Maraqua

After the whirlpool destroyed the original city, King Kelpbeard set about rebuilding something even more splendid, with a strong army to protect it from attackers. But, the pirates found out...

Old Maraqua

The Destruction

Was destroyed by a whirlpool on 18th August 2001, following a flash movie released the previous day (17th August 2001) 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. After a while, the Ruins began to be populated again, first by a gigantic Sea Slug, then by a Mysterious Statue (believed to be of the Darkest Faerie), 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 by TNT.

Attractions of the Original Maraqua

Maraqua once housed the Underwater Kitchen Quests, later relocated to Mystery Isle, 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 Isle).

New Maraqua

History

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). They were fought off, however, in the plot.

Maractite

The Curse of Maraqua plot introduced the mineral maractite, capable of traveling 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.

Maraquan 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 and is made out of maractite, and is open to the oceans.

Plot Replacements

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 inconsistances.

Misc.

A hint that TNT were to write the Curse of Maraqua plot was given in the Year Six Advent Calendar (27th December 2004), where a Rebuild Maraqua poster was given out with an animation put to the tune of 'Feed the World' with the words 'Rebuild Maraqua - Let them know Neopia loves them!'.