 | Your questions answered!
Read the answers to the most commonly asked Neopets questions this week in the Editorial section. Each week the most popular questions will be answered by one of the creators of Neopets, so keep checking back to stay updated.
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Quote of the Week
"Illusen opened her eyes after resting in the tall grass. She turned her head to see a couple of her friends resting in the same manner. It was much nicer to rest in the grass in Neopia than up in Faerieland. The clouds were comfortable, but the breeze, scents and tranquillity never seemed to hit you the same way."
Illusen's Lament
Long Ago in Neopia
The field of flowers seemed to go on forever. Tiny creatures flitted from flower to flower, pausing for pollen before moving on. Two faeries sat in the field looking around. One had brown hair with a streak of green running across the front. Her skin was a warm, tan color like earth and her eyes, clothes, and wings matched the greenery around her. The other had purple hair with a streak of green running down its length. Her skin was a pale lavender, her eyes dark purple and her dress and wings continued the purple and green theme.
“Isn’t this a lovely day Jhudora? Wouldn’t it be wonderful if every day was like this?”
Jhudora snorted. “I prefer a bit more gloom, myself. I’m not sure how you can take it Illusen. All this seems a bit too sweet.”
“Well, to each her own. Have you heard what the decision was for a place of our own?”
“It was voted to create skylands. I’m surprised you weren’t there.”
“I was tending a sick Uni.” Illusen frowned. “Skylands? How will Neopets get there? Not all of them have wings. What about the Water Faeries?”
Jhudora laid back. “That’s what I wanted to know! Everyone thought I was being a malcontent. I’ve seen what they’re making–it’s pink and puffy. You’d love it!”
“Ha! No way! I couldn’t separate myself from the Neopets. They need us! We should be making somewhere for ourselves on the ground, not up in the sky!”
“Well, what Fyora wants is what Fyora gets! I’ve heard Calabrus gave them something to help. I think I might make my own place up there, just to shake things up.”
“Ah, well, I had hoped you’d stay down here with me.”
“You’re great Illusen, but this kind of greenery makes me feel queasy! I need somewhere a bit gloomier.”
Illusen smiled. “Well, you are part Darkness, so I suppose that makes sense. Still, I hope Fyora reconsiders. A home in the sky might be secure, but it’d separate us from the Neopets and, somehow, I’m sure that’s only going to end in trouble!” |
The Ecology of Neopia
The land of Neopia is vast and wondrous, with countless mysteries waiting to be solved and incredible discoveries happening every day. Welcome to another edition of “Science with the Seekers,” where scientists from around Neopia share their expertise with the world.
As this is a collaborative effort, Neopians involved will be listed in the acknowledgements at the end.
What is Ecology?
Put simply, Ecology is the study of how organisms interact with one another and their environment. There are multiple tiers of this scientific study, but we will focus on four of them today: organismal, population, community, and ecosystem. Each of these tiers build upon one another and grow in complexity with each jump.
Organismal Ecology
Organismal Ecology is the study of how a single organism interacts with its environment. More specifically, the adaptations that allow it to survive. We’ll focus on a few Neopian examples, namely the Bori and the Buzz, two opposites in this spectrum. Bear in mind that both of these examples have exceptions. For example, Ice Buzz and Fire Bori follow the opposite trends.
The Bori:
Built for the cold, this species of Neopet is hardy. Thick fur covers much of their body to retain warmth in even the harshest of days (temperatures of -50C have been recorded near the peak of Terror Mountain). Additionally, this species has armour-like dorsal (back) plating to aid in deflecting wind. Both of these are considered anatomical adaptations for heat retention. Bori tend to be short-legged and spend much of their time close to the ground as a means of reducing heat loss from convection (i.e. the wind stealing heat from their body) and have physiological (internal regulatory) mechanisms to reduce heat loss through something called “countercurrent exchange.” This process works by having blood vessels leaving the heart (where blood is warmer) being tucked next to the veins that are returning to the heart. It’s almost like a keeping a cup of hot cocoa... |
 | Illusen's Plan, Preparation, and Get Ready
Have you ever wondered how I, Illusen, plan, prepare and get ready for Illusen Day?
Well, look no further because I wrote an article for the Neopian Times for anyone who would like to know all about that!
I will take you on my journey through this article and show you how I plan, prepare, and get ready for Illusen Day, which comes every year on the 17th of March.
