Inspired by this exchange on the macro thread:
28688770
Not shrinking the dragon
not looting its hoard
not shrinking the Kobolds while you are there
Step up your villainy game, bruh
28688861
not hitting the kobolds with a "size roulette" spell every few months and studying the changes in their psyches and social structure
no u step it up.
28689038
Make the Kobold that seems to be taking Charge grow
then shrink it
Make the Runt big
Make the Females larger
Make half of them smaller
This is extreme Stanford Prison Experiment tier stuff
28689177
That's just playing around. If you want to get Stanford on them, you need to get them used to a Pavlovian model that rewards them with growth and then abruptly change it to a risk/reward model that is more likely to cause them to shrink than grow.
28689221
or do the pigeon experiment where rewards are random and see what superstitions they develop trying to gain size / prevent shrinkage.
28689384
all this mad science
Is this what extraterrestrials do when they kidnap people?
Would be interesting to see in Kobolds. They still have some level of Draconian feistiness, and they probably don’t want to become too small that they risk being stepped/snacked on. Probably more frightening for a Kobold to be ankle high to another one that in it would be for us Humans
Experiment in Draconomics
an arch wizard was tasked with dealing with Arratorax the Dreaded
he shrank the black wyrm, who was not nearly as powerful as his name implied
five kobold servants come out of hiding after their battle
his spells were already prepped so the wizard shrank and kept them as well
recalling a drunken debate he once had with a colleague, he decided to test a theory
an empty room in his keep was transformed into a minor realm
there was tiny game for them to hunt and food to gather
he left them with only one instruction;
that they can earn or loose his favor but they will never leave
in truth he simply made it so that every three to six hours someone would be affected by size magic
one occupant at random would shrink to half their size or grow until they were double in size
the black wyrm had bore the brunt of the shrinking magic from earlier
he was only twice as tall as his minions, though far stronger
the kobolds watched as the black dragon flew about the new realm in a rage
his claws and flames did nothing to the enchanted stone walls, which now seemed like a great grey sky
by chance he was also the first to receive a "curse" from the wizard
shrinking had made him only slightly larger than the koblods
the kobolds secretly feared the wrath of the wizard more than their master
Arratorax ordered his servants to make a camp and gather food
the two females set about gathering whatever edible berries or nuts were around
the three males went off to hunt with improvised spears
one of them came back at half his size, though the party did secure killing a deer
the females inquired what happened to the tiny male
the leader of the hunt, Yarro, said they nearly lost their prey due to the noise he made
they agreed that he should get nothing to eat for his failures
the black wyrm hated eating around the fire with his minions as though they were equals
the magic lighting of the room dimmed like nightfall and they found places to sleep
Tixi, the smaller of the females stayed awake
after the others were asleep she gave some food to the shrunken male
the next morning, everyone awoke to some surprises
Tixi and Yarro, had grown in the night
though they loomed over their master they still feared him, as was natural for kobolds
this development disturbed Arratorax greatly
it amused the wizard who was observing the room from his study
he decided to increase the rate of change to every two hours
to the delight of the wizard this caused much commotion throughout the day
the other female immediately shrunk after picking a few berries, which were obviously cursed
Arratorax was taking out his frustrations by yelling at the normal sized male
the kobold shrank in the middle of apologizing to his master
the male that had shrunk during the hunt had shrunk again
though he had done little more than follow Tixi around all morning
Tixi took pity on him and allowed him to ride back to the camp on her shoulder
Yarro grew yet again, now as large as the great dragon once was compared to the smallest kobold
he decided to go hunting, mostly to get away from the envious stares of his master
it did not take long for him to return with two more deer
the shrunken female grew back to her normal height as she praised Yarro's hunting skill
Arratorax roared with anger at her
the kobolds were told to praise none but their master, regardless of the wizards trickery
he took one of the deer for himself and commended Yarro for catching enough food this time
truthfully Yarro had got a deer for himself and hoped the others would share the second
as their master went off to eat by himself the other kobolds spoke up in praise of Yarro
Tixi told Yarro to keep the deer to himself
for they had had some luck spearing fish while he was away
as they ate the tiniest male shrank again
now small enough to rest in Tixi's palm he broke down into a nervous wreck
they knew not how he displeased the wizard but feared that he was now too small to redeem himself
Tixi comforted him as their master arrived before nightfall
Arratorax had grown again while he was away
he demanded an explanation from the tiny kobold for his condition
he reveled in the panic and fear he saw from his servant, now returned to his proper place
the dragon ignored the apologies and genuflection coming from his feet
he reached down and picked up the kobold
"If you so displease the wizard then there is only one thing left to do with you"
though he said it more as a warning to the party
the dragon opened his great maw and swallowed the kobold screaming
the other kobolds did not react, they had seen it all before
it was the reason their master, so great and powerful, only had five servants
Tixi and Yarro however felt something different watching this time
seeing their master at the same size, or smaller, did not inspire the fear and awe as before
maybe it was the knowledge that the whims of the wizard mattered more now
Tixi especially felt something she had never felt towards a dragon; disgust
it was said among their kind that runts like her were not strong enough to serve dragons properly
but the difference in strength was not so vast now
instead of power she saw cruelty towards the kobold that she had showed kindness to
they all went to sleep solemnly and quickly
the wizard decide to let the faster pace continue through the night
and with one fewer party member the fate of any one of them could be altered dramatically
the dragon and the other female kobold shrank over night
Tixi grew, now the same size as Yarro, and the other male grew and shrank leaving him back at his half size
Yarro and Tixi sat down to make themselves appear not so imposing to their knee high master
the other kobolds, still half his size, looked to avoid his anger
Arratorax raged at the unseen wizard
how dare he judge the great dragon?
