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Mysteries of Neopia


by shaded_arceus

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Good day, fellow Neopians. As most of you know, there are many mysteries to Neopia, including some issues that should be well known, but are ignored by the public eye. Today, I – Terroryse, Faerie Krawk – and my faithful Reptillior, Nagini, shall aim to highlight the more absurd of these questions in the hope an answer can be found.

Question I: Why does the Qasalan Expellibox have pipes leading back to Qasala?

Intrigued by the mechanism itself, I joined Arceus in her daily venture, and watched as she gingerly inserted a scarab into the series of tubes. As it fell, it was jolted this way and that, towards a mysteriously shimmering tube, but it ended up arriving at the next tube over. Now, this scarab had a distinctive marking – a green marking on its right wing shaped like the head of an Aisha – and so we were planning to keep an eye out for it in various journeys. Imagine our surprise when, turning back to receive our reward, that same scarab was sitting on the attendant's head. Having pipes leading back to Qasala is counter-productive to their cause, as I promptly informed the attendant – after all, say 10% of tubes lead back to Qasala: with approximately 20,000 scarabs put in every day, 10% going back to Qasala makes 2000 scarabs less transported to other Neopian areas. Obviously perplexed, the attendant replied; 'Oh, that's... um... health and safety? No, no... err... I don't know, get out of here!' before waving a broom at us in a threatening manner. This implies there is a secret about the Expellibox, one normal Neopians are not meant to know...

Question II: Why are so many non-apple items obtainable from Apple Bobbing?

My sister Arcanyis often ventures to Neovia, to visit the Apple Bobbing stand, and keeps a record of what she obtains – or loses. Approaching her the other day, I asked her to report to me her findings; this is what she replied: 'Well, it's weird – I hardly ever find any actual apples. I get more pumpkins than apples... though I sometimes find a Dark Nova or a Night Stone for my collection, which is pretty neat.' She looked over to her vast hoard of dark treasures, and continued thus: 'Sometimes there are some really horrible things in there, though. Like rotten vegetables, ugh! And sometimes there's plushies, books, gummy Korbat tails... and I think I found a pile of laundry in there once. I mean, who loses a pile of laundry?' Muttering to herself, she then went off to Faerieland to redeem a quest given to her, whilst I researched more. It seems that, out of approximately 140 potential items, only 17 are actual apples – two of which are rotten, and another of which is an imposter. Excluding the anomalies mentioned, this gives the yield rate of apples as opposed to other items a value of approximately 10%. Now, why would Bart lie to us about the apple content of his barrel... is what I thought when I went to investigate more; upon further inspection, I can only conclude that the chance he will tell us is almost zero. I can also conclude that being hit in the wings with two apples and an orange really hurts.

Question III: How are the majority of books found in water still legible?

As I sat in the Healing Springs recovering from the apple incident, I took out a book as I am known to do, and began to read. This lasted a few seconds before a boisterous Red Meerca bounced in, splashing me – and my unfortunate book of choice – with a torrent of healing water. Though it made my wings feel better in an instant, I must say I was worried for my book – before looking down and noticing it was completely unharmed. At the time, I put it down to the water of the Healing Springs being magical, but the next day, Arcanyis brought back a book – Spooky Buzz Tales, to be precise – from Apple Bobbing. Now, we had always assumed that books from there were illegible, and hence thrown them away. But, wanting to investigate, I gingerly opened it – and found that, amidst the stream of filthy water pouring out, the words remained intact. Intrigued, I sent Nagini (as Bart would likely not tolerate my presence) to watch the Apple Bobbing stand, whilst I, assisted by a Water Faerie, dived into Maraqua, where books were known to be fished up. As it turned out, I saw rather a few – some affected by the water, some not. Of those affected, I most often saw a Waterlogged Book, but sometimes Mouldy Tomes and Soggy Scrolls – the latter two I saw a pet reading then and there, whilst for the former, I fished up one myself and was able to read it perfectly, bar the trickle of water spilling down me. Those books not affected, however, were more common – from On Gelert Pond to Karate for Beginners, these seemed perfectly legible despite having been soaked in water for Fyora knows how long. Intrigued, I bought a cheap copy of Lenny Crosswords on my way back home, and dipped it in the nearest water source I could find – Kiko Lake. For five minutes I left it to soak, before opening it to the now-characteristic trickle of water and intact wording. Upon meeting with Nagini later, she reported the same findings – books found in water were still legible. One can only wonder why...

Question IV: Where is Jelly World?

A question I have been intrigued by for a long while is where the various jellies of Neopia come into existence. I have been forced to consider that they are made by an offshoot of the Chocolate Factory, one which is hidden from all bar a select few... but where is this factory? Could it be linked to the mythical Jelly World? Alas, I have searched Neopia for it, but in vain. I can only conclude that Jelly World is, in fact, a story. On a related note, this Strawberry Jelly is delicious and I absolutely did not get it from a giant jelly. Definitely not; such a thing is implausible.

Question V: Who puts the flavours in the Omelette?

It is doubtful that the various owners and pets flocking to the Omelette add their own toppings – if they did, they would always get the Omelette slice they wanted. Therefore, there must be some other force at work; flavours like Clay, Marshmallow, Little Fishy and Tangy Tigersquash imply a rather twisted sense of humour, whilst the classics of Sausage, Carrot and Pea, Tomato and of course Plain show a sensible side to this mysterious denizen. Perhaps there is not just one, but two guardians of the Omelette, they that add flavour to this food supply? It would make sense, what with the drastically different flavours that can be found. In any case, they have a lot of work; the Omelette is visited by thousands every day. If even one could see them, perhaps we would be one step closer to unveiling this mystery.

With that, I must retreat. Think about these mysteries, readers, and try to come up with answers – you never know, you may discover something new...

 
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