Grist Town: Your gate. Your town. Your tawdry details.

By TalkLoud, FNF staff gossip columnist

Imperial aid to Taranis: Act of Good Will or Act of Lust?

By now we have all heard of the exciting events of the previous week. A speeding battle train with an atomic payload crashed into the gate in Taranis, only to…not detonate. This is, of course, after a pitched battle at the first node out from the planet, in which the so-called Army of the Covenant (rebranded after realizing that the name Army of the Scourge just wasn’t getting them invited to the classier parties) helped route the retreating Szgany forces. How was this army able to be deployed in such a timely manner? Why, it was the work of the Champions of the Covenant! The real question is why were these champions so involved in the defense of Taranis? Is it as it seems? Is it simply a case of the Imperial Champions defending the homes of the Fringers they call friends? Is it the work of the Empire to show good faith to King Rama or is it something less benevolent? Did the Imperial Champions send their forces simply because they wanted to keep being allowed to make sweet, sweet love to their Fringer women?

Word on the street is that there is tension amongst the Champions when it comes to what aid should be given, with those with “close ties” to Fringer women crowing for full support whenever and wherever. One of the female champions has been linked with a certain cold-shouldered Kshathran. This same Kshathran has been seen in the company of one of the Fringer women with “close ties” to another one of the Champions, and is maybe idolized by at least one more of them. Other Fringer women have been heard to swoon over the stolid man of the cloth who is the spiritual leader of the Champions. Will he give into their crushes? It’s difficult to say one way or the other.

Those urging more thought are met with the aggression that stems from potential nights spent on the couch. One has to wonder of the intentions of the Imperial Champions. Their deeds might not be as pure as they first seem. They might simply be trying to protect their way of life…if you know what I mean. Still, it’s not like you can fault the Imperial men. I’ve seen the Fringer women. I’m fairly certain that the striped socks are an experimental form of kinetic mind control. For the ladies, who wouldn’t want a hulking, powerful silicate playmate?

The Middian Black Widow

You’ve all seen her. She’s always there. She’s in the shadows, stalking her pray, waiting for her moment to strike. She studies her prey, learning their weaknesses, the way to approach them without making them nervous, while still trying to provoke responses. The subtle allure she exudes as she waits for her moment to strike. She’s a certain Meurlain photojournalist.

Let’s look at the facts. Not much is known about this photog. She claims to be a photojournalist, a perfect cover for a deadly killer. She always has an excuse to try and learn more about her victims before she strikes. She has recently been seen cozying up to a certain “sword and wolf” Baron, a glowing gun-slinging Baron, and an agent of the Tulku Council with some dance-hall drawers. All three are men of potential import in their respective areas. Coincidence? This reporter doesn’t think so.

By all accounts, The Widow stunned the gathered masses with her glamorous outfit and looks during Baron Sword-and-Wolf’s Battle Day celebration. However, she then proceeded to maintain her glamorous outfit through the course of the rest of the evening, including a fight against the forces of Sorrow. During the course of the evening, one brave adventurer was heard to opine, “I like socks”, while dreamily looking at the Middian Black Widow.

Her strands have been cast wide, slowly drawing the men of Gate Town into her nefarious web of desire.

What will she do once she has all of the men under her sway? Only time will tell…

Gossip Scraps:

• “Silver Alloy”, of Insane Ideas, LLC., has become obsessed with something he calls the “Fertile Void”. Is the madness of the Epherium becoming too much for the skilled Web Guide?
• Tulku Council playboy? A certain agent of the Tulku has been seen in the company of several lovely Meurlain ladies recently. After a “private” excursion with The Widow to Ushas, the agent was spending a lot of his time planet-side with The Lady of the Argent Fire. He claims this was in the name of science, but the Yazatas claim that about everything.
• Fears of a Cyborg Plague have reached Middian. A cyborg man was seen spewing blood near as he looked for Baron Sword-and-Wolf. Witnesses say he was a cyborg and was under the effects of a deadly sickness that only affects the technologically enhanced. Others say that he was expressing a mutation, and that his body was at war with itself. The body was whisked away before too many questions could be answered.
• Yazatas using “hammock diplomacy”? One Yazata has become something of a local celebrity for her use of a hammock as place to sleep. She is now renting out the hammocks to others as they are becoming more and more popular. As a result, she has become more trusted and respected in the Gate Town community. This, of course, leads to the question, what are they laced with?
• The lack of any Zealanders being seen on Zealand has led many to speculate that the Zealanders are masters of invisibility and are way more sophisticated than first thought. After a silent alarm was tripped, a horde of tamed dragon wolves were dispatched to dispose of the “miracle crops” grown on the weapons platform. Rumors persist that some received visions of a dark and terrible woman whispering “Nothing shall remain for the interlopers”. These seers could not be reached for comment following the successful defense of the crops.
• The shores of Zealand played host to a beautiful and private ceremony wedding the fearsome gladiator Sharkzor and the powerful psion Displays-His-Abs. Those that were in attendance say the ceremony was presided over by a certain Yazata doctor, and that the vows exchanged were intense and private. No one is sure which party provided the dowry.
• Further rumors have the Empathic Cyborg Web Guide having a cybernetic camera installed in his ocular cavity. He has reportedly signed a deal with an undisclosed corp. to air a Middian Reality Vid. His disappearing for hours at a time begins to make much more sense.
• Beachgoers have been heard relating a story that is difficult to swallow. They claim that the Zealand beach was attacked by shark creatures that spewed flame, and that they were not only quelled by the Mistress of Fire, but that afterwards she tamed the shark-beasts and is in the process of teaching them to be her aquatic means of conveyance.