Obscure Faerie History of Darigan Citadel

Theory: Obscure Faerie History of Darigan Citadel

Darigan Citadel: a land that once flourished and prospered on the ground. A fiefdom to the lands of Brightvale, but relatively distant and obscure. A land that seldom knew battle and never had trouble with neighbors, and was able to sustain itself thanks to the power of the Orb. A land of Brightvale that was so unknown and untroubled that its presence was nothing more than a footnote to King Hagan and his advisors.

But indeed the land prospered. And it was all thanks to the power of the Orb that stood in the center of the fiefdom long before the land's discovery.

Yes, the power of the Orb stood for centuries or longer before it could charm and curse the lives of Neopians. And it was no wonder the Neopians who found it were drawn to it. The Orb had created a prosperous green land. Farms flourished vibrantly with speed and high yield. The weather was never extreme. Athletic-minded Darigani enjoyed hearty meals and space to train, and excursions to assist other lands if needed. All Darigani residents enjoyed the peaceful meadows, parks, and unique libraries in the lands surrounding the Citadel. The Citadel where Lord Darigan the First resided, and where his descendants reigned in peace for generations.

But the power of the Orb was always a mystery, even to the Darigani that resided there, and the Darigani that spent their lifetimes researching the Orb with little success.

It was little wonder. Those who had crafted the Orb had no interest in divulging their true intent. The reasons for creating the Orb and making Darigan Citadel's land so prosperous was steeped in a long history of turmoil.

Long before Neopians thought to settle in the lands of Meridell and Brightvale, Faeries ruled the lands, which were steeped with magic. These faeries did not have nor wish for a Faerie Queen. Faeries were part of all types of elemental clans. At the time, there was never more evidence of faerie presence than from the Earth and Dark Faerie conflicts.

It's not known how the feud began. For though flora enjoy the light that gives them sustenance, they benefit from the peaceful cleansing rest of the dark. Yet the two faerie groups never saw eye to eye on how the land should be. Especially given the Light Faerie prophecy that foretold of Neopians coming to inhabit the land once faerie influence diminished. Earth Faerie interests lay in establishing flourishing lands with vibrant grand gardens, a place for Neopians to prosper. Dark Faeries had a different mindset; to them, a flourishing land that promises all is also a land that makes one complacent, weak, and spoiled. The Dark Faeries sought to embrace the dark troubles and complications of life, and use it to make the land and its inhabitants stronger, while allowing earned respite in the shade of night.

The Earth Faeries filled their lands with prospering green.. The Dark Faeries took shelter in the copses and engaged in their research, delving into dark magic and finding ways to make Neopians resilient to harms without shielding them. Other faeries had their own clans. They supported or joined a side, or they did their best to keep the two sides apart. To them, the lands were vast; was there not room for all fair mindsets, and for Neopians to choose based on their personal philosophy? The Earth and Dark Faeries disagreed with that notion. Each of them saw the other as a threat. How could a Neopian possibly know strength if they had the option to rest in a green-thick cocoon for all time? How could a Neopian enjoy prospering harmony with dark threats on the horizon? It was inevitable that a forgotten war arose.

As time went on, each side escalated. Earth Faeries found their vicious sides. Encroaching but peaceful vines became spiked tendril-like plants, attacking all in their reach. Dark Faeries delved deeper into their magic and encouraged brutal works. A dark and difficult but livable land became outright toxic to repel the encroaching earth. Faeries on each side grew more extreme as they devolved into a battle of ideologies. No dark was permitted on Earth lands, even for respite. No earth was permitted on Dark lands, even for sustenance. Soon, only the hardiest could fight in each land. Residence was impossible. The first Neopian wanderers came, saw the lands... and moved on to safer places.

One of the Dark Faerie bases was utterly encroached with Earth magic, but the Dark Faeries refused to let it go. They battled there for so long… until both sides had to retreat. Dark and Earth magics had combined to create an abominable amalgamation of elements. Plants were thorny and spiky, and while some bore fruit, every harvest attempt was a brutal fight. The land seldom knew light, yet the plants survived through remnants of unnatural false life. The earth itself violently refused all tilling and treatment. Only the hardiest could survive there, but no one dared try. It was a place swallowed by the worst of earth and dark.

