Long ago, before the building of our great city, twelve heroes arose. Each was famous for different deeds of varying natures. The greatest of these heroes is the one whom we now know as King Altador. He, with the aid of the other heroes, founded our illustrious city by the sea.

Before the Great Betrayal, the kingdom of Altador was one of the most glorious places in all Neopia. It was a centre of culture and greatly admired for its dignified citizens. Those blessed times were nearly lost when one of our own, who once called herself an ally and friend to the heroes, turned her heart to darkness and attempted to destroy the city. Only by Jerdana's magic were we saved, though our future remains uncertain.

Within this tome you will find the recorded history of the twelve heroes and how they came to form the Kingdom of Altador. Protect this knowledge well, for it may be all that is left if Jerdana's magic fails and the betrayer succeeds....

Just as a hero must perform a heroic deed before he can be named as such, a villain must also do something terrible in order to earn such a title. The Betrayer was not always an evil being and was once even respected for her deeds. Long before the Great Betrayal, (in fact, before the founding of Altador), she earned her place among the twelve Founders by saving the life of King Altador himself.

A terrible menace was plaguing a peaceful farmland, and a hunter (the future king of Altador) journeyed forth to slay the beast. He tracked it back to its lair in a cave at the base of a mountain and there cornered it. Though the beast roared viciously, Altador did not falter.

Rather, he notched an arrow and let it fly, striking the beast squarely in the head. Even as the vile creature slumped to the ground, another of its kind snuck up on the unsuspecting Lupe. The noble hunter would have fallen then and there if not for a purple blast of magic. Startled, Altador spun around, just in time to see the other creature collapse. There, standing behind it, was a dark faerie... the Betrayer.

Altador thanked her graciously for saving his life. He had never witnessed such compassion on the part of a dark faerie before, so he bid her to return with him to his village, where they would feast and be praised as heroes.

Each carried the head of the beast they had slain to the village, and a grand celebration was held long into the night. Altador, realising what a unique ally he had acquired, asked her to stay and join him and his companions in fulfilling a dream he had of founding a great city. The Betrayer agreed, and though she would ultimately help to build the kingdom's august capital and serve the council well, nothing can make up for her terrible betrayal. She broke the king's heart, for no sword strikes as deep as the one wielded by a friend....

Though she lacks the worldwide fame of other Neopian faeries, Psellia is well known and revered for her kindness in Altador. She always does her best to encourage others to achieve and is always there to catch them if they stumble in their lives. A rather inspirational figure, Psellia is known throughout Altador as "the Dreamer."

One day, long before the founding of Altador, Psellia was relaxing on the clouds of Faerieland when a Blumaroo bounced too close to the edge of a cloud and slipped off. Psellia watched in horror as the Blumaroo plunged toward the sea far below.

She knew the poor creature would not survive the fall, so she leapt off the cloud and darted downward, fluttering her wings as fast as they could go.

The turbulent sea grew closer and closer, and Psellia could see the Blumaroo's terrified eyes as he desperately flailed his arms toward her. Though her muscles burned with the effort of flying faster than she ever had, the air faerie was determined to catch the falling Neopet before it was too late.

Using the last of her strength, Psellia let loose an amazing burst of speed that only an air faerie could manage and grasped the Blumaroo's outstretched hand. With his paw firmly in her grip, Psellia tried to slow their fall, straining at the air until they landed in the ocean with an almost delicate splash. With the last of her energy, Psellia swam to a nearby shore, dragging the Blumaroo safely onto dry land, where they could recover.

This heroic tale spread quickly, and soon thereafter Altador requested that Psellia join him in forming the Kingdom of Altador.

Long ago, when the Kingdom of Altador was little more than a whisper on King Altador's lips, the heroic legend of Siyana the light faerie arose. It is often said that through her actions alone, an entire village was saved from a most dreadful fate.

During her travels, Siyana once stopped at a small, peaceful farming village. The locals were kind, gracious Neopets, so Siyana stayed in their village for many weeks, helping to keep their crops from frosting over in the chilly nights.

One evening, after checking the crops, she spotted a shadowy form moving in the woods.

Suspicious, Siyana grabbed a thick blanket to hide her light and trailed the stranger at a distance, deep into the woods, until he joined a group of bandits gathered around a campfire. She flew in as close as she dared and listened from a high branch.

"Well done, scout," said their leader. "Soon that village will be ours!" Siyana dropped the blanket and fled as quickly as she could. One of the bandits spotted her and fired an arrow. A terrible pain shot through her left wing, and she fell to the ground. Though she couldn't fly, the courageous faerie ran as swiftly as her legs would carry her, with the bandits in close pursuit.

When she finally reached the village, Siyana was out of breath and could not shout to wake the villagers! Instead, she focused all of her light faerie power to glow as brightly as she could. Thinking the sun had risen, the villagers came outside, and saw the band of thieves approaching. They armed themselves and chased the bandits away for good.

The villagers could hardly express their gratitude to the light faerie. One of the farmers, a Kacheek named Florin, told her that there was a noble Lupe she should perhaps meet. When she did, Siyana the light faerie came to be one of the founders of Altador.

Not everyone who helped found Altador was a magical faerie, capable of using their natural gifts to help others. In fact, one of the most notable of all the founders was a simple farmer with a good heart...

Florin had lived his whole life on a small farm. Each day he rose with the sun, to tend his crops and feed the Petpets he raised on his farm. Though Florin worked hard from dawn to dusk, he greatly enjoyed his simple life.

One day, while going into town to buy more Petpet feed, Florin noticed a group of farmers talking. Apparently, some strange blight was afflicting their crops, and unless something was done, a whole season of food would be lost.