Difference between revisions of "Champions of Meridell"

Revision as of 15:48, 5 April 2012

Darigan Citadel looms over Meridell.

Champions of Meridell was a plot beginning on 23 July 2002 and concluding on 28 April 2003. It detailed the discoveries of Meridell and Darigan Citadel, and their war over a magical orb.

Like the Tyrannian Invasion and Brucey B and the Lucky Coin plots, user participation was exclusively Battledome orientated. For the first time, players could chose which side of the war to fight for - a mechanic that was repeated for the Hannah and the Ice Caves and Curse of Maraqua plots.

Many of the characters in this returned in the sequel, Battle for Meridell.

Synopsis

Five years before the story begins, Lisha and her brother Jeran had been playing in the woods when he disappeared. Lisha was unable to find her lost brother until five years later, when she saw him in a painting from hundreds of years ago. She realised that all those years ago Jeran must have found some way to go back in time and to the legendary kingdom of Meridell. Lisha and her friends returned to the woods Jeran had disappeared in and explored the ruins of Meridell castle, when they were transported back in time to when the castle was whole.

There, they discovered Meridell was under attack by terrifying monsters: a long time ago, King Skarl's knights brought back a magical orb that has kept the kingdom prosperous, but in doing so they deprived another kingdom of it. The other kingdom, Darigan Citadel, became twisted with thoughts of revenge and hunted down the stolen orb. Discovering it in Meridell at last, they invaded, overwhelmed the defenders, and recaptured it.

However, the orb did not bring Darigan the prosperity it promised. It corrupted Lord Darigan, who used its power turn himself into a super-being. Realising the danger he posed Neopia, Master Vex and the Yellow Knight worked together to rally the forces of both nations to defeat him.

The Spectre of Lord Darigan finally vanquished, both sides rushed to claim the orb - which promptly broke in two.

Story

Act One

Lisha discovers the portrait.

One quiet day in Neopia Central, Lisha was playing a game of NeoQuest with her friends Morris, Kayla, and Count Boris. Some bullies came to ruin their game, but Lisha and her friends fought them off. In some other time or place, a Lupe knight fought a similar battle against strange, twisted monsters.

The following day, Lisha and her friends visited a museum on a school trip. Seeing her interest in history, the museum's curator invited her to see some of the older paintings they didn't have on display. Chief amongst them was a painting of the Lupe knight - "Sir Borodere" - at the moment of his triumph, hundreds of years ago. Lisha was stunned: she recognised the Lupe as her brother, Jeran, who had disappeared during a game of hide and seek five years before, never to be seen again.

Lisha realised that he brother hadn't just disappeared that day, but had somehow found his way to the kingdom of Meridell, thought destroyed centuries ago. Lisha and her friends headed east of Neopia Central to the ruins where she and her brother used to play. While exploring the ruins, there was a bright flash of light, and when they light faded, they find themselves inside a complete castle.

Act Two

Lisha and her friends were discovered by two Draik guards, who demand to know where they came from. Lisha explained that they had come from the future by some sort of magical portal, but guards remain unconvinced and escort them to the dungeons. On the way, three strange looking Neopets burst in through the window and attacked. Quickly besting the guards, they were only defeated by Lisha and her friends. Thankful for their aid, the guards granted them an audience with King Skarl, hoping he would be able to explain where their assailants had come from.

King Skarl was seeking the counsel of Jeran when they arrived and the guards explained their situation. In return for helping them, King Skarl granted Lisha and her friends their freedom - then demanded to know what they were doing in the castle to begin with. Lisha explained again how they had come to be there, and something stirred at the back of Jeran's memory of how he had come to Meridell: "I would not believe their tale either, if there wasn't something strangely familiar with it."

The King explained that long ago, he had sent his knights on a quest to retrieve a magical orb that promised to save his kingdom from famine and disease. Ever since, the orb had kept Meridell prosperous. He reasoned that the monsters they had seen had come to steal this orb from the castle.

Skarl's story wasn't the whole truth, however: the knights hadn't just retrieved the orb, but had taken it from the kingdom of Darigan. The kingdom, made prosperous by the orb, withered when it was stolen, its people became twisted and altered. After many years of searching, Lord Darigan had located the thieves at last. As his floating citadel approached Meridell, it cast a terrible blight across the land. He began the invasion.

Act Three

Enchanted by an unknown magic, Lord Darigan decided to use the orb for himself in order to attack and destroy Meridell. Witnessing his leader's madness and transformation into a fiery demon, Master Vex realized that the only way to stop Darigan's rampage was to join forces with the Meridellians. Their combined powers were successfully able to defeat Lord Darigan at last and in a flash of light made him disappear, seemingly forever. The orb, before Skarl or Vex could claim it, split in half and lost its magic for good.

Opponents

There were two sets of Battledome challengers: the Meridell challengers who could only be fought by players supporting Darigan, and the Darigan challengers who could only be fought by players supporting Meridell. Players could fight the same challengers repeatedly.

Wave	Meridell	Difficulty	Darigan	Difficulty	Points Per Win
1	Morris	25	Drackonack	20	1
2	Peasant Militia Mob	40	Draconian Moehog	60	2
3	Green Knight	56	Draconian Skeith	50	3
4	Skeith Defender	75	The Horde	120	5
5	Lisha	95	Zombified Heroes	120	10
6	Jeran	150	Draconian Grarrl	150	25/20
7	King Skarl	200	Darigan Elemental	200	50
8	Castle Defender	850	Lord Darigan	800	100

War Boss

The final opponent of the war could be fought by both sides. Once he was defeated (by Majal_Kita) he became unavailable for anyone to fight any more.

