How to use this guide: All direct quotes from the site are in green. All things found from viewing the source code are in red. To view source, in netscape, hit ctrl-U, in IE, select "Source" in the view menu. If this doesn't bring up the source in IE, clear your browser cache by going to tools, internet options, and click the "delete files" button. Definition so you will understand when I use the term: Main Entry: red herring Function: noun Date: 15th century 1 : a herring cured by salting and slow smoking to a dark brown color 2 [from the practice of drawing a red herring across a trail to confuse hunting dogs] : something that distracts attention from the real issue Thanks Merriam-Webster! What we know: (This section is a timeline, scroll to the bottom to see the newest info) Discover the Secret of the Volcano! (article from the Sept/Oct Neopets magazine) A blue Acara named Mora goes to get her fortune from the Island Mystic, and instead learns the dormant volcano is coming back to life. We are given a link, http://www.neopets.com/island/mystichut.phtml to begin the hunt, and The Clue: "The first clue is the Volcano card. This is your starting point. See that symbol at the bottom of the card? That's a rune from the ancient language of Mystery Island. Do you recognise it? Have you checked your Har codestones lately? This rune represents the sound "r." We can say no more. Study the card. It will lead you to where you need to go. Good Luck!" Oddly enough, there is no card pictured on the page, there is no Volcano listed in the full TCG series list in the magazine, and there is no Volcano collectable card. I guess we need to wait... For some time, the Island Mystic page (the url given in the magazine) has only said: UPDATE : Wondering why the Beckett's Magazine says something is going wrong with the Mystery Island volcano? Can't find any more information? Don't worry, watch this space - more information coming soon! Sept 22, more codestones are showing up in the shop wiz. The original codestones The new codestones Mau Tai-Kai Lu Vo Eo Mag Vux Cui Main Zei Orn Har Bri Kew Sho Zed Well, the Tiki Tack Man seems to have had a little bit of a problem. I can't imagine what this has to do with the Volcano, other than it happening on Mystery Island. But Volcanos typically don't cause a scuffle. "Weird... The Tiki Tack man is nowhere to be seen. He never leaves his tombola unattended (and if he does, there is usually a note)... and it also looks like there was signs of a scuffle, as some of the items have been knocked from the shelves. I wonder where he has gone?" Sept 23, the Island Mystic seems to have figured out the Tiki Tack Man is gone as well: "Oh no... could it have started already? What has happened to the Tiki Tack Man???" Last night Tiki Tack Man was still showing up in the Tiki Tack Shop, and could be fought in the battledome. Today he no longer is in either place. The Tiki Tack shop has an orange kougra and says "Sorry, this shop is closed temporarily...". You also can't fight him in the 1-player Battledome. However, he is still showing up on the Mystery Island Map Now the Techo Master from the Mystery Island Training School is missing as well. The page says: "A school without a master is nothing, and that is what we have become, for only last night our honourable master was stolen from us. We fear he was kidnapped, for there was signs of a strong fight. Chairs knocked over, and strange holes burned into the sides of the school wall. If you could help us at all we would appreciate it. We do not know what, or who could overpower such a skilled fighter, but he is obviously a foe worthy of great respect. " Within the source of the page is this: "<!-- Looking closer, you see footprints leading to the north. Two sets. You see nothing else. //-->" The news mentions the things we already know: "MYSTERY ISLAND - A lot of weird things have been happening to Mystery Island recently. The Tombola Man has vanished, and today it seems that the Techo Master has been kidnapped from the Training School (maybe his price change had something to do with it! :) Also, the volcano in the centre of the island has started to belch out foul-smelling smoke... Anyway, we are sure they will return back soon, but in the meantime we have added a new NeoBoard where you can discuss The Secret of the Volcano... " The map of Mystery Island hasn't yet changed to actually show the "Volcano" (previously always referred to as Techo Mountain, but nevermind) belching smoke. Sept 24, Neopets news says: There have been two more developments in the Secret of the Volcano. Firstly the Island Mystic is nowhere to be seen, and secondly it seems that Queen Fyora herself has sent a Fire Faerie down to stop people approaching the rumbling Volcano. Don't go any further! Both the link to the mystic and the volcano reveal further information (click their links above to see them). The source code of the mystic page also contains "Looking closer you see two sets of footprints leaving the hut." Also, once in several refreshes, you will get a second message in the source: <!-- Looking closer you see two sets of footprints leaving the hut. You also find a single red feather on the floor near the door//--> Oh, and the Techo Mountain Volcano finally is belching smoke at the Mystery Island Map, like was stated in the news yesterday. However (heh) Tiki Tack Tombola Man is still showing up with his Tombola box if you look on the main map. Sept 26, Tiki Tours is hit "Daddy is gone!!! *waaah* Oh no! Who would want to kidnap the Mystery Island Tour Guide? It seems that somebody came in the night, smashed up his cart, and stole him away. The mysterious kidnapper has struck again! Is there a pattern behind these recent crimes? Where have all these islanders been taken? One thing is for certain - nobody has a clue!" Really late news, they finally added something to the Volcano page, in the source: "you notice a path through the trees..." There are 20 pages to the maze path, and the same messages come up at the top of the page as you click through each depth level. If you take the correct path through the maze, you will find an end where you are stopped by a second fire faerie (if you take the wrong path, you will find a simple dead end at depth=20). Pay attention to the "longnumber" part of the url to figure out the way to the faerie. Sept 29th, Jhuidah is missing (finally! Geez, I've expected her to be gone since TTM went missing) From the Trading Post: "The Island Faerie is nowhere to be seen, and the doors are locked. I hope you didn't have any items in there, because they aren't coming out until these kidnappings are stopped!" From the Cooking Pot: "We thought that the kidnapper wouldn't strike again, but he (or she, or it) has! The Island Faerie is nowhere to be seen, there is no note, no sign of a struggle, nothing. Without the Island Faerie here the pot may not work the way it is supposed to..." Also, if you refresh and view source a ton, you may be privileged enough to see <!