Sophie the Swamp Witch

Sophie’s name proves two things about her. She lives in a swamp and she’s a witch. While nobody seems to know where on the Neopian map Sophie’s swamp is, there are people who can tell you what it looks like. In fact, I’ll describe it for you.

Like all swamps, Sophie’s home is a little wet. There are a few puddles of standing water that have to be maneuvered around unless you want to soak your fur. Also typical of swamps, Sophie’s place is littered with broken trees that have sharp points. And, of course, the weather is usually overcast so the swamp is always dark and foggy. Unwary travelers run into the problem of not knowing what exactly that looming shape coming out of the mist is, and this is partly responsible for Sophie’s reputation as evil.

Her swamp seems to be the perfect home for a villain and Sophie’s card in the Lost Desert TCG expansion suggests that this Ixi is in fact evil. But, as we know, not all witches in Neopia are necessarily evil. Edna is merely misunderstood. Like her, Sophie is just too mysterious for anyone to believe otherwise.

This swamp witch spends most of her time mixing potions of all colors and smells. Her potions even taste different. She spends a ton of time preparing brews and she doesn’t even get help from the rest of Neopia. That’s right: this potion-making witch doesn’t hand out quests that ask for unbuyable items and give 5k rewards. How she manages to keep up her stock of ingredients, no one knows, especially considering that she never goes out of her swamp to go shopping.

What makes Sophie a unique witch is what she does with these potions of hers. She gives them away to the villagers. Every Wednesday she leaves a crate of carefully labeled glass bottles in assorted shapes and sizes at the edge of her swamp for the people of Bogshot to take. How she manages to buy food is anyone’s guess. We all know that potion ingredients are expensive—Edna taught us that long ago—and Sophie doesn’t charge anything for her finished products.

Sophie’s potions are a wonder. If your pet or family member has any disease, one of her potions can cure it. If you’re feeling a bit under the weather, one of her potions can make the rains go away.

Along with her apparent skill in potioncraft, Sophie also mixes magical powders that increase stats and improve health. These she has no choice but to charge for, as the neggs she grinds up to make them are imported from the Ice Caves’ Neggery at a hefty price. Despite the great expense of these neggs, Sophie sells her stat-increasers at a decent price—far less than those of Kavara and Kayla.

Mixing potions and grinding neggs is only a part time job, so to speak , of our green Ixi friend. Her real hobby and her life’s true joy comes from taking care of abandoned and lonely petpets. A specific species of petpet, in fact. Sophie opens her home to lost and wandering Meowclops.

Yes, that’s right. Sophie the Swamp Witch, who isn’t really evil, adores fuzzy Meowclops. From plain old grey ones to ones decked out in ornaments for the holidays (no matter what time of year it really is), Sophie takes care of them all. She patiently feeds the lost souls and plays with them.

Some of her Meowclops find new homes, and Sophie deeply mourns letting them go. However, she understands that they might just be happier and even more spoiled with their new owners. If that doesn’t work , she reminds herself that with other pets, her precious Meowclops will get to see all of Neopia and will probably get to explore more than just the foggy swamp.

Sophie takes such pleasure in taking care of her Meowclops that she never stops to think, even for a moment, of what goes on in the rest of the world. She lost most of her childhood memories as she gazed into swirling cauldrons.

Like all Ixis, Sophie was born in Meridell. She grew up counting potatoes and playing hide-and-seek with her friends in the berry fields of Meri Acres Farm. At a young age, Sophie discovered her talent for potion making and was apprenticed to the famous Kayla. Until, that is, the student surpassed the master.

Fearful for her business, Kayla appealed to King Skarl for Sophie’s banishment. It was granted, but only when Kayla threatened to stop making the brew that provides for the king’s immunity to jokes. Sophie was exiled and she fled. Fled to a place where no one in Meridell would be able to find her—a swamp.

The only remnant Sophie took with her of her life in Meridell was a staff. Its dark wood was knotted with age and a life exposed to harsh weather. Its power was weak, only able to cast a dim light on rare occasions.

For the first three years Sophie lived in her swamp, she forsook potion making, regarding it as the cause of her exile. Instead, she worked on her staff, imbuing it with her own power little by little until it became a formidable weapon. While she knew what her staff could do, Sophie never used it. She only made sure that it was always in the best condition. It was a Meowclops that shattered Sophie’s self-pity when it came crying to her door one night, giving the witch back her desire to make potions again.

As her eyes adjusted to the constant darkness, Sophie didn’t need to use her staff even to cast light. It collected dust in a corner of the hut, but its strength is still legendary. To this day, while Sophie chops and grinds neggs in exact ratios as she stands over a steaming cauldron, her staff lingers in that corner. The Wand of the Swamp Witch just waits to be used.

Sophie, Neopia’s resident Swamp Witch, has proven herself to be a very interesting character indeed. Maybe we’ll see her in the next plot, maybe we won’t. Only time will tell what will befall our Ixi friend.