Altador Plot

The City of Altador

The first official 2006 Plot on Neopets, involving the most recent addition to the Neopets landscape - the city of Altador.

Plot Summary

It all begins with a dark Hall of Heroes and a mostly empty Book of Ages. Solving a few puzzles gains you access to the Observatory , along with earning you a telescope to use.

Clues are scattered throughout the City of Altador. Each of these clues reveals the form of a constellation, which you then have to search for with your telescope. Identifying a constellation in the night sky unlocks the corresponding chapter in the Book of Ages, allowing you to unveil the fogotten past of Altador piece by piece. There are a total of 12 constellations, one for each of the founders of Altador.

These clues were put in place by Jerdana, the Protector. She and King Altador, in an attempt to save the city from The Darkest Faerie, blocked the citizens' memories, including their own. However, because she was unable to stop the Darkest Faerie entirely, she laid down a complex magical puzzle for some determined soul to solve. Solving the puzzle destroys The Darkest Faerie and restores the memories of the people of Altador, along with making you a hero.

Book of Ages

Prologue
Long ago, before the building of our great city, twelve heroes arose. Each was famous for different deeds of varying natures. The greatest of these heroes is the one whom we now know as King Altador. He, with the aid of the other heroes, founded our illustrious city by the sea.

Before the Great Betrayal, the kingdom of Altador was one of the most glorious places in all Neopia. It was a centre of culture and greatly admired for its dignified citizens. Those blessed times were nearly lost when one of our own, who once called herself an ally and friend to the heroes, turned her heart to darkness and attempted to destroy the city. Only by Jerdana's magic were we saved, though our future remains uncertain.

Within this tome you will find the recorded history of the twelve heroes and how they came to form the Kingdom of Altador. Protect this knowledge well, for it may be all that is left if Jerdana's magic fails and the betrayer succeeds....

Chapter 1, The Sleeper
See The Darkest Faerie

Chapter 2, The Dreamer
See Psellia

Chapter 3, The First to Rise
See Siyana

Chapter 4, The Farmer
See Florin

Chapter 5, The Dancer
See Sasha

Chapter 6, The Wave
See Marak

Chapter 7, The Gladiator
See Torakor

Chapter 8, The Collector
See Gordos

Chapter 9, The Theif
See Kelland

Chapter 10, The Gatherer
See Fauna

Chapter 11, The Protector
See Jerdana

Chapter 12, The Hunter
See King Altador

Epilogue
The early years flew by for King Altador and his council, as the city began to take form. For hundreds of miles, Neopians from all over the countryside flocked to the budding city. Its twelve heroic rulers pledged that, together, they would form the greatest and most noble city to ever grace Neopia's landscape. Even King Altador himself, when he wasn't holding court, would help place stones and build walls side by side with the his subjects.

These building sessions would often last late into the night, until the builders' torches had burned themselves out. The one who would one day come to be known as the Betrayer wished to use her magical powers to speed the process, but Altador simply shook his head each time she suggested it. "One appreciates a home far more when it is he who places its stones."

The truth of his words was bourne out by the immaculate care that Altador's inhabitants took of the city when it was finally completed. No one threw trash to the ground, or marked upon a wall, as that would only serve to dishonour and defile what they had strived so hard to create.

Word spread of the magnificent city, and soon caravans began to arrive, bringing goods to be bartered for the amazing crops and fine products that the kingdom had started to produce. Within a few short years, the kingdom of Altador became known as a center of culture and enlightenment. Here, everyone could live out their lives in comfort and dignity.

To insure that the glorious city survived the ages, Siyana, the First to Rise, blessed its mortal heroes with the gift of great longevity. Decades came and went, and Altador remained a shining beacon to those who wished for just rulers.

Seeing that the kingdom was the envy of all others, the Betrayer suggested to Altador that Torakor and his soldiers be sent forth to unite all the other kingdoms under the Lupe's fair rule. Once again, Altador kindly denied her proposal. "Our army is a defensive one, not offensive. If I ordered Torakor to use the army to intimidate others into joining our kingdom, even if I thought that it would eventually be for their own good, I would be no better than the leader that Torakor once wisely stood against."

Although the Betrayer hated having her ideas declined, she could only admit that Altador's wisdom was once again correct. Some feel that events such as these sowed the seeds for her future betrayal. In the meantime, however, the kingdom of Altador continued to prosper, until that fateful day....

