Editing Lost Desert Plot

{{Construction|reason=Proper summary at beginning, plot summary, plot participation, and possible reworking of prizes section}}

[[Image:Ldbiglogo.jpg|right]]

The '''Lost Desert Plot''' ran from August 30 through November 29, 2005. This puzzle [[Plot]] revolved around [[Tomos]], [[Nabile]], [[Jazan]] and [[Amira|Princess Amira]], all new characters to the world of Neopia.

The Neopets Lost Desert Plot was one of the most comprehensive plots that [[Neopets]] had released to that point. Not only were the puzzles difficult, it was the first time Neopets implemented a plot which required people to actively participate if they wanted to progress. The large '''Temple of 1,000 Tombs''', unique to each user and requiring extensive mapping, as well as the enormously large '''Scroll Repository''' brought on a phenomenon known as '''Obsessive Lost Desert Plot Disorder (OLDPD)'''.  (In future plots, [[Neoboard]] topics tagged OLDPD persisted, morphing into the [[wikipedia:backronym|backronym]] for "Obsessive Latest Darn Plot Disorder".)

During the beginning, most of the participants barely left their computers for fear of missing out on an important event that would possibly exclude them out of the plot.  However, extremely long waiting periods, sometimes weeks long, occurred between releases of clues and/or parts.  Along with increasingly more difficult tasks sometimes taking 5-6 hours to complete, this eventually weeded out most players who had been there from the start.

[[The Neopets Team]] falsely portrayed the marriage of Jazan and Nabile as the end of the plot.  On November 29, 2005, the real ending was released. This second ending, involving the return and defeat of [[Razul]], tied up several loose ends and tied in the end of the puzzle part of the plot.

==The Plot==
[[Image:Sakh.png|center]]
{{cq|...a thriving town in an ancient and timeless land. Sakhmet is home to exotic [[Petpet]]s, amazing foods, and some of the best entertainers in the land.

But the best thing of all is the Royal Palace, where Princess Amira is watching over everything.

Far from the Royal Palace, the streets of Sakhmet are full of beggars, scoundrels, and villains, including a wily gang of street urchins known as the Desert Scarabs.

One thing about Sakhmet, you can never guarantee it's a dull place, where unexpected visitors can come at any time.}}



===Marriage Proposal===
A mysterious noble named Prince Jazan entered [[Sakhmet]], full of confidence. He introduces himself as Prince Jazan the Fourth to the guards of the Royal Palace, and asks to visit Princess Amira. The guards say that only visitors with an appointment may see Amira. Jazan shows the guards a fake appointment, and they let him pass. Jazan then gives a few coins to the guards.

[[Image:deafears.png|center|frame|The Prince's advances fall on deaf ears.]]

When Jazan enters the Great Hall, he introduces himself as the ruler of [[Qasala]] to Amira. Jazan shows a scroll of betrothal, then asks for marriage, which Amira sternly declines. He soon leaves the palace, angered by the princess's refusal.

[[Image:nabiletomos.png|center|frame|The two thieves follow.]]

As the Prince rode away, two members of the [[Desert Scarabs]] (a group of thieves in Sakhmet city), [[Tomos]] and [[Nabile]], followed him with the hope of scoring some treasure. They tailed the Prince to the ruins of a long dead city. With nothing to show for their travels, Nabile and Tomos returned to Sakhmet.

Meanwhile in the Royal Palace, Amira was informed by [[Enarka]], her Shoyru adviser, about the aforementioned kingdom of Qasala. While the kingdom did exist once, it was destroyed after a deadly sandstorm 200 years ago. They both concluded that with no record relating to Jazan, he would be believed to be an imposter.

Soon after, Princess Amira prepared to make a grand speech to her people. Jazan returned to the city, and Nabile and Tomos hid on the path outside of Sakhmet to ambush him when he left. Jazan interrupted Amira's announcement, once more asking for her hand in marriage. When Amira declined once more, Jazan was thrown into a rage and summoned up a great magical force that teleported the entire city to an alternate dimension where undead creatures roamed. 
[[Image:Jazan3.png|center|frame|Jazan the party crasher!]]

Tomos and Nabile made their way back to the ruins of Qasala. There, they were attacked by the [[Nightsteed]], a mummified [[Uni]], and narrowly avoided death by falling into a pit.
[[Image:Night.png|center|frame|The two Desert Scarabs hide from a strange Uni...]]

