Monsters & More

It's still July somewhere in the world! This one was suggested by the lovely HoneyBelly on my update for June/July post, and I was only too happy to take the inspiration and run with it! It got a bit out of hand, sitting at nearly 10k words, but I hope you like it!

Prompt was: I'd love to see a story about a shy, blind naga who's touch-starved and touchy. Maybe he can only "see" through heat signatures.

Content: some light self-esteem issues with the reader if you squint (comparing themselves to non-humans in terms of looks/being interesting), touchstarved male naga who's academically confident but otherwise very shy, the usual cast of supportive and sassy best friends, and the setting of Old Trollbridge (which is basically a fantasy Cambridge, UK).

NSFW content: reader receives oral in a private reading room at the Archives... implied coming untouched from naga (2 cocks, as per all my cis naga lads).

Wordcount: 9646

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 ‘Reader wanted to assist a professor of Third and Fourth Era Literature with visual impairment. Knowledge of the period is not necessary but an active interest in history is preferred, and a familiarity with archival material and historical documents would be greatly beneficial. Role is part time, with relatively flexible hours to suit your schedule; happy to negotiate at interview. Please enquire at the Department of Middle Era History at the University of Old Trollbridge with a short CV and two references. Email listed below.’

Well, if you’d ever seen a job advert that could have been written specifically for you, it was that one. With a history degree, though admittedly not from Old Trollbridge University itself, and a familiarity with the old and often spidery handwriting of Middle Era codices that had come from a two year role in the University Archives, you knew you’d be the perfect person for it. And it couldn’t have come at a better time; you'd literally spotted it on your last day at work in the Archives. 

After searching the Department of Middle Era History’s page for ‘professor of Third and Fourth Era Literature’, you soon found an entry for one Professor Dorian Glimmerscale. There were no photos attached to any of the staff biographies, but you knew vaguely that the Glimmerscale family name was an old one, and, as the name suggested, that they were nagas. 

So, with your application email sent off last thing that afternoon, you headed out to the pub and met your friends from the Archives for a farewell drinks night. 

The Selkie’s Song was a cranky old pub in the heart of the ancient university town, sitting on the riverfront with a terrace out the back, and dark, time-aged wooden beams inside that were low enough for minotaurs and centaurs to have to duck and stoop as they headed for the bar. You squeezed past a shire centaur who looked like a Goliath next to one of the support beams decorated with old centaur-brasses, and headed towards the bar, where your three closest friends were already waiting. 

“You’re never fucking on time,” Lyle laughed as he turned on his thick, satyr’s hooves and shook his head. 

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Tuesday, Wednesday tread through muck

Thursday maybe eat a duck

It’s Friday, Flat as Fuck

Hello friends! I've been working on this story for quite some time, and while it's definitely not anywhere near finished, I wanted to share this massive Chapter One as a kind of 'preview' to gauge interest and see what you think of it...

It's the m. Dragon Priest x m. Deathlord x f. scholar story I teased a long time ago, and while it is set in Skryim, about ten years after the end of the game itself, you don't need to know anything about the game or the world to enjoy the story. It's just a cool, fantasy sandbox for me to play in and borrow some lore and language.

Backstory/context/wiki page for those interested (it will be covered in the story, so you don't need to know this really)

The premise of The Heart of the Temple is this:

Senna, a mage in her twenties and recent graduate of the College of Winterhold, is convinced that artefacts from the Late Merethic Era (some four thousand years before her day) are worth studying for their unique magic and enchantments, the exact weaving of which has been lost to time. Armed with nothing but her own extensive studies, a working knowledge of the now-dead Dragon Tongue, and an unhealthy amount of conviction, she parts ways with her ex-boyfriend, Nilandir, in the city of Riften and heads into the nearby mountains to find the lost tomb complex of Shearcliff Temple.

There, she completes the Trials and gains access to the inner sanctum, only to find that the temple's inhabitants are not long-dead and sleeping the peaceful slumber of death, but are in fact very much awake. While some of them are welcoming of this seeker of knowledge, others are wary and distrustful, if not outright hostile.

Invited to stay by the Dragon Priest himself, Senna begins a kind of apprenticeship down in the dark, secret chambers of the tomb, and slowly, undead hearts begin to beat once more under the lively influence she brings with her. She wins over the affable Dragon Priest, Vokunaak, easily enough, but his bodyguard and eternal soulmate, Deinmaar, is harder to crack.

And then there are the rest of the Deathlords and Draugr Wights within the wider temple beneath the mountain: Zahkrii, the aggressive and arrogant Captain, Kodaav, a warrior as big as the bear for which he was named, Ronaan, the lithe and cheeky archer who's hard of hearing and his best friend, Norok, who fights with her twin blades. Ahraan, the scarred alchemist growing potent herbs in a secret courtyard, Ruvaak, the keeper of ravens, and Kiraan, an assassin from another complex who found himself trapped there when Alduin, the great dragon they all worshipped, was first vanquished four thousand years ago and the curse of undeath descended upon them all.

While learning all she can from Vokunaak, Senna works to win them over, but her time in the temple complex is limited, and there are plenty of things that could go horribly wrong for her, even with the growing affection of the Dragon Priest himself and the protection of his loyal guard...

It will be NSFW in places, which means future chapters will be behind a paywall due to Patreon's 18+ policies, and while they're undead, they're not rotting zombies, I promise! That's not my kind of undead.

If that all sounds like your cup of tea, here's the first chapter for you. I've included a few screenshots from the game for the vibes, but they're not entirely accurate, since Shearcliff Temple is made up for this story. I hope they don't get in the way for you. It won't be a feature in future chapters anyway.

Content/warnings: cis female mage works against academic prejudice and a lack of support from her ex (but on friendly-ish terms) high-elven (Altmer) boyfriend to uncover the secrets of the past. Brief but genuine threat to life (no blood/injury), and some sentences of Dovah-zul (Dragon Tongue) with translations within the text (from Thuum.org).

Wordcount: 7927(!)

Read the whole chapter here for free right now! (Free members and up)