Business was pretty brisk again in the Arena as week two of the first round of the Madness Tournament kicked off! Imp was calling duels while he and G’nort seemed to have some sort of undeclared battle of egos. Really, the last thing in the world that the Arena needed was for Imp to win the Warlord Tournament. Can you only imagine Imp as Overlord??? We can only imagine how quickly he might be able to offend the vast majority of female duelists…. and their husbands/significant others.

Lil’ Black Book Jaycy was seen spending time with Kattria. Interesting, no? The girl has seemed to have quite the crush on the man that L.B.B. Jaycy is trying to bed! We have a feeling that Kalamere would bed them both and be quite a happy man. At first we thought that Jaycy was just trying to keep Kalamere all to herself but our sources tell us that she was actually trying to hook Kattria up with Pslyder. Ugh. Somebody really should explain monogamy to this woman. It seems absolutely foreign to her. Kattria didn’t seem particularly opposed to the idea of sleeping with another woman’s “mate”. Seriously, Kattria, you do NOT want to bump uglies with anyone that’s climbed Mount Jaycy-o-lay-la. You’ll just be jumping into a hornet’s nest that you’ll never fully recover from. The men in Jaycy’s life may change but the hurt feelings that she leaves in her wake never changes!

Kattria was later overheard relaying the story to Harris while giving Napoleon some love. Our sources tell us that Harris wasn’t the least bit surprised either. We hear that Napoleon split at the sex talk. What a wise rat! Kattria was wondering what the catch was when Harris told her that bed hopping is just another part of life in RhyDin. Well, if that ain’t true! Nobody that knows the parties involved can be all that surprised about the turn of events!

Collie and Darien were seen hanging out together, having a drink or fifteen and catching up. We’re surprised that the pair of them weren’t watching the Warlord Tournament. Or maybe we’re not. They seemed to be enjoying their alone time. The more they drank, the closer their chairs seemed to get. We hear that he had his arm around her at one point and she was totally giggling. Tsk, tsk, tsk. That’s not the way that a classy mother of a small army should behave! Particularly not with a man who’s more than a little bit shady! Shady or not, Collie was seen leaving with him at the end of the night. Get some MILF action there, Darien???

There was some Madness action going on in the Annex even though most of the crowd was upstairs in the Arena watching the tournament. We hear that the baroness frenemies — Teagan and Maria — got into it over Anubis and Tical. We’re not exactly sure what their issue is as they were being incredibly vague but it seems that Slutty Pirate Girl Teagan is awfully pissed that Maria’s not living up to her end of some bargain. She stormed off to the bar, leaving Maria for some one-on-one time with the Overlord. It seems that Tical and Maria aren’t hiding their relationship any longer. We’re hearing reports that there might be some Crew fallout over that too. When is there not Crew fallout though? One of them breathes and the rest seem to get pissed.

Our sources tell us that they spotted one of our absolute favorites and the founder of our fan club — Ehz! The cute little spark plug was in a ring dueling with a trash can lid and a rolling pin for her Madness duel. Unfortunately, she lost to Tical but we hear that she did really well! Look for the wrap-up and more details in our Dueling Zone article over the next week or two! We would like to see more of her, though! She’s a-freaking-dorable!

Oh, come freaking on! We hear that Anubis collared Mini-Franker Cor’s new girlfriend, Delphi. Is this girl some kind of moron? Is Cor some kind of moron? STAY AWAY FROM THE SLAVER! G’nort and Matt should post signs that say exactly that on the doors of the establishment so that it can’t come back on their heads when these dumb girls get wrapped up with Anubis. The news had Harris laughing out loud and then he gave Cor some really horrible advice. He told him to GO AFTER Anubis! Seriously??? Cor vs. Anubis??? Clearly, Harris wants Cor dead. We have some better advice for you, M-F Cor. Dump the chick. Walk away fast and never look her way again.

Lil’ Bit Lirssa was tending the bar and Kendall and Serena were there with her. We hear that Serena was telling the girls that The World’s Hottest Tender Tucker is better now! We’re super glad to hear that. Evidently all that commotion the night before led to Doc Eva cutting out whatever it was that was causing him to act like… well, like a dirty old man. When he felt up Our Darling Taneth a couple weeks back that was really the last straw. We’re glad that somebody finally did something! Now if only somebody will do something to help O.D. Taneth!

