Top Five Strangest Events in Neopia

#5 – The Dice-a-roo Parade

Most of us are familiar with dice-a-roo. You roll a die, and progress through five stages with the hopes of rolling victory and claiming the jackpot. It's a great game, especially once you get to the green die and start collecting food.

The game itself is not what starts our list of strangest Neopian happenstances, but the Blumaroos. Every time you roll, a Blumaroo passes by and speaks to you. This isn't inconceivable; the game is hosted on Roo Island, of course. But every time? Hundreds of Blumaroos will pass by, sometimes all in just one game, if you're lucky enough to last.

The problem is, you're busy paying attention to your game, so you can't watch the Blumaroos closely. But in my experience, they seem to come out of the same room, bounce by, and exit through the same door, every time. What's even stranger is that they usually say the same things. Sometimes they give you advice for your game, but most of the time, they just give you random bursts of information.

It seems to me that their behavior is too suspicious to be left unmentioned. Why is there this parade of strangers bouncing by during my all too important game of chance? They could be trying to distract you. Dice-a-roo is notoriously hard to win, and that could be because of these interlopers breaking your vital concentration. It's common knowledge that the major source of income for Roo Island is tourism, it is possible that these distracters are hired by the king in order to increase profits from tourists.

I don't know what King Roo is planning with his army of dice-a-roo interrupting minions, but I for one want no part in it.

#4 – Coltzan's Shrine

I myself am a huge fan of Coltzan. In life, he was a wise and brave king. Now, in death, he has remained to give aid to those in need. His shrine, in theory, should be a wondrous idol, one that stands for wisdom and bravery. However, sometimes the things that happen there are a bit... odd.

Most of the time, the spirit of Coltzan appears and grants lucky neopets food or even knowledge. When a young Kougra is in need of spare neopoints, the king may grant him that as well. The strange occurrences are not those when the ghost appears (after all, ghosts are quite common here in Neopia!) but in actuality when he does not appear.

When Coltzan chooses to not appear to you, people describe it as "nothing happened." However, things happen. Many times, I've heard a high pitched scream which fades away. Other times, a neopet's paws will glow blue for a moment. These are described as nothing happening, but I can't help but feel they are not nothing.

Who is screaming? In my experience it sounds just slightly different each time, but then, why are so many people screaming? Does the magic of the shrine compel nearby Neopians to suddenly scream without their consent? Is there someone in danger? I've known many citizens to go searching for the scream, but none have ever discovered its source.

Why are my Lupe's paws suddenly glowing? He's not painted glowing, and even if he was, they tend to glow green, not blue. The glow bears a strong resemblance to Coltzan's spirit form. Could he be possessing these neopets for a short time? But then, why do they not sense him, and why does he only ever shine through at the paws?

There are too many mysteries surrounding Coltzan's Shrine. Too many unexplained occurrences that go unquestioned by most.

#3 – Lever of Doom

Your initial thought may be that the Lever of Doom appears on this list because it is a switch labeled "Do not pull!" that has no purpose other than to take 100 NP. You are incorrect. While this is not a normal feature in any neohome, the Space Station run by Dr. Sloth—uh, I mean, Grundos—is a world where buttons and switches main purpose is to make profit.

No, the reason the lever is number three on today's list is the inexplicable compulsion most neopets experience when they near it. Any neopet, regardless of species, intelligence, or any other factor, feel this deep, compulsive longing to pull the lever when they near it. Some are able to resist, but for the most part, this desire is so strong that pets and owners alike will activate the switch, knowing full well what will happen. No one has ever reported a different result than losing neopoints. Yet, still, anyone who nears the lever of doom will be filled with a sense of longing that can only be satisfied by pulling it.

Once it has been pulled, most individuals report the sensation of "waking up" from a daze, as if they had been possessed. This may indicate there is some invisible outside force affecting anyone who nears. But what is it? Mind control is known to exist on occasion here in our wondrous world, but never with such irresistible power.

Whoever or whatever holds this power over the minds of Neopians, I hope it simply continues to use it to take a small amount of neopoints. Any other goals could be... disastrous.

#2 - The Discarded Magical Blue Grundo Plushie of Prosperity

The Discarded Magical Blue Grundo Plushie of Prosperity is a well known tourist destination in Faerieland. For many years the poor plushie sat on a cloud, all alone, completely unexplained. Then, one year during a Faerie Festival, Neopians started having good luck near him. When Faerieland fell, many thought he would be lost forever in the wreckage, but in the end someone found him, dangling from a tree branch, as pitiful as ever.

Aside from his persistent nature, the Grundo plushie makes it to our list because, he, like the lever, seems to have a sphere of influence. He never gives you toys, or neopoints, neopets just happen to get lucky near him. Or sometimes a neopet may be so inspired by the plushie's plight, he can transcend the mortal plane and gain intelligence, just by looking at the Grundo. Yet, the plushie does nothing. He's just a toy, of course he can't make a Kyrii hungrier or heal a Skeith's wounds. But things keep happening.

Even aside from his magical abilities, the Grundo plush just offers visitors a wealth of unanswered questions. Who discarded him? Why was he left on a remote cloud in Faerieland? Was he always such a morose plushie, or did he become sad once he was discarded? Why has no one picked him up and taken him home? Why is he here? Why am I here? What is my place in the universe? How could anyone ever believe Jelly World is real? And still so many more.

These questions will probably never be answered, but at least we know that, any time we feel alone, there's a small blue plushie waiting for us in Faerieland who, though he can't speak, can still share wisdom.

At the top of our list is the strangest and disturbing of all the phenomena in Neopia. No one can explain it, and it is difficult to even describe in words. Yes, the most bizarre happenstance in our entire world is...

#1 – The News

As I mentioned, it is hard, sometimes impossible, to just talk about the News, but for you dear reader, I must try. The News is... the News. There comes a moment each weekday when in a Neopian's mind, they can... sense, more than hear, new information. It's not a sound broadcast throughout the world, and it doesn't even seem to have a physical location. You can be anywhere in Neopia, from the mountains of Shenkuu to deep in a pyramid of the Lost Desert.

Yet, it does not always happen. A citizen must will it to happen. If you think about the News, and there is a "new release" (if you will) then your mind will be filled with thoughts alien to you. Suddenly you will know who won this week's beauty contest and you will learn of the discovery of a new color of Wherfy. How is it that this information reaches us? And why?

I took it upon myself, dear readers, to further investigate this particular event. Recently, we gained access to Dr. Landelbrot's ship and his chaos laser. I thought it possible that, because he holds power over the random events that plague our fair planet (which did not make the list because they deserve an entire feature just for themselves) then maybe he might know about the News. Alas, it was not meant to be. When I asked the Lutari if he controlled the news or knew anything about it, he looked at me with confusion. It seems in his decades aboard The Coincidence, he has never experienced the News. Perhaps some day if he comes back to the surface of Neopia he will have some idea how it works, but for now he is too busy creating chaos.

It seems the News remains outside our realm of understanding, how every being can have the ability to absorb information without any form of written or spoken language. It has baffled scientists for years, and will continue to baffle them for years to come.

So there you have it, folks, the five strangest events that you can experience in your daily lives in our great world. Now we must part, and so as my parting words, may your day be fun and a little too interesting.