get into Music.

Of course Naturalist would be the obvious lift at this point, but I want to do that with my last generation. I am far beyond the point where I can really fail - my score is already maxxed out - so I want my last generation to be able to do things like after school activities, and even University. I find it's a fun way to end the challenge, even if it does add a little time.

On Week 27, Day 4 I made Lofn Immortal. At that point she had 7 days to go until she became an adult, which means that she was 18 days into the cycle. Add Baby (2 days), Toddler (4 days), Child (10 days), Teen (14 days), that means she was 48 days old. For long lived Sims, you must move them out when they are 90 days old (they usually become uncontrollable at 76, but that's OK because I've lifted Artist). This means I have 90 - 48 = 42 days until Lofn has to move out.

I am immortal. I have inside me blood of kings.

Conveniently that divides nicely by 7, so she will have to leave on Week 33, Day 4. There is every possibility (I hope) that the challenge will be over by then).

Soon, my siblings had their 18th birthdays.

Vali brings the Admirable Adonis total to 49; one more Sim and that's maxxed out.

Hoenir seemed to think that the key to progress as an Acrobat was to hit the treadmill.

Having become an Acrobat, Nanna now starts to train Hoenir as the increase in Athetlics skill is job performance.

And it was difficult to argue; his reports of his physical prowess alone was enough to get him considerable attention before he even had his first true performance.

Maxxing out the Adonis category, and note that this was enough to get to level 8 of the Acrobat career on its own. I have earned enough LTR points to make him Immortal, which was an important sub goal (I could have settled for Immune to Heat, but Immortal lowers the Thirst drain too; one of the two was needed so he could perform in the daylight).

He certainly knew how to work a crowd. I told him to keep a special eye out for ectoplasmic entities, since they were a useful backup plan - and he appeared to have taken this advice to heart.

He soon began to perform at parks. We saw more and more of Circe's Soldiers drawn to watch Leaper McGee, as Hoenir called himself - until he was getting prime time coverage. The distraction was placed, and we were able to secure a tour of schools and youth groups. The light began to return to the dull, bored eyes of the children.

He managed to get a gig after that though, and spent the intervening time performing for tips.

It should be noted that vampires (at least, those not sunlight averse) are awesome Acrobats and Magicians - they never get fatigued! And because they can keep going without pause, he completed the Super Friendly and Everybody's Best Friend Charisma challenges on his first "perform for tips" day (you don't actually get Charisma skill from it, but you can certainly make friends). Of course they were achieved long ago - I merely note it here for reference. For maximum effectiveness he also has a Steel Bladder, so really only Thirst and Energy can halt his performance (well, that and a full moon, of course).

Hoenir unlocked his full vampiric potential, though he was never far from it - like me, he has regained the immortality of our forebears.

Entertainment is lifted. Thanks to my advance planning (ie not maxxing Athletics) this was achieved while his twin Nanna is still at only level 3 in Criminal (though admittedly that was due to unfortunate graduation day timing - but only in part). This also lifts the Master Acrobat lifetime wish.

All of my siblings are now adults. Our plans are drawn, and Hoenir has already completed his part.

With Borr joining Law Enforcement and Vali Music, it's time to wrap this up for now. It is Week 28 Day 7, which means I have a little less than 5 weeks to go until Lofn must move out. Plenty of time - one hopes!

Heir 2 Part 4 (in which our hero falls to the depths of despair, and then grows wings of hope)

Our stay in China was productive. We wrote novels as a family, and Tavares read them all, offering mostly constructive feedback. Loki even managed to train a few locals on the treadmill.

As we finalised our time in China, I began to feel uneasy. Sometimes when I slept, I awoke with a nightmare that the twins were gone - or worse, that they were never here in the first place. I could not shake the feeling that something very wrong had happened, and I'm afraid it shook my confidence somewhat. There will doubtless be repercussions. I must trust in my descendants to make up for whatever it is that has happened.

While time froze in China, we couldn't stay there forever. But we made much of our time.

So, 15 days in China is a lot. Eostre churned out more and more sculptures, looking for the elusive masterpieces. They finally come - the last one with 6 days left on the trip. I then turn her attention to creating multiple time machines, and later (thanks to Rob Holly!) Flying Fighter Widgets.