Oh, wow. Has Darcy had a healthy relationship??? Mega Mom Icer was overheard trying to calm her “daughter” down but not much seemed to be working. Somehow Darcy’s current boyfriend, Shadow, made her so angry that she made quite the scene. There was screaming, pounding on doors, and death threats. We hear that she COMPLETELY embarrassed herself by going all crazy girlfriend on him. Later when she finally calmed down a bit she was seen in tears, singing some sad love song. Le sigh. Will this girl ever gain some self-respect???

L.B. Lirssa was seen chatting with Lucky Lawyer Lucien! It seems that some believe she would be better off going off to boarding school! Aw! How sad would that make us??? We’ve got to say, though, it might actually be in her best interest. If she has the friends that can pay for some fancy boarding school, why should she remain in RhyDin tending bar and running the streets??? We hear that she didn’t seem really keen on talking about the subject and instead forced L.L. Lucien to tell her about all the fights he’s been getting into recently. Iiiiinteresting! Our sources couldn’t hear the details which is really a shame because we’d love to hear the explanation for L.L. Lucien’s recent short temper!

What…??? Brale Brother Reap asked L.L. Lucien if he would be okay with him…. well, doing something that even we can’t repeat to Crazy Train Tara!!! Does he have a death wish??? L.L. Lucien told him that he should go for it and C.T. Tara told L.L. Lucien that she would think of him while she was doing the nasty with B.B. Reap. Awesome. Nigel was seen talking quietly to B.B. Reap during this whole incident and perhaps he was able to get through to him because at the end of the night C.T. Tara went her way and B.B. Reap went another. One of the interns believes that B.B. Reap probably just did it to tick off Anubis. We’re not so sure, though. We doubt Anubis holds out hope that C.T. Tara is holding out for him and him alone.

We just do NOT get the rules of Slutty Pirate Girl Teagan and Joey’s relationship. It seems that while they are dating one another, they both have other men that they’re interested in. We’re not sure who Joey’s new man is but evidently S.P.G. Teagan’s guy is named Emmerich. According to our sources S.P.G. Teagan really seems to dig this guy. Not enough to give up Joey, though. We still think that this is just a phase in Joey’s life and that Teagan’s going to be hurt pretty darn bad when she moves on. In fact, our sources say that S.P.G. Teagan has invited Joey to move in with her but Joey declined. Iiiinteresting! Maybe S.P.G. Teagan wants to get serious with Joey but it’s Joey that doesn’t want to get serious with S.P.G. Teagan???

Harris hasn’t decided to start dueling again (which certainly would be a sight as he is a living Outback legend) but he has taken to hanging out in his old haunts again. Even G’naughty G’nort seemed a bit surprised to see him hanging out and causing trouble down there once again. We can only hope that this return to the dueling venues is followed by his wife’s return. We have heard some GLORIOUS stories about her!

Also worth mentioning is that Kitty was seen in the Annex with her husband… who is now sporting breasts. Yeah, for some reason Tass is a woman. We have no idea why and it’s one of those things where you just don’t want to know any additional information, you know?

Speaking of Serena, we hear that she was overheard telling Tucker that Prof. Jolyon asked her to marry him! Tucker’s reaction was to leave the Inn. The rumors that there is more than friendship between Serena and Tucker could have explained his odd behavior if it wasn’t for the fact that he had accomplished all his inappropriate behavior BEFORE she gave him the news. We’re at a loss. Anybody got any idea what’s wrong with T.W.H.T. Tucker??? Has he entered a new, creepy stage in mourning his loss of Doc Eva???

Lil’ Bit Lirssa and C.T. Tara had their own theories, of course. Lil’ Bit Lirssa seemed certain that Prof. Jolyon knew what was going on. Although, we have no idea why she thought there was a connection between the two men. C.T. Tara, on the other hand, was entirely convinced that T.W.H.T. Tucker was a pod person and that they needed to hire Awesome Alain to investigate the matter. We’re left confused as to whether we should believe the two of them or whether we should be horrified that C.T. Tara is allowed anywhere near L.B. Lirssa’s impressionable young mind. We suppose those two things aren’t mutually exclusive, though.

