The Cyodrake's Gaze
The Cyodrake's Gaze is a mysterious junk ship which appeared at Krawk Island on August 3, 2006 as part of the mystery plot by the same name. The plot required Neopians to interview crew members and solve the mystery of what happened to the ship's navigator, who fell overboard during a storm. The plot ended on September 8, 2006, coinciding with the release of the new world of Shenkuu.
While the ship was in port, the crew sold food, Battledome Equipment and medicine, and Linae the Kougra hosted the game Kou-jong. These facilities became available in Shenkuu itself after the plot's conclusion.
Like other Shenkuuvian ships, such as those seen in the Atlas of the Ancients, The Cyodrake's Gaze is capable of flying as well as being able to sail on the water. It is named after a Medieval Petpet with one eye called the Cyodrake.
Crew
The Cyodrake's Gaze is manned by the following Neopets, in the order they are introduced in the plot.
- Captain Tuan - A Blue Gnorbu. He is captain of the ship, and took it upon himself to find his lost crewman Hoban. He was hesitant to allow outside help to find Hoban, but as the plot progressed he realised the users' help was needed. He suggested a different crew member for the player to interview each time his ship arrived in port.
- First Mate Shumi - A Green Scorchio. He suggested that users should help Captain Tuan. He is rarely seen away from his captain's side.
- Orrin - A Red Nimmo. Orrin keeps the inventory on all the ship's stores, and sells Exotic Foods at the Exotic Foods shop. He was down in the hold when the storm hit, and he saw someone fall off the side of the ship, sparking the search for Hoban after he couldn't be found.
- Hoban - A Yellow Aisha. As the navigator of the ship, Hoban is responsible for plotting the ship's course. He fell overboard in a storm, and the crew set out to look for him. While the crewmembers slightly disagree about the events that took place before the storm, they all say that Hoban got angry and left dinner early just before the storm hit.
- Linae - A Pink Kougra. She runs the Kou-jong game. Superstitious Linae believed Hoban was bad luck, and that he somehow brought the storm down upon them.
- Chef Bonju - An Orange Blumaroo. Bonju is the ship's cook and keeper of the Magical Cooking Vessel.
- Kentari - A Yellow Shoyru. He manages the weaponry stores of the ship and sells Wonderous Weaponry at the Wonderous Weaponry shop.
- Anshu - A Brown Ruki. Anshu is the ship's doctor and sells Remarkable Restoratives at the Remarkable Restoratives shop.
Plot summary
The Cyodrake's Gaze appeared at Krawk Island on August 3, 2006, unable to make it to Mystery Island, their destination. The ship had just sailed through a storm, during which they lost much of their supplies and also their navigator, Hoban.
The player was invited to help solve the mystery of Hoban's disappearance.
Captain Tuan shared his story with users, detailing what happened from his perspective. Three days later, presumably when the ship had repaired sufficiently, it sailed away.
On 8 August, the ship appeared on the shores south of Mystery Island. The crew had hoped to find Hoban there, but he had not reached it. As they resupplied, Kentari shared his story of the night of the storm. The ship set sail at midnight NST on the August 11, again having stopped for only three days.
On the 15 August, the ship reappeared in Faerieland - the Captain had forgotten to mention that the ship can fly. Chef Bonju was interviewed, and the ship left Faerieland at midnight on 19 August.
The ship reappeared on the 23rd in the Lost Desert, where Linae gave her version of events. The ship left the Desert on the 27th.
When the ship docked at Mystery Island again, on the 29th, Captain Tuan remarked that they were running out of time and that the crew's stories did not tally. First Mate Shumi unlocked Hoban's map room, where there were two documents (a grid and a map seeming to show the direction change from Mystery Island to Krawk Island) annotated in red which are of interest. It should be noted that, presumably, since Hoban disappeared only Shumi has had access to this room.
On the 31 August, users were then allowed to guess at what had happened and where Hoban was now.
On the 7 September, Hoban had finally been located, and gave his account of the storm. He had been pushed overboard by Bonju during an argument about his cooking. The existence of Shenkuu, the heavily speculated Asian-themed world, was finally confirmed by Captain Tuan.
Crews accounts of the night of the storm
Captain Tuan's account
At the start of dinner, Captain Tuan sent Orrin to the supply room to complete the inventory he had failed to finish, where he locked him in until he had completed his work. On returning to the mess room, he found Hoban declaring "Let's see you laugh when I sail you into a storm!" before marching from the room. After dinner, a storm arrived, and the captain called for all hands on deck, The storm lasted for several hours and after it the ship was somewhat worse for wear, having lost a considerable amount of supplies overboard. Realising that Hoban and Orrin were not with them, and that the captain had locked Orrin below deck for the entire duration of the storm, Tuan sends First Mate Shumi to fetch the Nimmo. As soon as he reached the captain, Orrin says that during the storm he heard a scream and saw someone fall into the water. Despite their searches, the crew could not find the navigator on board, concluding he had indeed been washed over.
Kentari's account
According to Kentari, Hoban said his fateful line in a angry manner, whereas Tuan thought it was less emotional. The crew dismissed Hoban, and carried on with their meal. Kentari finished his meal first, and left the mess room before the others. He went to the armoury and ran his usual inspection - everything was in order. However, later on, while he was doing his rounds, he saw Chef Bonju sneak out of the armoury, concealing something in his jacket. Before he could investigate, the storm broke out and Kentari was called to deck. While he was trying to secure the starboard side brace for the forward topsail, Hoban came over to assist him, complaining that Linae thought he was bad luck and had brought the storm on the ship himself. Kentari did not see Hoban again in the storm.