By then, a new generation of faeries stood to inherit the war. But the damage was apparent to them. They saw that the battles had become senseless, and were distorting lands to that which no Neopian should endure. They saw clear flaws in the logic of their predecessors. Earth was not all a panacea, and had the potential to cause great harm. Being resilient and ready for harm could happen while simultaneously holding peace. There was room for Dark to be a part of and benefit to Earth without overtaking it, and there was room for peaceful, much desired bounty after ages of war.

The factions still didn't see eye to eye. They just wanted change. A truce was established between the two sides under the guidance of unaligned faerie mediators. The two factions would hold their own and not interfere with each other. The wasteland that once belonged to the Dark Faeries was ceded to the Earth and Light Faeries to clear. Otherwise the Dark Faeries held prosperous land that could enjoy dark nights. The Dark Faeries would continue to hold the darkest woods and live in harmony with the earth there. Such a plan was meant to bridge the two warring factions, so that they would understand each other and so that the terrible war would not erupt again.

Most of the land was restored to normal. While one land would never flourish with its former vibrancy, it endured temperate seasons and allowed for both growth and rest while still showing good crop yield. This land was eventually founded and became Meridell.

Another land used to have a Light Faerie stronghold, with plenty of room for Earth; it was a land the Dark Faeries did not frequent. The Neopians that found it saw the place as a beacon of enlightenment, and the land became Brightvale.

But then there was the scarred wasteland. Dark Faeries had settled there for centuries, and the Earth magic that had encroached was tainted by the residing Dark magic. The Earth and Light Faeries that worked the land could never completely remove the land's dark influence. But all sides were determined to erase traces of the terrible war. Especially when the prophecy came to fruition and Neopians began to settle in nearby lands. The faeries wanted to erase traces of their history before all the scars could be found. But this scar ran deep.

Neopians were expanding. Time was running out. They couldn't find a permanent solution, and the Earth and Light Faeries wouldn't dare to subject any Neopian to the curse residing in this area. Even the Dark Faeries knew that Neopians could not possibly survive it. The best that the Earth and Light Faeries could do was put their powers together to repress the darkness. They had the idea to set this power into an artifact so the darkness could be kept at bay indefinitely.

The crafting of the Orb was simple enough. No one is sure how they mustered the energy to power the object. Perhaps they had enough power combined to make the Orb into a reliable energy source. Perhaps they found something unknown to seal within the Orb to provide power to its imbued abilities. Perhaps they had a secret purpose to cage another threat. However they managed it, they created the Orb with its own self-sustaining power source that could repress the darkness of the cursed lands indefinitely. Once placed in the cursed lands, it wasn't long before the dark plant matter retreated, and the land flourished with the Earth Faeries' dream come true.

The Dark Faeries weren't happy with the plan. They had been advocating for a way to keep the land’s darknes while making it more habitable. But they had lost the land to the truce, and no one was interested in escalation. Especially since the land was so cursed in part due to the influence of inherent Dark Faerie magic. So the Dark Faeries limited their presence to studies.

All faeries ultimately kept their distance, not wanting to risk disrupting the land’s precarious balance. The Dark Faeries kept to the woods of Meridell, becoming the source of scary stories and knightly legends for idealists, or a magical escape for those wishing to flee the repressive monotony of feudal life. The Earth Faeries inhabited areas close to both Meridell and Brightvale, bolstering the lands and offering their services while never getting close.

A group of Neopians wanting to branch off as a lordship to Brightvale set off to find a new dwelling. They soon found a flourishing land with grand potential. Ignorant to the land's history, they resided there peacefully and prosperously. They named themselves after Lord Darigan the First, who had brought them there, and they became the Darigani.