OMG. Spade gets around more than… well, more than C.T. Tara! She was overheard flirting with Harris who had to remind her that he has a wife. A very dangerous, foul-mouthed wife as those that remember her dueling days can attest. The pair had quite the lengthy discussion about sexual matters and a marriage between them should Harris ever get a divorce. Yep, completely an inappropriate conversation to have with a married man but Spade is far from the most well-mannered young woman that has ever walked into the Red Dragon Inn. That is one girl badly in need of a strict finishing school and a good spanking!

Wow. Danny and Kazzy are getting awfully tight, aren’t they? Sure, sure. We know what you’re going to say. They’re just spending time together because they miss Lizzie. The best friend and the boyfriend spend time together to help ease their sorrow, right??? Well, we’re not so sure we buy it. They NEVER seem to mention her anymore and with none of our sources having spotted Grem recently we think Kazzy’s ripe for the picking! We didn’t think Kazzy was the type to be able to stab her best friend in the back but…. now we’re not entirely sure anymore. You better believe we’re going to be keeping our eyes peeled on this one! You guessed it. Totally inappropriate!

A crowd gathered in the Arena to watch two challenges go down… or not go down as the case might have been. Overlord Tical was scheduled to face off against the Baron of Dockside, Vanion. Unfortunately for the crowd hoping to see a challenge, Vanion didn’t bother to show. It seemed pretty decided even that night as Lil’ Black Book Jaycy (Baroness of Seaside), Real Estate Mogul Rena (Baroness of Battlefield Park), the Wrecking Crew’s Maria (Baroness of Old Temple), and Slutty Pirate Girl Teagan (Baroness of Dragon’s Gate) all weighed in that they believed that the challenge should be voided and Vanion be stripped of his right to challenge for the remainder of the cycle. Considering that was a clear majority, it didn’t come as a shock when the Supervisor of Duel of Swords, G’naughty G’nort, announced the same just yesterday.

Something of note with the baronesses decision was that they specifically stated that Vanion would not be allowed to challenge at all for the remainder of the cycle, not just for Overlord. By doing so, they protected themselves from challenge against him for the rest of the cycle if The Warlord Who We Shall Not Name Because He Throws A Hissy Fit Every Time His Name Or His Girlfriend’s Name Is In Print is successful in defeating him in the challenge for Dockside…. which by the way will be fought tonight!

….And, yeah, that’s just the first challenge mess! There was another!

It seemed that in the middle of the first match between two former Overlords — Real Estate Mogul Rena and Anubis — for the right to be the baron(ess) of Battlefield Park, Anubis disappeared from the ring. We assume the cause is some sort of Nexus/Ward disturbance (as it has been rumored for years that there is some sort of relationship between the Nexus and the Ward) but Anubis has yet to issue an official statement on the matter. R.E.M. Rena was given the option of (a) rescheduling with Anubis, (b) facing his second, Xanth, or (c) sending the matter to the Council. Much to many people’s dismay, R.E.M. Rena decided to send it to the Council.

Thus, after being completely unused for quite some time, the Council received two matters to settle in one night.

Among those in the crowd was the storied duelist Kalamere who was seen chatting with G’naughty G’nort about the possibility of a comeback and even the idea of challenging for a barony once again. And then later in the night he was actually seen dueling! We sure hope it wasn’t a one time deal! It would be great to see him back in action again. While they were chatting, G’naughty G’nort mentioned that he might be done dueling for a while! He even tossed the word ‘retirement’ around. He said he wanted to continue running the place but may take a step back from dueling now that he’s reached the insane level of 200 wins over losses. We really do hope that’s not true. What a bummer that would be!

Really, Playboy Shane??? Now we’ve always thought there was a…. certain unresolved vibe between Playboy Shane and Marvelous Mira so we’re actually pretty unsurprised to hear that they were seen having a private discussion with one another in a back booth in the Inn. The theory here at the Den of Gossip is that Playboy Shane is a little more into Marvelous Mira than she is into him…. but we think that’s just her appeal to Playboy Shane. Every girl in his past has fallen to his feet and immediately worshiped the very ground he walks on. Marvelous Mira, on the other hand, is a tough catch. We actually hope she doesn’t fall for him because he’s so got that guy complex where he gets bored with a girl as soon as he wins her over. We wonder what Cowboy Jake’s got to say about this????