Chef Bonju's account
According to Chef Bonju, Hoban spoke his words matter-of-factly before leaving the room, and the others enjoyed the meal greatly. He noted that Linae and Anshu remained behind, whispering together, seeming to conspire to do something. He then thoroughly washed the dishes, but as he was getting to the silverware had to go up to the deck as the storm broke out. He saw Hoban three times in the storm, first at the starboard railing, then at the port railing, then later he talked to him, although this does not match Anshu's account, when he had calmed down. He asked whether he was thought of as bad luck, as Linae had said something to that effect which had irritated him. When prompted, Bonju explained his trip to the armoury by saying he was fetching a knife to carve with, as the one he usually uses had mysteriously vanished. However, if the Chef was busy washing up when the storm started, he would not have had the time to go to the armoury and fetch a knife, if the timing Kentari recalls is accurate. Also, it has been questioned what the Chef would need to carve after after the meal. Finally, it should be noted that the knife he took from the store does not appear to be suitable for carving, although this may be a mistake on the behalf of the artists.
Linae's account
By Linae's account, Hoban's muttered his words furiously, like a "fateful hex". After dinner, Linae spoke with Anshu about the poor quality of the food, although this seems unlikely as the other crew members seem to be able to go on at length about the meal and it does not match Anshu's explanation. She describes her discussion with Anshu as "brief", while Bonju insisted they lingered behind to talk. Afterwards, Linae returned to her cabin and began to play a game of Kou-jong, but found she was missing her Lost Desert Sunset tile. Having searched her cabin, she then went up onto deck, where she found it behind a crate. While retrieving it, she heard Anshu and Hoban arguing, but the call for all hands on deck came shortly after they started arguing, and Hoban went to the wheel. She worked on deck for a while, twice beside Hoban, before going below deck to help Anshu fix a leak, although Anshu does not mention her himself. She considers Hoban responsible for the storm, and bad luck.
Anshu's account
Anshu's recollection is that Hoban's words were spoken less angrily than Linae recalls, and possibly with some desperation. After their meal, Linae pulled Anshu briefly to one side to ask about an undisclosed medical issue. Anshu then went for a brief walk, alone, on deck, but just before the storm came he got into an argument with Hoban. Anshu wanted to stop in at Krawk Island to obtain some medical supplies, but Hoban refused to change course. As the storm hit, Hoban went to the wheel while Anshu was sent down below to repair a leak. Twice Anshu heard Hoban above him on deck, the first time, when he investigated, Hoban was arguing with someone, and then later he heard him arguing again, on the aftdeck, but when he inquired Bonju didn't know anything about it.
Hoban's account
According to Hoban's story, he claims that after he stated the fateful line, he left the dining area to his map room to get some work done. Several hours after, Anshu confronted him and they both got into a heated argument. At one o'clock, Captain Tuan sent him to assist Linae, where she called him bad luck. Two hours later, he went to help Kentari and was ignored. At 4:00 he saw Anshu again, but avoided him because he was clearly still bitter about their disagreement, then at 5:00 had an argument with Linae about what he had said earlier. He was passing the cargo crates at six o'clock when he noticed Bonju was furious at how he had not finished the "glorious meal" hours before. Hoban then confronted him and in the resulting fight, he was pushed overboard by Bonju, where he was left floating in a crate full of food. After his eventual rescue, Bonju was finally punished by being locked in the storeroom, and Captain Tuan invited the user to Shenkuu.
Plot participation
On August 31, after questioning all the crew, users were able to make the following guesses about Hoban and his whereabouts. The correct answers are in bold.
| Who pushed Hoban? | Linae, Anshu, Bonju, Kentari |
| When did he fall? | 1:00, 2:00, 3:00, 4:00, 5:00, 6:00 |
| Where on the ship did he fall? | Helm, Starboard railing, Cargo crates, Port railing, Foremast, Aftdeck |
| Where is Hoban now? | G19, F6, G14, I22, E3, G10 |
Prizes
Prizes were rewarded on September 14, 2006, by visiting Captain Tuan. At least 2 correct guesses needed to be made, and the user would be rewarded with an avatar, a sidebar, a trophy, and prize, the rarity of which was depended on the number of correct guesses. The following trophies and prizes were awarded:
| 2/5 | 3/5 | 4/5 | 5/5 |
 Lucky Guesser |
 Know-It-All Hobans Leftovers |
 Gumshoe Hobans Map Book |
 Master Sleuth Hobans Hat |
Presentation
The way the comic-strips for this plot are written, it is as though the reader is conducting the investigation and is an integral part of the plot line.
Whenever the ship left harbour, the main comic page became inaccessible. The sources of the comics can still be accessed, however, for them to be read:
Due to the size of the source images, however, and the inability to scroll down them on most browsers when viewing them in source form (as they are Flash movies), sites such as TheDailyNeopets have set up pages where they can be seen and scrolled.
Trivia
- References to Mystery Island Volcano, the Lost Desert Plot and the Altador Plot were made in the release of this plot:
Ah ha! So there is more going on! Clever one, you are. You hesitate for a moment, though, if only because you remember previous times you've offered to help a strangers. Volcanoes... and spike traps... and flooded cities. *shudder*
- After the plot, Eye of the Storm, starring The Cyodrake's Gaze's crew, was released. The game was available for Premium Beta testing during the plot.
- In each recollection of the events of storm, Hoban is first seen carrying only an empty bag at his side, but in later versions has three scrolls. Changes like this could be part of and artists whim, similar to the changes of art style in Battle for Meridell, or they could be real different recollections, such as the way Hoban "threatened" he would sail them into a storm.