MERIDELL - Yeesh, a war, overturned friendships, mudslinging, bad feelings...
all this fuss over a stupid little orb the size of a Lupe's paw. Oh sure, it
has some sort of "magical powers". Ack, magical powers, schmagical powers.
What His Majesty King Skarl and what His Highness Lord Darigan should realise
is that the orb is not oxygen - Neopets don't need it to live. There are lots
of ways to make their respective lands prosperous and beautiful without the
orb.
Meridell had once been a barren, unhappy land... until the orb came and used
its magical powers to turn the land into a happy place. From this, His Majesty
King Skarl gives the impression that: the orb = prosperity, no orb = barren
and unhappy. But look at the Lost Desert under the queenship of Her Majesty
Queen Vyssa. The palace is beautiful, the trade in those Hand Painted Scarabs
is brisk and that Chia monitoring the Scarab 21 game looks darn right happy.
And Tyrannia, the Space Station, Krawk Island and Neopia Central? They are all
prosperous with many happy subjects but they are not in possession of some kind
of a mystical orb.
If all those other lands can be a pleasant place to live in without an orb,
then Meridell and Darigan should be able to do the same.
Meridell is located in a temperate climate (judging by its latitude) with water
surrounding its three sides, so it has great agricultural and fishery potential.
It is also located very close to Neopia Central, Terror Mountain and Tyrannia,
so its location make Meridell a possible trading power. His Majesty King Skarl
can use this to his land's advantage and with some of the following suggestions,
make Meridell the bread basket of Neopia.
1. Instate better farming practices. Just look at Meri Acres Farm. For
Shankly's sakes, it's like, the Stone Age there! How about hybrid turnips and
potatoes that produce high yields and mature early? And rotating crops so that
the Lupe Lady isn't planting turnips on the same little patch of land year after
year, stripping the land of its nutrients?
2. Be nicer to the serfs. King Skarl is currently living in a
stone castle with red carpet, piles of gold and silky banners flying from the
rooftop while his serfs are living in tiny little thatched huts. Corruption
and extravagances don't exactly go over well with the populace... Better give
them some of the gold coins in the castle for Christmas before they start a
rebellion.
3. Create a shop that sells Illusen paraphernalia. Come on, everyone
loovvvvees Illusen. That pretty brunette faerie with green eyes has been inspiring
teenaged-boy-Neopets' daydreams ever since she said "Welcome to my home..."
in that sugary sweet voice of hers. She's already helping the war effort by
donating her Honey Potions, so she should have no objections helping her land
by lending her face to it. Make T-shirts, posters, chocolates, even napkins
with her face on it and they will sell like Hot Cakes. Meridell can roll in
profit!
4. Establish friendly relations with surrounding lands. Meridell's
centred geographical location make it a possible trading superpower. Send an
Ixi bearing a Winny and some nice Meridell potatoes to the other lands and bribe
the way into their rulers' hearts. If those Darigan folks come to visit again,
maybe the other lands will even come to Meridell's aid.
As for Darigan - it is a floating citadel. How much cooler can a land get?
But it doesn't seem to have much commerce. No worries - here are some simple
fixes.
1. Get into the real estate business and sell plots of land to NeoHome
seekers at super high prices. Darigan's high altitude has got a great view,
so use the capital garnered to create luxurious vacation resorts for the Neopian
elite. Darigan can be the Tourist Capital of Neopia.
2. Get into the Air Travel business. If the land of Darigan moved
over Meridell for the invasion, it must mean that possibly, the land of Darigan
is capable of controlled motion. So that means... it can fly like an airplane!
For those worried about the Krawk Island pirates, Air Darigan is the way to
go! There are no competitors in the air travel industry and Darigan will create
a giant monopoly that even Microsoft will envy.
3. Darigan Poker, anyone? "Chance" games have the potential of earning
the host lots of NP. To complete the beautiful-view-cool-gothic-citadel vacation
package, Darigan can also throw in some nice chance games like Darigan Poker,
keep the tourists happy and rake in the Neopoints.
The profit from all the ventures then can then be reinvested in infrastructure,
making their land the beautiful place that it once was. Neopoints, after all,
is the greatest facilitator of all things.
"The orb is magic! Going into the transportation business take work!" Some
will whine. Hey, the only place success comes before work is in the Quick Reference
Dictionary. The orb can give prosperity by magic, but it is not in a land to
stay. Darigan had the orb, only for it to be taken away by Meridell. Now Meridell
has the orb and Darigan has declared war to repossess the orb. The victor from
the war will not be in possession of the orb for long before another conflict
arises. The defeated party may assault the victor at a later date, or a third
party, say... the Lost Desert, can take advantage of the two lands at their military
weakness, conquer both lands with ease and take the orb for their use.
Of course, then the Brain Tree in the Haunted Woods might take a fancy to the
orb and start a war against the Lost Desert. Before Neopians even have a time
to figure out who is right and who is wrong, the Neopian World War One will
be rearing its ugly head. The orb may bring prosperity, but what's prosperity
without peace?
So sure, the orb a pretty thing - gold coloured with ornate patterns that might
fetch a bunch of Neopoints on the auction block. And sure, it's lucky. But so
is one's ducky-printed lucky underwear. Without the orb but with some hard work,
both lands can be prosperous and happy. There's nothing great about the orb
and it's not worth fighting over. Hopefully, both His Highness Lord Darigan
and His Majesty King Skarl will realise that, come to their senses, end the
war, hug, build their agricultural empire/air travel monopoly and invite each
other over for cookies. | 