It seems that Lil’ Bit Lirssa has hooked up with RhyDin native Kendall to find a way for some of RhyDin’s orphaned or abandoned youths to make their own way in the city! We can’t think of a more appropriate pair to put such an idea together! They were overheard discussing it with The Many Faces of Fio and Awful Ali Saturday night for quite a while. It seems that the girls want to give a home to the kids while giving them a way to earn that home. They seemed to decide that they need to start a business for the kids to try their hand at while having other smaller jobs for those who aren’t looking for such a permanent home. We hear at the Den of Gossip always need people to deliver our printed flyers out to the coffee shops and businesses around town! The pay is decent! Drop us a line, girls!

Maria and Slutty Pirate Girl Teagan were seen in the Arena discussing the program that she’s starting to teach little girls and young women how to duel and how to defend themselves. We definitely like the idea! We’re all about strong women! However, we do have to question the people’s she’s got involved. S.P.G. Teagan? Lil’ Black Book Jaycy? Even Maria herself? Not really the trio we’d be incredibly willing to hand Intern Pumpkin Head over to, you know??? We hear that there’s quite a few more duelists who have supported it in one way or another, though. Ms. Wyh Not and G’naughty G’nort have both donated significantly to the cause. The Baroness Rena and the Wrecking Crew’s Kheldar are both pitching in to help find a location for it. Perhaps it’ll all come together better than we expect! We sure hope so!

Oh no! Somebody should STOP this! We hear that Rowdy Rekah and G’naughty G’nort spent most of Saturday night together and…. well, our sources say that the conversation was awfully friendly. Are we the only ones a little uneasy by the suggestion that G’naughty G’nort and Rowdy Rekah were flirting with another? Our sources said that they wouldn’t go as far as labeling it “flirting” but that the pair definitely raised a couple eyebrows through out the night. We have to wonder what Sullen Sal and Deliciously Sinful Sin think about Rowdy Rekah spending some much time with G’naughty G’nort???

Speaking of Reap, when did he suddenly become everybody’s favorite counselor??? You all do realize that this is Brale Brother Reap, right??? Thursday night is was Spade who seemed anxious and had a long quiet conversation with him about somebody who had died recently. B.B. Reap was overheard making plans to meet her at her shop later. Reeeeaaaaally? Maybe he’s not all that broken up over the thing with Eleanor after all! He certainly seems more than willing to be the shoulder Spade needs to cry on. And every guy knows that’s one of the quickest ways of getting a girl into bed.

The night sort of got a little… hectic from there!

We hear that Eleanor was seen in a knock-down, drag-out fight with someone unknown guy just outside the Inn. Blades were drawn and it was completely vicious. Our sources say they have no idea what the man did to provoke the fight but Eleanor was going for blood. Now here’s where our confusion steps in. Some of our sources are telling us that it wasn’t a guy at all but a harmless looking girl. Some of our sources are saying that Mac was involved and that she was actually the one who struck the deadly blow. One thing is definitely for sure — it was a pretty crazy situation. We have a feeling that Head Pussy Panther is not going to be pleased to hear about the blood spilled on the porch. But as always he can use our blog to find out who to blame! That would be Mac and Eleanor!

Action was a little light down in the Arena but that didn’t stop Slutty Pirate Girl Teagan from causing problems as she called matches. It seems that after Deliciously Sinful Sin and Sullen Sal (who aren’t exactly her biggest fans) entered a ring, she had a cage brought down upon them. There were bladed pendulums and clubs with spikes all swinging around. Not exactly a jello match. Kheldar gave S.P.G. Teagan a stern lecture for putting them into a ring of death but S.P.G. Teagan didn’t let the lecture stop her fun. Psycho Skid tried to warn her that Sullen Sal would be pissed but he too was ignored.

Sullen Sal was definitely pissed. We hear that he LITERALLY attacked S.P.G. Teagan after the match. He had to be held back by G’naughty G’nort. Unfortunately for G’naughty G’nort we hear that he ended up BLEEDING for his troubles! We hear that as Deliciously Sinful Sin pulled G’naughty G’nort to safety and Kalinda healed him, the cowardly Sullen Sal ran out of the Arena! So Sullen Sal attacked a CALLER and the SUPERVISOR OF THE SPORT??? Callers are traditionally OFF LIMITS. The couch is considered neutral ground which allows them to keep the peace in the dueling venues with the likes of murderers and slavers running around. Very grave consequences are supposed to come from attacking them! We have to wonder what Sullen Sal’s very grave consequence will be!