The Wrap-Up

Jerdana bids you forward, and begins to tell you the story.

"Surely you are aware of the recent chaos wrought by the Betrayer, also called, by some, the Darkest Faerie." She glances askew for a moment at King Altador, who raises an eyebrow but says nothing. "Freed from her underwater prison, she wrested control of the kingdom from us, and attempted to remake Altador in her own image. The cornerstone of her plan was to destroy the history of Altador, by means both physical and magical. She intended to destroy every history book in Altador, and then cast a spell to change the memories of every citizen so that she would be remembered as the true founder of the kingdom."

"We received word of her plan just before she was to put it into effect. It was too late to keep her from taking control of the kingdom, but not too late to preempt her magic with some of our own. It was his majesty's idea--" She smiles briefly at Altador. "--but I was the one who cast the spells. As Finneus correctly divined, there were two halves to the spell."

"The first half of the spell draped a veil across our memories of Altador's history, as well as hiding any writings pertaining to that history. The spell also erased the Betrayer's memory of her very own plan to rewrite our history. However, it did not erase her memory of having conquered Altador in the first place, for this was something she had secretly desired since before the kingdom was even founded."

"This is the spell you broke moments ago, by destroying the statue of the Betrayer. I embedded the power source for the spell within her statue, knowing that in her mad quest for glory, she would likely destroy all the statues in the Hall except for her own."

"The second half of the spell provided for magical clues that would eventually lead you to the mechanism for destroying her statue. I am sorry it was such a long and drawn-out process, but I had to make sure that only someone persistent would try to solve it. The Betrayer has no patience for obscure puzzles, and she would hopefully have not realized that there was a puzzle to solve, even had she come across the first clue. Thankfully, she was vanquished before she did."

"However, this meant that every citizen of Altador--including myself and the king--had lost our memories of not only Altador's storied past, but also our memories of having cast the spell entirely. Complicating things even more is the fact that none of us were even aware that anything was missing. But the very design of the puzzle ensured that someone such as yourself would come across it and attempt to unravel the mystery."

She grins at Finneus, who stands off to one side, looking abashed. "Our Archivist, alas, came to the wrong conclusion about me while you were solving the puzzle. I did indeed steal Altador's history, but for the noblest of causes."

King Altador nods. "Indeed. Fear not, Finneus, for we can hardly blame you for misapprehending such a unique and dire situation."

Finneus blushes, embarrassed. "Of course not, your majesty."

Jerdana goes on. "The necklace you found hidden within the city wall was, as you guessed, the magical power source for the clues. As long as it remained undisturbed on its pedestal, it could reveal the clues one by one as they were solved. It did so by subtly manipulating both mind and matter; magically coercing certain citizens of Altador to undertake certain tasks, so as to provide you with the information necessary to solve the puzzle, as well as arranging physical objects, such as the clouds above Altador or the waves on the sea, to provide you with the clues to find the constellations."

Finneus pipes up. "This hero has acquitted themselves most capably in that regard, I must say." He smiles proudly at you.

"Indeed you have," Altador chuckles. "We will soon provide you with a choice of rewards for your service to the kingdom. You can return here to see whether those rewards are yet available."

Jerdana nods, then examines you. "You have done a great thing, these past months," she says. "We can but hope that the Darkest Faerie is truly banished from our realm, including all she has wrought. Good journeys to you, and may the sun shine wherever you go."

The Great Legends of Altador

• King Altador, the Hunter
• Jerdana, the Protector
• Siyana, the First to Rise
• Kelland, the Thief
• Florin, the Farmer
• Torakor, the Gladiator
• The Darkest Faerie, the Sleeper
• Marak, the Wave
• Fauna, the Gatherer
• Psellia, the Dreamer
• Gordos, the Collector
• Sasha, the Dancer

Trivia

• On May 27, 2006, The Neopets Team declared on the news page the Altador Plot was over, and congratulated all those who found all constellations, and hoped everyone enjoyed their prizes. Two paragraphs down though, they claimed it was a joke, and they were still working on the next part, hopefully to be released next week.
• Finneus, the Lenny Archivist, is the uncle of the Conundrum Lenny.

External Links

• Altador, Hall of Heroes, Altadorian Archives