No faerie sought to lift the Darigani’s ignorance, for they feared that knowledge of the land’s hidden magic potential would draw those who would seek to use it. They feared that such a magical disruption would return the curse to full force. The Darigani were intelligent and studious, but the Orb effectively suppressed its own magical secrets and kept it hidden from even the most knowledgeable or magic-sensitive of Neopians. The faeries let matters lie.

This went on peacefully for generations. The Darigani became so prosperous that they considered becoming independent allies of Brightvale. They sought to create a conclave for those who wish to study magic peacefully and live a life of prosperity. It was the nation Earth Faeries would enjoy if any faerie faction dared touch the land. The Darigani had scant knowledge of faeries, often learned second-hand or noticed during expeditions. With their current affiliations to Brightvale, they didn't stand out as independent, but to other rulers they were no more than a footnote.

Meridell was never fully prosperous, and suffered the occasional bout of natural disaster or dark magic release. One year, Meridell endured a mysterious famine and drought. King Skarl sent a contingent of knights to gather information on what could save their land, and save the thousands who relied on their failing crops. They found a Seer in the woods, one imbued with Light Magic but with ties to Dark Faeries. The knights sought assistance. The Seer delved deep into the faerie magics surrounding them, seeking the best answer to what could bring prosperity to a decaying land. The Orb was the best answer.

The knights of Darigan--athletic types ill content with easy living--were on an excursion assisting another land at the time. But even their presence wouldn’t have been enough. The remaining Darigani had indeed grown complacent in their comfort. The Meridell knights felt one part desperation, two parts superiority and entitlement. They easily pushed back weak Darigani resistance, found the Orb, and stole it from Darigan Citadel. They took it to Meridell, and the famine and drought lifted. Skarl learned about the theft, but he knew that the lives of his people were at stake, and that Darigan Citadel was isolationist with no significant attachments and high survival probability. Skarl decided to keep the theft a secret, and crafted a comforting lie to tell his people. After all, his people were not only saved, but happy. The ends justified the means.

The faeries had not gone near Darigan Citadel in generations. They saw Meridell's prosperity as pure good fortune. But it wasn't long before they distantly felt something... dire.

The land beneath Darigan Citadel was rife with Dark Magic. Thus, it was the Dark Faeries who felt it first. A group of Dark Faeries risked investigating. They knew Darigan Citadel as a place under the influence of Earth and Light Faerie magic due to a treaty from a long forgotten conflict. They saw a land under a terrible curse. The earth and plant-life of the Citadel had become toxic. The corrupted dark and earth influences swept the land. The Neopians of Darigan Citadel were at a complete loss... and they were withering. Isolationist as they were, no one came to help. The knights who had been sent out on a contingent had since returned, and they were soon cursed too. The Dark Faeries knew immediately that the Darigani would not survive for long without intervention.

Treaty or no treaty, something had to be done. Only the Orb could repress the conditions for long. Anything else would be a scant respite; a false hope. But the Orb was in the hands of Meridell, which had grown prosperous and strong. Engaging with them would lead to an all-out prolonged war, and the Darigani might not survive in the meantime.

But the Dark Faeries of that day knew abilities that their predecessors did not. They could not remove the dark magic from the tainted lands, nor resist the earthen encroachment. They saw only one way to save the Darigani.

They started a curse of their own, meant to inflict the residents to complement the curse of Darigan Citadel. As the curse swept through the Darigani, they felt powerful surges within themselves as their bodies were hastily influenced by the dark magic inherent within the land. Influenced, altered, warped, and accepted. Rapidly, they grew spikes, their skin became hardened carapaces, their teeth sharpened and their jaws hardened to tear through the resistant spiked fruits. They even got a burst of adrenaline from the magic in order to enable them to accept the new challenges, deter enemies, and keep going strong, with the side effect of increased ferocity. The Darigani survived, but strongly changed. They felt encouraged by their survival and bolstered by their adaptations. Suddenly, they could stand up to any challenge and survive the harshest conditions. It was the Dark Faeries' dream come true.

