I Don't Need No Sheath

[Abomination]

A memory rang through Homun's head like a bell. The image of a sword bursting out of his arm. He knew that he had some strange ability to retain weapons inside his body. What else could he compress and store inside that weird body of his? There was only one way to find out. Homun walked back into the same weapons store he was in before, although only his clothes would be recognizable, and even then they were a different color now.

"Swords and armor I require.
For combat and battle I aspire.
Quality and quantity, I need.
Various weaponry of all breed."

He coughed. He was still speaking like that mad poet. He adjusted to a more suitable voice, the one of Luc Kraus. As he put his hand on the counter, his fingers wouldn't stop moving. His eyes were still, his glare peering deep into anything it looks at. He was very much on edge visually, although on the inside he was quite calm.

"Swords, chain mail, knives, maces... What do you recommend? Anything that could fit under my clothes would be good."

[Bazaar Proprietor]

George B. Sellings had been having a relatively dull day. The only people to have passed through his shop had been schoolchildren, and all they had wanted to buy was candy. George B. Sellings hated children. He had long considered making his shop adults only, but children rarely haggled when they had enough coin for their sweets, and more often than not, they left without their change.

Now, the merchant was faced with a man stranger than any he'd seen before. Speaking in poetry was strange enough, but the sudden change of voices was downright peculiar. Sellings sighed, he knew this person was going to be trouble, especially considering this man didn't even know what he wanted to buy.

"Swords are pretty much what most people use," he replied. "And chain mail is relatively light. You look like a scrawny one, so don't wear anything you couldn't carry."

[Abomination]

Delicious metallic armaments! Steel and flesh! Burning the DeATH I WILL FIND IT- KILL. Tearing bones asunder and drinking the sinew from the ligaments... Homun shook his head. The tasty obsession was a strong one, and judging by his lack of assimilations today, he was unnerved as ever.

What he needed was to make his body into a weapon! Into armor! Into pure death incarnate! Why couldn't he control his thoughts? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why?

"Don't worry about me. Either way, my spending money is about six hundred thirty-five. I want some sort of chain mail, at least three swords, a couple daggers, and some piece of armor for every other part of my body such as a full plate. That is in order of importance and quality."

That's all he could get out before his mind returned to thoughts of satiating his hunger. Maybe he could eat this clerk? Devour- Eat- Satiate- Slaughter. He was uncomfortably twitching, even though his speech was eloquent and prideful.

[Bazaar Proprietor]

Between the twitching and the confusing order, Sellings would have been inclined to throw the strange creature out of his shop if it wasn't for the fact that the creature had mentioned having over six hundred pieces of gold. The merchant was somewhat surprised that a creature like this could have accumulated a single gold piece, but since he had six hundred of them, George wanted his shop to be where they were spent.

"You have a tall order," the merchant said. "Even for 600 pieces of gold, that is a long list of wants. The chainmail, in normal steel is going to be 200 peices of gold, the three swords 300 total in steel. The two daggers are 40 total in steel, 20 total in iron. As for your full plate, in normal quality iron, it is still 55 for bracers, 50 for gauntlets and 85 for a helmet. Depending on your total for the daggers, thats 730 or 710..."

Since the behavior of the creature was so erratic, Sellings did not add on his conclusion that even the daggers at iron would be too expensive for the strange creature in his shop to afford. "I could look at slightly used or cheaper quality work for you, and that would bring the price down some," Sellings offered, softening his tone. "Just let me know what prices you'd want adjusted now that we have a nice base."

[Abomination]

Something was amiss. The amount specified was higher than the amount he had! He should just eat, DEVOUR THIS CLERK AND THEN I'LL HAVE ANYTHING I-- Wait. He didn't need that third sword. Problem solved! Twitch.

"I'll take the daggers in steel. Take out one of the swords and my total will be 630."

He pulled out all his money and assembled it on the table, picking out five coins to shove back into his coat pocket. Homun doubted that even if he could somehow assimilate weaponry and armor, beyond steel would probably be a failed effort at this point. Plus, he didn't even know if he could assimilate even this much.

[Bazaar Proprietor]

Sellings smiled. This transaction was not necessarily going to go as painfully as he had feared. It wasn't difficult to fetch the steel chainmail, two steel swords, two steel daggers and iron armor, it was all relatively common stuff, the kind of stuff that the merchant sold quite often. Sellings was glad. He didn't want the strange creature in his shop any longer than necessary.

"Once I have your money, you'll get your things," Sellings said warily, though his assistants were already bringing out the things that the creature had demanded.

[Abomination]

The thought of taking whatever he wanted without paying occurred to The Homunculus many times during this transaction, but a premonition whose source was a shared thought of each of his assimilations told him not to. He couldn't access the specific memories or thoughts of his previous assimilations, but when thinking about it, he felt as if every single one was telling him it was a really bad idea. So, he had to exert as much patience as he could to remain calm.

After the merchant examined the money on the table and counted it, he affirmed the transaction and his assistants handed the armor to Homun all tied up in a big clump. They then gave him all his weapons tied up around the center of the blades. He couldn't very well assimilate them here and now, so he took the armor in one hand and the weapons in the other. He grinned a menacing grin.

"Don't look so glum, my dear merchant," he said in Luc's voice. The words that followed were in his natural, raspy, voice. His tone was low and almost had a growling-like quality to it. "I'm almost out of your hair."

He didn't take long in vacating the store. He returned to the inn he was staying at to try out his idea. It was unfortunate for Sellings if he didn't value Homun's company, since if this worked The Homunculus would be making many more trips to the armory in the near future.

[Bazaar Proprietor]

(Homunculus gains 100 EXP, steel chainmail, two steel swords, two steel daggers are 40 total in steel, and iron bracers, iron gauntlets and an iron helmet. He loses 630 GP).