July Pinup #1 Winner! (Patreon)

Thank you all for voting. The ideas were great, but by popular vote, the winner is: 

3. Definitely Real Paramore - A seventh realm human mage, trying to impress his fellow apprentices, concocted an elaborate lie about being the beloved of a powerful and wise orc sorceress. His tale caught the ear of the archmage they were training under, who honored his student with an invitation to a ball of the most powerful and influential mages in the land - provided of course, he could bring his companion with him.

Desperate for the opportunity, our apprentice mage puts together an elaborate bit of magical chicanery - making an illusory duplicate of himself while magically disguising himself as the imaginary sorceress to attend the ball (not examining at all the implications of choosing that over simply making an illusionary sorceress). As fate would have it, the deception works splendidly - the sorceress' charms and insights impress the archmages so much to warrant further invitations. The apprentice indulges further, at first reluctantly, then eagerly as more opportunities for advancement come in. Beyond the material benefits, there is increasingly something that just feels "right" about his persona. A freedom and confidence in her skin he never had in his own.

This being the 7th realm, repeated uses of such illusions start to have their usual side effects. Within a few months of increasingly frequent 'visits' from the sorceress, our apprentice has had to start doing illusions just to look like their old self. What's more, between direct access to local archmages and a newfound confidence, the feigned magical might of our sorceress has quickly blossomed into something quite real.

By the time of our pinup, our sorceress has made the decision to abandon her old persona (which feels now more like a charade than the sorceress ever did), and accept a full time position as a liaison to the archmages, all the more brilliant and charming amid magical high society now that she's unencumbered by her past or her old 'beloved'.

(7th realm male human apprentice to female orc sorceress)

https://www.patreon.com/posts/84769642

Once again, a big thanks to ChiCha for the suggest and once again, thank you all for voting! And have a wonderful Summer Solstice tomorrow!