#Champions of Meridell

[nettleneopian]

Spectre of King Skarl

[alien-aisha-vending-machine]

Theory: How Neoquest was the first appearance of the Wraith threat.

i've always had the theory that the madness/dark magic from the two ring castle -> dark magic that infected darigain -> the madness that affected modern neopians during TDF -> wraiths & how it's all related to faeries being a possibly unnatural presence in Neopia

Part 1: Neoquest, or, "What do you mean Neopia is post-apocalyptic?!"

NQ1 is possibly the earliest version of Neopia we have or have ever gotten (if one doesn't consider Tyrannia as "a slice of the prehistoric era".) Notably, it's never been "debunked" in the same way that NQII has (tho, aspects in NQII imply that there are some canon aspects, or that the story itself is true- while the version we PLAY is a re-enactment or simulation.)

Though, while these days, Neoquest, (be it 1 or 2) is often considered "fictional" within the worldbuilding, a lot of early site lore really leaned on Neoquest for it's foundations. Toys, weapons, stories. monsters... a lot of this was based on Neoquest. it's a story that's been long forgotten by the site itself, but I still feel that in terms of the greater story of "Neopia", it is the most reliable glimpse into the ancient past and the sort of idea of what Neopets' original trajectory was.

It's also notable as being a version of neopia without the influence of Faeries. In fact, most neopians are neopets, and not a faerie is found in all the game.

Neopia is described ingame as a not-so-friendly place that is swarming with monsters and animals.. many of which are other neopets. The structure of this version of Neopia is very very interesting, as instead of faeries, it seems like it was ruled by a Council known as the "Circle of Twelve" who used what was known as "circles" of magic instead of the more well-known schools of Faerie magic (Fire, Ice, Shock, Spectral, and Life magic vs the Faeries' Dark, Light, Earth, Air, Fire and Water magic)

The lore goes back even further, mentioning a Great Empire and a Civilization known as Keladrian- a civilization of powerful wizards that was ancient even before the already-ancient Great Empire.. which was 1000 years ago during NEOQUEST.

Upon using the amulet on Faleinn, the leader of Kal Panning, she has this to say:

So ultimately, after a great scuffle between Kal Panning and the Circle, the Circle destroyed Kal Panning over the course of a month- afterwards, they realized what they had done and their leader, Jahbal, was banished to the Two Ring Mountains- from therein he used his evil magic to... corrupt the outside world. This long-form campaign to ultimately reduced the world to a few pocket civilizations, wrought with monsters.

A lot of the monsters are very clearly neopets, though- mad, mindless, and slowly warping from their less-crazed counterparts. They are sort of.. feral, in a way. Why.. it seems to remind me of...

Notes to Carry Forward:

No Faeries were present in Neoquest times, or before then either.

... note that there is no Faeries in Tyrannia, either.

Neopia thrived on Wild Magic.

Neopia, at this point, is a twice-over post apocalyptic civilization

There is a Dark Magic spell that is causing Madness, Mutations, and Violence.

Part 2: Champions of Meridell, aka the one without Kass in it.

Meridell is planted firmly "in the past" described ingame as a forgotten land of heroes. With Meridell and it's surrounding areas being such big players in the larger story of Neopets, it's easy to forget the world of Neopia is a very modern sort of place.. roughly pre-industrial, and while these days- Meridell and the other fantasy-themed lands often stand next to other lands as if they exist in the modern settings, Access to these areas are through a time portal.

I find Champions an ultimately more interesting tale than Battle, as it's the introduction to Meridell as a whole and contains a hugely important aspect of the land. Meridell was once suffering under famine, and under the advice of a seer, the King sends his knights to locate an Orb.

Meridell, which was once ridden with disease and famine, began to burst into life and lush greenery.

It's notable that Skarl does not know, or does to wish to share the fact that he knows, that the knights he sent to retrieve this orb had ultimately stolen it from the kingdom of Darigan.

When the orb was stolen, Darigan took a huge dive-

seemingly ending up worse than Meridell ever was. But.. why? Why did Darigain's citizens mutate when Meridell did not? Perhaps the orb was used to suppress something darker? More ancient?

In the Twisted Histories Capsule Adventure, we are presented with an alternate timeline where Meridell was defeated by Darigan. I think it's genuinely one of the coolest set of items ever introduced (the whole alternate timeline thing as a whole), as it not only implies that Darigan not only defeats Meridell, but merges with it to become one land....