===The Scroll Repository===
Inside the mysterious dimension, Jazan presented Amira an ultimatum: marry him, or watch her kingdom fall by the princes' undead creatures. For now, her subjects in the palace and the citizens (even the rest of the Desert Scarabs) outside have managed to hold their own against the creatures, discovering that attacking them with blunt weapons can easily topple them. However, Jazan decided to summon a [[Scordrax]], giant two-headed [[Scorchio]], to counter the attack. With no options left, Amira reluctantly agreed to marry him.

[[Image:attack.png|center|frame|A good blow to the head solves everything...]]

Meanwhile, the duo of Nabile and Tomos braved through a few deadly traps before finding an ancient library. soon discovered the tombs of ancient Qasala, and Nabile set about trying to translate the Qasalan hieroglyphs. She discovered that Qasala had been struck down with a horrible curse, and that only true love, by Jazan's marriage to a Princess of Sakhmet, would lift it. 

[[Image:secret.png|center|frame|Nabile learns of Qasala's tragedy and the reason behind Jazan's proposal.]]

As Nabile continued to find out more about the curse, Tomos messed a strange ring which teleported the two of them back to Sakhmet. The two are captured and seperated as the preparations of the wedding were underway.

[[Image:fire.png|center|frame|There's an old saying involving frying pans and fire]]

During the wedding ceremony, Nabile arrived, interrupting and explaining that the marriage would not break the curse, as neither party loved the other. As she explained, Amira's adviser makes a startling discovery based on a picture behind the young Ixi: Nabile was actually a descendant of [[Princess Neera]], a Sakhmetian Princess whose status was stripped by her own father after falling in love with a commoner. This revelation made Nabile a princess herself.

[[Image:secret2.png|center|frame|Nabile learns of a secret of her own...]]

Discovering her lost heritage, Nabile agreed to marry Jazan in Amira's place, having learned to love him. With the marriage complete, Sakhmet returned to the desert, and the couple set out back to Qasala.

[[Image:trulove.png|center|frame|Nabile and Jazan find love...]]

===Razul===
Some time afterwards, Jazan's heart was mended and his and Nabile's love blossomed. However, they soon discovered that the curse had not been broken. Refusing to have such a lively person stuck in such a dead and dismal place, Jazan convinced Nabile to return to Sakhmet. She reluctantly agreed, but not before promising to search for an answer. Heartbroken, the prince refused to eat, slowly weakening in the process.

[[Image:qasala2.png|center|frame|But the curse refused to change, and Jazan makes a difficult decision...]]

It wasn't long before an unnatural storm descended upon Sakhmet, and [[Emperor Razul]], Jazan's undead father, arrived to lay waste to the city. Claiming to have been freed from his imprisonment by the marriage, he effortlessly destroyed the Sakhmet army. Sensing Nabile was in danger, Jazan set off at full speed to the city.

[[Image:razul2.png|center|frame|Razul arises!]]

The Emperor located the Princesses within the palace, and overpowered Jazan while Nabile was caught in the crossfire. Razul was once again challenged by an enraged Jazan, who succeeded in countering and destroying his father. With Razul dead, the curse of Qasala was finally lifted, and peace returned to the desert.

[[Image:finish.png|center|frame|Jazan's father is vanquished, but at what cost?]]

The next morning, Nabile was recovering from her injuries, while Jazan and the Nightsteed returned to their kingdom.

[[Image:desertend.png|center|frame|Nabile survives the crossfire and all is right with the world...]]

==Plot participation==
{{Construction|reason=Incomplete - see official solution for now}}

'''[http://www.neopets.com/desert/ldp/solution.phtml Official Solution]''' <!-- Temporary until this section is fleshed out - when that happens, move this to External Links -->

===Tablet===
To complete the tablet, users had to find parchments revealing the location of each tablet piece. To receive the third parchment, participants had to bet and feed a [[Poogle]] in [[Poogle Racing]]. To find the parchment that revealed the location of the 11th tablet piece, users had to lose a game of [[Fetch!]].

