Holiday Cheer in the Citadel

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     Team Darigan Citadel and the “Yooyu Incident”

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     After havoc broke loose at last year’s “Citadel Christmas Party,” the DC Team Players decided to keep a closer eye on the team’s apparent mascot. No other team wanted to give a holiday home to the Darigan Yooyu, who feigned sadness until he reached his destination at the festive occasion. Highlights of last year included the Yooyu’s spin in the punch bowl, stealing sprigs of holly from the décor, eating said holly and getting a bellyache, wearing two Santa hats, and hula-hooping with the wreath that hung on the door... which, given how many sharply-pointed spikes decorated that wreath, became an immediate hazard. It took until Layton Vickles caught the errant petpet in his festively decorated Yooyuball sling that the chaos ended. That and the critically helpful discovery that if you rub the petpet’s back, it'll put him to sleep. Only Reshar, the goalie, was successfully able to do this, as he himself owned a gaggle of petpets at home. There’s a reason that Darigans and non-Darigans alike call him the Jetsam with magical fins: they work wonders on and off the field.

     This gave the Minions enough time to recoup their losses and try to have a normal enough party with soaked suits, destroyed party favours, and a single black spike lodged into the wall.

     Now, the players have a cage for the Yooyu that hangs in the corner of the room. It’s reinforced with the Citadel’s best iron and decorated (on top, out of reach of his little paws) with a tasteful blend of Citadel plants that, while spiny, are still red and green.

      After a successful bargain struck by Lord Darigan, the Meridell team captain, Windelle, agreed to take the petpet to their headquarters in Meridell City in the name of “peace, goodwill, and good sportsmanship.” Some say you can hear the aftermath of this decision from the Citadel, while others say that Frein, the known prankster left defender, came down at the same time for a “diplomatic visit.” Whether either is true is up for debate.

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     Tandrak Shaye

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     Tandrak, the "bad boy" of Team Darigan Citadel, shows his soft side around the holiday season. Every year, he and his closest friend put up a large, spike-and-vine-filled tree while enjoying a hot chocolate and reading a good book by the fire. His family and teammates have fond memories of the greeting cards they've received over the years. Most feature the two smiling besties in matching ugly sweaters or the two of them relaxing in large, plush armchairs.

     On top of being a talented athlete, he has a beautiful singing voice. He is not much of a gift-giver, so instead, you can find Tandrak around the Citadel carolling with his fans. Some of the songs include: "We wish You a Scary Christmas," "Grandma Got Runover by a Raindorf," and "Citadel Rock." His booming tenor voice can be heard all the way to Meridell, much to the mixed pleasure of the citizens below. Once or twice, the entire Darigan Citadel team has surprised an unsuspecting tavern owner with their voices. Within minutes, a crowd builds from within and fills the streets with excited fans hoping for the chance at an autograph. Suffice to say, all four of the Darigan Citadel members have left quite a mark from their merriment, but none more than Tandrak Shaye.

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     Galgarrath

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     Galgarrath is so busy with his day-to-day duties that he hardly has a moment to breathe. It took until both Master Vex and Lord Darigan intervened that he stepped away--begrudgingly, at first. Being something of a workaholic, this Grarrl finds ways to keep his holiday season busy by opening chocolate advent calendars and making gingerbread houses while his petpet, a Darigan Beekadoodle named Spire, sends squeaks of encouragement.

     With his extremely short arms, he struggles to put the gingerbread walls up, but still focuses on them round-the-clock. He makes it his goal to finish building a single house from start to finish, but inevitably, he ends up knocking down walls, or dropping a gumdrop or six to the floor. One can hear his bursts of rage from half a citadel away, stomping every part of the house in the process. A few of the other Citadel council members say it's his "yearly cathartic exercise" in letting out months’ worth of pent-up steam.

     While most Neopians feast on a large meal surrounded by family and friends around the holidays, Galgarrath prefers a quieter affair with a few close friends and a petpet or two. As a Grarrl, he has a remarkably varied palette, and has been known to sink his teeth into anything around as a means of destressing. One plastic figurine (which he assures was especially tasty), looked like councilman Noxis, a particularly loud and cantankerous member of the Lord's inner circle...