But it wasn't just the curse. The Darigani were always intelligent. Before the Dark Faeries intervened, the Darigani had deduced that the curse was coming from the earth itself, although not the reason why. They were constructing something within the Citadel in an attempt to flee the curse while retaining their home. When the Dark Faeries intervened, they learned of this plan. As the curse swept through the land, they decided to introduce themselves to Lord Darigan. Only Lord Darigan knows of the dark magic that saved his people, and of the advice from the Dark Faeries used to further and hasten their initial plans to flee. And so, the Darigani were able to lift Darigan Citadel itself into the sky. Several Darigani species were able to lean into the dark magic of their curse that accelerated their evolution, and they sprouted wings to accommodate their new way of life.

The other faeries finally realized that something was amiss, and investigated. But the Dark Faeries had already influenced Darigan Citadel. The other faeries did not know the context, or had accepted false claims from Meridell and fellow kin. The Dark Faeries’ actions were seen as a breach of the treaty, and so they were treated with distrust again. And the issue was exacerbated when the Darigani accelerated their actions.

While the Darigani were stronger and now able to survive, they still saw the curse the land inflicted upon them as a curse. They could never be aligned with Brightvale again, who didn’t recognize and thus shunned them, and travelers only saw them as monsters. It was anathema to both the peace they knew and to academic collaborations. The land's curse took all that they knew, and would have destroyed them if not for Dark Faerie intervention speeding their evolution. They were angry, and wanted retribution against Meridell. While they were strengthened, they also wanted a chance at normal prosperity again, and they couldn’t do that without the Orb. Now that their Citadel was afloat, they could move to Meridell and establish a convenient base for attack. The Dark Faeries, condemning how Meridell devastated Darigan Citadel, ultimately sympathized with and encouraged Lord Darigan in his endeavors.

The Earth Faeries did not approve. They did not know the truth about the theft, and ultimately preferred to support Meridell and Brightvale over the obviously Dark-corrupted Darigani that the Dark Faeries had overreached to instigate. The first Meridell-Darigan war was fought between Neopians. Beneath the surface of that war was a reignited conflict as the Earth Faeries sought to drive the Dark Faeries from their land. The Dark Faeries held ground as best as they could. Ultimately, with few exceptions, neither side interfered directly with the war between the Neopians, too concerned with their own conflicts. The Dark Faeries trusted the power they gave to the Darigani, and the Earth Faeries trusted the well-meaning supporters of Meridell.

One notable exception to the otherwise uninvolved faeries was Illusen, the Earth Faerie, who had moved to Meridell and set up an enchanted Glade some time before the Orb was stolen. She focused on giving aid, shelter, and small quests to the local residents of Meridell. The faeries of the Medieval lands saw Illusen as too modern, young, and naive, and they had difficulty communicating. Illusen kept her magic to the Glade, which initially caused some magical disruptions when she tried to overcorrect for the drought that led to the Meridell famine. Illusen seemed to learn her lesson, though, and scaled back when she saw what her magic was doing. The Earth Faeries continued to worry about her continuing influence on the magical balance. But from then on, Illusen kept her assistance local and low-key. While the local faeries still didn’t trust her and kept her out of communications, they also came to see her as harmless. Illusen was uninterested in faerie communications, and preferred to help the populace and refugees over any direct war efforts.

So the wars raged on. More Neopians than anyone thought possible joined, including Neopians with no historical context. Skarl was able to recruit most of them with a lie. But the Darigani held a conference with these Neopians and voiced their grievances. Many ultimately sympathized with the Darigani and switched sides. The Darigani won the war and reclaimed the Orb. Then they retreated, with a contingent force in Meridell Castle to ensure that their enemies would not have time to regroup before the Darigani had collected themselves. Otherwise, they were content to let the Meridellians rot in peace, as they had.

Because the land of Meridell had been bolstered by the Orb for years now, the land was not equipped to suddenly lose it. There was a magical rebound, and the land began to show signs of decay. Crops began to wither, damaged wooden homes began to decay, and even Illusen’s Glade fell into disarray. There was no curse residing within Meridell, and the dark magic remnants in the land gave only a minor contribution to the rebounded energies. The Meridellians were physically okay for the moment, but the land was troubled.

