A merchant, but scarier

"Alright, this is the place. No bartering, no whining, no refunds, and DON'T stare." After rattling off these rules, Mienna pulls the door open and Verita leads everyone inside. "Oh, and don't shed if you can help it. She'll probably be really angry if there's wolf hair on everything."

'Everything' felt like a sad understatement. You were certain the storefront you were just standing in front of had been maybe twenty paces across--a small shop in a small alley. Now that you're inside, that small front feels like a big lie; it must stretch for a hundred steps either way. Although, you still feel like you're in a small space; but that's because some two miles of shelves stretch in either direction, overpacked with anything and everything that exists. Right in front of you is a path barely wide enough to walk through leading to a counter. On either side are rows of shelves spreading longways, with enough space between each for a person to fit down if they turn sideways and suck in their gut--as long as they're Mienna's size or weren't blessed with even half the assets your chest is sporting.

The being behind the counter fits neither of those qualifications. He's large, around the waist and around the chest, and even around his chin. Strong, thick arms are leaning on the countertop, supporting his body weight as he watches your small family enter. Your eyes travel up a pair of manboobs that outclass even your gifted rack and come to rest on a face that you pray his mother still managed to love. It's large, lopsided, and oddly lumpy. Two piss-yellow eyes are staring out of it, just above a large, crooked nose. Beneath that is a grin with three extra-large teeth sticking out from her lower lip at odd angles, as if each tooth wanted to be a tusk when it grew up and they fought over who could be the best tusk. And beneath that is a beard that doesn't start until the point that is probably his chin. So it's probably more accurate to call it a neard. It's pretty prominent from that point down to his collar, though.

"Welcome to the Troll's Forge, your one-stop-shop for all adventuring needs," he sounded off without any emotion. His voice wasn't half as deep as you expected it to be, but then again with a build like that you were ready for something as deep as the backwoods you just walked out of. "Are you buying or selling?"

"Hi, Mizz Borge," Mienna said in the bravest voice she could muster.

"Hm? Do I know you?" the man behind the counter asked.

"Um. I'm... Ah, fudge it. It's me, Mienna. The rogue that was trying to track down those hackers?"

"Hush, girl! Don't you go calling down divine wrath in my shop, uttering heretical nonsense! Last girl saying crazy stuff like that, I... The Hell!?! Mienna, girl? That's you?" He practically threw his body over the counter trying to get a better look at the small person on the other side. "Well I'll be. You certainly look like her, but you're awful small to be that crazy girl."

"My daring caught up with me this time. Lost all my levels and gear and...well, the old body, too. Got a nice new one, though!"

Mizz Borge frowned. "T'aint the place for bad jokes like that. If getting a new body were something that easy, I'da switched a looooong time ago. My dwarf blood's been fightin' my troll bones too long, and everything's hurtin' these days."

"Pardon?" you voice aloud. "Dwarf and troll?"

"S'right! Only one you'll ever see, too! Mama always insisted she loved the little metal-muncher, but now I'm older I think she just wanted to piss off her parents. I doubt the guy could even fill her with his arm, let alone-"

Skoll sneezes loudly in your arms. You look down to find that she's been playing with her tail; the fur probably tickled her nose.

"Ah, I'm sorry, Ma'am. Forgot the young'uns were 'round. So, this girl Mienna you've come with-"

"Yes, she's the hero who found me out there. She went through quite a lot to bring about my rescue, even at the cost of her life."

"All of 'em," Mienna added with a wry smirk. "'Cept for this one, I guess. Lost all the progress I'd made, though. So we're here looking for some deals on new gear beginners can use. You've probably got a whole pile of starting gear nobody's ever gonna buy, right? Well, you've finally got someone who will take it away for you. Open up some space for something valuable."

"Well now, that sounds mighty fine, don't it? 'Course, even such a fine favor as this don't come for free. It's cheap, I'll give you that, but I do money up front. You know that, girl."

"Aw, c'mon Mizz Borge! It's literally clutter to you. Think of it as throwing out the trash."

"It ain't trash to you now, is it?"

"Ugh. Alright, fine, I get it. How much? Two gold for a set?"

"Fifty."

Mienna's eyes bug out of her head. "F- F- F-!" She couldn't even get the word out of her mouth. "That absolute poop gear that does barely a fudging thing! I fudging swear-!"

