Tarla and Nabile: The Truth Revealed

1. Why a queen would want to hide her identity

It’s been done a million times before: the royal person is tired of their sheltered life and decides to have an adventure. A queen cannot roam the streets and expect to be treated like a normal person, so she had to change her identity. Not to mention the fact that if Nabile were to travel beyond the reaches of her land without some sort of escort, there would likely be some royal risks involved. By creating an alter ego, Nabile is allowed the freedom to roam where and when she wants, just like she did as a member of the Desert Scarabs.

2. An explanation for the differences in appearance

Fear not, there’s a reason for every difference between the two. First of all, there’s the Ixi’s fur which appears to be a slightly different color when compared. This is no more than a temporary dye. Depending upon how long Tarla wishes to remain in ambiguity, her hair may also be dyed, such as it currently is. She may also use a wig if she only needs to appear as Tarla for a short time. Another simple change was the removal of Nabile’s elaborate make up, leaving Tarla as a natural beauty.

In all other aspects the two Ixi are near identical: eye color, horn color, number of fingers and even the ratio of the head size compared to the body.

3. Where Tarla really gets the items she gives away

As a queen, Nabile has access to an immense wealth in the royal treasury. It’s not too far of a stretch to believe that she has the ability to provide a multitude of Neopians with free goodies. However, it would have been impractical for a queen to openly aid the poor of her kingdom – she’d be flooded with beggars from all over Neopia! Thus Nabile used her new persona to secretly give her wealth away. She started with those whose suffering she saw firsthand: citizens of Qasala. As the standard of living improved, Nabile (Tarla) decided to share the prosperity with the rest of Neopia. Now gifts are given to all who are willing to accept them. This caring aspect of her personality was witnessed in her sympathy towards the cursed prince. Recently, she has had an additional income from an outside source – mentioned later.

It has been speculated that Tarla was giving gifts before the wedding of Nabile. If this is in fact that case (though I believe it to be propaganda spread by those in Nabile’s court) it’s obvious where the gifts were from. Having been a thief prior to her marriage to Jazan, Nabile obviously would have stolen these items from rich citizens of Sakhmet in order to give them to the under privileged. Neopians would not accept these gifts so easily if everybody knew they came from a thief, so instead she gave them under the guise of Tarla.

4. The Mystery of the Shop of Mystery... Revealed

When it became apparent that giving gifts to the majority of Neopia was causing a severe strain on the royal treasury, Nabile realized she needed a new method to pay for the gifts. With some help from her former thieving associates, she came up with the idea for the Shop of Mysteries. She would ask for large sums of money in exchange for a “surprise” which would generally be valued at about one tenth of the price paid. While not a direct thievery, it was a very shady business plan. For this reason it could have no connection whatsoever with Qasala or her royal family. That is why the shop was placed in the far and frigid region atop Terror Mountain.

The shop has become quite a success, especially after the most recent marketing gimmick: whenever a new customer makes a purchase they get a free image of Tarla (also known as an avatar). The income from the shop has given a renewed buying power for the Ixi and supplied her with the funds to take her recent vacation.

5. How Tarla’s Vacation is Connected to Qasala and Nabile

The clues to Nabile’s secret identity can be found in the initial vacationing locations of Tarla. First spotted in Faerieland two things can be noted. First is Faerieland’s proximity to the Lost Desert and Qasala. Second is the fact that Faerieland is home to the most famous and public queen of all: Queen Fyora. This faerie has been able to maintain a royal aura about her while interacting with the average Neopian: the purpose of Nabile’s alter ego. It is obvious that Nabile decided to visit this queen, not only to exchange royal pleasantries, but also to gain advice and insight into Fyora’s ability to mingle with the common Neopet.

Nabile was later observed in Brightvale – a kingdom renowned for a love of knowledge. Once again it was on Nabile’s checklist to visit a royal personage, but also to take in some local lore. Her interest in a kingdom’s history has already been seen by her desire to read the old books of Qasala’s history when Nabile was still a thief.

The same can be said for her reasoning to visit Altador: mingle with royalty and discover a kingdom’s past. However, it has been noted that Altador has a particularly interesting history, which has only recently been uncovered. This unique aspect may be the reason for her repeated visits, especially to the Hall of Heroes.

On her first day, Nabile also made a quick stop in her first home of Sakhmet. Of all the places for her to visit she went to the food stall. It’s not coincidence that Nabile had previous dealings with the Grarrl that owns the food store in Sakhmet. It’s obvious the queen wanted to catch up with her former adversary, in addition to sampling some of the food from her youth.

Though she has since traveled further from her home of Qasala; the proximity, royal patronage and lore of these first four locations are all suspiciously in line with the interests of Nabile.

Hopefully now that you have seen the facts behind Tarla’s actions you can see the truth. It is undeniable that Tarla is in fact that queen of Qasala we know as Nabile.