By this time, King Hagan of Brightvale had heard about the mess between Meridell and Darigan, and learned the truth of the Darigani. While not close to Darigan Citadel and ultimately unaccepting of the new Darigani way of life, Brightvale still had ties. While he refused to fight his brother, he also couldn't support his actions or what was done to one of his Lords. So he refused to get involved at all, and he let the Meridellians suffer the consequences of their actions when they lost the war. However, he accepted fleeing Meridellian citizens as refugees. Some of those citizens decided to stay in Brightvale indefinitely, and contributed their farming abilities and knowledge to help produce the popular fruits enjoyed today.

But the Darigani, industrious and fierce, suddenly paused. Lord Darigan was studying the Orb, and was perplexed by why the magic of the Orb was not returning their prosperity. Perhaps Darigan didn't notice that the Orb enjoyed generations of peace before the conflict. Perhaps the conflict altered the Orb in a way that no one expected. Maybe the effect of the Orb had been waning since the theft, and that Meridell was not as prosperous as he expected when he invaded. Perhaps the power within the Orb was directed to other means. Or perhaps it had something to do with the whispers Lord Darigan began to hear in his mind. Whispers of ideas, promises... soon leading to an inflated ego. It no longer mattered to Lord Darigan if his people starved and showed weakness. In fact his people didn’t matter at all. Lord Darigan realized that the power of the Orb could be harnessed in any way. He could become unstoppable in a world that had nearly destroyed him with others' cruelty. They deserved their just desserts... and far worse.

Thankfully, Lord Darigan's descent was witnessed by an escaping Meridellian prisoner of war and the Darigani warden Master Vex who had set out to reclaim him. They agreed that this could not continue. Master Vex channeled the dark magic that he knew from his corruption and granted the Yellow Knight temporary durability, so he could quickly escape the Citadel and warn Meridell. They set out to form an unlikely alliance against the inexplicable tyrant.

The faeries heard the rumors as word spread. The Dark Faeries agreed to withdraw their support. In their eyes, the war had been won and retribution had been gained. That was conflict enough to draw more desperate Neopians into their cause; anything more was needless destruction. The Dark Faeries took a lasting stance of neutrality between the two nations. The Earth Faeries backed down, given the new neutrality, their observations of Darigan Citadel, and the knowledge that reconstruction between the two nations and two faerie clans was the only solution that wouldn’t lead to another lasting earthen scar. Thus enabling tenuous peace between the two faerie factions.

The Earth Faeries were left with a conundrum. Their initial powering of the Orb was twisted to corrupt ends. The corrupted power of the Orb and the curse of the Citadel had created a monster that threatened to destroy all. And though they were loath to admit it, the Darigani no longer needed the Orb, for Dark Faerie intervention made the Orb’s purpose redundant. Neopians of all factions agreed to convene to destroy the monster, and they were succeeding. But that left the Orb. Was the Orb too corrupted at this point? Would the Orb just cause more conflict and distress? If the Orb had something to do with the whispers, would others seeking the Orb's power unwittingly be drawn to it, creating another monster? Would that be worse than potentially releasing the corruption inside?

Perhaps the Faeries were confident that they could manage further trouble. Or that released corruption would corrupt the hearts of weaker Neopians who would cause no great harm, compared to the corrupting power the Orb could give all at once. And there was no sign of the Darigani curse spreading to Meridell with their presence, besides some minor foliage changes that may have been from the second Earth and Dark Faerie war. The lifting of the Citadel even saved Darigan from the worst of the curse, meaning regular Neopians could hypothetically live there. There were still the Darigani who used the power of the curse to alter Neopians who wished to become like the Darigani, but that would survive with or without the Orb.

