Glad you like them! The final part of this story will be coming tonight! 
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Dragonbound
Part 5
Despite the agreements of forgiveness and not to talk about any of this, Glissa opted to sit away from Aldrea and Octavia. She chose to sit beside Aneka.
The feast began and everyone ate, drank, and made merry. Once the eating was over the storytelling began. Glissa didn’t sit through much of this as her discomfort was growing.
She turned to Aneka and asked, “hey, can you come with me?”
Aneka looked at her quizzical but nodded. “Of course. Lead on.”
Glissa led Aneka into the void, away from the feast. “What’s up? You seem… Off. You hardly ate. Is everything okay?” asked Aneka.
Glissa shifted uneasily. “No… So, I went to get Aldrea and Octavia and I found them… intimate. They’re bloody married! Can you believe it?”
“What? Really? Damn, I’m sorry Glissa. I guess it’s better to find out now than later, right? Are you going to be okay? Can I help?”
Glissa sighed. “I don’t know… I’m sad, but you’re right? I feel really confused and I’ve got this weird ache. Down here.” She gestured to her pelvic region.
Aneka nodded. “You’ve got blue bean. Your body was looking forward to some action that it isn’t going to get. Look, I said I’d do anything you need to help you… I can help you with this, Glissa. If you want, that is,” offered Aneka.
Glissa looked at Aneka, her gaze drifting down from her lovely eyes to take in the rest of her lithe body, her imagination going wild. “I… I have wondered what you look like under your armor.”
“You don’t know? Perhaps you weren’t there the last time I got a little drunk,” smiled Aneka.
“Aneka, I’ve never done this before.”
Aneka shook her head. “That doesn’t matter. I’m patient and willing to teach if you want me to, but I think tonight is more about you than it is me.”
Glissa’s eyes looked at Aneka’s exposed skin. She wanted to touch her thighs, her hips, even her exposed arm, to feel the smoothness of her skin under her fingers. She wanted to feel Aneka’s heat against her. She didn’t want to be alone.
She did want this and conveyed this with a nod before scooping Aneka up in her strong arms to take her somewhere private.
End Thank you for reading!
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Singing in the Rain
Melody’s Arrival - Part 1
“That’s the bridge, Hermie. We get out here. This is the shortest distance from the river. But, at least it’s raining. Such lovely weather!” The aquatic elf was perfectly capable of surviving on dry land, but she preferred to be wet. Being dry for too long made her skin itch.
“Come on, Hermie! Hopefully we can get there before the weather clears.”
It was a long walk but the elf hummed to herself the entire way to keep herself and her companion entertained. 
“I’m singing in the rain, just singing in the rain! What a glorious feeling I’m happy again! Come on, Hermie! Do the tap dancing!”
When she finally arrived at her destination she kept an eye out for trouble. She knew what she was walking into. She approached the back door and gently knocked on it with a secret rhythm known within the clan.
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Making use of rainy weather. 
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Working with the weather is more annoying than working with wild animals!
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Singing in the Rain
Melody’s Arrival - Part 2
Goldie wandered through the basement. She was enjoying her time with the True North Clan. It was kind of like having a crew and she needed to do her part. That included doing patrols.
Today as she patrolled the basement she heard a knocking sound. It was soft and inconspicuous but it had a pattern to it, one she recognized as a mark of the clan. She looked around and thought about going to get someone else, but the weather outside was terrible. Whoever it was would want in sooner rather than later. She unlocked the door and pulled it open with one hand on a pistol, just in case. She did not expect to see a face she recognized. “…Melody?”
“Pirate Queen Goldie! What a surprise to see you this far inland!” Greeted the aquatic elf, her every word like a song. “But a pleasant surprise! Have you joined the clan? Oh, that would be wonderful!”
“No, I haven’t. I- Get in here, Melody. You’re getting all wet.”
Melody grinned at the ridiculousness of Goldie’s statement and stepped inside anyways with Hermie clicking along behind her.
“Yeah, yeah. Stuff it, you siren.”
Melody laughed melodically. “Come on, finish your train of thought. Why haven’t you joined?”
“Come on, I’ll show you where the Clan is. Because I’m a pirate queen, Mel. They’re nice to me, but… This isn’t me.”
Melody looked at her as they walked through the basement together. “It doesn’t look like the pirate life has been treating you well… You’re like a sail after a storm! All in tatters.”