Boss		Difficulty	Points Per Win
Spectre of Lord Darigan		5000

Prizes

Meridell
Peasant 1 - 4 - ? Serf ? - 9 Squire 10 - ? Herald ? - 20 - 33 - ?	Man-At-Arms ? - 51 - 58 - ? Apprentice ? - 102 - 150 - ? Journeyman ? - 238 - 434 - ? Defender ? - 500 - ?
Defender ? - 601 - ? Knight ? - 3005 - 4000 - ?	Champion ? - 6523 - 7500 - ?
Hero ? - 25000 - ?	Lord ? - 68500 - 121400
Darigan
Apprentice 1 - ? Acolyte ? - 12 - ? Follower ? - 38 - 43 - ?	Faithful ? - 60 - ? Retriever ? - 102 - 178 - ? Darigan Defender ? - 300 - 367 - ?
Battlemaster ? - 500 - 614 - ?	Dark Knight ? - 6738 - ?
Dark Hero ? - 22105 - ?	Dark Lord ? - 207373

Trophies were added to peoples User Lookup, depending on who they joined and how many points they collected, they received a different trophy and title. Weapons prizes were...

Green Knight Sword
Green Knight Shield
Darigan Skeith Tongue
Darigan Skeith Tail Guard
Skeith Defender Chest Plate
Skeith Defenders Gauntlet
Winged Horde Dagger
Winged Horde Helm
Undead Blade
Zombie Hatchet
Lishas Homemade Armour
Lishas Wand
Skarls Amulet
Skarls Sceptre
Elemental Hammer
Elemental Rock
Darigan Generals Sword
Draconian Generals Tail Armour
Jerans Sword
Jerans Shield
Castle Defenders Shield
Castle Defenders Sword
Lord Darigans Jewel
Lord Darigans Blade
Darigan Rules T-Shirt
Meridell War T-Shirt

Trivia

This plot was the first to have avatars associated with it.
Champions of Meridell is one of the longest plots to date, lasting for nearly nine months.

External links

Plot Info: Champions of Meridell
Gallery of Heroes: Jeran, Lisha, Kayla, King Skarl, Master Vex, Galgarroth
Gallery of Evil: Lord Darigan
Neopet TCG: King Skarl, Lisha, Jeran, Meridell Knight, Count Boris, Kayla, Morris

@@ Line 26: / Line 26: @@
 ===Act Two===
-There they are found by [[Draik]] guards and almost thrown into the dungeons, when three [[Darigan]] Neopets break through the window. Quickly defeating the guards the three Darigan Neopets turn on Lisha and her friends, who quickly use their skills to defeat the three creatures. Lisha and her friends are then granted an audience with [[King Skarl]].
+Lisha and her friends were discovered by two [[Draik]] guards, who demand to know where they came from. Lisha explained that they had come from the future by some sort of magical portal, but guards remain unconvinced and escort them to the dungeons. On the way, three strange looking Neopets burst in through the window and attacked. Quickly besting the guards, they were only defeated by Lisha and her friends. Thankful for their aid, the guards granted them an audience with [[King Skarl]], hoping he would be able to explain where their assailants had come from.
-King Skarl explained to them that a magical orb was the likely reason the monsters had attacked. Long ago, when Meridell was facing a terrible famine, Skarl had sent his knights out to find a cure. The knights eventually came upon an old [[Kyrii]] seer, who told them the location of a magical orb. Once the orb was brought back, Meridell began to thrive again.
+King Skarl was seeking the counsel of Jeran when they arrived and the guards explained their situation. In return for helping them, King Skarl granted Lisha and her friends their freedom - then demanded to know what they were doing in the castle to begin with. Lisha explained again how they had come to be there, and something stirred at the back of Jeran's memory of how he had come to Meridell: "I would not believe their tale either, if there wasn't something strangely familiar with it."
-As it turned out however, Skarl's story had been a lie. The orb had first belonged to [[Lord Darigan]] until the knights stole it, and the monsters had come back to reclaim their property. With the Darigan army ready to attack, Meridell responded in suit and the battle for the orb began, eventually leading to victory for the Darigan side. However, when Lord Darigan brought the orb back into the Citadel, something went wrong and the orb failed to heal the citizens.
+The King explained that long ago, he had sent his knights on a quest to retrieve a magical orb that promised to save his kingdom from famine and disease. Ever since, the orb had kept Meridell prosperous. He reasoned that the monsters they had seen had come to steal this orb from the castle.
+Skarl's story wasn't the whole truth, however: the knights hadn't just retrieved the orb, but had taken it from the kingdom of Darigan. The kingdom, made prosperous by the orb, withered when it was stolen, its people became twisted and altered. After many years of searching, Lord Darigan had located the thieves at last. As his floating citadel approached Meridell, it cast a terrible [http://www.neopets.com/tcg/displayCard.phtml?edid=1&id=48 blight] across the land. He began the invasion.
 ===Act Three===

Difference between revisions of "Champions of Meridell"

Revision as of 15:48, 5 April 2012

Contents

Synopsis