So when Lord Darigan was defeated, the Earth Faeries were ready to destroy the Orb at the next opportunity. But they didn't need to. The Orb was already weakened from centuries of use with no faerie maintenance, from its corruption, and from Darigan’s misuse. The Orb broke with no fanfare. Without the Orb, the two lands stabilized with natural land healing and magic. With Earth Faerie support, Meridell was able to mostly return to normal. The Darigani were able to adapt and thrive in their new conditions. The two lands became a symbol of the elemental conflict. The Earth and Dark Faeries still had bitter feelings and misunderstandings about each other, but there was no sign of battle between them anytime soon. In order to avoid future conflict, they each began limiting influence on the lands, or they moved to other lands. The only exception was Illusen–acting as normal–and an air faerie, Psellia. She was concerned about the danger of falling from Darigan Citadel, and poised herself ready to protect those who fell. The other faeries silently agreed to these influences.

Meridell and Darigan held an uneasy truce. But each side was now self-sustaining. The imbued magic and industrial efforts of the Darigani kept the Citadel alive and flying over Meridell. Meridell was able to return to temperate lands and prosperity, and resumed their normal farming industry. Each side was ignorant of the magic involved, but stability ensured magic’s unimportance. The Second War of Darigan and Meridell

The second war between Meridell and Darigan was yet another war of ideals and revenge. A Darigani named Kass decided he could not be content until Meridell paid true due for their crimes. Unfortunately, a malevolent force that came to be known as The Three had quickly targeted this next Darigani leader for their influences, magnifying perceived due revenge to ambitious total destruction. They burrowed themselves within Kass' psyche, making it near impossible for the aid of faerie intervention. No one knew of this corrupting influence until it was far too late.

There's a split at this point in the timeline, due to a different magic. No one knows why it exists. Perhaps the magic of the faeries created a fault in the spacetime weave, perhaps it was chance. One timeline had no influence from modern Neopia time travel. Thus, distracted and unable to counter the assaults from Darigan Citadel, Meridell was destroyed. Lord Darigan, who had been remorseful and weakened from his earlier decline and defeat, was never seen again. Lord Kass still felt his surge of power and control, and felt greedy for more. So he went on to destroy Brightvale, for the perceived crime of harboring Merdiellian refugees and for total control. Kass was also destroying Darigan Citadel from the inside by focusing on war and power while ignoring the well-being of his people and the infrastructure sustaining their way of life. Life within the Citadel devolved, and one day the Citadel suffered mechanical failure and crashed. The Medieval lands became ruins, and no sign remained of Illusen’s Glade. It seemed the Faeries of the land suffered too, for little trace of them remained. But modern Neopians found a weakness in the spacetime around the area, and their influence created a new timeline which modern Neopians enjoy. With the arrival and influence of modern Neopians, several of Kass' plans to destroy Meridell were thwarted, allowing Meridell to mount a rousing counter against the Citadel. Lord Darigan returned with strength and sanity, and he worked with the Meridellians to defeat Lord Kass and reclaim control, not for power’s sake, but to atone and restore a suffering land. Lord Darigan alone recognized the influence of The Three on Kass, and seeking to free him, destroyed the necklace Kass had constructed to consolidate their influence. But Kass had become too dependent on their magic, and unleashing that power destroyed him. But with Kass' defeat, Darigan and Meridell were able to notice the mechanical fault from Kass' neglect, and repaired the Citadel to keep it flying. The lands have been at peace ever since.

The faeries upheld minimal involvement, not wanting to incite tensions again. Illusen and Psellia remain the sole renowned Faeries of the region. Faeries quietly remembered the history wherever they went. It's still rare to see a Dark and Earth Faerie working together, but tensions only remain among those with learned biases and oft-petty grudges.

To this day, Lord Darigan is the only Neopian who knew how the Dark Faeries saved the Darigani and assisted them in going to war, though he keeps quiet on this fact. Even so, he doesn't know the depth of the Earth and Dark Faerie conflict and influence over the Medieval lands. That history is a long kept secret between the faeries, with none divulging much about the war, nor reading deeply into grudges held by older faeries.

It's a long kept secret... until now. For perhaps it is better to know the origins, so that we may all work through them together, and move into the future with improved understanding of history and each other.

That's my theory, anyway. But as the faeries did not intend their conflict to escalate where it did, so too do I not intend any unforeseen consequences from revealing this to you. I tell you this with only pure intent. Let us do our best.