Goldie stopped her with a hand. “You deserve to know. Come, let’s talk in safety. In here. We call it Sanctuary.” Goldie pointed at the box that hid the entrance and opened it for Melody.
Inside the void-space Melody looked around. “Whoa… Magnificent! Oh, hello!” she called out to Glissa who was nearby.
Glissa immediately looked up and came over.
“Glissa, this is Mel. She’s a friend of mine,” Introduced Goldie.
“Of course! Who in the Clan doesn’t know that beautiful voice? Welcome, Melody. It’s good to have you here,” continued Glissa.
"Well met, Glissa!"
“Glissa, would you mind covering the rest of my patrol? Mel and I need to talk.”
“You got it, captain,” agreed Glissa with a playful salute. She turned and headed out into the basement without questioning it.
“Come on, my space is over yonder.” Goldie showed Melody through the enigmatic space that was Sanctuary with Hermie scuttling along behind them.
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Another great story from the Master of Tales.
Love it! 
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Thank you!
No post tonight, I got busy, but there are two more parts to this story that I hope to have posted before the end of the weekend. Perhaps some lore will get you through?
To explain Melody a little more, because I don’t go into depth on this in the story, she is an aquatic subspecies of elf. It is believed that this subspecies is due to breeding between merfolk and elves, but they have existed long enough that no one truely knows. Part of the reason for this theory is that the aquatic elves are known for their enchanting voices that sound like song all the time. They are well known for their preference to be moist. They can survive on land perfectly fine, but their skin gets itchy if they stay too dry for too long. It has been witnessed that these elves living on land will sleep in water so they absorb enough overnight to get through the next day. So, not actually a siren, but possibly a decendant of one! If you think she looks like a mermaid, it’s because her HS is actually the pale version of the recent mermaid Phicen set.
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Singing in the Rain
Melody’s Arrival - Part 3
There was no questioning it when they reached Goldie’s quarters. “Hmm. I like what you’ve done with the place. Come on, Goldie. Spill it. Where did you dock your ship and why’d you become a landlubber?” asked Melody, leaning up against a large chest.
Goldie shook her head. “It will never dock again. The depths claimed it. It claimed my crew. It nearly claimed me. What you see before you is all I have left.”
“I’m so sor-”
Goldie stopped her. “No. A pirate knows what she signs on for. They knew the risks and they accepted them in trade for adventure, plunder, and booty.”
Melody nodded. “At least you still have some booty!” she said cheerfully, throwing open the lid of the chest. “…Oh. Is that…?”
“My greatest treasure, yes,” finished Goldie softly as she gently picked up the hat from atop the glimmering gold within the chest. “The hat of my first mate, Wendy. After the ship smashed upon the rocks and we were all swept under by the current the lightning flashed and illuminated the darkest depths. A fish swam in and swallowed her whole. A nature nymph found her hat on the shore downstream.”
Melody put a hand to heart in remembrance and bowed her head.
“I remember the first time I met her. She was Wendy the Wavy, hair flowing like water over rocks in a creek. Perhaps you don’t know this, but I was the one who coined her less popular name, ‘Weapon Waving Wendy.’”
“That was you!? She said she hated you for that! But, she also respected your bravery for saying it.”
Melody smiled. “It seemed apt considering the situation I was in, pistol in my face, and all that. Oh, that tavern on the banks of the North Saskatchewan was never boring, was it?”
Goldie shook her head and reached for some drinks, handing one to Melody.
She reached down and Hermie opened it with his claw for her. “That night wasn’t the first or the last time I had a gun drawn on me in there. Or a sword. You pirates certainly know how to have a good time.”
“I offered you a place in my crew. You should have taken it. You aquatic elves are rare. Your skills are valuable.”
Melody nodded. “Sometimes I wish I had. That’s why I hung out at the tavern. When I was younger I yearned for that adventure, the camaraderie of a crew. My father would have killed me, though. Living on the water aboard a ship he would have found me, too. In all honesty, that’s why I joined the Clan. Danger, adventure, I still get it. I wish we weren’t spread out as much as we are, and I always get assigned to the waterways, but… It gives me purpose. I really like it when we come together in a place like this. I can’t wait to meet everyone here. Some I probably know, others I’ll meet for the first time. Even if I don’t know them they’re still a part of the crew that is the True North Clan."
Goldie took a drink. “I think that’s why I’m here. My kind is a dying breed. It might take me years to find another crew. Here… I kind of already have one. It was two of the elves here who found me unconscious on the shore the morning after the wreck. They rescued me and brought me here. Everyone is nice to me.”