While all this was going on in the Arena, a crowd gathered in the Outback to watch Lil’ Black Book Jaycy take on Jiggly Puff for Pathfinder! Pslyder was around to support his “love” (gag us!) and was much more vocal than L.B.B. Jaycy had been at his challenge. We hear that he spent most of the night yelling words of encouragement to her from ringside. Dris, who was on the couch calling the match, didn’t miss an opportunity to feel up a pretty young thing. He was seen with Sarah at his side who had earlier been overheard asking S.P.G. Teagan if Dris was single. Uh, clearly she doesn’t read our blog! That girl’s going to get her heart broken! As for the challenge match, L.B.B. Jaycy took the first match but the opal holder took the second. Jiggly Puff could not hang on, though, and L.B.B. Jaycy took a solid win in the third and final match.

Congratulations to the newest holder of Pathfinder — Lil’ Black Book Jaycy!

Why, Scotty? Why? That’s really all we can say to you. Why? For some reason, he thought it would be a fine idea to get Crazy Train Tara a phaser gun. She, of course, came running into the Inn Saturday night to show it off and ended up shooting some unsuspecting people. Let me just give you people a little hint. DO NOT GIVE THE CRAZY GIRL THINGS WHICH MIGHT MAKE HER MORE DANGEROUS! Isn’t Crazy Train Tara dangerous enough for you people? Doesn’t she threaten to bring death and destruction at least once a night? Should we really start arming her?

It seems to repay the favor, C.T. Tara gave Scotty Pandora’s Box. Or at least what she claimed was Pandora’s Box. She evidently was overheard saying to Brian that she had won it from Helen of Troy in a game of Texas Hold ‘Em. Wow. We don’t even know where to start with her. We do know that we’re a little uncomfortable with Scotty having Pandora’s Box if it is the authentic Pandora’s Box. Brian was not at all happy with C.T. Tara.

As for Brian, he seemed to be holding up pretty well in the face of the devastating family news he had received as of late. We hear that he’s been in charge of Jewell’s estate and the burial of her and her children. What an awful, awful task that must have been. Our cold, little hearts go out to him!

C.T. Tara was later overheard telling Prof. Jolyon that she’s six months pregnant with the devil’s child. No lie. Can you think of two beings you’d would prefer more not to have children? We can’t. There’s not a worse hypothetical situation we could come up with. Now she certainly doesn’t look six months pregnant… but we’re not ready to rule out this being entirely in her head yet. Prof. Jolyon was a bit distracted by his girl, Serena’s, curious behavior as of late. It seems that she’s been more than a little out of it and he was overheard asking Chief Mischief Maker Eless for help. We’re pretty sure that whatever trouble that girl is into, it’s entirely of her own making!

We hear that there was some sort of scare where Mega Mom Icer was attacked by some sort of magical being. Chief Mischief Maker Eless and C.T. Tara tried to step in but were unsure how to combat the invisible force. Fortunately enough, one of her hatchlings was present and shone with light which seemed to drive away the force. Wow. Never a quiet night in the Inn, huh?

Things were pretty hopping down in the Arena as well! Our sources tell us that Nice Guy Neo has been getting a LOT of attention from the higher ranks as of late. We hear that his matches are some of the most watched in the Arena and there’s a lot of talk about whether or not he’s going to be able to take a barony this time around. We have a feeling that he makes some of the old guard juuuuust a bit nervous with his talent! What’s so great about N.G. Neo is that he is SUPER humble about it.

Slutty Pirate Girl Teagan and Maria were seen at the bar having a discussion about a new foundation she’s starting. Evidently, it’ll be a program for girls to teach them how to protect themselves and how to duel. We’re hearing that Lil’ Black Book Jaycy is also involved and G’naughty G’nort is one of the donors. Wow. S.P.G. Teagan + Maria + L.B.B. Jaycy + G’naughty G’nort??? Working together in a charity??? Several of those members hate one another and none of them are exactly… well, normal. But, hey, people would say the same about us and our school for disadvantaged youths just wrapped up its first term and is gearing up for its second!

