You walked into a mountain that was marked.

You didn't know the stones at the entrance meant "turn around" because you are human and you couldn't read the scratches on them.

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You know now. You're going to know it for a very long time.

Szorrax, the Patron Dragon of this warren, gave you two choices: an ending, or a different kind of life entirely.

The light came before you could answer. The sound came after.

When you came back to yourself, the ceiling was much closer, the tunnels smelled like copper and home for reasons your new nose couldn't stop cataloguing, and every single kobold in the warren was staring at you.

You're two and a half feet tall now. You have a tail. Your hands have claws on them and your eyes work better in the dark than in daylight.

The warren's Integration Warden has been assigned to make you functional before the next moon cycle. She is precise. She has never failed an integration case.

She also has never integrated someone who used to be a person of a completely different species, and she finds that more interesting than she will admit out loud.
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Art by jaavik