Faerie Footwear Findings

The question of what faeries actually wear on their feet has been bugging Alisinara, my rainbow Aisha (and the most fashion-conscious of my pets), for quite some time. She finally convinced me to look into it with her (after I realized the possibilities for pointless pieces of alliteration inherent in this topic), and so, armed with a notebook and pen, we set off to interview some of the easier-to-find faeries about what sort of footwear they favor.

As we live in Altador, we decided to start off by interviewing Siyana, the light faerie member of Altador's council, who is usually found in the Council Chamber in the Hall of Heroes. As I had helped King Altador solve some puzzles once upon a time, we are welcome to wander into the Council Chamber whenever we wished. We did so, and approached the famous light faerie.

Me: *bowing* Lady Siyana, we were wondering if you would be willing to grant us a short interview for an article for the Neopian Times.

Siyana: Well, all right, as long as it's short.

Alisinara: We're doing a survey of some of the faeries, and we would like to know what sort of shoes you prefer to wear.

Siyana: *gives us a strange look* Wow, you NT reporters must be really starved for news. *stretches out one leg* I like to wear knee-high yellow socks and these rather comfortable flat-soled slippers. They're comfortable, stylish, and don't make much noise when I walk across the tiled floors in this building.

I jotted this information down in my notebook, then we thanked Siyana and, after bowing to her and the other members of the council, we made our way outside.

So, our first faerie footwear finding: Siyana of Altador wears knee-high yellow stockings, which match her yellow dress, and cream colored flat-soled slippers, which match the lighter tones in her wings.

We next made our way to Faerieland; shortly after I came to Neopia I found a simple teleportation spell that allowed me to instantly transport myself and one of my pets to any of the lands of Neopia. Thus, after I cast the spell, Alisinara and I found ourselves in Faerieland. We enjoyed a leisurely stroll through one of our favorite lands, culminating at the Hidden Tower (which really isn't that hard to find if you know where to look). We went in, and found Queen Fyora seated behind the counter of her famous shop, reading some important-looking documents.

Fyora: *gestures at the expensive items for sale* You could never afford any of these!

Me: *sigh* Yes, I know. Actually, Your Highness, we were wondering if we could ask you a question-

Alisinara: -three questions-

Me: -for an article we're working on for the Neopian Times.

Fyora: *sigh* Oh, all right. *takes off reading glasses and looks at us* What is it you want to know?

Alisinara: We're surveying a few different faeries about their preferences in footwear, and we would like to know what sort of shoes you like to wear.

Fyora gave us a long cold stare, then got up and came around to where we were standing. She lifted the skirts of her pinky-purple gown just enough to reveal her dainty feet, clad in simple yet elegant lilac ballet flats, adorned with little pairs of faerie wings (carefully crafted to look like her own wings) on the toes.

Fyora: I get them specially made by a cobbler here in Faerieland, and they're specially enchanted to be extra comfortable and to not fall off when I fly.

Alisinara: They're pretty, but I always pictured you as wearing fancy high-heeled shoes.

Fyora: *scowls at Alisinara* Do you have any idea how hard it is to land in high heels? I tried it once, when I was a young faerie, and managed to break my ankle. Even after I drank a healing potion and got a water faerie to heal it, I had to stay off that foot for a few weeks. Can you imagine how embarrassing that was for me? Ever since then, I've stuck with flat-soled shoes.

I scribbled this down in my notebook as Fyora made her way back to her seat behind the counter.

Fyora: Was that your second question?

Alisinara: Er, no, my second question is why are you pictured barefoot in a few caption contest images and coloring pages?

Fyora: *smiles sadly* Back when Faerieland was atop the clouds, I preferred to go barefoot whenever possible, and feel the soft clouds underfoot. *sigh* If you never walked barefoot across the clouds on a summer's night, you don't know what you have missed.

Fyora was staring off into space, lost in a daydream, so I politely cleared my throat to bring her back to our questions.

Fyora: And your third question?

Alisinara: Er, well, it's kind of off-topic, but, did you get a makeover after you were un-petrified?

Fyora: *rolls eyes* Yes, I did. The part of the castle were my chambers were was almost completely destroyed in the crash. All my gowns were torn, burnt, stained beyond repair, or missing, so I had to replace them all; I decided to go with a slightly different style this time, and in a shade of purple with more of a hint of pink in it. And before you asked, the money for those gowns came directly from my own savings, not the royal treasury.

We thanked Queen Fyora for her time and cooperation, and, with a last wistful look at the Faerie Queen Dolls, Alisinara and I headed out of the Hidden Tower.

