The Tale of Woe was a plot that took place in the Haunted Woods, telling of the story of Neovia. It was held from October 2nd-November 20th, 2006, with its prizes being released in March 2007.
Synopsis[]
The story begins with Gilly, having just escaped the latches of Eliv Thade, decided to rest at a mysterious Wanderer Camp. Then, one of the Wanderers began to tell of the story of Neovia. He tells of Bruno, a Gelert who wished to be stronger so that he could win over the love of his life, an Aisha named Lily. However, Lily already had a boyfriend: Oscar, a muscular Kougra, who punched Bruno when he attempted to greet Lily. Oscar then warned him to stay away from "his" girl. Not long afterward, the dejected Bruno encountered a mysterious Krawk called Mr. Krawley, who offered him a bottle of Hissi Oil, telling him that it would make his dreams come true. Bruno agreed, taking a swig of the elixir and gaining his sought-out figure overnight. He then excitedly told his father about the potion. Although Edmund was skeptical at first, with their mounting financial problems, he decided to try the potion himself when the Krawk later approached him. For a while, everything seemed fine, with the family sharing the secret of their success with all of Neovia, but soon afterwards, Mr. Krawley's Hissi Oil turned the townsfolk into monsters.
The suspicious Krawk quickly disappeared from the scene before the townsfolk could exact their revenge on him, taking it out on Bruno and his family instead for spreading the elixirs' reach. With Sophie being the only unaffected citizen in Neovia, with help from Bruno's brother, Reginald, they took her to Ilere, the Earth Faerie, who offered to protect of Sophie until the curse was lifted. As the townsfolk were still after Bruno, however, he had to take refuge in a cave for ten years to protect himself.
Meanwhile, Mayor Thumburt decided to summon the Spirit of Slumber to lift the curse, but on one condition - the townsfolk would haunt the town as ghosts every year on Halloween. With the Wanderer's tale being over, Gilly discovered a locket among the ruins of Neovia and made her way to Sophie's shack for answers. Sophie, becoming stressed upon seeing the locket, shooed Gilly out of her shack. While taking refuge in a cave, Gilly discovered the still-mutated Bruno and went back to Sophie. The witch, upon recognising her older brother, explained that she had tried and failed to make an antidote for the townsfolks' curse out of ingredients given to her from Ilere. After Sophie concocted a potion to summon the Spirit of Slumber, he agreed to lift the townsfolks' curse, mutating them once more. As they closed in on Gilly and Bruno, she then chased after Mr. Krawley, eventually leading them to the old Meepit Oaks Sanitorium, with him masquerading as Dr. Edward Alexander. While there, he provided the patients with a calming elixir, and the nurse Lucy with a flower, which Gilly discovered was the final ingredient needed for Sophie's Hissi Oil antidote.
With the curing potion brewed, Gilly and Sophie went to Neovia, in hopes of putting it in the town's water supply. Their path was obscured by the then-mutated Mayor Thumburt, but Sophie and Bruno quickly made work of him, turning him into a Moquot. In the end, they were successful in returning most of the townsfolk back to normal, excluding Bruno, due to him having been stuck in this form for too long. Fortunately, he accepted his fate gracefully and returned to live in the town with his family (except Sophie, who went back to her shack in the swamp).
As Sophie and co. said their goodbyes, Mr. Krawley looked on and then finally disappeared in a puff of purple smoke.
Avatar[]
The Tale of Woe - Krawley avatar may be obtained via visiting Sophie's Shack after having participated in the Tale of Woe plot.
Site Theme[]
Participators of this plot are able to use the Tale of Woe site theme, which looks like this and this.