Story
Chapter 1: A Riot of Colour
A feeling of disquiet settles over Neopia as strange occurrences culminate into an assault on an entire land during the dead of night... Meanwhile, new heroes receive a call for adventure!
Queen Fyora
A council of this magnitude is unprecedented, but we have an urgent matter to attend to. There is more to this than just a rift opening in our sky…
King Altador
As King Skarl here can attest, the widespread reports of shopkeepers turning irreversibly grey and losing motivation to maintain their shops have escalated… now leaving an entire land devoid of colour.
King Skarl
All of Meridell turned Grey overnight! Even my top soldiers, Jeran and Tor, had their strength so sapped from the greyification they could barely lift a sword.
King Skarl
I myself can hardly eat these days. And none of the hundreds of paintbrushes I tried could change me!
Queen Amira
Are you why those things are so expensive?
Emperor Yun
A colour that can’t be changed? That’s unheard of!
Queen Nabile
Especially one that debilitates the Neopet after they are painted. Could this grey colour we are dealing with be imbued with some type of magic?
King Hagan
These covert grey attacks started shortly before that hole in the sky appeared. Surely, they are connected.
King Kelpbeard
Sounds to me like someone is laying the groundwork for an invasion…
King Jazan
We should prepare for that possibility. What concerns me is how they pulled it off. An entire land greyed out overnight, the entire populace left in a weakened state…
Queen Fyora
I believe we are dealing with formidable magic indeed. And likely an adversary who should not be underestimated…
King Altador
Could it be our fallen founder? Finally emerging from the shadows after all these years?
King Hagan
Doubtful. This persistent grey doesn’t seem like any magic we’ve seen her use before.
Queen Amira
Perhaps the return of another former foe then… Can we be absolutely certain Dr. Sloth is still secured within the Space Faerie’s Token?
Queen Fyora
I checked some time ago, and Mira has seen no signs of the not-so-good Doctor’s return. However, to be safe, she agreed to investigate some of his old haunts across the solar system just to be sure that none of his followers have set one of his schemes into motion.
King Roo
That rules him out! Any other guesses?
Lord Darigan
Well, I have firsthand experience with malevolent forces that are still roaming Neopia unchecked…
King Skarl
How dare you!
Lord Darigan
I was referring to the phantasmal calamities that poisoned the mind of my trusted general. However, if the shoe fits…
Queen Amira
Please! Our first step should be determining exactly what we are dealing with.
Emperor Yun
I concur. We need more information. To better understand what is happening, and how to fix it.
King Altador
I had the very same thought, which is why I enlisted Altador’s resident magic authority to help us shed some light on this matter. Jerdana will be working closely with Dr Landelbrot to investigate the cause of the rift and greying out of Neopians.
Jerdana
Neither Fyora nor myself are familiar with this magic, so we have the Library Faerie searching through her records to see if anything matches. We could be dealing with ancient sorcery from a long-forgotten age of Neopia.
Dr. Landelbrot
Or perhaps, from an entirely different planet altogether! Based on the unusual frequencies of the gravitational waves Scintilly detected emerging from the rift in the sky, whatever world lies on the other side of that rift operates vastly differently from our own. Why their laws of physics alone might seem paradoxical to us!
Jerdana
Keep in mind these are all just theories. Until we gather enough concrete data, we can’t be sure what we are dealing with.
King Hagan
I assume you two have a plan in mind for uncovering more details about this enigmatic rift?
Jerdana
That we do. Since the rift appeared, Neopians across the globe have reported seeing strange fizzling pieces of an otherworldly substance leaking through the breach. Although they seem to dissipate after 24 hours, Dr. Landelbrot here has been working on a specialised container capable of storing these mysterious fragments for an extended period of time so that we can better study them.
Dr. Landelbrot
Indeed! It took some trial and error, but by reinforcing glass with layers of transparent deepsea polymers that can withstand incredible pressures, I was able to fabricate a chamber that should keep these energy fragments contained for experimentation.
Jerdana
We’ve been referring to these fragments as “void essence” due to their mysterious nature and murky appearance. However, we will need much more before we can make any real headway on our tests.
Queen Fyora
How much of this void essence will we need to collect?
Dr. Landelbrot
For an in-depth analysis of such a foreign substance, we will need to accumulate vast amounts of it so that we can properly test it repeatedly under controlled conditions. It’s difficult to quantify exactly how much with so many unknown variables…
Jerdana
So, essentially, we are going to need A LOT of it.
Queen Amira
The citizens of Sakhmet have always come together to support each other during times of crisis. Could we ask the public to assist us?
Dr. Landelbrot
Now that is an intriguing idea… The rift does seem to be spewing void essence across all of Neopia, so appealing to the masses may be the most efficient way to collect as much as possible.
King Kelpbeard
If we collect enough, could we use it to create a weapon to defend ourselves?
King Roo
Or a game? To cheer us up!
Queen Fyora
First and foremost, is it safe? Do we know if this essence could harm Neopians?
Jerdana
Although we can’t discern much from the rapidly dissipating void essence the good Doctor provided me with, I am confident that it will not pose a threat to any Neopians.
King Hagan
How can you be certain that we don’t need any type of special equipment to handle them?
Jerdana
Because they aren’t meant to be in our world. Thus, they can’t persist here for long.
Dr. Landelbrot
Precisely! This void essence seems to be nothing more than runoff, bits of extra energy leaking through whatever that rift is into our world that dissipates soon after arrival.
Jerdana
Dissolving fast as snowflakes in Moltara.
Dr. Landelbrot
Which is why we needed the Void Essence container! The particles need a vessel to keep them tied to Neopia.
Jerdana
So even if these particles were somehow harmful, they and any magic with them is dissolving faster than they could affect any Neopians. Additionally, I will use shielding enchantments to ensure Dr. Landelbrot is able to experiment on them under safe conditions.
(...)
Moment of reflective silence
King Altador
Your meticulous efforts are appreciated Jerdana. As are yours Dr. Landelbrot! It seems your explanations have quelled our fears.
King Skarl
Humph, so now that the experts are focused on the hole in the sky, who’s going to get this grey off of me?
Queen Fyora
Worry not King Skarl, I’ve already sent for some help with our colour conundrum. I suspect we will need some fresh faces to rise to this challenge…