“So, why haven’t you joined?” asked Melody.
Goldie shrugged. “I… Don’t know. I don’t want to let go of my old life. I’m not good at taking orders either. I give them.”
“With leadership experience like yours you’ll get back on top soon enough. Besides, you’re still elven royalty.”
“True, but I’m not sure that my past commands a lot of respect among elves like these.”
“Maybe not, but your reputation does. Your actions will. Since when do pirate queens know fear?”
Goldie hung her head. “We do, Mel. We do. I’m scared of the water now.” Goldie chugged back the rest of her bottle and went for another one. “I’m here because I’m scared of what the water took from me. I look at the rags I’m wearing. I look at her hat. I’m reminded every day and I don’t want to forget. I’m hiding here, Mel. If I wanted back on a ship there is no crew out there who wouldn’t take me. I don’t want to go,” she admitted for the first time out loud.
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Singing in the Rain
Melody’s Arrival - Part 4
“Oh Goldie…” Melody moved closer and put an arm around her.
“The Clan isn’t going to throw you out. You can take as much time as you need and if you need to talk then I’m here for you.”
“What does it even take to join? I’ve never asked,” asked Goldie.
“Well, there are mentorships and such but those are for younger elves, typically. For someone like you, you’d just need to prove yourself. Of course, there are the rituals and such, but everyone has to do those. No pressure, though. I don’t want you to be unhappy.”
Melody took another drink. “Swallowed by a fish… What are the odds? What kind of fish?”
Goldie shrugged. “I don’t know. It was dark. Chaotic. I was well on my way to drowning when it happened. Whitefish, maybe? Why?”
“Whitefish? No, that wasn’t it,” Melody muttered. “Oh, nothing.”
“What do you mean, that wasn’t it?” Goldie pressed.
“Nothing, it was a trout. The currents whisper strange things anyways.”
Goldie stood up and glared at the smaller elf. What was she hiding?
Melody sighed. “Look, I don’t want to give you any false hope where there may be nothing, okay? I heard a rumor of a fish carcass. A trout. It was found on the bank of the Red Deer river. Those who found it said it looked like it was cut open from the inside. I don’t know. I didn’t see it myself. I just dismissed it as a weird injury or something, you know? It probably was, but… Maybe it wasn’t? I don’t know what to say, Goldie. I’m sorry.”
“The Blindman empties into the Red Deer.”
“It was found upstream, by the old fort. It is still possible."
Goldie drained the rest of her beer. “Those who fall behind are left behind. We all fell behind that night. If she does live there is no way to find her. A winter has come and gone.”
Melody looked at Goldie in disbelief. “You- Her hat is in your treasure chest as your most prized treasure! Is that all you have to say?”
“She’s gone! I need to accept that!” yelled Goldie, throwing the empty bottle on the floor. “I haven’t, but I need to. We were two ships passing in the night and the same storm that sank my ship broke the mooring lines that held us close. Separated in the storm, we may never know what happened to the other, unless fate would have us dock in the same port. You said you didn’t want to give me hope and I don’t have any.”
Melody nodded. “Okay. I’ll try to help you move on if that’s what you want to do.”
“Another bottle to old memories?”
“Yeah, another bottle to old memories and happy lives for those that lived,” she replied.
“Aye. I can drink to that,” agreed Goldie.
The two elves spent the next several hours drinking and catching up on the years since they’d last seen each other.
The following night after Melody and Goldie had sobered up, the Clan held a feast to greet the aquatic elf, Melody. They ate, drank, and made merry as Melody serenaded them into the early hours of the morning.
END Thanks for reading!
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Always impressed with your style, stories and details @agent0013
We are so fortunate to have you here!
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Not looked in here for a while so I i had lots to catch up on. You have a wonderful imagination.
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Glad you’re enjoying it! In case you aren’t caught up on posts in my Domesticated thread, I’ve got a massive story coming up, hopefully starting in the first half of October in my Adventure thread.
Time for some late photo contest updates! July Photo Contests!
Instruments
Glissa in “Death Metal”
Summer Vacation
Melody in “Beach Sunset”
Barefoot and Care Free
The True North Clan and Rosebud in “Elven Summoning Ritual”
It didn’t work.
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August 2025 Photo Contests
Pets and Fun Friends
Rhyl’qualyn in “Elves: It’s What’s For Dinner”
Bonus angle! I put far too much effort into the background of this photo just for a lot of it to be unseen in the photo I picked.