how dare he punish and reward them even for dreaming?
the wizard chuckled to himself whilst eating breakfast and watching the wyrm
the fates seemed to agree with the wizard as the dragon shrank again just as his rant was winding down
dragons do not know fear but envy serves much of the same purpose for them
starring up at his huge servants he decided that he would rather be elsewhere and flew off
the two giant kobolds gathered up the smaller ones to walk about the realm
the morning progressed with more changes
Yarro and the other female shrank once
the other male shrank once and the female shrank for a second time that day
by lunch Tixi was beginning to suspect that there was no reason behind the changes at all
though the others wasted much of their conversation speculating on each one
by the afternoon Tixi grew again
Yarro stood at her knees, the other two were smaller than her claws
she could scarcely tell the difference between them even though the male was twice the size of the female
the tiny ones were worried about the return of their master
in their enjoyment of the day they had completely forgotten to bring food to camp
Tixi said she would go and get more fish
it was a surprisingly short walk to the lake that had been a good hike away just yesterday
with just her hands she was able to dredge the lake and secured many little fishies for her master
however she returned to a tense scene at the camp
Arratorax, who had grown again, was furious that no meal had been procured for him
Even Yarro, still twice the size of his master, was cowering at his anger
Tixi's arrival interrupted everything
She tried to offer the fish to her master but he rejected them without even looking
He announced that he needed to punish the kobolds for their insolence
He made way to seize the tiny female and do to her what he had done to so many other kobolds in the past
Tixi took a large step to put herself between them
"Master should punish Tixi" she said
Tixi dropped down to her knees, shaking the earth beneath them
the shadow of her tail swept over the other kobolds
she had completely blocked them off from their master
it was now as though Arratorax and her were speaking alone
Tixi offered the fish and repeated "Master should punish Tixi"
"Tixi was late getting masters food, Tixi deserves punishment" she said calmly
the wizard was watching the crystal ball with anticipation
he had never heard of a kobold challenging a dragon like this
though he had to admit that his magic had done a lot of work to change the social dynamics
the dragon was seething internally
she prevented him from meeting out punishment
she ordered him around, even if it was to punish her
and she had the gall to be so much bigger than him that he couldn't punish her if he wanted to
thrice defied and three times as mad the wyrm belted out a glut of flame
Tixi leaned back unimpressed by her masters rage
She dumped the fish out on the ground and stood up
Yarro had picked up the smaller kobolds but all of them were still behind her
Arratorax charged at them, blind to the danger Tixi posed to him
her clawed foot descended on her master; slamming him into the ground
he roared out the last of his fire breath in the direction of the other kobolds
but they had already retreated far behind Tixi
they bowed and began to say prayers
Tixi didn't know why they were saying such prayers to the master now that he was broken under her foot
as it dawned on her that they were praying to her, she was struck by another growth spell
now she towered even over the trees
her master struggling beneath her foot barely registered against her thick scales
she merely pivoted to face the praying kobolds and broke his wings and back
his familiar cries of anger had been replaced with cries of pain, something none of the kobolds had heard before
Tixi was incredibly unsure of what to do
until she actually listened to the kobolds prayers
it was the prayer of sacrifice
it was the words they chanted when a kobold was ritually eaten by the master
a celebration of the masters power and of the lowly kobold receiving an honorable and exalted death
she looked down at the bleeding and panting dragon underfoot
she picked up her former master, every subtle movement sending jolts of pain through his broken body
even half dead and delirious he attempted to breath fire, though only smoke hissed out of him now
she raised his head to her open mouth
and with one strong bite received his offering
the wizard, intrigued by the startlingly rapid collapse of draconic norms, began to unmake his spells
for now he simply lifted the size randomizing spell
he also returned the other kobolds to a more normal size, at least to the scale of the realm
he would leave the one called Tixi as is, and see what she would do in her new role
it amused him to think that the "giant" kobold in the miniature realm was about the size of a common squirrel
he took some notes on his little experiment and mulled over what to do
liberate them and keep the precocious creature as a pet?
or add some new subjects to the experiment?