We hear Lil’ Black Book Jaycy was grinning like a silly school girl most of the night. Gah! Seriously. What is wrong with her??? She totally used to be such a cruel heart breaker and now she’s all cuddly and grinning. We don’t like it! It’s time for her to go cheat and ruin her personal life all over again. The new L.B.B. Jaycy is NOT an improved version. We blame Psly for destroying the woman we loved so dearly. Boo, Psly! Boooooo!

Interesting, interesting! We have a feeling that there’s a story behind this one! Evidently Misty (who is supposedly dating or, at least, sleeping with Thorne) was overheard apologizing to Simmering Sivanna for not being more careful about who she allowed “on board”. Simmering Sivanna told her not to mention it and that it wasn’t a big deal but her expression said otherwise. We’re dyyyying to know what happened between Simmering Sivanna and Misty. Anybody know??? Contact us! There’s definitely a reward on the line!

Speaking of very frank discussions, we hear that Thorne was seen having one of those with Kelathe. It had something to do with putting aside their differences over an incident which had led to Misty getting hurt. We have a feeling that everybody’s giving her the benefit of the doubt for N.G. Neo’s sake. We do hope some of those same friends are telling him to be careful with this girl. She’s a royal mess. At least she wasn’t crying Saturday night. That’s an improvement.

Wow! The Gov MAN-tastic Matt is kind of HAWT when he’s all pissed! Nobody told us he could be like that. No wonder FLAWLESS Koy is weak in the knees for him. Our sources tell us that he stormed his way into the Arena Saturday night and made a beeline for the Wrecking Crew’s Tical and Maria. Evidently, he had words with the Overlord and the warlord over a letter that one of their attorneys wrote him in regards to some tape. That’s all our sources could gather but it was not at all a pleasant discussion. Yeah, totally hawt!

Things are proceeding right along with Marvelous Mira and Cowboy Jake. It seems that the pair had a lovely New Year together and spent the end of the evening with warm drinks at the Inn. We hear that Cowboy Jake even mentioned that maybe they could invite her family to spend the winter holidays with them next year at “our place”. WHAT?!?! Now we NOW Cowboy Jake is too traditional to be suggesting that they live together out of wedlock so it seems to us that he’s suggesting that they will be married within a year! HOW FANTASTIC!

Ballerina Katarina was seen catching up with Doc Eva later in the evening. It seems that she and Locke are still going strong. Ballerina Katarina was heard saying that he’s enjoying the snow. He must reeeeaaaally love her to stick it out through the long hot summers here in RhyDin. Either that or he loves fashion that much that he can’t stand leaving the fashion hub that is RhyDin. Maybe it’s a combination of the two.

Laaaaate into the night, our sources found two of the Inn’s resident Cheer Brigade all down in the dumps. Doc Eva, Manly Mason, and Chief Mischief Maker Eless were a bit baffled and concerned when both Serena and Mad Cow Kazzy entered in funks. There was no word about Serena’s but she certainly seemed out of it. M.C. Kazzy’s problems were more clear, though. It seems Lizzie has left town! What a bummer! We hear that M.C. Kazzy was drowning her sorrows with ice cream. Aw. We do hope that Lizzie returns soon. That’s so sad!

It seems that Guill might be rethinking his actions! We hear that he was seen down in the Annex apologizing for the things he has said. Wow! We didn’t think he would budge off his stance but it seems that the criticism from his friends is weighing heavily on him. Aja wasn’t immediately forgiving. We hear that she made it pretty darn clear that she thinks he’s been acting like an ass. We doubt Aja wouldn’t be as angry as she is if it her brother hadn’t been one of the ones that made Guill’s list of dishonorable people. Aja is the biggest defender of the legendary status of her brother’s dueling career. He’s going to have to work hard to win her over.

This should be illegal. Really. We hear that Crazy Train Tara and G’naughty G’nort were seen spending time in the Annex together Friday night, causing trouble. In fact, C.T. Tara even caused a serving boy to faint at one point. We’re highly uncomfortable with this pair being allowed within a hundred yards of one another much less planning and going on adventure together. The city may implode from their combined trouble making potential. Nobody’s going to believe us until it’s too late!