Tutti Frutti
Glissa in “These are Berry Delicious”
The Devil Made Me Do It
Arachne, Melody, Goldie, and Glissa in “Annoying Drow”
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Haha, Nice 
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Ah, the lovely Queen Ariana. I believe the first time she got her photo taken was this, I think I took it because her shoes had arrived and they sort of set the tone for her outfit.
That was a contest photo that I took last January. She’s been wandering around my work bench and giving me dirty looks for not giving her attention since then.
But, I’ve been giving her a fair bit of attention and spent many hours fiddling with her finicky outfit. I think… I think she’s finally done! Shiny gold platform heels, gold metal form fitting dress, a pair of gold Desert Eagles with thigh holsters. This queen is ready to do more than just sit in her throne all day, and she’ll look good doing it! You can look forward to her being introduced into my stories in the new year! Why is such an important member of the Clan coming to Sanctuary? That you’ll have to wait and see!
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So looking forward to seeing lovely Ariana in action 
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agent0013, nice photos 
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Merry Christmas!
I’m off until the new year, so what better time than now to catch up on all the months of photo contest updates I didn’t post while I was posting Disconnected? Let’s start off today with a topical December!
Above, The Gift that Keeps on Giving: Saffee and Evey in “We Are the Gifts” Pretty sure now that they’re engaged they’re obligated to take a Christmas card photo.
Christmas Baubles
Angelica and Helena in “Angel on Top of the Tree”
The First Light of Winter
Rosebud in “Covetous Nymph”
In a tradition that goes back to the last ice age, someone needs to convince the nymphs to return the sun.
“Come on, Rosebud. It’s freezing out here! We need the sun back.”
“But I like it! It’s so… Shiny!” replied the little nymph, gazing at the luminous ball in her possession.
“Rosebud, the more you hoard the sun, the colder the planet gets! I know you’ll be okay, but what will you do when all the squirrels freeze? Their fluff only does so much!”
Rosebud looked at me. “The squirrels? I love the squirrels…” She looked back at the sun. “Just one more day? I’ll start sharing it more tomorrow, okay?” She looked up at me with her beautiful eyes glistening.
I sighed. “Okay, just one more day. But I’m going to make sure you keep your word!”
“I’m a nymph of my word! I promise!”
Holiday Feast
Veyronna and Glissa in “An Entire Chicken”
Veyronna stood there in disbelief. She’d just witnessed Glissa eat an entire chicken by herself. “How…?” she began.
“I dunno. I’ve always been able to eat like that. Some think it’s some kind of strange byproduct of my incredible strength. I-” Glissa started to reply before Veyronna interrupted her.
“Glissa, you could have curled up and fit inside that bird, and now that bird is inside you. Even if you were completely hollow that’s just not possible! And you don’t even feel sick?”
Glissa shook her head. “No, I feel perfectly fine. Content, even. Hey, wanna break the wishbone?”
Veyronna sighed. “Okay, sure. I wish I could understand this.”
The small mage took the other end of the bone in her hands and mostly just braced to keep herself from being pulled over by Glissa’s strength. Glissa didn’t even bother to stand up and easily broke the bone with a flex of her arm. “Oh, looks like I won! I get my wish!”
“What did you wish for?” asked Veyronna.
“Dessert!”
Setup and Staging
Queen Ariana and her Guardian Angels in “Hanging out in Sanctuary”
For anyone familiar with my work, this is what the home of the True North Clan really looks like; anything shot in Sanctuary is done here. We’re all about glamour and big budgets! The suspension method used (on Queen Ariana, center, and Valeria, right) is some fishing line wrapped around a broom stick so it can be twisted to change the length of the line. Most often it is looped under armpits but I’ll do whatever is necessary to get the effect I want! These broom sticks can be shoved anywhere if the stool won’t cut it; on shelves, furniture, or held in rare cases. Any photo of a mini off the ground or balanced precariously is probably supported with this method. On the left, Lily is supported in a more common way, leaning on a stand. While I have other options available this is a stand made from Lego that is infinitely adjustable and my go to in most situations. There’s a tray with a bunch of them off to the side. One end is typically slipped under a strap on their outfit and the other has a rubber piece on it for traction.
This setup gets me this photo:
Which edits into the end product:
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agent0013, that ìs great, Ì thought Ì was the only one to use fishing line, Ì use 20 different colors 
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