Unraveling the Mystery of the Tombola Guy

     Hardly anybody takes the time to think about the game’s proprietor at all. Nobody even seems to know his name. Known only as the Tombola Guy, or sometimes the Tiki Tack Man, he is an enigma. It isn’t even clear what species he is. But Neopia has long ceased speculation or scrutiny of his mystery. He is part of the background.

     But the Tombola Guy has a life outside of his Tombola stall and souvenir shop. He has friends, hobbies, and dreams. Nobody takes the time to wonder about him, but if anyone tried to take a longer look, they would find someone with quite a bit of depth.

     The Tombola Guy is dedicated to his tombola stall; he spends much of his free time seeking out items that he can give away as winning or consolation prizes. He believes it is important that all of his guests should have the opportunity to win a thrilling, unique item or two. (He hasn’t realized yet that his prizes can be a bit underwhelming to the average Neopian; he hasn’t quite caught up with the times. He’s been around for ages, though, can you blame him? He tries so hard!)

     Every day, the Tombola Guy visits the Trading Post, combing through the goods on display in search of island-themed merchandise. It is here that he is able to pick up a variety of books, stamps, plushies and the like that all share a tropical theme. This isn’t strictly necessary, but he thinks that prizes from a Mystery Island-based game should be somewhat Mystery Island-themed.

     His closest neighbour, the Underwater Chef, swings by his stand daily, sharing with the Tombola Guy any unwanted food he has leftover that day. Mumbo Pango is a picky client, and he often ends up cooking some fancy, elaborate dishes that the demi-god inexplicably snubs. The Tombola Guy welcomes the leftovers; anything that wouldn’t keep well he uses as ingredients in his own questionable recipes. Similarly, the tropical foods shopkeeper just a bit farther down the shore from him is also happy to share. Any product that is too overripe to sell gets slipped in a basket for his masked neighbour.

     A few times a month, he rents a little rowboat from the harbour and makes his way out to the tiny island that his friend the Island Mystic calls home. They have been friends for so long that neither of them can quite remember how they met. They like to sit in rickety old beach chairs with their toes in the sand, reminiscing about past adventures and sampling the Tombola Guy’s latest culinary creations. Fortunately, the Mystic has a very diverse palate and is not at all turned off by the disgustingly inventive recipes the Tombola Guy shares with him. In return, he gives the Tombola Guy a few wooden totems it happens to be his hobby to whittle.

     On his way back to the main island, the Tombola Guy usually swings by the Rock Pool. He likes to share his extra bags of semolina with the shopkeeper there, as feed for the petpets he rescues from the tide pools on the far side of the little island. The shopkeeper always insists on sending him home with a few of the petpets that haven’t found a new home yet.

     Sometimes he wanders through the decrepit huts of Geraptiku in the early morning sunlight, hunting for small skulls and artefacts abandoned by the natives. He has never seen a soul there apart from a petpet or two skittering through the underbrush, but even so, the place still gives him the heebie-jeebies.

     Whenever he has the chance, the Tombola Guy likes to walk along the beach as the sun is getting close to setting. It is his favourite time of day to enjoy the island, and it is a great time to hunt for seashells, pieces of volcanic rock, and the rare deposits of coloured sand he likes to give away at his tombola stand.

     The Tiki Tack Man’s cooking has always gotten a mixed reception, but one thing that all the island’s inhabitants agree on is that he can make a seriously mean crepe. Whenever the mood strikes him to whip up a batch, he always makes sure to drop by the Training School to share with the Techo Master, who happens to have quite the sweet tooth. He always insists that he can’t accept the pastries as a gift and makes sure the Tombola Guy leaves with heaps and heaps of codestones; the Techo Master has amassed so many of them that he can’t give them away quickly enough.

     There is one subset of tombola prizes that has most people scratching their heads. This, of course, is the plethora of Gross Foods that are awarded as a winning prize. Many a player has understandably been curious about this anomaly. Receiving an island-themed stamp or petpet makes perfect sense, but why a bunch of food that would be much more at home in the Spooky Food Shop?

     As it happens, experimenting with different Gross Food recipes is the Tombola Guy’s favourite hobby. He discovered his passion for the questionable food on a vacation to the Haunted Woods. After sampling the cuisine, he knew he had to try more. He returned home with a cookbook as a souvenir and has been trying recipes ever since. Even after exhausting all the recipes in the book, he has continued to invent his own, using whatever ingredients happen to be handy in his fridge at the time. His fellow island residents are happy to share their extra ingredients with him, though only the bravest are willing to sample his concoctions. The Tombola Guy ends up cooking more than he can eat on his own, so he cheerfully shares the extra Mummy Spaghetti, Maggot Stew and Grubwiches with the visitors to his game.

     Bit by bit, this is how the Tombola guy trades, barters, collects, purchases, bakes, fries and flambées the prizes that he gives to the lucky winners at his tombola stand. In a pinch, he will even give away stock from his Tiki Tack shop when he runs short on other prizes. Even with his creative methods of acquiring prizes, sometimes he still runs out completely, and has to ask his patrons for donations. Unfortunately, running a free Tombola game and a small souvenir shop that’s not very in demand are not the most profitable pastimes. But thankfully, his visitors are generous, and before long he’s back in business.

     Now, you may be wondering to yourself how the Tombola Guy could be simultaneously manning his tombola stand and his Tiki Tack souvenir shop, while still managing to have enough free time to traverse the island regularly, visit the island’s inhabitants, and experiment with his gross food creations. Unfortunately, that is one mystery that remains yet unsolved. Perhaps you can ask him, the next time you stop by his tombola stall...

     The End.