-- one set of footprints leads away to the north //--> If you're even more lucky, you might see "<!-- you see a ripped, burned_note on the ground next to the pot //-->" Interpreting that, you can discover the url to the image at left. If you go to the Rock Pool on Mystery Island, you may find a bit of a surprise... (Hint, look for someone familiar in the shopkeeper image) The Neopian News Brief has finally been uploaded, and it has a lot to say about the plot, but doesn't seem to offer up new info or clues. Click here to read it. There is a Parrot on a Hill in Mystery Island that was involved in solving the Coltzan's Crown plot. Just a few days ago, he was still saying his phrases that were clues to that plot. However, now he is no longer saying any of those phrases, and instead has taken to saying some new things: '... but what if I turn into a Uni???' 'I'll come to pick it up tomorrow' 'I'm going to need some Peach Jelly!' 'Yeah, just give me time to find the ingredients...' Sept 30, According to those who have been lucky enough to buy a Green Uni Morphing Potion, the recipe in the note was Green Uni Morphing Potion, Peach Jelly, and Slugroot. That makes Botago Plant, which when mixed with Tagobo Plant gives you Tagobo Potion, which says it is "Used for making shrunk things bigger. One use. Keep at room temperature." Hmm, where might THAT be useful? If you go to the rock pool with your Tagobo Potion, you get the "Free Jhuidah!" avatar, and see the following information: Ugggh, my hair! I have to tell you what happened, it was terrible. I was just standing at my pot, trying out a few new ingredients... in fact I was trying to make this root, Botago Root for a friend of mine. It turns out that it has magical shrinking properties. So anyway, I hear these footsteps, and this strange language behind me... and there he was, a squat little shaman, with these red feathers in his hair. I asked him what he wanted, but I don't think he understood my language. He walked up to me, and pushed me into the pot, and, well I can only assume that I started to shrink, because when I came around I was trapped in this stupid bowl. This shaman is behind the kidnappings, he must be. To help you on your quest I will let you in to a secret. The kidnappings are not random, I hoped they were, but now I know that there is a purpose behind them. The five of us were entrusted a long time ago as the keepers of Mystery Island. There is something horrible in the volcano, something really bad, and if it escaped it could mean doom for the whole island, and the power that we were given all those years ago has kept the volcano sealed and the evil at bay. I fear that this shaman is trying to get us out of the way so he can release this evil on the world, and by kidnapping the keepers of the volcano he may have got a good start. You must search the island for the four remaining people and free them, the fate of the whole island lies in your hands! I can tell you two things that will help you on your quest. Firstly, it seems that this shaman has an evil sense of humour (hence where I have spent the last 24 hours!). Secondly, he doesn't want to hurt us, he wants to hide us somewhere where we will never be found. GOOD LUCK! This information is now available for anyone to see at the Cooking pot as well. From the news: Jhuidah has been found at last - apparently some evil shaman shrunk her and put her in a bowl! Well, she is free now and has a story to tell! Click here now! The second part (much bigger and MUCH more difficult) of The Secret of the Volcano will start in a couple of days! Oct 5, The Neopian News Brief has a bit of repetition of what happened this week: As the second week of bizarre occurrances rolled into effect on Mystery Island, it seems that the natives still haven't gotten the hint. This past Monday, to the shock and amazement of just about nobody, Jhuidah the Island Faerie went missing. In fact, the biggest surprise turned out to be that, the very next day, she was actually returned! Granted, her head was jammed in a fishbowl (bet you didn't see THAT coming... ). Anyhow, according to Jhuidah, she was working on a root that possesses magical shrinking properties when some bizarre little shaman abducted her. Then, when she woke up, she found herself doing a pretty good Alien Aisha imitation. Interesting... According to the Island Faerie, this odd little guy is the one responsible for the recent spate of kidnappings. Apparently, a long time ago, Jhuidah and the other four abductees were entrusted with protecting the island from some horrible, horrible force of evil that had been trapped in the volcano ever since. Now, unless the other four guardians of the island are returned to safety, then the wrath of this mysterious volcano villain will be unleashed, and the island will face great peril. According to New Features, the second installment of the plot (which would presumably entail finding the other four), will begin sometime within the next few days. Oh goody, we can't wait! Oct 15, finally some progress. And a lot of it. Jhuidah has found a note: Wow - look at this! I found this earlier in the bushes over there. I am not sure what it is, but it may be an important part of the puzzle in rescuing our friends! I think it is some sort of language, but not one I have ever seen before, and believe me, I have been on this island for a long time! Thanks to Paradox and Aranel, we have this complete translation: "?S, You were correct. With the four of them gone, the power of the ancients was weak enough to open the first seal. Jhudiah can do nothing now, she is harmless. My minions are working on breaching the second as we speak. When all three are down, the secret of the volcano shall beyours [sic], my lord. When going on safari, safety is of the utmost importance. Make sure you pack at least three large pian leaves, nine pinannas, and seven kraku berries in case of poisons. At eight o'clock every day you must prepare the camp. It is only two hours till nightfall and the island can get very dangerous. J."

