Maraqua

Maraqua
Pronunciation:	marr-ack-qwa
Released:	October 6, 2000
Yooyuball team:	Team Maraqua
Related plots The Discovery of Maraqua Curse of Maraqua The Destruction of Maraqua
Shops Collectable Sea Shells Kelp Maraquan Battledome Items Maraquan Petpets
Games Jubble Bubble Petpet Plunge Attack of the Revenge Whirlpool
New Maraqua · The Ruins Of Maraqua

Maraqua is an underwater land discovered on October 6, 2000 by Professor Chesterpot during the Hunt for the Battledome plot. The name is given to two underwater kingdoms, one of which was destroyed and is currently in ruins. In order to distinguish between the two cities, the historic city is referred to as Old Maraqua and the modern New Maraqua. Maraqua is not the only underwater settlement - see Kiko Lake - but it is the only salt water one as of yet discovered.

Attractions

Maraqua

Shops: Collectable Sea Shells, Kelp, Maraquan Battledome Items, Maraquan Petpets

Games: Jubble Bubble, Petpet Plunge

Other:

• Maraquan Neohomes: This area contains Maraquan theme Neohomes.

In addition to having shops selling maractite weaponry and furniture, Maraqua is also the sole supplier of collectable Sea Shells. There is a shop selling Maraquan PetPets, although, interestingly, none of the PetPets that were sold in Old Maraqua and now Mystery Island are being sold.

The restaurant Kelp, much like the Golden Dubloon on Krawk Island, sells highly priced meals, and an avatar is obtainable from it. It is frequently very busy, making entering the restaurant difficult.

Maraquan Ruins

Games: Attack of the Revenge, Whirlpool

Other:

• Bubbling Pit: This area contains a gallery of all the possible Meopets who can have a Maraquan version.
• Colouring Pages: This area contains Maraquan themed colouring pages.
• Underwater Fishing: Players can fish for items here.

New Maraqua

Captain Dread.

As part of the Curse of Maraqua plot, Maraqua was rebuilt with the intention of being stronger than its predecessor so as to withstand any future Pirate attacks. New Maraqua has a standing army lead by Swordmaster Talek, something Old Maraqua didn't appear to have. When Captain Scarblade learned that there were surviving Maraquans, he lead another attack (this time with an army of pirates) though were fought off.

The water in Maraqua is usually cold because the weather above the ocean has a very cool climate. It's wet and rains almost every day in the summer with occasional amounts of snow, and for the other seasons, the temperature is below 0 degrees almost every day.

Architecture

Visually, Old Maraqua's structure was very different from New Maraqua's. Old Maraqua was built out of transparashield, and had the look of a futuristic ocean colony. The smooth, bubble-like windows seemed to imply that there was an atmosphere inside the buildings. New Maraqua has a very coral-like appearance, is made out of Maractite, and is open to the oceans.

History

Attractions of the Original Maraqua

Maraqua once housed the Underwater Kitchen Quests, later relocated to Mystery Island, and was the sole supplier of Utility Fish, which are now all retired and very expensive. TNT stated once that they originally planned for Utility Fish to be used as NeoHome utilities. Maraqua also sold Aquatic PetPets (most of which were redesigned and are being sold on Mystery Island). The Aquatic Foods Shop also disappeared, retiring the shop items, only to be replaced by Kelp in New Maraqua, with new foods.

The Destruction of Maraqua

Main Article: The Destruction of Maraqua

The current ruins of Old Maraqua

Old Maraqua was destroyed by a whirlpool on August 18, 2001, following a flash movie released the previous day, in which the Pirate Captain Dread, a skeletal Kiko, sailed to Maraqua in a submarine known in fanlore as The Revenge. Here, he demanded his annual 'protection money' from the then King Koi, who refused to pay (giving reasons such as a 'poor Kelp Harvest'). From the tone of this conversation, it can be presumed that Captain Dread regularly came for this money. The whirlpool is believed to be the result of a curse from this Pirate. The whirlpool, said to be ten miles wide, lasted until the 31st May 2002, where is finally subsided to reveal the Ruins of Maraqua.

The old look of the Maraqua ruins

After the whirlpool ruined the city, the Ruins began to be populated again, first by a gigantic Slug Monster, then by a Mysterious Statue, then by a Bubbling Pit (listing all the available Maraqua-coloured Neopets), then by an Underwater Fishing area. The discovery and open trade with New Maraqua has promoted people re-entering the ruins, and it remains to be seen whether more will be made of this area. King Kelpbeard set about building a new, more splendid city, with a strong army to protect it from its enemies. However, information of this was learnt by an armada of pirates, who set out to conquer the nation.

Curse of Maraqua

Main article: Curse of Maraqua

Overview to be added..

In the Curse of Maraqua plot, several replacements were made to the characters from the original destruction movie. Captain Dread was replaced with Captain Scarblade, Captain Dread's unnamed sidekick Blumaroo was replaced with Benny the Blade, King Koi was replaced with King Kelpbeard, and The Revenge submarine with a boat of the same name.

The original destruction movie was removed after the Curse of Maraqua (the page it was found on now only redirects to the About Us page) due to these inconsistencies, but the movie file still exists on the servers.

The Curse of Maraqua plot introduced the mineral maractite, capable of travelling effortlessly through water as though it was in air. Information provided in the CoM plot suggests that supplies of maractite are running thin. According to the Maractite Axe card (of the Neopets TCG), maractite slowly decays when exposed to air.

Yooyuball

Main article: Team Maraqua

Maraqua is a middle tier team that has tried but failed to get into the top tier. This team has a bright future and will hopefully hoist the cup.

Colour

Main Article: Maraquan

Maraquan is one of the many colours that users can paint their Neopets and Petpets. Maraquan pets resemble underwater creatures, both real and mythological. The Maraquan colour for Neopets was released on June 17, 2003, and the Maraquan colour for Petpets was released on April 21, 2004.

Trivia

• The Neopets Team gave a hint Maraqua would return in the Advent Calendar of December 27, 2004, which showed all current bands of the Concert Hall playing to a version of Do They Know It's Christmas? with the words "Rebuild Maraqua - Let them know Neopia loves them!". A Rebuild Maraqua Poster was given out as a prize on the same day.

External links

• Location Links: New Maraqua, The Ruins Of Maraqua
• Caption Competition: #17, #21, #552, #669, #683, #716, #724, #810
• Editorial: 2, 13, 20, 29, 43, 44, 51, 54, 58, 67, 87, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 115, 119, 132