Hello and thank you for joining us as we present this week's edition of The Neopian News Brief, the place to get the latest word on everything happening in Neopia during the past week. There's a good deal of news to go over, so let's begin...
Our lead story is this week's return of the "Champions of Meridell" plot. In this latest installment (the fifth so far), we find ourselves inside the newly-unveiled Meridell Castle. It seems that "matters of utmost urgency" have caused King Skarl to turn to Jeran, his trusted confidant, for advice. Meanwhile, Lisha and company are having a hard time convincing some Draik guards that they've been magically teleported from the future, so it looks like there's a trip to the dungeon in their future (Or is it their past? It's all so confusing!). So then, how will our heroes escape this latest scrape, and what's this business about "matters of utmost urgency"? Stay tuned, as all will surely be revealed...
In other Meridell-related news, eight new berries have been added to Pick Your Own. Now, instead of coming home with a basket of dung piles and half-eaten berries, you could pluck yourself some nice Burritoberries (perfect for a midday snack). Keep in mind, though, that Burritoberries can be kind of spicy, so be sure to grab some Aquaberries to go with 'em!
Also from Meridell is a great new game that's got everyone flipping. That's right, it could only be... Double or Nothing! Snargan the Skeith is a coin-flipping fool, and he'd love nothing better than to take ALL your NP (and put a little extra cheese on his burger... heh). However, judging from a look at the Hi-Score Tables, more than a few flippers have taken this scurrilous Skeith to the cleaners. Are you persistent enough to string together a streak and rack up a king's ransom against Snargan? Or will you blow through a fortune flipping for fool's gold?
On Friday evening, a quartet of new stamps were unveiled; two from Mystery Island (Island Mystic and Ryshu the Nimmo), as well as a couple featuring The Haunted Woods (Korbat's Lab and Halloween Aisha). If last weekend's real-life rush is any indication, then collectors will surely be hustling to get their paws on the new Halloween Aisha stamp.
Speaking of NeoPets merchandise, quite a clamour was raised this past Tuesday when a white Doglefox was spotted on the Neocam. Apparently, they could start popping up in Claire's as soon as this weekend, so be sure to keep an eye out for those. Word also has it that a pair of new Petpet species are in the works for the weeks to come, so stay posted for more details as they become available...
In other Petpet news, this past Monday saw the release of four Usuki Petpet kits, which each come with a replica Babaa, Uniocto, Doglefox or Red Anubis. Seriously, no decent Usuki collection could possibly be complete without an Uniocto Petpet kit, which features miniature goggles, seaweed and... a strawberry milkshake?
IIIITTTTSSS GORMBALL! That's right, Monday also marked this year's celebration of the Neopian Gormball Championships. To commemorate the occasion, all Gormball prizes were doubled, and a number of changes were made to insure that the game is more splash-a-riffic than ever! So what are you waiting for? Pick your player and get ready to... erm, gorm.
Speaking of celebrations, this past Wednesday featured the arrival of Skeith Day. For one special moment, all of Neopia (except for maybe the Petpets) took time to salute these loveable lugs. Along with the usual assortment of books, baked goods and Battledome goodies (weapons, moves and free training), Skeiths also received three new paint brush styles (orange, rainbow and robot), as well as a trio of stamps and four NeoGreetings.
Skeiths were also featured in this week's Site Spotlight, Poetry and Caption Competitions, and two prominent new Neopians who were mentioned earlier, Double or Nothing's Snargan and Meridell castle's King Skarl are also Skeiths. Congratulations!
The four Skeith books that appeared on Wednesday weren't the only new titles that appeared this week, as Neopian bibliophiles had a number of reasons to rejoice. Tuesday saw the debut of four new releases in the Faerieland Book Shop, while Thursday marked the arrival of four more titles, including the Encyclopedia Neopia and Neopia In Under 18 NP A Day, a must for those who are less fortunate. Happy reading!
Now, it's time to take a look at this week's leading stories on the financial front. For the third straight week, the Neodaq posted a substantial gain, adding a thirty-six point increase to the previous two weeks' respective gains of forty-four and one hundred and six points. However, most of that movement came from only three or four companies, while the rest of the board failed to show any significant profits.
Leading the pack, in a major way, was The Neopian Auction House, which already entered the week as the most valuable stock on The Big Board. Well, that margin grew substantially as TNAH leaped an incredible fifty-nine points to vault past the two-hundred point mark early on Friday, only the second company (after BOOM! Boom Boxes) to reach such a plateau in recent memory.
Speaking of BOOM!, after they'd lost more than 95% of their value and even fallen below the 15 NP mark, many investors had written them off as a lost cause. Well look out, because BOOM! managed to build on last week's ten point jump by putting up a thirty-one point gain this week, bringing them back past the fifty-point milestone for the first time in nearly a month. Sure, this latest rally is a far cry from their past glories, but it's certainly a start...
Meanwhile, after their staggering fifty-five point gain last week, it seemed as though Kacheek and Sons Landscaping was poised to challenge The Neopian Auction House for supremacy of The Big Board. However, it was not to be, as KSON pulled a serious thirty-point flop, stumbling all the way down to 62 NPs a share early on Friday.
