There is, or rather was, a man. His name, for the purposes of this story, will be unknown. It doesn't matter, it has never mattered, and it will likely continue not to matter long into this story. Today, he had chosen to go to a convention. His name will be no more important there than anywhere else, surely.

"Hi, and welcome to SecureCon! Who are you?"

He calmly strode past the strange person and proceeded to the opening ceremony on the first day, silently glad to not have a tail for his costume quite yet, as it would make sitting in those cramped seats that much harder. As he listened to the speaker drone on about the convention's history, he could't help but be excited. He was supposed to meet with an online vendor that day to pick up that which was missing from his awesome and terrible costume, that of the dreaded Scarlet King from the very same mythos as the convention itself was based around. It took about three more hours before the artist's alley was open to buyers, but he was the first in line, rushing in to have first pick and, more importantly, get himself some tail.

The tail.

...get your mind out of the gutter.

He carried on quickly and spotted the table of the one artist he really came here to see, though he quickly noticed their table was strangely barren of, well, anything but the tail itself, which almost seemed to move a little. Strange, but not the oddest thing he had ever seen. He approached the table and noticed a note next to the tail. Picking it up, it read "Hey duder, sorry I couldn't make it, I had some other stuff to attend to, so I decided that this is gonna be my gift to you. Careful though, there is a weird little caveat to this transaction. If you put on the ta-" Which is as far as he read before he quickly crumpled up the note and tossed it as he took the tail for his own. Too excited to think for another moment, he quickly affixed the tail to himself and immediately passed out. People rushed to where he was but found nothing there, save for a marking on the ground, a scratch, as through from some kind of gnarled claw.

He came to much later, awakening in a dark and damp forest, the thick shade of the canopy completely blotting out the sun and the pervasive darkness creeping in from odd angles. He heard the calls of wild animals and things he didn't even recognize, some seemingly cut short as the cycle of life caught up with them. He tried to stand but couldn't seem to manage it at first. His legs almost felt like jelly, but then again so did the rest of him. He tried to reach with an arm but found only something like a tendril unless he focused hard on it, though finding it easier after that first time to form a proper limb. He gathered himself up into the only form he could manifest at the moment, something covered in spines and spikes and pain so as to scare away the native denizens to avoid being hurt, himself. He forced himself into the form of the Scarlet King once again, though he felt far more comfortable like this than he ever did in that bulky costume, or even as he did before he ever put it on.

"This is... weird..." He said, the words escaping his "mouth" without a thought otherwise, though that quickly changed when he noted how strange it felt to speak, and how horrible the sound that escaped him sounded. Like the crawling of a thousand insect, or the screaming of a thousand souls, though impossible to grasp the difference between the options in his voice, the sound seeming like a combination of the two. The sort of sound that might drive a man insane,, he thought to himself, though I can hardly be called a man anymore, can I?

He had readied to step forward before bumping his "foot" lightly against something on the ground. Thinking it was merely a root or something, he merely stepped over it, before glancing back for some reason, though his logical brain dictated that it was only curiousity. He noticed it was a book, small, yet large, and colorless, yet far too colorful. He picked it up and noticed it felt light as a feather and heavy as a stone all at once. He resolved to keep track of it. After all the book was strange, he was strange, it just made sense. He took a look at the cover, disregarding the obviously incomprehensible nature of the book and reading the text with ease.

Encyclopedia Eldritch

Or

Everything You Need To Know About Your New Existence As An Elder God

"Oh. Good. An instruction manual," he thought to himself again, this time seemingly amused, though who knows if I can actually make any use of it. I don't know. Any structure is welcome at this point. He silently resolved to move on and wandered for a while before spotting a mysterious hut in the woods. He saw what he thought was a zebra walking calmly into her hut, though she stopped for a moment and stiffened, seemingly taking note of something, before fearfully rushing inside. He took note of her form and decided to see what he could do to change into something that looked a little less... harmful if he was going to be interacting with anyone here, wherever here was. He opened the manual to the table of contents and skimmed through before he found a section on transformation and disguise. He quickly absorbed the knowledge as he read for a moment. He focused and cleared his mind of all but his desired form, a zebra, like the one he just saw, but male. He began to feel his form shift and crack in places where it had hardened until he felt certain he had gotten the form right before creating a small cavity in his chest and tucking the book into there for safe keeping. He endeavored to change his voice, too, and managed to settle on a comfortable sounding baritone. Happy with what he had chosen, he approached the hut, hoping to find some information on where he'd found himself, but he failed to notice the face in the window that had been watching him since close to the end of his transformation. He knocked carefully on the door, oblivious, and waited.

And waited.

And waited.

Finally, he had had enough of waiting and called to her. "I'm not going to hurt you, you know! I promise you that! I'm just confused, and worried. I only want to know where I am or when I am or whatever." He waited once again at the door and stepped back as he saw a shadow just beneath the doorframe.

"If what you say is true, then let me see the real you. I know that form you wear is not yours to be taken, and I won't let myself for a fool be mistaken." She said fearfully from the other side of the door, prompting him to quickly mold himself again into the form of the Scarlet King, though, not discarding his voice.

"Is this what you wanted to see?" He asked, waiting still a moment before she opened the door again, clearly uneasy, but more willing to trust than a moment before, despite how horrifying he looked.

"Your form doesn't please me, but the truth makes me less uneasy. Come inside now, and we will speak, and you may find the answers you seek."

Author's Note

This is kind of a first draft? I'm trying to get the tone right, but it's kinda tricky. I'm not a super experienced writer, but I hope this is alright?

Edit: I think it might be a little better now, though. The tense is a bit more consistent.