There are new locations on the Mystery Island Map, the Beach and Techo Mountain. Letters appear in the sand on the Beach sometimes when you refresh. F, L, S, A, K, O, Y, B, and H have been spotted. Techo Mountain says the following: Nobody knows who carved this mountain, it has been on Mystery Island as long as anybody can remember. People assume the carver was a Techo, who made the mountain in his own likeness. The Mouth is Closed A voice suddenly booms 'What is the PASSWORD????'. Do you have it?

The volcano no longer has a Fire Faerie warning not to enter, but if you get through the caves, you find her, very upset here

Island Mystic is back. He says I am back! I can tell you little about my captivity, where I went, or what happened, because I was unconcious most of the time. However, in my weakened state I believe that somebody... or something is trying to unlock the volcano. Yes, inside the volcano lives a beast of mythic proportions. If his power is harnessed, who knows what evil will come to the world. I think it is already too late, I was unable to stop the seal being broken. You must hurry, find the other guardians of the volcano and free them, for only then can we join together and close the seal on the volcano and trap the beast forever. I have one thing you may need - a word. It is part of a spell, and my word is 'Awaken'. Guard it wisely!

The "Tombola Man" also has returned. However, it isn't the same guy we're used to, because he now is wearing a different mask, his skin color changed from reddish brown to blue, and there appears to be a bit of a chunk missing from his skull... Fake Tombola Man apparently didn't realize he needs to also run the tiki tack shop, it is still closed.

The Techo Master is still missing. Also, the Island Tours Coco has not returned. Poor little Cocos.