So then, will Kacheek and Sons be capable of rebounding and mounting another rally, or will they be surpassed by BOOM! Boom Boxes as they seek to recapture their place atop of the heap? Plus, is there any way that The Neopian Auction House can possibly keep up this torrid pace, or is a letdown just around the corner? Only time will tell....
Dragon Thieves: Echelon - Part One "You wouldn't like people poking into your business,
so stay out of theirs," she said. "That includes you, Skyil, mind-reader."
Our lead story is this week's return of the "Champions of Meridell" plot. In this latest installment (the fifth so far), we find ourselves inside the newly-unveiled Meridell Castle. It seems that "matters of utmost urgency" have caused King Skarl to turn to Jeran, his trusted confidant, for advice. Meanwhile, Lisha and company are having a hard time convincing some Draik guards that they've been magically teleported from the future, so it looks like there's a trip to the dungeon in their future (Or is it their past? It's all so confusing!). So then, how will our heroes escape this latest scrape, and what's this business about "matters of utmost urgency"? Stay tuned, as all will surely be revealed...
In other Meridell-related news, eight new berries have been added to Pick Your Own. Now, instead of coming home with a basket of dung piles and half-eaten berries, you could pluck yourself some nice Burritoberries (perfect for a midday snack). Keep in mind, though, that Burritoberries can be kind of spicy, so be sure to grab some Aquaberries to go with 'em!
Also from Meridell is a great new game that's got everyone flipping. That's right, it could only be... Double or Nothing! Snargan the Skeith is a coin-flipping fool, and he'd love nothing better than to take ALL your NP (and put a little extra cheese on his burger... heh). However, judging from a look at the Hi-Score Tables, more than a few flippers have taken this scurrilous Skeith to the cleaners. Are you persistent enough to string together a streak and rack up a king's ransom against Snargan? Or will you blow through a fortune flipping for fool's gold?
On Friday evening, a quartet of new stamps were unveiled; two from Mystery Island (Island Mystic and Ryshu the Nimmo), as well as a couple featuring The Haunted Woods (Korbat's Lab and Halloween Aisha). If last weekend's real-life rush is any indication, then collectors will surely be hustling to get their paws on the new Halloween Aisha stamp.
Speaking of NeoPets merchandise, quite a clamour was raised this past Tuesday when a white Doglefox was spotted on the Neocam. Apparently, they could start popping up in Claire's as soon as this weekend, so be sure to keep an eye out for those. Word also has it that a pair of new Petpet species are in the works for the weeks to come, so stay posted for more details as they become available...
In other Petpet news, this past Monday saw the release of four Usuki Petpet kits, which each come with a replica Babaa, Uniocto, Doglefox or Red Anubis. Seriously, no decent Usuki collection could possibly be complete without an Uniocto Petpet kit, which features miniature goggles, seaweed and... a strawberry milkshake?
IIIITTTTSSS GORMBALL! That's right, Monday also marked this year's celebration of the Neopian Gormball Championships. To commemorate the occasion, all Gormball prizes were doubled, and a number of changes were made to insure that the game is more splash-a-riffic than ever! So what are you waiting for? Pick your player and get ready to... erm, gorm.
Speaking of celebrations, this past Wednesday featured the arrival of Skeith Day. For one special moment, all of Neopia (except for maybe the Petpets) took time to salute these loveable lugs. Along with the usual assortment of books, baked goods and Battledome goodies (weapons, moves and free training), Skeiths also received three new paint brush styles (orange, rainbow and robot), as well as a trio of stamps and four NeoGreetings.
Skeiths were also featured in this week's Site Spotlight, Poetry and Caption Competitions, and two prominent new Neopians who were mentioned earlier, Double or Nothing's Snargan and Meridell castle's King Skarl are also Skeiths. Congratulations!
The four Skeith books that appeared on Wednesday weren't the only new titles that appeared this week, as Neopian bibliophiles had a number of reasons to rejoice. Tuesday saw the debut of four new releases in the Faerieland Book Shop, while Thursday marked the arrival of four more titles, including the Encyclopedia Neopia and Neopia In Under 18 NP A Day, a must for those who are less fortunate. Happy reading!
Now, it's time to take a look at this week's leading stories on the financial front. For the third straight week, the Neodaq posted a substantial gain, adding a thirty-six point increase to the previous two weeks' respective gains of forty-four and one hundred and six points. However, most of that movement came from only three or four companies, while the rest of the board failed to show any significant profits.
Leading the pack, in a major way, was The Neopian Auction House, which already entered the week as the most valuable stock on The Big Board. Well, that margin grew substantially as TNAH leaped an incredible fifty-nine points to vault past the two-hundred point mark early on Friday, only the second company (after BOOM! Boom Boxes) to reach such a plateau in recent memory. 
Speaking of BOOM!, after they'd lost more than 95% of their value and even fallen below the 15 NP mark, many investors had written them off as a lost cause. Well look out, because BOOM! managed to build on last week's ten point jump by putting up a thirty-one point gain this week, bringing them back past the fifty-point milestone for the first time in nearly a month. Sure, this latest rally is a far cry from their past glories, but it's certainly a start...
Meanwhile, after their staggering fifty-five point gain last week, it seemed as though Kacheek and Sons Landscaping was poised to challenge The Neopian Auction House for supremacy of The Big Board. However, it was not to be, as KSON pulled a serious thirty-point flop, stumbling all the way down to 62 NPs a share early on Friday. 