Another aspect I would like to point out is that as Darigan citadel approaches Meridell, Spiked tentacles begin to grow and thrash.

Notes to Carry Forward:

A magical orb is used to bring health to the land around it.

While no faeries are explicitly mentioned in the story, we know Illusen is around, and that an air faerie saves jeran in the direct sequel.

Without the protection of the orb, the land turns Dark and pets begin to mutate. Ultimately, their leader falls to madness.

prev mentioned spiked tentacles.

Part 3: The Darkest Faerie, or- why is all the best lore hidden in the TCG?

There is a lot of lore snuggled away in TDF. It's one of my favorite cornerstones of Neopets' history- even moreso than Neoquest. A lot of it's personality does get lost in the game, but the cards are a huge contributor to really getting a glimpse into what the world was intended to be.

An interesting aspect is the concept of becoming "Tainted." Not only can pets and petpets be "tainted" but so can locations. In fact, with spiked tendrils echoing the corruption of both Meridell and Darigain in Champions, it makes it easy to draw comparisons.

In-game, the pets simply turn purple and their eyes glow, but the cards show off some more intense mutations.

That sounds a lot like "Darigainification".. except possibly more intense. The land withered, pets mutated and went crazy, and darkness fell. The designs look very similar to darigan as a color.

Note that this darkness.. didn't start when The Darkest Faerie was released, mind you. It happened after Illusen was dispatched... and one of the major quests involves a magical orb that is used to dispel the darkness.

Faerie Magic is suppressing this darkness. Perhaps specifically earth faerie magic... These Orbs- both Illusen's and the nameless one that Skarl/Darigan has, are possibly infused with faerie magic and are keeping the darkness, whatever it is, at bay.

"This, the orb that froze her in time. Fyora used it to turn the darkest faerie to stone, and imprisoned her under the sea."

With Illusen's Orb (Globe ig) and Jerdana's orb (revealed to originally belong to Fyora) being sugnificant players in the story, These orbs are very clearly a huge thing for Faeries, either powerful or special in nature.

Stepping aside to a really obscure concept, Darkest originally was an ally to the altadorian council, before her dive into betrayal.. but what caused this? This book seems to suggest that she.. dug too deep, perhaps. Maybe she too went mad with what she knew- I think in that sense, she was a lot like Xandra... well, speaking of-

Notes to Carry Forward:

A magical orb is used to dispel dark magic from the land.

Without the protection of a faerie or their artefacts, the land turns Dark and pets begin to mutate.

It is implied that Darkest fell to madness, and she uses this magic to try and destroy the land.

While not depicted in-game, Altador and Meridell are infested by spiked tentacles.

Part 4: The Faerie's Ruin, aka the one that killed off Hubrid Nox (the only sugnificant thing that happened in this plot for realsies 100% no foolin')

So, we all know and love the faeries ruin. and I'm not gunna play recap since tumblr is already starting to lag at the length of this post. But ultimately, when the faeries were turned to stone.. what began to happen? Dark creatures began to crawl from

Xandra may not have been right, but she may have been onto something.

Her neopedia entry says a lot. Neopets ruled by a Neopet? I think once upon a time, the world used to be like that.

...without the faeries' power holding Neopia together, dark creatures emerged and preyed upon the very Neopets that Xandra hoped to empower.

In the wraith resurgance, it is canonized that Neopets can become wraiths- or at least, wraith-like. However, I struggle to accept the resurgance as genuine to the canon, since it a post-staff-purge/Jumpstart-era plot. Plus, it's impossible to navigate what is left, so it's hard to glean info about it.

Stars above, the Ruin plot really did have some of the most gorgeous art neopets ever put out, huh?

Notes to Carry Forward:

Without the protection of the faeries or their artifacts, the land turns Dark and monsters begin to infest the land.

Neopets can adopt the form of these creatures. While Darigan pets are corrupted, they also exist as a color outside the lore. It is unknown for sure of Wraith pets are corrupted like Darigan pets are.

Xandra, while initally "well-intentioned", ultimately falls to madness, and she uses this magic to try and destroy the land.

Part 5: So.. what are you saying?

So, I'm just gonna cut the guff and state my theory outright: Jahabal's Curse from back in NQ still plagues Neopia to this day, and the only thing keeping it from destroying the world is interference from the faeries & their magic. The curse is the direct cause of turning neopets into monsters, and the corruption timeline as Feral and/or Tainted -> Darigain -> Wraith.

I don't think it's all intended. But I think it's interesting how this all slots together super easily.