If you go to Tombola, and grab a ticket, in addition to the usual, the page says "You must find my Tiki Mask and break the curse! Ask for help... please!" If you ask the help Zafara, Sarah about it, she has an odd response: Tiki Mask??? "Why would I know anything about a Tiki Mask?" Sarah's eyes suddenly roll back in her head, and she starts chanting in a weird voice... The Mask you seek is a thousand miles away. Fetch it quickly, to save the day.

Buying a Magic Tiki Mask (or winning one from the game Fetch), and going to the Tombola with it brings the old tombola guy back: Ahhh, got me old mask back! You saved me, and I can't thank you enough! I was cursed with an evil mask, and was under the control of that shaman! He is loose on the island, and he is trying to open the volcano and free that beast inside! I don't know what his plans are after that, but I'm betting we aren't going to like them. You must look for the others. When we are all free we will be able to seal the volcano up once more, for the safety of the whole of the Island! I have a word that will aid you in your quest, and that word is 'Beast'. Maybe you should ask Jhuidah what her mystery word is! Thanks, Good Luck, and when this is all over how about you come back for a nice game of Tombola!

If you go to http://www.neopets.com/island/cookingpot.phtml?ask=mysteryword Jhuidah says: Ahh, yes, I remember there was some sort of secret word that I was supposed to remember. I think I even wrote it down at some point, but now I just can't remember it at all. It's as if it has been removed from the whole of the history of Neopia!
The word "of" has gone missing from several Neopedia articles. It is possible that means it is Jhuidah's Mystery Word that disappeared from the history of Neopia.

Oct 16, If you go to Jhudora, there is a bit in the source code of the page <!-- askabout tikitourguide //--> If you ask her about the missing Tiki Tour Guide (http://www.neopets.com/faerieland/darkfaerie.phtml?askabout=tikitourguide) she tells you: You want to know about that talking statue? Oh, yes I bought that little guy from a merchant on Mystery Island. Cute little fellow, only 2 inches high, but you'd think he was alive. It was a great ornament for my mantlepiece for a while, but then it kept screaming 'HELP', which got on my nerves. I eventually gave him away to somebody who did a quest for me. Can't remember the guy's name, but I know he loved coconuts and tiki, and all that rubbish...

There is only one shop in Neopia with the elusive Tiki Shield (along with other Coco and Tiki items), cocoluvr_y5's. And unlike any other Tiki Plushie, the one in this shop says "Help! Help" if you hover your mouse over it.

The site has been down for a good portion of the day. At some point, the usual Neopet that shows up on the unavailable page was changed to a Coco Jubjub. If you hover your mouse over the image, it says Help! Help!. Also every so often the text below the Coco changes from NOOO! to HLS.O!!K

Oct 17, the letter becomes useful. The decoded message mentions Safari, then has several numbers, 3,9,7,8, and 2. Going to the neohome at 39782 Safari Lane in Mystery Island takes you to an abandoned house: You find an abandoned house... on the floor seems to be scrawled some sort of combination... maybe to a safe! 59 39 18 19 04 24 58

The combination actually refers to times (in seconds on the Neopets Standard Time clock) to refresh at the beach to get certain letters. The letters are HYAKLOB. Going to http://www.neopets.com/island/techomountain.phtml?password=hyaklob you finally find the Techo Master. But he's stone. There is a series of moves (Short left kick, Uppercut, Right straight punch, High block, Left straight punch, Low Block, Roundhouse, Left Cross, Right Jab, Right Hook) to wake him. Then it says: The stone statue shivers and creaks, and suddenly transforms into a living, breathing techo! The techo steps forward and nods. "Thank you, young grasshopper. You have freed me from my prison, and learned a surprising amount about martial arts too.Now run along and help free the others. You will need a word in order to defeat your enemies, and that word is 'Magma'. Run now, there can be no more delays.

We've figured out just how we were supposed to know to look to Jhudora's source code to find out about the Tiki Tour Guide's location. If you refresh on the Tiki Tour Guide's page, the children say other things periodically. I don't yet have a full list.

To save the Tiki Tours Guide, you need to "send" a Tagobo Potion to the owner of the shop his plushie is in. He has this to say: AT LAST! Thank you so much for saving me! I was stuck in that stupid shop for days.. not able to do anything about helping my friends back on Mystery Island! It will take me a while to get my power back, as that shaman has stripped me of all that I can do to help. You must rescue the others. I can tell you two things - I think they are trying to releease the beast within the volcano, and that one of the words to summon the beast is 'Ancient'. Good Luck!

