"You may be wondering what my plans for you are. Well, here's what's going to happen. In this game, I take great delight in playing the part of the evil wizard. It's awfully fun, as a theme. And it gives the SAGEs, and the occasional other player a nice feeling of righteousness, which makes their struggles a little more fun."
"And every evil wizard needs a big nasty pet or too."
He made a minor gesture. "You can speak and walk again. Let's discuss your immediate future, now, shall we, 'Misty'?
I sat there. I thought about running for the door, or screaming, or otherwise try to escape, or plead, or... anything. But one look at him, and I realized, that was exactly what he was looking for. He WANTED me to do one of these things. To reaffirm that he was in control.
So instead I just sat there. And looked at him. And asked "What's going to happen to me?"
He seemed almost disappointed. "GOING to happen? My dear, most of it has already happened. You're stuck in the game now, like it or not. You're under my control. And your avatar has been modified to make a perfect minion for a dark wizard."
I shifted uncomfortably, and moved my tail (my tail? Still so strange...) to a different position.
"And what exactly am I supposed to be?" I asked, gesturing at my tail. "Some kind of succubus? Wow, really original there, mister dark lord. Certainly not something any other adolescent male would think of in a heartbeat."
I expected him to be angry after that, but in stead he just laughed.
"Oh, I am going to ENJOY breaking that spirit of yours. It will be quite useful, directed into the proper channels. You think me that petty? Then let me spell it out for you. Since you are now completely controlled by the game system, you have to be something that is in the game. All I can really adjust are your stats, your race, and your class. So I had to find something that would be both useful for the things I need, and versatile enough to deal with things I haven't thought of. So I came up with something. And no, it's not a succubus. While Succubae are... skilled in their area, they're only really good at one thing. No, I needed something else."
"Your race is now set as 'River Dragon'. They're not very well known. There's only one place in the game where you'll find them, and they're all very low level there. So most people don't even know what the more powerful ones can do."
I goggled. "River dragon? Are you crazy? If that was your plan," I gestured to the rest of me that wasn't a (now moderately dragon-look, I realized) tail. "If that's what you were aiming for, then I'm afraid you missed a few spots."
"Heh. You think so? Time to learn more about what you are, then. River dragons of the appropriate level can take on human form. I may need you to act as my agent, from time to time, so it is important that you be able to interact with other players without attracting undue attention. As you can see," he pointed to my tail again, "you are still marked as being of dragon-kind. That much is, alas, unavoidable. But it can be hidden at least, with appropriate clothes."
Your other forms, are... Well, there's your normal dragon form, of course. He made another minor gesture, and suddenly, the world jumped. I realized I was looking down on him from a height of at least 10-15 feet in the air. And that I was sitting in a very unfamiliar position, resting on my haunches. And that my neck seemed to be quite a bit longer and more bendable than I was used to. And...
All of these things hit me in a rush. Not only was I represented in the game now by a huge dragon, but I actually FELT like I dragon. I could feel the stone floor under the scales on my tail. I had a long sinuous neck, and could bend it this way and that. I was a dragon!
Hmm. Dragons have a fairly traditional form of attack, I thought. I wonder if he's got all his bases covered.
He was continuing to babble on. When I thought I saw an opening, I inhaled deeply and...
Breath weapon attack!
