Hello and welcome to this week's edition of The Neopian News Brief, your one-stop summary of all the latest events from the land of Neopia. There are a good deal of new topics to be covered, so let's not delay...
 This week, we'll start things off by taking a closer look at the turmoil and devastation that has plagued Meridell since the kingdom's defeat at the hands of Lord Darigan. Late Thursday evening the smoke began to clear, and the damage became apparent for all to see. The Turmaculus was nowhere to be found, and the Cheese Roller Shop had been looted with impunity. Where Ye Old Petpets once stood, there was now little more than a dilapidated pile of bricks.
 Not only was the landscape of Meridell charred and misshappen, but many of Meridell's citizens were also left destitute. In addition to having their homes leveled and belongings plundered, the good folks of Meridell now face a hard winter with very little to eat in their pantries. Due to the demise of Merifoods, the Cheese Roller Shop and Pick Your Own, a pronounced lack of food now casts a grim shadow over this once-prosperous land.
 But seriously, who wants to hear about all that depressing starvation stuff anyway? In much happier news, this Wednesday marked the debut of Zurroball, an exciting new game from the Virtupets Space Station. In the beginning, just keeping your Zurroball in the air can be quite a task (I've found that it's best to use the Energy Ball when starting out). However, once you've gotten the hang of it, it'll be no time before you're racking up the points by pulling off radical tricks like the Grounder and Around the World. Hmm... I wonder if this means we'll be seeing "Frumball" anytime soon?
 Also causing a stir throughout Neopia has been the sudden proliferation of jelly items that has begun popping up. All the excitement about Jelly World's imminent unveiling was further fueled by two new arrivals on Tuesday. First was the release of three new grape jelly weapons, which can be found in the Battle and Defence Magic Shops.
 The second was an announcement that a small cluster of jelly food items (such as lime jelly burgers and blackcurrant jelly pops) had begun turning up throughout the market place. To top it all off, on Wednesday an entire ensemble of orange jelly furniture became available at the Neopian Furniture Shop. Hurray for jelly!
 Usually, the release of new stamps is an event accompanied by a good deal of fanfare in Neopia. Well, this past Monday was no exception, as the hearts of collectors were set aflutter by two new Snowy Valley stamps. Featuring depictions of a Wintery Bruce and Candychan, these stamps come with rarities of seventy-eight and seventy-nine, respectively.
 However, that wasn't all... on Thursday, a trio of Tyrannian stamps also generated a great deal of buzz among stamp enthusiasts. In addition to stamps that carried likenesses of a Tyrannian Blumaroo and Usul, Thursday's stamp bonanza included an impressive shiny Monoceraptor stamp, which sports a hefty rarity of ninety-seven. Good luck trying to find one of those!
 After the recent barrage of Christmas and plushie paint brushes, it now appears as though things have returned to normal over at the Rainbow Pool. This week saw the premiere of five new styles, beginning with orange Myncis and island Quiggles on Monday. Proving that the only thing better than a new orange paint brush style is... that's right, TWO orange paint brush styles, on Wednesday all of Neopia gasped in astonishment as they beheld the majesty of the new Orange Draik (okay, so maybe not all of Neopia gasped in astonishment... but it was pretty cool nonetheless). As if that wasn't enough, Wednesday also marked the introduction of rainbow Usuls (Yay! Just like the plushies). Then, to round things off, Thursday saw the arrival of desert Ixi. Pretty swanky...
 Due to the fact that it falls on a Saturday, this year the Festival of Buzz began a little early. By Friday afternoon, the proceedings were well underway, as Neopians settled in for what is sure to be a wild weekend of partying in the streets. The celebration kicked off with the usual assembly of Buzz goodies, including lip-smacking red Buzz lollies from the Chocolate Factory, and Buzz bread salads from the Food Shop. Throw in some free training, moves and new weapons for all those Buzz Battledomers out there, and you've got yourself quite a start.
 Oh, but that isn’t all--not by a long shot! Buzz Day also saw the unveiling of two new paint brush styles (striped and plushie), a quartet of books (including Don't Bug Me, a personal favourite!), a whole heap of Buzz Fun Images, and a two page special in the Art Gallery. Additionally, Buzz were featured in this week's Poetry and Caption contests, as well as Friday's Pet Spotlight. Way to go, Buzz!
 The time has now come for us to review some of today's headlines from the world of finance. After last week's hundred point tumble, many market watchers expected the economy to come roaring back. In fact, Neopia’s most valuable company, The Neopian Auction House, managed to do just that. TNAH rebounded from last week's forty point freefall by climbing an impressive thirty-four points, all the way back up to two hundred and thirty-eight NPs a share.
 However, not everyone was so lucky, as the losses far outweighed the gains this week. Leading the way among those that took a hit was Faerie Clothing Ltd., who followed last week's nineteen-point skid with a troubling twenty-three-point collapse. In an amazing turn of events, Faerie Clothing has lost eighty percent of its value, dropping from fifty-five to thirteen NPs a share within the past fortnight.
 Faerie Clothing was just one of eight companies whose shares fell below the dreaded 15 NP mark. On the flipside, only two companies managed to climb back over fifteen points, bringing the total number of companies out of commission back up to a disturbing twenty seven out of forty-five. So now, after the sustained prosperity of the previous two months, it looks as though the Neopian economy has fallen on hard times. Will investors simply ride out the bad times, waiting to cash in during the next upswing in the market, or will panic set in, causing them to lose faith and put their NP elsewhere? Only time will tell....
|