Take this to the inside of the volcano that was previously found, and add all the words to the end of the url: http://www.neopets.com/island/inside_volcano164523.phtml?mysteryphrase=ancientbeastofmagmaawaken

Oct 18, Finally a definitive explanation on how to get through the volcano paths without just using the url we're given: Each path has a long number. You should know what those are from the previous time through here. Now, each cave has two longnumbers that don't change when you refresh. However, in some caves, the numbers will switch sides every so often when you refresh. When you see that happen, it is safe to go forward. If you enter a cave and its numbers don't change sides after many refreshes, use your back button to go to the previous cave and choose the other path. Keep doing this until level 14, and if you hit the dead end after that, go back and the other path should take you to the faerie!

Well, the mystery is solved, for what it's worth. The Island Mystic has been saying things if you refresh an OBSCENE number of times (thanks TNT :P) One (I'm sorry, I don't have a direct quote) said something about singing backwards. Then there are the four important ones:
They will arise from their sleep, and our enemies forever begone.
Fiery Rock will illuminate the darkness
He who has lived a thousand years will return to protect us from evil
A creature can help us defeat the shaman
There is a hint in the news that says Magma = Fiery Rock. The first phrase has arise, which correalates to Awaken. The second phrase goes with Magma. The third (thousand years) with Ancient, and the fourth (creature) with Beast. Of remains unchanged. Grab the last word of each phrase, and put it in the order we originally used, and you have Begone Evil Shaman of Darkness. Go to the URL http://www.neopets.com/island/inside_volcano164523.phtml?shaman=scaredycat&mysteryphrase=begoneevilshamanofdarkness and that's all she wrote.

There is a purple juppie on the shelf behind Fake Tombola Man that was not in the old tombola picture.

A new one player battledome opponent (or should I say 2?) has appeared on the servers. They look an awful lot like The Meerca Brothers who were involved in the Coltzan's Crown puzzle. Very SuspiciousTM

There is a Pygmy Shaman in Neoquest, who seems to have red feathers. No Neoquest character has ever come into Neopia, but there is always a first time. The "PS" in the letter may refer to the Pygmy Shaman, or it may refer to Professor Sloth.

The red feathers may have been our clue to go check out the Parrot from the Coltzan's Crown plot, and as such have served their useful purpose as a clue. However, as the feather was found in the Island Mystic's hut, not the Cooking Pot, he may continue to say new things that will point to the location of the Island Mystic.

The female "coco" at the tiki tours seems to be a selectively shaved red jubjub
Going with this, inside the caves, it says: "The Fire Faerie hasn't noticed you so far, and you heard that the Coco JubJubs made these passages years ago ... so why not?" We don't know yet whether this is just like the witch becoming a Zafara and Island Mystic a Kyrii, or if there is more involved.

The new codestones have some likely meanings, in the way that Har="R". Kew="Q", Zed="Z"

The clue in the Training School's source code (footprints leading to the north) could refer to the Cooking Pot, Maraqua, even possibly Tyrannia, or to a yet unknown location

The shamanish techo that works at the Tropical Foods shop probably isn't who Jhuidah referred to, because he would speak her language, and she would recognize him

The statue at the bottom of the ruins of Maraqua is a character from the Playstation console game to be released by Neopets. The characters from that game are also featured heavily in the Trading Card Game. However, we have no reason to assume they are in any way linked to this plot.

The text on the banner at the volcano seems to say "arghistsallhotandst" or "arghitsallhotandsc". Not a clue

Tekkitu the Witch Doctor (from one player battledome and Defenders of Neopia) has feathers and is very Mystery Islandish, but his feathers are blue, not red.

Adam Powell (borovan) is not above throwing out his own little red herrings while a plot is going on. An example of this is several messages he had on his computer screen (big enough for us to see on the webcam, must be a "secret"! :P and on his whiteboard. Clues on the neocam have never related to a plot, and I can't imagine they would start, considering it would mean to solve the puzzle you would have to happen to catch the neocam when that clue is there. It gives a very unfair disadvantage. So, while not completely impossible, it is extremely unlikely.