[masterhallmark]

Their Crimes:

Skarl: in order to save his kingdom, he had his men steal The Orb from another kingdom, cursing the latter PERMANENTLY. He then lied and claimed the cursed inhabitants were monsters trying to steal what was rightfully his. His actions resulted in TWO wars. Never formally apologized.

Kelpbeard: Banished a girl for having visions of bad things to come, claiming she caused the disasters. Had her sister who also had visions of the future regularly report to him, and at one point locked her in her room because he saw her swim to the surface. Later banished the latter because she saved a surface dwellers life, and imprisoned the surface dweller for trying to warn him about an upcoming attack, accusing him of selling their location to his enemies.

[chocodile]

N...Neopets AU Hyden......bro would be the first cybunny to end up in the Gallery of Evil

Gallery of Evil - Lord Hyden

Lord Hyden was advisor and high court wizard to Lord Darigan, serving under him alongside Lord Kass during the events of Champions of Meridell. Scheming, duplicitous, and power-hungry, the Cybunny advisor had his own motives, playing the two against each other and eventually assisting Kass during his hostile takeover of Darigan Citadel. However, when Kass fell and the citadel was reclaimed, Lord Hyden was nowhere to be found.

Some say he was defeated during the battle. Others say Lord Darigan sentenced him to jail for his crimes during the war and that he is currently being held in a high-security prison cell deep within the citadel. Still others claim he fled after his betrayal was discovered and is currently living in disguise, hiding somewhere in Neopia.

Some years after his disappearance, rumors began to circulate of a powerful Kyrii wizard taking up residence in an old castle in the Haunted Woods. It is said that he offers travelers dark spells in return for signing dubious magical contracts. Could there be any relation...?

Additional period-appropriate art of this totally real Neopets character. First is him during his Darigan years with his evil bride Milana... er, "mate", sorry child-friendly censors! Second is him post Mutant Kyrii-fication, lording over his "neutral gray with transparent black shading" evil castle in the Haunted Woods.

[adobe-outdesign]

[shinkoscribbles]

Sooooo… everything's going great in Meridell, apparently!

LOL for the vast majority of you that aren't familiar, these are two of the primary characters in my currently discontinued Neopian Times series, Ballad of the Faerie's Champion. Only relevant information here is that Gary (the bori) is a knight of Meridell, AKA ground zero on Grey-ification. Xee, the lupe, is a scholar from Brightvale, so he's fine, but definitely troubled by the state of his friend, lol.

Also yes, Gary is very, very tall.

[neopianbiologyproject]

are you planning on including the petpets exclusive to petpet park? it was a spin-off, but they are creatures from neopia!

also, i was checking your list, and thought of a few interesting suggestions:

Monocerous (BofA), not to be confused with the Monoceraptor

Sand Hydra of Khaef (BofA), a creature defeated by King Coltzan III, apparently hydras aren't really fictional after all!

Chia Giants (NQ), unsure if they could be considered as ancestors to the usual chias

Giant Petpets (The Lost Isle), similarly to the Chia Giants, in TLI there are a few giant variations of petpets!

Crysophyllum Munusa (TLI), an edible fruit

Darigan Elementals and Elemental Rocks, featured in Champions of Meridell

The Mole, featured in the Scary Cave in Haunted Woods, although the page was closed many years ago!

Sefira, a species of bird with golden feathers that used to roost in Altador

thank you so much for all this!!

Petpet Park: yes! there are items that document the existence of those petpets, so they're real! unfortunately the only available specimens are merchandise of them and not the petpets themselves...

below: Pinixy, Dipni, Oukin

will probably show up on the spreadsheet as valid species but with no ideal specimens. thankfully these items still have their faces on them unlike creatures only documented in TCG or on BofA

Monocerous: there is a stamp and TCG of the Monocerous, so thankfully we have documentation within items! also no ideal specimen but good to make note of the attestation

Sand Hydra: there are actually a few Hydra items, like the Draik set from Cog's Togs... this might take some deeper looking into to determine whether "Hydra" is a name for a few related creatures, a name for a kind of Draik, so on. unfortunately in the case of the Sand Hydra it is as you said summoned by King Coltzan so likely a one-off Construct and not a naturally occurring species in its own right, but clearly we can use it as contributing evidence toward a common Neopian understanding of what a Hydra is at all

NQ: see my last post for more on NeoQuest and how we'll be handling it overall. but yeah if NQ is historical after all then I'd say Chia Giants would be an ancestral species, like Homo Erectus on Earth maybe?