Faerie footwear finding #2: Queen Fyora favors ballet flats in her signature lilac color, adorned with miniature imitations of her own lavender wings.

As we were already in Faerie City, we decided to stop by the Faerie Weapon Shop to interview Aethia, aka the Battle Faerie. As we entered the shop, Aethia leaped over the countered and thrust her sword at me.

Aethia: No one knows weapons better than I! All the weapons in my shop would greatly aid any skilled warrior.

Me: That's great! We were actually wondering if you would be willing to grant us an interview to aid us in an article we're writing for the NT.

Aethia: *sheaths sword* Sure, why not.

Alisinara: We're conducting a survey on faerie footwear, and *looks down at Aethia's feet* do you always go barefoot, or do you have a preferred type of shoe?

Aethia narrowed her eyes and put her hand on the hilt of her sword, ready to draw it if necessary. Alisinara and I prepared to run.

Aethia: You are seriously going around asking faeries what types of shoes they wear?

Alisinara: Yes.

Aethia: *shrugs* Must be a really slow news week. If you must know, I like to wear, and am currently wearing, a pair of green knee-length boots. Or at least, they were green until a few weeks ago. I was trying to make a shield that would turn the bearer invisible but would be completely visible when it wasn't being worn. I somehow messed up the incantation, though, and instead it turned my boots invisible.

Alisinara: Apart from the unfortunate invisibility spell, do your boots have any special enchantments on them?

Aethia: They're specially designed to give me excellent traction on all terrains, and to be absolutely silent when I walk. Oh, and they won't fall off when I fly, though I think most faeries have that spell on their shoes.

Faerie footwear finding #3: Aethia (the Battle Faerie) wears specially-enchanted knee-length boots, which unfortunately I cannot describe in more detail due to an invisibility spell.

We thanked Aethia and walked off through the streets of Faerie City. After a lengthy argument Alisinara persuaded me to go up to Jhudora's Bluff and interview the famous dark faerie for our article. Thus a short teleportation spell later, we were standing at the front entrance of Jhudora's evil, if slightly dilapidated, castle. Upon letting ourselves inside we found the dark faerie seated on her purple and green throne, reading a large spell book.

Alisinara: Oh great and powerful Jhudora, we humbly beseech thee to grant us a short interview to aid us in an article for the Neopian Times.

Me: *whispering to Alisinara* What in Neopia are you doing?

Alisinara: *whispering* I figure if we flatter her enough, she won't get mad and turn us into Mortogs!

Jhudora: *looks up from book* All right, but make it snappy! I'm very busy!

Alisinara: O most evil Jhudora, would you please tell us what sort of shoes you wear?

Jhudora looked at us incredulously for a few seconds, then burst out laughing. Noting the increase of ominous green smoke curling around our feet, I readied the teleportation spell in my mind. After a few minutes, Jhudora calmed down, and glared at us.

Jhudora: You actually braved my lair and my wrath to ask me what kind of shoes I wear?! That is the absolute funniest thing I have heard since the last time I talked to Illusen!

Alisinara: *puppyblew eyes*

Jhudora: *sigh* Fine! I'll answer your silly question.

She lifted the skirt of her dress and stretched out her leg, giving us a glimpse of fashionable pumps in dark purple with a wide stripe of toxic lime green at the toes and three inch heels.

Alisinara: Very, erm, evil. Don't you find the heels a bit problematic when you're flying, though?

Jhudora: *snort* Fyora gave you her little sob story about her ankle, didn't she? If you know what you're doing, it's quite easy to take off and land in high heels.

Alisinara: Do your shoes have any special enchantments on them?

Jhudora: They make an ominous ringing sound when I walk across the stone floors of my castle, and they won't fall off when I fly, of course.

Faerie footwear finding #4: Jhudora prefers stylish yet evil pumps in her signature colors of dark purple and toxic lime green.

We thanked Jhudora, then I teleported us out of her lair before she changed her mind about being nice to us.

Alisinara: Neopia Central?

Me: I panicked.

Alisinara: Hey, look! The Soup Kitchen!

Me: Sorry, Allie, I have way too many neopoints for us to eat there.

Alisinara: I meant we could go interview the Soup Faerie for our article.

We made our way over to the giant soup pot next to the entrance to the Marketplace. As luck would have it, the Soup Faerie came out of the Soup Kitchen just as we were approaching.

Soup Faerie: *looks at us angrily* You have far too many neopoints to need my soup!

Me: Actually, we were wondering if we could ask you a question for this article we're writing for the NT.

Soup Faerie: *smiles brightly* Really? Cool! You reporters never bother to interview me! What do you want to know?

Alisinara: What sort of shoes do you wear?

