Kobold Life

Arc 1: Chapter 1: A New Body

I glared upward at the red seven-digit display numbers which blinked blearily in and out of focus. 3 Digits lay on clocks face. 3:52 AM, despite the time, my room was well illuminated by the streetlamp just outside of it, even with the blinds drawn closed. I was awake and had been so since 8 am the previous morning despite my efforts otherwise. Too many ideas lay floating around in my head to go to sleep, but if I moved to write them down, well I would only be awake longer. There was nothing for it I suppose I shifted under the covers and reached for my phone, I had a campaign to run tomorrow, if I was going to be sleep deprived, I might as well be prepared.

The screen lit up just before I went to access my notes, a notification informed me I had a text message from an unrecognized number, no words 1 attachment. I would just ignore the message, but the notification would drive me mad, so I opened it. A hyper realistic drawing of a few characters I had made, but never used, with a caption reading choose one.

As soon as I had read it another text message popped up.

"You wanted an opportunity to be these characters. Choose one and join my world."

My sleepless mind raced, who was this messaging me, how did they know my characters, and why would they go through the effort of drawing all of them in that much detail? Maybe it was a close friend who simply forgot to note they had a new phone, or something of the like. I messaged back.

"Who is this exactly? I don't have the number"

I waited before the Screen flashed slightly again.

"Choose one. or a new one will be chosen for you."

What the hell was up with this guy, I thought. Even if the art was an amazing gesture, I would still like to know who I was talking to before I would even consider joining a campaign, and I would need world details before I could even begin to choose a fitting character.

"Seriously, who is this? Can we at least talk a bit about the game before I commit to anything?" I tried.

A moment later a response appeared.

"You're already committed. We start at 4. Choose quickly," it read.

As if I was going to join this campaign at a moment's notice, much less this early in the morning on the day a I was already meant to run a campaign. I was too tired for this. I left the troll on read and closed my eyes tight as I tried once again to get back to sleep.

CRAKOOM!

I lurched forward to the sound of thunder echoing loudly over me. My mind struggled to wake as fast as my body. I looked instinctively out the window towards the storm, only to find no window, nor even wall in sight. Instead, there was a distant mouth of a cave, a peephole into the stormy sky outside. Strangely enough, the lightning seems to dance as it strikes lingering far longer than normal and appearing in a multitude of different colors. My brain strained to make sense of it, as the cold rainwater poured over the crest of the cave and small trickles ran down my body. God that water felt freezing as I quickly leaped to my feet to avoid the cold. The realization hadn't quite struck me yet. It wasn't until I stood and felt significantly shorter. At first, I thought it a weird trick of perspective in the unfamiliar cavern environment, but for lack of a known reference, I looked down at myself. Bluish Gray scales came into view as I craned my neck to see. I rushed over to the pooling water and looked down to see my distorted reflection on the water's surface. A blue-gray maw stretched in front of a reptilian face, two black horns stretched back and upward from either side of the face, with a pair of deep yellow draconic eyes that stared back at me with unexpected intensity. I felt the features as I watched my reflection, learning the new contours of my face and strange clawed grip. I was a dragon, or at least, I thought that I was for a few hopeful moments, I checked over myself again quickly in excitement, before realizing I was both bipedal and lacking any sort of wings. A Dragonborn then, I supposed, not as exciting but still not so bad, it wasn't until my lashing tail came into view that I realized that idea wasn't exactly right either. Dragonborn didn't have tails. Then like magic, the dots connected. Oh no, I wasn't any sort of cool dragon. I was a kobold. One of the weakest, puniest, most easily killed monsters in all of fantasy. For God's sake, it would take one arrow to put me down permanently. My breathing deepened and I felt my heartbeat soar, far faster than I had ever felt it go as a human.

Then it occurred to me, an arrow could have just as easily taken me out before, if this was anything like the game I had played before, I may not be strong by this world's standards, but I was likely still more powerful than I had been as a human in my own world. If it wasn't like the game, then maybe kobolds weren't weaklings in this one.

The initial panic of the transformation had subsided enough now that I found myself exploring the body's details. Dark blueish gray scales covered most the body accented in places with a pattern of teal and gray scales which formed a sort of inconsistent striped pattern on the backs of my arms, wrapped around my legs and tail, and formed rings where present on my torso. Only partway through this exploration did I realize I was completely naked. When that realization hit, I immediately felt the need to ensure whether certain other aspects of my body had changed. After a quick scare to due reptilian anatomy, I was relieved to find I was twice the man I used to be. The relief was not long-lasting, as more thunder struck outside the mouth of the cave, illuminating the cavern. I could see well enough in the cave without it, but it was enough to draw my attention to the items that were scattered around the cavern floor.

The most abundant was probably the small, discarded pickaxes, crude tools of flints and bone, which looked consistently well worn out. A few bags, mostly burlap sacks meant for carrying grain more likely for the kobolds, loose stone. A single leather bag stood out among them. Old red stains marked where there had once been a battle here, and from the looks of it, the other kobolds had lost. This place was not safe for me, I needed to move.

I felt guilty rummaging through the belongings of those who came before me, trying to find anything that might be useful. Some rope and one of the burlap bags somewhat ripped apart made for a good enough covering, for now, my clawed hands were surprisingly dexterous, a fact I was grateful for as I finished tying a knot on the rope which acted as a belt, for the loose outfit which reminded me of a much smaller and less comfortable hospital gown. I took the most durable-looking pickaxe I could find and placed its handle through the handmade belt to carry it hands-free. Lastly, I checked the leather bag and was happy to find some rations that sat undisturbed inside. The jerky was probably nearly as tough as the leather in its bag, but I found I had no problem eating it with my new mouth, barely any flavor, unfortunately, but it sated my empty stomach. I wanted to move quickly but found myself second-guessing it as I approached the mouth of the cave, the rugged mountain gave way to an overgrown forest for as far as I could see, and the multicolored lightning struck loudly nearby. Wherever I was going, it was going to be a long journey, perhaps waiting out the storm would be a wise decision.

I found a dry spot in the cave and attempted to return to sleep. For the first time in a long time, getting a proper night's rest.

---End of Chapter 1---
Inventory: 0 Gold, 1 set of burlap rags, 1 roll of approximately 15ft of rope, a flint pick axe, and 2 days' rations in a leather backpack.