The Lost Isle: also gonna take some digging into! unclear as of yet if these creatures are divergent species or just really big, but since the Lost Isle was entirely isolated prior to the plot relating to it, that seems like grounds for a sufficiently evolutionary process to have occurred

Crysophyllum Munusa: this is clearly a species of something based on the two-name convention but if it's not documented in any obtainable items, as a cursory search leads me to believe, we may have to mark it down and label it as having no specimens attestations that can go into the Museum. honestly not sure how we should handle things in this category.

Darigan Elementals, etc: gonna have to peruse these case-by-case, because as far as I'm aware some were summoned by characters in the Battle for Meridell and thus would be Constructs and not naturally occurring species. but some could be preexisting Elementals under the magical control of said characters, so it'll take looking into to confirm.

The Mole: adding this to the list alongside the old shopkeeper of the Apothecary. did you know the Ghost Lupe used to be a straight up lion? again, none of these creatures have items to attest for their existence, but still worth documenting on the blog here

Sefira: goddammit i want to see the Sefira

thank you so much for bringing all of this to me! i'll make sure they're appropriately documented and I'm so excited people are getting on board with the project so early on!

[thejellyfaerie]

Thinking about King Skarl managing to get his hands on a shotgun at some point before Champions of Meridell.

They reuse the art from the Magic Branch for this but with what the description and name are referencing (nothing like someone from the modern day getting sent back to the Middle Ages) I feel like it's implied to actually be a shotgun or some other form of firearm. Maybe it is just a magic stick. But imagine... Skarl wielding a 12-gauge double-barreled Stevens 311-C.

[el97art]

Kayla from Champions of Meridell Arc

Kayla and her species the Zafara are owned by Neopets.

[raredrop]

as far as my current main account goes, the battle for meridell woulda been the first plot i took part in (and i do have a trophy tho only peasant 1)

i dont...remember if i was there for the champions of meridell plot? it ran long enough that i might have on my original account....

[nettleneopian]

Ok, what if Spectre of King Skarl

[alien-aisha-vending-machine]

Also I like to believe that the NeoQuest hero might also be either related to or is King Altador.

The lore doesn't line up one to one, esp considering that Hero is a spellcaster and not a Knight, but altador being very old even before meridell was founded... And the way that the game kind of talks about how it was founded. does imply that altador is one of the earlier civilizations that popped up after the fall of Jahbal.. they would make sense that Hero would go around and gather champions in order to establish a properly safe settlement.

Perhaps in an alternate reality, they founded Talador.

[masterhallmark]

For anyone unfamiliar with Neopets lore, Lord Darigan and King Skarl were enemies in the original "Champions of Meridell" plot

The protagonists meet and are aided by King Skarl's forces, who are initially portrayed as the "good guys". King Skarl explains that Lord Darigan's forces are trying to steal "The Orb"....a magical item that made Meridell prosper and flourish after years of famine and poverty. Without the orb, Meridell will fall into ruin, again. Seems like a pretty standard fantasy plot, right?

Well, then it's revealed where King Skarl's knights got the orb...Darigan Citadel.

That's right, they STOLE THE ORB, and in doing so brought a curse upon Lord Darigan and his people.

Unfortunately, when Lord Darigan retrieved the orb, the curse was not lifted like he thought it would be, and he was driven mad, causing both Darigan Citadel and Meridell to have to stop him. For some reason after all this bs, Darigan was still listed in the gallery of evil while Skarl was listed in the gallery of heroes, which is BULLCRAP!

There was a sequel where his sanity was restored, blah blah blah, but that's not important to this specific set of dialogue.

SHOTS. FIRED.

[falselyprofound]

"Lisha rubs her head, suddenly feeling ridiculous in her homemade armor. [...] Kayla curls in on herself, unable to bear the weight of her actions. A rueful Morris kneels to pick up their discarded toy weapons. Nobody feels much like playing anymore."

Also on the subject of the Neo tarot - the Five of Swords redraw of Champions of Meridell just hurts, man. Those kids just wanted to play NeoQuest :(

[adobe-outdesign]

Did you see that Neopets ama livestream last week where they talked about the upcoming plot? It’s got me so hyped. I can’t believe they plan for it to spread out across almost a whole year, this is gonna be the longest running plot since Champions of Meridell I feel like

Yeah, if it runs for as long as they claim, then it'll be tied for longest plot with Champions of Meridell (which also ran for 10 months). I'm hyped