A World Of Grandiose Creature

    Our lovely planet of Neopia was formed thousands of years ago. The deepest history we have been able to obtain shows that the planet was once covered in a toxic gas. A monstrous man from outer space, later to be known as Dr. Sloth, landed on the barren planet. He spent his time exploring it, searching for any form of life, and was not able to find any. He eventually concluded that this would be the perfect place for him to start a research base, a place where he could follow through with all his nefarious plots. It was so uninhabitable that no one would ever discover him here. It's still unknown who he was hiding from back in those beyond ancient times, but there was a force he had to avoid. He began building up things on the planet, creating monsters that could withstand the horrible fog and desolate conditions. He had a plan to enslave them and use them to conquer other planets he may come across. This was his golden opportunity and he wasn't going to let it slip through his fingers.

    After some time though, something began to change in the environment. A striking golden sunlight broke through the fog and immediately a patch of grass and flowers sprouted. The sun's rays had an instant effect on the planet, leading to much concern for Dr. Sloth. Why now? The fog began to clear, and with it came more and more sunlight. The sunlight would melt his monsters upon contact and a lush environment started to surround him. It was a magical, happy place in the making, something Dr. Sloth hated. He only wanted darkness and misery, not optimism and wonderment. Suddenly new creatures started sprouting forth, as if out of thin air, what we now know as Neopets! He didn't see these as beautiful, diverse species with a lot of happiness and fun to offer millions, he saw them as workers and slaves and it was at that moment he made it his life's mission to take over these gentle Neopets.

    He was not able to though, they fought back against his plots with the help of magical faeries and powerful superheroes, and the world began to expand. After thousands of years, we are now where we are at today. A lush, magical land full of some of the most incredible creatures you could ever imagine. And that is where I come in. My name is Randal, an Island Kougra from Mystery Island, I'm a famed explorer who has made it my mission in life to chronicle the different fantastic creatures in Neopia. I have traveled far and wide to document some of the largest, smallest, meanest, and nicest species and mutations that are out there. I've worked with teams of researchers and also on my own to do what I can to bring more knowledge to these amazing beings. I'm here to share my journals, my notes, and my stories with you all. This will be delivered through a series of recordings, journal notes, and essays. Organizing my thoughts in whatever way is most fit. Some of these creatures were brutal to encounter and I wasn't able to sit and jot down cohesive notes due to fearing for my own life, while other times I was with a team of other explorers and we just recorded our conversations. This is as close as most of you will get to experiencing these creatures up close!

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    Our first journey is into Terror Mountains where we will meet two different monsters...

    We'll be analyzing my journal for the first one:

    Snowager:

    Day four of our journey up into the mountains and we have come across a massive ice cave, I believe this is where the monster we seek lives.

    I was on an expedition with two other researchers, Betsy the Blumaroo and Porsco the Vandagyre.

    We've been searching this ice cave for a few hours and nothing has turned up. We decided to set up camp for the night and search again in the morning.

    We were searching for the Snowager. A creature that is thought to be an oversize Snowickle petpet that took up a home in the caves of Terror Mountain. He guards a pile of treasure and few Neopets are able to brave the cold to find him, let alone have the guts to try to steal from him. He is well known these days, but we were some of the first to stumble upon him and let the world know!

    Day seven of our expedition and we have explored close to a dozen caves. We were able to receive a lead from a passing Uni saying he heard loud snoring nearby. We followed the path and found an ice cave with a deep grumbling sound coming from within. We entered and after some walking, stumbled upon him: the Snowager. He seemed to be deep in sleep, on top of a pile of Neggs and other goodies. We decided to set up our station near enough to monitor him, but far enough where we wouldn't be noticed if he woke up.

    We spent three days researching the beast, watching his sleeping patterns and learning about his movements. We learned that he NEVER leaves his pile of treasure, not even to stretch out his long and slender body. He sleeps for three hours a day, in one hour increments, that always come at the same time. We figured this information would be very helpful for those attempting to get a look at him themselves. We released this data and the world went crazy. Unfortunately, it led to a lot of people visiting him during his slumber to attempt to steal his treasure. After a period of this we returned to observe more. Because of the amount of people waking him up, he is much more irritable and dangerous; often firing icy blasts at anyone who comes too close. Because of this we now rate him as an "APPROACH WITH CAUTION, DO NOT DISTURB". If you are attempting to visit the Snowager, I recommend doing so during the Winter Starlight Celebration when he goes into a month long deep sleep.

         Snow Beasts:

    Chronicling these beasts, known or unknown is my passion. I don't have a desire to discover everything, as exciting as it is, but I do love to bring a higher awareness of the creatures I encounter. Sometimes I hear Neopians discussing certain creatures and I want to check them out for myself, see if I can learn anything new. The residents of Terror Mountain told me a lot about a specific type of monster, something they call the Snow Beast. I wanted to check them out for myself.

    I set off into the mountains. These large abominable horned creatures are known to terrorize the residents of Terror Mountain and those that wander too far up the mountain. Not much is known about their population, breeding, diet, or why they are so angry. I wanted to discover it for myself. Here are some select voice recordings to guide you through what I found.

    "I have located a small group of Snow Beasts. They resemble massive Snicklebeasts and I believe they may be in the same family. They are gathered together, seemingly enjoying themselves but with an angry expression. Many are white, but there is one with red fur and very twisted horns. They all have yellow eyes and could spot me at any moment."

    At that point I ducked down into a snow bank, burrowing under to try to get closer to them. My voice turned to a whisper in the recorder.

    "I'm closer now, they haven't spotted me. But they seem to sense a disturbance. I can hear them chatting but it is a language I cannot understand. They have an advanced knowledge of language though, seemingly understanding perfectly what the other is saying."

    Snow Beasts are experts in this kind of environment, traversing the deep, soft snow with ease and making it easily over snow banks. They have also shown themselves to be proficient with snow and ice based weaponry, even making heavy and painful snowballs as I would soon find out...

    "They've spotted me!!"

    My recording from here on out was filled with heavy breathing while I ran, the deep and guttural grunts of the Snow Beasts chasing me, and the sound of heavy snow pelting me and the groans I made with each impact. I obviously escaped to present you with this evidence, though it isn't much. The Snow Beasts remain a larger mystery, but they are much smarter than anyone had told me about before. Maybe that is the new discovery here...

    I struggled with this for a while, whether I should publish my findings on the Snow Beasts intelligence. Will it lead to greater fear, with residents now knowing they could carefully plot attacks and eventually take over? I decided it was best to alert people. In my observations it also appears that Snow Beasts aren't needlessly aggressive. Yes, they occasionally swoop into Terror Mountain but it is out of necessity for food and supplies. The desolate cold they live in isn't full of fresh crops and food, so they rely on the villagers. They just don't have a helpful way of communicating that to them and do so aggressively. My recommendation: create a large food donation supply outside of the city, where they can go and be satiated without needing to cause harm to the townsfolk.

To be continued…