Soup Faerie: I tend to go with the Blue Shoes from the General Store--they're cheap, comfortable, and serviceable.

Alisinara: Do you place any enchantments on them?

Soup Faerie: Well, yes, I do, sort of. Just, you know, spells to keep them from wearing out and to keep me from slipping on floors slick with spilled soup.

Me: Yay for alliteration!

Soup Faerie: What?

Alisinara: Just ignore her--she's crazy.

Faerie footwear finding #5: the Soup Faerie favors cheap yet comfortable blue shoes.

We thanked the Soup Faerie, who was a little disappointed that we weren't going to write an entire article about her, and I cast the spell to teleport us to our next destination: Terror Mountain. As I mentioned earlier, Kari (the Negg Faerie) has in the past been pictured wearing hunter green boots, but we decided to stop by the Neggery and interview her anyway, then continue on our way to the Snow Faerie's house.

Kari: Welcome to the Neggery!

Me: Hello! We were wondering if you might be willing to answer a question or two for an NT article we're working on.

Kari: Sure, go ahead.

Alisinara: What kind of shoes do you usually wear.

Kari: *raises eyebrows* You trudged all the way up hear to ask me that?

Alisinara and me: Yep.

Kari: Now that's dedication!

She stepped out from behind the counter, and we saw that she was wearing green fur-lined boots which perfectly matched the rest of her outfit.

Kari: *looking down at her boots* They're lined with 100% Genuine Faux Babaa Fleece.

Me: Genuine faux Babaa fleece?

Kari: Yep. It's endorsed by the PPL, and absolutely no Babaas were harmed in the making of these boots. Plus, they keep my feet toasty warm on cold, snowy days.

Me: *exchanges look with Alisinara* Well, okay then, thank you for your time.

Kari: No problem!

Faerie footwear finding #6: Kari the Negg Faerie wears green boots lined with genuine faux Babaa fleece, whatever that is.

Alisinara: *after we left the Neggery* She's even crazier than you!

Me: *rolls eyes*

As it was freezing cold in the Ice Caves (who would have guessed?) I decided to cut our walking time a bit, and used my teleportation spell to transport us to the top of the mountain. Sadly, we still had to trudge through a few snowdrifts to get to Taelia's house.

Taelia: Are you here to help me get some items for a spell I'm working on?

Me: Er, no. We're writing an article for the NT, and we were wondering if you would be willing to answer some questions.

Taelia: *sigh* If you insist.

Alisinara: What sort of shoes do you wear?

Taelia: *blinks* Why do you want to know what kind of shoes I wear?

Me: We're doing a survey of some of the most famous faeries' footwear preferences for the Neopian Times.

Taelia: I didn't think it was that slow of a news week!

Me: *shrugs* I'm new at this, so I take what I can get. Anyway, about your favorite type of footwear?

Taelia lifted the hem of her fur-lined robe enough for us to see that she was wearing short light blue boots lined with white fur.

Taelia: They're made of 100% genuine faux leather and lined with 100% genuine faux Gnorbu fleece.

Alisinara and I exchanged looks.

Me: Do you place any special enchantments on them?

Taelia: Just the standard spell to keep them on my feet while I'm flying.

Alisinara: Thank you for your time.

Faerie footwear finding #7: Taelia, the Snow Faerie, wears short boots made of genuine faux sky blue leather and lined with genuine faux white Gnorbu fleece. Again, I have no idea what that means.

We left the Snow Faerie's house and I teleported us to somewhere warmer. Much warmer. Specifically, Mystery Island. Alisinara and I slowly made our way across the island to the spot where Jhuidah had set up her famous Cooking Pot. Fortunately, she didn't have any customers as we approached.

Alisinara: Hello! We're from the Neopian Times, and we would like to know what sort of shoes you wear.

Jhuidah: Usually I don't wear shoes--almost no one on Mystery Island does.

Alisinara: So you never wear shoes?

Jhuidah: Almost never. Whenever I go to Faerieland I wear shoes--Fyora would have a fit if she saw me walking barefoot through her palace.

Alisinara: And what kind of shoes do you wear in those circumstances?

Jhuidah: Some cheap sandals from the Tiki Tack shop. Of course, I have to cast a spell on them so they don't fall off my feet while I'm flying.

Faerie footwear finding #8: Jhuidah, the Island Faerie, wears sandals from the Tiki Tack on the rare occasions when she isn't going barefoot.

We thanked Jhuidah, and I teleported Alisinara and myself back home to Altador.

So there you have it, our findings on our favorite faeries' footwear fashions. Who knew that faeries' tastes in shoes was so varied? Though I'd still like to know what genuine faux Gnorbu fleece is...