Maraqua
Maraqua is an underwater land discovered on October 6, 2000. 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, but it is the only salt water one as of yet discovered.
Old Maraqua
The Destruction
- Main Article: The Destruction of Maraqua
Was destroyed by a whirlpool on August 18, 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.
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).
After the whirlpool ruined the city, the Ruins began to be populated again, first by a gigantic Slug Monster, 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.
New Maraqua
After the whirlpool destroyed the original city, 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.
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 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.
Attractions of New Maraqua
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 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.
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 inconsistencies, but the movie file still exists on the servers.
Yooyuball
Maraqua's Yooyuball team could be described as "a house divided," due to the antics of their star forward Elon Hughlis is more concerned with his personal accomplishments than actual wins and losses, making him a headache to the team. He looks down on his teammates who aren't as talented as him, and they endure him due to his tremendous ability. Maraqua would love to trade Hughlis to another team, but no other team would give them as equal a player in return.
After getting beaten in the first round of Altador Cup 2006, fans thought Maraqua would cut its losses and get rid of Elon Hughlis. When it became apparent that Hughlis wasn't leaving, free agent forward Jair Tollet accepted an offer from Roo Island. Considering Hughlis insisted on scoring most of the team's goals, Maraqua decided having three defenders in the lineup worked best for them, adding hefty defence man Oten Runeu to their starting unit. As a result, Maraqua now has one of the toughest squads in Neopia to score against.
- Barit Jowes - Right Defender
- Elon "The Black Hole" Hughlis - Centre Forward, Team Captain
- Filo Desenz - Left Defender
- Jair Tollet - Left Forward (2006)
- Oten Runeu - Centre Defender (2007)
- Tonie Plessix - Goalkeeper
Colour
A citizen native to Maraqua is called a Maraquan, yet this can also mean the special colour of a Neopet. Maraquan Neopets are shaped and designed to be native to the water, and despite this Maraquan Neopets can even be seen out of the water moving about. As of January 2007, there are 33 Neopets which can be coloured Maraquan:
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 Feed the World 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.