Streaking ahead today - it's Wilko Cloudrunner! Are you out there Wilko? Give him a virtual round of applause - especially those of you in the all-time top tens

Tried the new Super Emotes yet? Say them in just a few keystrokes with the improved chat system. Behold the power of the keyboard - SPACE, 2, 1, 3!

Look - it's Mystery Object #1's friend, Mystery Object #2. Got any ideas on what this might be? Or how 1 & 2 will be used in Everand?

Mystery object number 1 - what do you think this might be? And what's it for?

Name That Monster: the cold weather edition. Know the names of any of these three snowy fellows? Have a guess!

Name That Monster - and this is a much belittled thorny beast. Yes, that was a clue, albeit a cryptic one...

It's happened - the crossings have just become way more exciting! There are Vortex Effects to watch out for, Focus Techniques to learn and the Focus Bubbles minigame to play to earn vital Focus Stars. Make sure you check your Inventory for all the details before you enter your next spirit channel! You don't want to be ...losing your crossing streak now do you?

Adran Trailghost just sent us this image - he couldn't remember exactly the monster or effect, but it's his best guess at what's happening out there...

Some of Dr Skyscanner and Adran Trailghost's work in progress for you. They're working day and night to get it all done...

...cont from previous comment I think we may be able to finalize our research into these techniques in time to meet the threat, but there's still one problem; the techniques require a tremendous amount of mental focus, more than even our most talented Pathfinder has to spare during a crossing. We've got to come up with some way to allow our Pathfinders to regain mental focus during a crossing… but how? Adran

URGENT MESSAGE 3 of 4 From: Adran Trailghost To: Dr Volo Skyscanner -------------------------- Dear Dr Volo, These vortex effects are most troublesome indeed! The monsters of Everand are dangerous enough as they are, and I can hardly imagine the hazard they would pose once they gain entirely new powers! There is only one thing I can think of that might allow our Pathfinders to counteract these new threats. Many years ago the Academy started a secret project to research something called "Focus Techniques". These techniques were powerful mental abilities used by adventurers before the Great Disaster, but no one's been able to harness them for many generations. Legend says that they can grant a wide array of powers, some of which might be powerful enough to deal with the dangers posed by these mysterious vortex effects. cont in next comment...

Think you'll be ready to harness your mental powers to combat the vortex effects? There's talk of something called "Focus Techniques" in this leaked email: http://www.facebook.com/note.php?not...

...cont from previous comment One thing's for sure; these vortexes are getting stronger and stronger. Right now I'm only detecting them in my laboratory experiments, but according to my calculations it's only a matter of time before they've spread throughout all the channels of Everand! Once these vortex effects take over, the channels are going to be a lot more dangerous. Adran, if we can't think of some way to prepare our Pathfinders for these new dangers they're going to be in serious trouble! Dr Volo Skyscanner

URGENT MESSAGE 2 of 4 From: Dr Volo Skyscanner To: Adran Trailghost --------------------------------- Adran I've looked into these reports of unusual monster behavior and I'm afraid we might be facing a most dangerous situation. It appears something is altering the energy flow of the channels, and the zooming monsters seem to be creating tiny vortexes of disturbance as they travel through them! There's no saying exactly what might result from these vortexes, but I believe they may be granting the monsters strange new powers! The vortexes seem to react differently to different species of monsters, so there's no telling what kinds of reactions we might see out there! cont in next comment...

Vortex alert! According to this leaked email (see next comment), the spirit channels are about to get a whole lot more dangerous!

We've uncovered some highly sensitive emails between high-ranking members of the Everand elite. Something is definitely happening in the spirit channels. Here's the first email - see if you can make any sense of it and let us know your thoughts... URGENT MESSAGE 1 of 4 From: Adran Trailghost, Leader of the Pathfinder Academy To: Dr Volo Skyscanner, Everand Monsterologist ----------------- Dear Dr Volo, Have you noticed anything unusual going on in the channels lately? Some of our Pathfinders say they've been sensing odd energies swirling through the channels. They've noticed that the monsters have been acting quite strangely. Do you have any idea what might be going on? Adran

Oh look, new icons. But what are they for?

Strange happenings in the spirit channels - coming soon to a crossing near you. What on earth is going on? Any ideas?

NTM Round 4! Slight deviation from the format this week - can you tell us what these monsters have in common? Clue: it's in their names...

All-time heroes this week in our look at the Leaderboards. Feel free to gloat in the comments if you are listed