===Battledome===
{| border="1" align=right
|-style="background:silver"
!colspan=2| Opponent || Difficulty
|-
| [[Spirit of the Ruins]] || http://images.neopets.com/battledome/opponent_pics/ruinspirit.gif || 50 
|-
| [[Scordrax]] || http://images.neopets.com/battledome/opponent_pics/twoheaddragon.gif || 150
|-
| [[Razul]] || http://images.neopets.com/battledome/opponent_pics/razul.gif || 100000
|}
While it was a puzzle plot, the [[Battledome]] was used as part of the puzzle solving.
<br style="clear:both;"/>

==Prizes==
{|align=right border=1
| http://images.neopets.com/desert/ldp/trophies/ldp_trophy1.gif<br>'''Sand Mite'''<br>(1000-? points) || http://images.neopets.com/desert/ldp/trophies/ldp_trophy2.gif<br>'''Furniture Merchant'''<br>(4,000-6,450 points)
|-
|http://images.neopets.com/desert/ldp/trophies/ldp_trophy3.gif<br>'''Desert Scarab'''<br>(12,850-22,800 points) || http://images.neopets.com/desert/ldp/trophies/ldp_trophy4.gif<br>'''Dune Explorer'''<br>(23,800-62,800 points)
|-
|http://images.neopets.com/desert/ldp/trophies/ldp_trophy5.gif<br>'''Scroll Specialist'''<br>(134,300-164,300 points) || http://images.neopets.com/desert/ldp/trophies/ldp_trophy6.gif<br>'''Qasalan Archaeologist'''<br>(179,300-194,300 points)
|-
|colspan=2|http://images.neopets.com/desert/ldp/trophies/ldp_trophy7.gif<br>'''Aegis of Sakhmet'''<br>(199,300-229,300 points)
|}

Prizes were awarded on January 30, 2006, in the form of a gift shop, which people spent their accumulated points. upon visiting the shop, a [[trophy]] was added to the [[User Lookup]] of those who scored any points during the plot. they were...

Top winners released by the ''Sakhmet Royal Prize Commission''...

'''First place with 229,300 points'''
*parkersc

'''Tied for second with 214,300 points'''
*dolphinling
*dragon_cleric

'''Tied for third with 204,300 points'''
*cran_b
*sum41girl2k
*ub3r_g00b3r 
<br style="clear:both;"/>

There were also trophies handed out for sand and block movers, which were only available to view through the each users individual plot stats page.

{|
| http://images.neopets.com/desert/ldp/trophies/ldp_trophy_sand.gif '''Sand Mover''' || http://images.neopets.com/desert/ldp/trophies/ldp_trophy_benblock.gif '''Block Mover''' (in the user's symbol)
|}

{| border="1"
|-style="background:silver"
!  || Top Sand Movers|| Top Block Movers
|-
|style="background:silver"| '''1.''' || lordjetro - 73 || sinisten - 14 
|-
|style="background:silver"| '''2.''' || majacal_daze - 70 || sunshinebubbles - 14 
|-
|style="background:silver"| '''3.''' || jenlynng - 68 || soerenl - 13 
|-
|style="background:silver"| '''4.''' || princess_peace001 - 64 || indisguise - 13 
|-
|style="background:silver"| '''5.''' || rosebud2554 - 64 || kimik000 - 13 
|-
|style="background:silver"| '''6.''' || parkerchempro - 62 || takumi0830 - 13 
|-
|style="background:silver"| '''7.''' || pretiful - 62 || tracy17901 - 13 
|-
|style="background:silver"| '''8.''' || marigoldd - 62 || barrymanglow - 13 
|-
|style="background:silver"| '''9.''' || samniann - 62 || bassexe_04 - 13 
|-
|style="background:silver"| '''10.''' || devingl - 62 || Still lost in the Repository. :( 
|}

The ''furniture mover'' statistics were never released, said to be stolen. It may be a joke on [[The Neopets Team]]s part, as they say they can't continue to find the statistics, as the Sakhmet guards are looking for those who stole [[The Foreman]]s missing toenail polish, and can't bother to look into something as furniture. It's generally believed the [[TNT]] lost the data, or had no way to gauge how many were taken into the Scroll Repository.

==External Links==
*'''Plot Info:''' [http://www.neopets.com/desert/ldp Lost Desert Plot]
*'''Prize Redemption:''' [http://www.neopets.com/desert/ldp/gift_shop.phtml Gift Shop of 1,000 Rewards]
*'''Caption Competition:''' [http://www.neopets.com/games/caption/caption_archive.phtml?place=621 #621], [http://www.neopets.com/games/caption/caption_archive.phtml?place=625 #625], [http://www.neopets.com/games/caption/caption_archive.phtml?place=639 #639]

[[Category:Plots]]
[[Category:Lost Desert Plot]]
[[Category:Battledome]]
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