However, I did suffer here. Unfortunately, I took the kids with me, and I haven't yet lifted Forensics. I have assessed myself a 20 point penalty for this infraction - harsh, perhaps, but then again adjudicators are supposed to set an example. Hopefully though this will not prove fatal to my aspirations. To make up for it, I have completed the training of 10 non-household Sims for Admirable Adonis, and I have only 6 more family members to train to get the full points here (of which Tavares and the twins will be 3 of them).

Returning home, I've made considerable progress on Copious Librarian:

IT IS TIME CHILD. YOU KNOW WHAT TO DO.

OK, this is kind of freaking me out - Mum was always weird, but this is just wrong. Well, not wrong - that's the horrible thing - she's absolutely right.

It is time for Loki to die. Firstly, I commanded him to train Tavares to physical perfection.

Eostre had spent much time in China tinkering with various inventions, trying to perfect them. She then informed me that she needed something from Circe's lab to complete her investigation; I saw no harm in it.

You can't see it there, but he's written a Masterpiece novel; summarised above he has passed the 100 book threshold (all written by family members), and met the Prolific Writer challenge. With one week's more royalties, he'll get the Speed Writer lifted, at which point I can write a single Fiction novel (eg) to get the Specialist Writer as well. So this is basically in the bag except for the collection aspect.

That comes down to Art Appraisal; with respect to that, I'm abandoning Renaissance Master, and the only remaining requirement for Da Vinci is the $50k of inventions, of which I have $20 079 so far. (It's a shame about Renaissance; I've met all the requirements except the robot, but that would require Naturalist; we discussed an alternative on the wiki that would require another $50k of sculptures and inventions, which I could totally do but I don't have the patience to do another time freeze just for that).

Thor rolls again on the day after returning: 4. No good.

Unfortunately, she needed some special seeds to complete her task. The toxic ash that is Circe's legacy can barely support our plasma fruit; I am not sure where she will obtain what she needs.

Finally! I've been waiting for that, though I suspect it didn't happen before because I had a full house.

Of course, we now run into why I can't do the prestige here:

My twins are growing up.

I accepted it anyway. If by some miracle I lift Naturalist while Eostre is still alive, I might as well proceed.

Loki completed his required task. It was time to consider his next role.

Friday rolls around: a roll of 1 - at last! Thor enters the Law Enforcement career (Espionage).

While I wanted him die relatively quickly - electrocution is always fairly rapid - circumstances conspired against us. He proved to be a dab hand at fixing electrical devices, even those he had purposefully sabotaged.

First step is to use the brain enhancer to swap out Easily Impressed for Technophobe. Then I had him sabotage and repair stuff. Now, all indications are that this should have electrocuted him; unfortunately, instead he succeeded in completing the Electrician's Challenge, meaning he can never get electrocuted.

Plan B.

So I had a special fire room built for him. He took it surprisingly well.

The usual plan - cancel the cooking, and then just wait.

HE DIED WELL. A TRUE SON OF MINE.

It didn't take long. Enclosed space was the key I think; I've had Sims survive fires before, but rarely if they are actually set on fire.

I think he died screaming in pain, wondering what he had done to deserve such a command from his beloved sister. I will hear his screams along with those of Tir, and I feel it will not be the last time.

To dispel the spectre of death, Tavares and I ... comforted ... each other. I can feel new life inside of me.

People deal with grief differently. For Magni, the solution was intense physical exercise.

The third platinum ghost.

Of course, this isn't random murder. I need the room; more kids.

Thor was getting older, and he began to despair of the last component he needed. We even began to draw up contingency plans.

Shortly thereafter, I got Thor promoted to level 4. If only I could find a giant space rock, I would now be able to clear Alien Technology. Thor has 4 days until he becomes an elder, and I no longer really hold out any hope that this will occur.

But Magni was having none of this. Despite my assurances that meteors were found in the sky, not the ground, he took the miner and found the last component that we needed.

And then this happened! Thank you to Sarah Cowan for the tip - the miner, used under the carport to avoid the "snow is too deep", created an explorable hole that I found the rock in.