The Dread Kidd Pirate Stephen was in the Inn telling (not asking) Crazy Train Tara that she was paying for his guide to the “seelie court” which we understand is a collection of faeries. C.T. Tara had quite a few questions about why he wanted her money to get a guide to this court but T.D.K.P. Stephen would not give her any answers. C.T. Tara wouldn’t give him the money without getting to go along which was a demand that Stephen eventually gave into.  He also spoke with Brale Brother Reap who advised him that he could get Stephen in touch with Spade who might be able to guide him to the seelie court. We have to wonder if this has something to do with Jewell. The timing certainly is suspicious! Maybe he is pretty torn up about her loss after all.

Cowboy Jake and the Marvelous Mira spent a bit of time together, having drinks and chatting. We’re still surprised that he’s being so patient and hasn’t asked her to marry him. That proposal can’t be too far away, right? They were making plans for New Years and he’s definitely smitten with her. We’re not sure if she’s just keeping her feelings close to the vest or if her last relationship has left her a bit burned but we’re still not totally sure if she’s as into him as he’s into her. We have no idea why! He’s absolutely PERFECT for her!

While Harris is awfully good at picking out the new HAWT talent in the Inn, his friends Smokin’ Sartan and Speedster Nova have the market cornered in the dueling venues, particularly the Outback. They jump on new girls faster than you can snap your fingers! Smokin’ Sartan spent a good portion of Wednesday night trying to hook up Speedster Nova with a tall blonde named Penelope. We’re just not so sure how into him the chick was. She’s definitely a hottie, though. Perhaps a wee biiiit out of Speedster Nova’s league.

The first of the round of Opal challenges went down Wednesday night in the Outback as FLAWLESS Koy, the holder of the black opal, faced off against G’naughty G’nort. This was another challenge in which there didn’t seem to be any bad blood but FLAWLESS Koy did seem to question whether or not G’naughty G’nort understood what he was getting himself into with the black opal. The pair faced off in some of the Outback’s infamous rings as Lil’ Black Book Jaycy officiated. G’naughty G’nort took the first match but FLAWLESS Koy took the next two and, therefore, defended her title.

Congratulations to the holder of ShadoWeaver, Koy!

Overlord Tical was awfully busy! He was seen in conferences with two baronesses — a renegade and his newest loyal. He had a short conversation with Lil’ Black Book Jaycy but our sources could not determine what it was about. L.B.B. Jaycy has always been vocal that her loyalty only goes to her closest friends but seems to support Tical’s reign despite her alignment. Our sources tell us that Slutty Pirate Girl Teagan’s conversation with him had more to do with the events of the previous night. It seems that they discussed her loyalty and S.P.G. Teagan seemed confident in her decision.

Our Darling Taneth was acting odd again Wednesday night. We hear that she was back in the Outback trying to get the titleholders to let her give them assistance. Overlord Tical quickly pushed her off on Baroness Teagan who wasn’t able to get rid of O.D. Taneth so quickly. There is something really unsettling about this behavior. It’s definitely making the titleholders uncomfortable. It’s also a bit dangerous. Not all the titleholders are good people. Very very sad.

Chief Mischief Maker Eless was seen spending the holiday in high fashion with her long-time love, Connar. He is often kept out of town for his work so it was wonderful to see that he was able to make it back in town for the holidays. Ladies as lovely as C.M.M. Eless should not be left on their own for too long! She doesn’t need her pranks or her wardrobe to catch attention. Her beauty can do that all on its own!

We hear that Eleanor (with Reap nearby, of course, because you don’t see one without the other these days) was overheard telling Ali that she is now working for the Baron, meaning Awesome Alain. Iiiiinteresting! We do hope that its merely for consulting work because rumor on the street is that his knights don’t have particularly long life expectancies. We’ve got a feeling that Eleanor can handle herself, though. She just seems like she could be one scary broad with a sword in her hands!

In the true spirit of giving, it seems that Kaja was ready to give her husband, G’naughty G’nort, to Deliciously Sinful Sin for an evening of debauchery… with her watching, of course. We feel dirty just having a source relay the information to us! Way to honor the holiday spirit, Kaja! There was a pretty bare greeting and not much else between Kaja and her former hubby-to-be and new Overlord, Tical, when he came limping in shortly after. We never fail to be entertained by the tension between the pair of them!