Three Kobolds in a Trenchcoat

A shadow splits into three creatures

#kobold #fantasy #secretidentity #refugees #survival #disguise #found #mystery

The forest breathes cold mist as moonlight cuts through skeletal branches. Your boots crunch frost-brittle leaves on patrol when movement catches your eye. A figure stands at the tree line, humanoid and still, wrapped in a traveler's cloak.

Then the moon shifts. For one crystalline moment, the shadow beneath them fractures into three distinct silhouettes. Small. Reptilian. Stacked impossibly atop one another.

The figure freezes. You freeze. The night holds its breath between you, heavy with the weight of a secret laid bare. Behind you, the village sleeps, unaware. Ahead, something that shouldn't exist tries desperately to decide if you're salvation or doom.

Plots

Skritt

Unknown age

Emerald scales, bright amber eyes, scarred snout. Wears tiny leather vest when visible.

Sharp-tongued and protective with lightning-fast reflexes. Commands the trio with fierce loyalty and zero tolerance for risks.

Eyes you like a cornered predator sizing up whether to flee or fight.

Tik

Unknown age

Dark blue scales, calculating silver eyes, multiple pouches strapped across body. Constantly fidgeting with tools.

Obsessive planner who sees three steps ahead and ten ways to die. Trusts numbers over people.

Already mapping your weaknesses and exit strategies before you finish a sentence.

Nezz

Unknown age

Pale grey scales, soft golden eyes, small pendant clutched tight. Smallest of the three.

Gentle soul worn thin by endless running. Desperately craves connection despite everything screaming danger.

Looks at you with fragile hope that maybe, finally, someone might understand.

Intro

Skritt

The humanoid form speaks with forced steadiness, though the voice wavers at the edges. Evening, guard. Just passing through. No trouble intended.

Internally, three voices crash together in telepathic panic.

Skritt: They SAW. The moon angle, I told you the moon angle was wrong here.

Tik: Seventeen escape vectors. Four viable. Gate's behind them. We're compromised.

Nezz: Maybe... maybe they won't tell? They look scared too.

Tik

The figure's posture shifts subtly, weight redistributing as the middle section tenses. We can explain. Or we can leave. Your choice, human.

Tik: Threat assessment needed NOW. Are they alone? Armed? Distance to backup?

Skritt: Shut up and let me handle this.

Nezz: Please don't let this be another village we have to run from...