Thor grabbed the space rock and the rest of the components. He began by breaking into the science lab, then the military base, and then the hospital - his credentials in each case still valid from my interference. Finally, I presented him with a forged "access all areas" pass to City Hall. He returned with a small USB stick - deceptively in size, it contained all the secrets of Circe's Soldiers, reverse engineered and now available to us as we saw fit.

All the requirements are met; Thor just needs a quick kip before going on the grand tour. Of course, this was not the only event of significant on this, Thursday Week 23 Day 5:

I think the elation may have pushed me into labour; in any case the twins Hoenir and Nanna were born shortly thereafter - Thor even snuck me into the hospital.

New twins.

Also, Eostre on the same night finally finished enough inventions to clear $50k, which was the final remaining requirement.

No sooner had I put Hoenir to bed, than Eostre came running in yelling, "Eureka!" In fevered breaths, she explained that she had invented True Art - the kind that only a Descendant of Da Vinci was capable of. I could feel its power; it would come to represent a wave of culture that Circe's people would struggle in vain to suppress. It is true that we had restored science, medicine, and even law and order - but these merely sustain life. Art is what people stay alive for, and in the coming days we saw more and more hope rekindled in the battered population. Books from aspiring authors began to pour in, hoping that Eostre would illustrate them or at least endorse them; we had to build a massive sub basement to contain them all.

It is a shame about the robot; it was all I needed for Renaissance Master. But I can't really wait around.

With Art Appraisal (and Alien Technology) lifted, I set up a sub basement with lots and lots of bookshelves; with the 1-3 books you get for each, it was easily enough to complete collection requirement for Copious Librarian, leaving only the Writing challenges.

Even with a lot of shelves though, I didn't quite get to the magic 100 book mark. So I did a bit of rejigging to get some book club membership and hopefully bring up the last few I need.

Eostre was at least spared Loki's fate. It was most unfortunate, but I feel it was somehow necessary. The scary thing is I'm almost used to it now - I just sighed and continued to train my daughter.

Apparently the trick is to stand in water. I don't know if it was just a coincidence, but it seemed to do the trick.

Electrocution is at least quick.

So, another platinum ghost.

As my babies became toddlers - mostly looked after by the teenagers - I spoke at length with Thor. He didn't really understand me very well - senility, caused by the mind fog that Circe wields - but I like to believe he understood well enough what was being asked of him. We needed his ectoplasm, after all - as we had needed Mum's, Tir's, Loki's, and Eostre's before him - and it was to complete his experiment. We vampires die rapidly if we do not quench our thirst - it is not exactly pleasant, but it is not of long duration.

A couple of pieces of housekeeping.

I tire of this. Mum's voice grows louder, and I have been in charge for such a very long time. Lofn is of age. There is a final gift I will give, though, before Tavares and I leave.

That's 5 platinum ghosts.

More children. More siblings for Lofn to command as she sees fit. Tavares and I will plan our next move, but our time in the house is now limited.

This has been a productive session. Here's a complete status update:

• Restrictions Lifted:
• Alien Tech (Thor)
• Architect (Loki)
• Art Appraisal (Eostre)
• Athletic (Jacob)
• Business (Frigga)
• Culinary (Tir)
• Education (Roscoe)
• Espionage (Eir)
• Master Thief (Balder)
• Medical (Freya)
• Military (Thor)
• Paranormal (Heimdall)
• Politics (Sif)
• Science (Hel)
• Symphonic (Odin)
• Current score, including all bonuses and penalties: 197.
• Current plan:
• Journalism (via Copious Librarian) requires me to collect 19 more books. All four teen and adult Sims are book club members, by maintaining this I should slowly gather what I need for this. I suspect if I were patient enough I'd eventually get it just from bookcases, but it's already repeating a lot.
• Gamer and Artist via the teens. They are both level 10 Rebels and are, in effect, basically just marking time. They are the primary carers of the toddlers, and will perform this service for the new babies as well.
• Move out Tavares and Sif as soon as Sif transitions - in about 6 days time.

Next time, a change of pace as Lofn takes over the narrative.