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     Lord Darigan

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     Lord Darigan is a quiet sort and prefers to spend his holidays alone. Solitude, he assures, is a good break from the usual hustle and bustle. Kicking up his feet in front of a gently purring fire, the ageing Lord likes to read some of the newest findings from the up-and-coming Darigan Citadel College. A pile of sticky notes covers the pages of each journal with hastily scribbled musings. His Darigan Weewoo, a clingy thing with a pension for mischief, will often find herself preening on top of his head, burrowing her face into his lap, or crooning for attention when his focus is elsewhere. “A mischievous gremlin,” he calls her, even though he is known to give her a little scratch under the chin when no one is watching (except Galgarrath, who finds the exchange heartwarming.)

     Of course, not all Neopians see things the same way as the oft-considered lonely Lord. Some barge in—unannounced, usually—carrying endless amounts of holiday cheer. One particularly brazen Neopian, Sally, likes to bring boxes of handmade chocolates, cornhusk dolls made by the village children, and her newest reports on the successful Darigan & Meridell trade agreements. This year, she brings a felted red cap with white trim, a little purple dress lovingly crafted for his Weewoo (who immediately pulled at the strings until it became a pile of well-intentioned yarn at her little feet), and a framed sketch commissioned by a Meridellian artist. The Lord hadn’t known about the image; it was patched together between pictures of him and her, in front of her family’s little home on the Meridell plains.

     “This way, you’ll always know that you have a friend in your corner,” she said with a smile.

     It stands behind his preferred work table surrounded by purple curtains.

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     The Season of Giving? From a Darigan to his Meridellian Friends

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     The Darigan dignitary, Serian, became the center for some controversy the first year that he took part in the annual Meridell Gift Exchange. Each of his gifts were neatly wrapped in purple and black with a toothed bow, easily separating them from the others in the pile. The only Neopians brave enough to take part with him were his friends, including Kayla, the well-known “chaotic good” potion’s master; the Borodere siblings, Lisha and Jeran; the squires, Morris and Boris; and the recent saviour of Meridell and newly appointed knight, Rohane, and his mage companion, Mipsy.

     Kayla’s screams weren’t of delight when she opened the package to see two beady red eyes staring back at her. It was a Snowbunny, of sorts, if dropped into the mud and given vampiric teeth. The gift struck the ground with a thud, eliciting a confused grunt from the tall, imposing Darigan.

     “I thought this would be a ‘cute’ gift,” he strained, all while using obvious air quotes. “Many girls in the Citadel rave about this being one of the ‘cutest’ things on the market!”

     Trying not to hurt his feelings, the star-clad Zafara picked it up, forced a smile, and gave it a big hug. This caused the plushie to let out a high-pitched squeal akin to nails on a chalkboard. Surprised, she dropped it again. It bounced across the floor, squealing each time. Not a soul spoke as all eyes turned to the unwanted plushie, its floppy ears lying flat across the grey stone.

     Most of the other gifts fared just as poorly. Both Morris and Boris were surprised to see a spike-covered Darigan Jump Rope folded in their box. One of the boys cheekily asked if it was used for keeping bad Neopians in line, to which the distraught Darigan replied, “it’s a toy. For children.” When they didn’t seem convinced, he added, “you jump over it, you know?” Silence. He hesitated a bit. “D-don’t you play jump rope here?”

     “Not like that,” they replied, before being nudged by Lisha to thank him.

     After the Cymbal Bashing Mynci Toy tried to clap Mipsy’s paw, it was sent flying by a well-placed magical zap before hurtling into a wall and smashing into pieces.

     Feeling bad, she tried to collect the remains and put it back together, to no avail.

     “It tried to attack me!” she started, clearly taken aback, but that didn’t change the poor Eyrie’s increasingly dour mood.

     At least the Darigan Garden Set elicited a thoughtful hum from the spectacled Aisha, Lisha, who muttered something along the lines of, “it’ll make for an interesting case study on the Citadel’s flora…” So, at least, one of them could be considered a moderate success. Well, that and the Darigan Holiday Bells, which brought a chuckle to the white Blumaroo who rung it by his ears.

      “They remind me of my childhood,” Rohane said simply, and when a few of the others rose their eyebrows in confusion, he added, “my mother’s friend gave something like this to us when we were kids.”

     It took some time before the Eyrie’s gifts were less jarring to his Meridellian friends. Suffice to say, the Darigan was baffled by the Meridellian gifts as well, sighting that they were oddly lacking in teeth, claws, spikes, or other dangerous additions.

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     Thank you for taking the time to read about some of the exciting things that happen in our fair city. From the Citadel to your neohome, however you celebrate, we wish you all a very happy holiday!