Gnorbu: In The Know!

‘Gnorbu are fun-loving Neopets who enjoy making others laugh. Despite its natural lack of agility, the Gnorbu’s kind heart and good-natured outlook have succeeded in making it a very popular Neopet.’

Look familiar? Well it should. I’m sure we have all read this while searching for a new pet. It is the Gnorbu pet description, the few words that can make or break a Gnorbu’s life with a potential owner, but did you know that all Gnorbus come from mystical descent? If you walk into any Gnorbu house, they will tell you how their great-great grandfather foresaw the coming of Dr. Sloth, an evil Neopian, bent on world domination.

Going back a long time when all Neopets roamed free and wild around Neopia, the Gnorbus, a hidden species for many years, grouped together in villages along the riverbed. They spent a lot of their time stargazing and predicting the future. They could also see upcoming dangers in the water, such as storms, fires and potential enemies. Other Neopets would come for miles to hear of these dangers; Gnorbus never hid their gift and for years were treated with the respect of royalty. When one ventured to a common watering hole they were usually welcomed heartily by the Neopets there, although it was a very rare sight to see a lone Gnorbu as they preferred to travel in groups of two or three.

Not all Gnorbus were generous with their gift and many were feared, as they were known to dabble in black magic. A famous Gnorbu is Banadack rumoured to have lived for over 300 years. Although Gnorbus have a long life expectancy of over 150 years, Banadack is the only Gnorbu on record to have lived this long. He was also rumored to have been a very wicked Gnorbu, using petpets in his experiments and cursing pets who crossed his path or dared speak out against him!

Another famous Gnorbu is Avereion, brought up by Grarrls, known mostly for selling his gift. He predicted births, deaths, marriages or other major events in people’s lives for a Green Apple or other sorts of food. Most of his predictions were false as he never lived with other Gnorbus and never fully developed his gift. He also preferred to be alone. He left his Grarrl mother at the age of only twelve and roamed all over Neopia. As he was brought up like a Grarrl, he was unnaturally large and would eat anything he could scavenge.

As they all have an element of magic in them, whether it be light or dark, they were and are still feared by many. They don’t usually interact with other pets but with faeries. As faeries are also magical creatures, they have no fear of the Gnorbu.

Gnorbus, although a friendly species, are easily offended and are often in battle with other pets, over a comment made in jest. While generally docile creatures, Gnorbus make bad enemies and have no problem with keeping a battle going for years.

The most famous battle on record has to be the ‘Battle of the Feathered Hat,’ fought over 600 years ago. At one of the many balls held back then, a rather aged Lupe was heard to be telling a friend of how the feather in his hat, was not a real feather but hair from a Gnorbus back, stolen fifty years ago by he himself who then got his mother to stitch it together to look like a feather. The guest of honour at the time was a Gnorbu called Ramisos who upon hearing this caused an uproar among the guests, challenged the Lupe to a duel, and upon losing vowed he would not stop until he got the feather back. The two species battled for almost a hundred years until one night a Pteri flew into a castle, stole the feather from the tower room where it was kept, and was never seen again.

Over the years, like other pets they have grown and adapted to changes made in Neopia. They still kept themselves to themselves, reading the stars and warning pets about what was coming. As faeries’ magic grew stronger, theirs grew weaker and weaker, until finally all they had left was the gift of foreseeing the future. They didn’t mind; they thought finally they would be accepted instead of feared, but unfortunately this was not the case. The other Neopets thought this was a trick; they all knew about the Gnorbus’ short tempers and each and every pet had a descendent from a pet who had battled against them.

So life went on. Neopia changed, modernised, but Gnorbus stayed the same; they lived by the riverside and taught their young about the past and taught them how to see the future, while other pets were going to school, receiving their first petpet and getting their first job. The Gnorbus were not talked about. When pets started getting owners, they stayed hidden. When Dr. Sloth tried to take over Neopia, they stayed hidden. It wasn’t until the start of Year 7 that they were finally found.

One day while out walking a Bori came across a small ball of fur hidden among some trees. Wrapping it up in his jacket, he took it home. He thought maybe it was a small petpet or pet that was lost. So he searched around the woods for hours until finally, he heard a low bleating. He walked carefully up to the bush hoping that he had finally found the baby’s owner. Although he did not know what this pet was he decided he wanted to. As he gave back the young Gnorbu, he asked the mother all sorts of questions. He talked for hours with her and eventually he left, promising to come back. He did, and each time he came back she would be there. She eventually took him back to her village. He knew why they lived on their own and wanted to change that.

Why should they be ostracised? He thought over and over again. He eventually talked a few of them to take a short trip into Faerieland with him. Although scared, they agreed and hastily prepared for it. They came back full of wonder and awe. They had hidden away for so long, too long…

After that they came in often, not for too long and only a few at a time. Eventually, they bought houses and shops, and were accepted as part of society.

Now Gnorbus are an everyday thing. We see them everywhere, but now you know where they came from, how they got here and just a bit about their past!