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There are three parts to this article:
Part 1 - Planning/Preparation
Part 2 - De-stress and Getting Ready
Bonus Part 3 - Questions and Answers
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Part 1 - Planning/Preparation
Illusen Pencil Set
Being an Earth Faerie is a great responsibility and sometimes my mental to-do list gets overwhelmingly long in my head, so a great way for me to organize my ideas and plans would be to write everything down on paper so that I wouldn't have to remember everything or worry about forgetting something really important. I use the Illusen Pencil Set to write down the plans and ideas I have in mind for Illusen Day. By doing this, I can easily keep track of what has been done and what still needs to be done. This pencil set comes with erasers that are supposed to be my faerie wings. How neat is that!? I write my plans down on paper about a year prior to Illusen Day. Planning ahead of time and getting things down as soon as possible will reduce the overall workload and stress in the future when we're nearing Illusen Day. |
| Other Stories |
"Bright Glade, Shadowed Forest" by cookybananas324
Illusen sat at her table, studying a vase of blue flowers.
She hadn’t been offering quests at her glade for very long; she’d started relatively recently, after hearing that Jhudora had started out giving quests back in Faerieland. But Illusen was already feeling so… tired.
That afternoon, a little Kougra girl had come to the glade with her big sister. She’d been adorable—maybe four or five years old—and she’d brought Illusen a gift: a big bouquet of freshly-picked blue flowers.
And Illusen had smiled politely, and thanked her, because she was so young, and she couldn’t have known that Illusen had personally planted those flowers and had been planning to harvest them later, on the full moon—but they’d been torn from the earth too soon and were now useless for the potion she’d been planning. It was Illusen’s fault, really, for planting them too close to the path to her cabin, where a child might see them and be tempted.
If she’d built a garden bed, with a fence around it, perhaps her sister would have stopped her. But Illusen hadn’t wanted little wooden boxes with neat rows of plants. She’d had plenty of that growing up in her mother’s house in Faerieland. Her mother’s garden was beautiful, without doubt, but it was also very much a garden.
The girl had seen a patch of wildflowers, had picked them because they were pretty and blue, and she’d given them to Illusen because she wanted to be kind, and that was a good thing, surely.
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"Breaking Illusions" by candylandtheonomy
Illusen Faerie Doll, Illusen Snowglobe, Illusen Kite, Cehani’s room was brimming with all the Illusen items under the Neopian sun. It was an obsession (though Cehani preferred the term: hobby). Surprisingly, though, Cehani had never met Illusen. Never meet your heroes. This phrase she had heard stuck with her. Not only that, but she had met a cute Ixi named Lisa in the Illusen fan club who had had a terrible experience with Illusen. Like Cehani the Xweetok, the Ixi Lisa was also plushie coloured, so the two had instantly bonded at the monthly meet the fan club held. During the meeting two months prior, Lisa came in looking unusually low, and fittingly she had chosen to wear the Feeling Grey Rain Cloud. “She’s terrible. I have to quit this club!” Lisa had exclaimed in a huff.
“What happened?” Anthony the Red Usul questioned.
But Lisa refused to respond, turning on her heels and exiting in a dramatic fashion. Other members of the club had tried to contact her after for answers, but Lisa refused to respond to any inquiries. Cehani’s mind danced with the possibilities of what had happened to Lisa, yet she was scared to reach out. If Lisa refused to respond, like she had to the others, it would cement the death of the friendship they had grown. Cehani’s takeaway was simply that she must not meet Illusen. She did not want the possibility of ruining her hobby (aka obsession).
So it was with much alarm the day Cehani faced a decision that would change her life |
"A Missing Invitation" by emma_manatee
A sour, noxious smell followed the purple and green clouds that rolled like fog into Illusen’s Glade. Illusen sighed and handed the feeble Kacheek a pair of cream cookies. “Thank you for completing my quest,” she said, patting the little creature on the head. “Feel free to come by tomorrow if you think you’re up for it.” The clouds could only mean one thing – Jhudora had come for a visit.
“Can I help you, Jhudora?” she sighed, brushing the lingering threads of smoke off her skirt. They were nearly alive, clinging to her, drawn to her energy. “I’m very busy, you know.”
“Yes, I’m sure giving little Meridell peasants chores to fill their days is very taxing,” Jhudora scoffed. Illusen did her best to brush off the scorn. She knew Jhudora spent all day in her bluff doing the exact same thing. “But I was hoping… that you could do me a favour.”
Illusen had to hold in the laugh that bubbled up her throat. Jhudora was asking her for a favour? It was absurd! Jhudora was just as powerful as she was, even though her magic favoured darkness. Just like herself, Jhudora would get other Neopets to run errands for her and get materials for her spells. (Or just things that she wanted.) What could Illusen possibly help her with?
“Go on,” Illusen urged her. Jhudora fidgeted with the hem of her robe, clearly not wanting to say whatever the flavour was. “Would you like tea?” Illusen offered. “Or some cream cookies? I just made the cream fresh.” She didn’t tell her that she’d made the cookies for the Kacheek. |
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Great stories!
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 The Ecology of Neopia
"The land of Neopia is vast and wondrous, with countless mysteries waiting to be solved and incredible discoveries happening every day. Welcome to another edition of “Science with the Seekers,” where scientists from around Neopia share their expertise with the world."
by parody_ham |
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