"Mienna!" you shout. Your stern voice is enough to stop her outburst, but she's still trembling with rage.

"Standard gear is 250 for a full set. Beginner gear for a fifth of that price seems fair, don't you think?"

"Fair my behind. Most towns give heroes beginning gear for free!"

"And yet, you came here. I wonder why? And I wonder what this mysterious woman with a wolf child could be?"

Mienna is fuming. She turns her sharpest glare up at the man. "Alright, I get it. Fifty gold for a full set, right? We don't have the money right now, but we'll be running errands around Frefington for a few days. Just get three sets of youth gear ready. We'll be back."

With that Mienna turns and begins to walk away. You begin to follow, but the girl in your arms reminds you. "Wait, Mienna! What about Skoll? I thought we-"

For a second you swear you see a malicious grin appear on Mienna's small face. Somehow it's still adorable, but it's a little frightening, too. "Oh, that's right! Dangit, Mizz Borge! Skoll there needs something to wear if we're gonna be running errands! You aren't going to let a small girl run around Frefington almost naked, are you?"

Skoll chooses that very moment to jump out of your arms and scamper across the floor to a nearby shelf. Doffson shakes off your hand and toddles over to join her. The pair begin to examine anything and everything they can reach.

Mizz Borge looks surprised by Skoll's sudden nudity. His gaze snaps back to you, where you quickly try to cover the 'clothes' that are now just hanging off of your 'dress.' The shopkeep narrows his gaze. "I ain't ever seen that before. Like I thought, you really ain't... Alright, girl, you win. I'll give you one set. One. You'll still need to bring me 100 gold for the next two."

Mienna's trying hard to suppress her victorious grin. You smile. "Thank you, Mizz Borge. You really are a kind man, aren't you?"

Mienna freezes like a statue atop Verita's back. The air around the counter grows tense. Somehow the entire mood changed in an instant. What-

Mizz Borge leans forward on the counter. As soon as he moved even a little, Mienna dove off Verita's back and into the nearest aisle. Before you can ask what she's doing, a heavy hand comes down on your shoulder.

"Ma'am, you ain't from here, so I'll excuse you just this once. My name is Borge, and I'm a Mizz. Not a miss, and not a missus, but still very much a Mizz. I got breasts," she states, pulling up her shirt to give proof. They're actually rather nice breasts: in addition to each being larger than your head, the skin is smooth despite being a combination of troll and dwarf coloring, and there isn't any sag despite their size. "And I got a 'gina." She pulls your hand forward and down into her shorts where you get a good feel for a smooth, hairless pussy that you can tell would be both wide and bottomless (though not quite as bottomless as yours).

"Oh. I'm so sorry, after the beard-" you apologize quickly.

"Stow it, ma'am. I ain't gonna get angry. Like I said, if I could I woulda switched bodies long ago. I'm the one and only half-dwarf troll you'll ever meet, and I've accepted that I'll be alone. You'd best gather up your brood now and start on those errands. Looks like the elf already found his sister something good to wear."

You turn around to see Doffson helping Skoll pull on a pair of brown minishorts. They come up snug just beneath her tail, stretching only a few inches back down her legs. Next he has her raise her arms and pulls the tan shirt over her head. It doesn't have any sleeves to speak of, and it almost reaches down to where the shorts are when she lowers her arms.

A thought strikes you and you turn back to Mizz Borge. "Can you tell?"

"Not on looks. And most people will dismiss the idea as soon as it occurs to them. But I come from a weird coupling, and I can tell: they're siblings. Both yours?"

"All of them. Though Mienna is an...odd case."

"She always has been."

Speaking of Mienna, she finally dares to peek her head out from between the shelves. The look of surprise on her face when she finds you not only alive and in one piece, but smiling happily with Mizz Borge, is so priceless you wish you could capture it forever.

"Um. Uh. Okay then! Thanks, Mizz Borge! We'll be back soon!" Mienna beats a hasty retreat, trying to gather up her siblings as she does so. Mizz Borge smirks after her.

"Hey," she calls, bringing you to a stop before you can follow them out. "I said it'd be a full set. Give this to her and tell her to be careful with it." So saying, Mizz Borge hands a simple dagger to you.

You accept the weapon gratefully, then rejoin your children outside. You hand Mienna the small blade, then ask,