There is a volcano still in Tyrannia (kinda). It is a remnant from when Tyrannia was 3 maps instead of two. They took some things out of tyrannia, and ended up condensing everything to the two you see now, but you can still manipulate the URL to get to the volcano. Refresh there to get Magnus the Torch as a battledome challenger, if you like. However, it is extremely unlikely to have anything to do with this plot, as the Volcano referred to continually is supposed to be in the middle of Mystery Island, not in tyrannia.

Neopets does sometimes use user or pet accounts as clues in their mystery games. However they are always "old" accounts. The date created will be years old, possibly before neopets began. The neopets team does this because they are the only ones able to manipulate the created date this way, so that little losers who think its funny to take advantage of gullible users can't cause trouble for anyone with sense. Any account with a date within the past few days or weeks will NOT be a clue. If you can only see an error message talking about the plot, or whatever, the user has used CSS code to mask their real information. The real information (including age) of an account or pet can be seen by viewing the source (in the view menu, select source in Internet Explorer) or by using a browser like Opera or Netscape.
When the Neopets Team (TNT) uses a pet or an account in a plot, there is a direct line from a clue that comes from TNT to the account. For example, a note in the NPv2 plot mentioned a person who really liked purple fruits, and looking up ummagines in the shop wizard led us to an account that had a gallery of ummagine items only he had (and has ever had) like a plushie, t-shirt and cap. DIRECT LINE from clue to account. This means some account with a guild in Talador (or wherever else) is not a clue. I made a guild in "Dung Land" just to prove I could. (P.S. It is something you can do with the Opera browser). Also, a pet named after all the codestones (amazingly in the exact same random order as I have them listed, how convenient, except they misspelled Sho) is not a clue. There is no line from the present clues to these accounts. I won't go into the other reasons it is obvious they are fakes.
Bottom line is, if there is no extremely CLEAR line between a current clue and a pet or account, do NOT waste your time or others on it. Thanks
Also, if you personally think it would be funny to try this, note that several "clue" accounts made by people who thought it would be funny to screw with people have had their descriptions wiped by the Neopets Team, and some have even been frozen.

In the source code of all of the neopets pages, near the bottom is code similar to this:
<!--
www137.neopets.com
//-->
The number changes. However, this code has been showing up for some time, and I believe it is a number that tracks which of Neopets' server computers sent the page. Regardless of its real use, it is not part of the puzzle.

If you want to help out on the plot, it would be best if you knew a few things. Here are some things that might be helpful to check out. They may or may not include anything that directly involves this plot, we can't know for sure.

Solutions to past puzzles:
Coltzan's Crown
Neopets Version 2 AKA NPv2

This is an article that was written about 6 months ago, by a PLAYER, not the Neopets Team. So far, however, much of the information coincides with the present situation. We don't know for sure if TNT used this as a jumping point for their plot, or if this player just had an astute sense of where Neopets intended on taking Mystery Island politics...
The Forgotten Faeries: The Battle and Island Faeries

Neopedia articles:
The Tale of Young Ryshu Tells of the second in command at the Mystery Island Training School.
Ryshu Goes on a Grand Quest Tells more about Ryshu, and some info on the Pango tribe of cocos.
Mystery Island About the island itself, and the people who live there
The Volcano Crystal More coco info, and a bit on the Volcano itself
The Golden Juppie Info about King Mumbo Pango
The Juppie Smugglers From the Tiki Tack Tombola Man's brief stint as a customs officer...
Gadgadsbogen Info on the Mystery Island holiday
Brucey B Tombola Man sure has had a lot of strange jobs. Here he's the bouncer at the Kraku Lounge
Underwater Chef About one of the island residents who hasn't yet gone missing
Rufus Another resident who didn't go missing, although he sat right next to imprisoned Jhuidah apparently unaware for over a day...
The Lesson of the Techo Master More info on the missing Techo Master
The Codestone Secret Yeah, what does he do with all those codestones?

And finally, go click around on Mystery Island. Click on all the shops, click on all the areas, find out what you need to know, so you will know if and when things have changed
Even those of us who thought we knew everything to know about Mystery Island can be surprised. Since this plot started, for instance, I found if you click on the God Statues in the Island Marketplace, it takes you to a section of Guilds. I didn't even know any of the guild areas were linked to the maps previous to that!