Back to the girls...hopefully.

The talk you had with Remi weighs heavily on your mind as you casually walk back to The Gem. You are barely paying attention to anything but your thoughts, when you happen to glance a ways ahead of you. You probably wouldn't have noticed a man running up to a group of Pachy riders to talk with them, but this man had only one arm. You quickly duck into a shop and watch the group through the window and sure enough. That slimy little bastard Sean is conversing with three riders. The riders seem to be focused on scanning the people walking up and down the street, looking for you if you had to guess, and Sean seems to be feeding them info as they occasionally nod their heads.

"Well, shit" you say aloud.

You knew it wasn't a question of if they got here, but rather when they got here. This was the only town you could have gone to, so it wasn't unexpected, but you'd hoped for a few days more at least. Even more frustrating is Sean seems to be working with them. So either he had a relationship with them previously, or threw in with them when he learned they were looking for you. Either way you find yourself surprised you could hate that little shit even more.

"Ahem" you hear from behind you so you turn to face a portly gentleman.

"Is there anything I can help you with" he states with a slight bow. You realize he's the shop keep and you quickly look around to realize you happened into a rather large general store. You consider yourself lucky as you know you'll need some more supplies before you head out anyways.

"Um...yes actually. Can I get a couple packs to start with" you ask with a smile.

"Right away sir" the shop keep says running off. As you wait for him to return you take a closer look around the shop. You notice weapons and armor are also offered here. When the shop keep returns with the packs you ask him about the weapons and armor.

"Yes sir, we have partnered up with some of the finest armorers, blacksmiths, and trading guilds in the city to offer our customers their wares" he states rather proudly "we take a small commission of course" he quickly adds with a cheeky smile. You walk over to the area and look at what is offered. For the armor you note most of it is leather armor, but there is some chainmail as well. Hoping you guess right on sizes you pick out five suits of leather armor. You briefly consider getting some chainmail, but in the event the sizes aren't right you know Jane should be able to make do to resize them, and she won't be able to do that with chainmail.

For weaponry you select a very finely crafted longsword. The weight is perfectly balanced, the edge easily shaves the hairs off your arm when you test it, and even its sheath appears to be of solid design. You immediately think Yvette will enjoy this as a gift and stash it into one of the packs. For the remaining women you grab a rather ornate short sword for Jane, and long knives each for Annabel and Rene. You additionally grab a pack designed specifically for potions it appears which you hope Annabel can fill up. You also notice a display case with several weapons in it, and they look rather unique.

"What are the items in that display case" you ask pointing it out.

"Those are items enchanted with runes" he replies as you both walk over to the case. The first item that catches your eye is a crossbow, it wouldn't hurt to teach Rene how to shoot you think to yourself.

"What is the crossbow enchanted with" you ask him.

"This particular crossbow has a rune of force on it" he says taking it out of the case. "You press the button on the side here" he says pushing the button and you watch the string move into position where it is ready to shoot. "A rather practical item for those who ride on wagons or Dino and may not have the ability to draw the string into position easily themselves" he states "and then all you'd need to do is load the bolt into position" he says disarming the crossbow.

"Yes, very practical" you say rubbing your shoulder where a crossbow bolt slammed into you. You had wondered how someone riding a bouncing Pachy could reload a crossbow.

"I'll take it and one hundred bolts if you have stock" you state.

"Right away sir, do any other items catch your eye" he asks with a twinkle in his eye only seen in salesman. You quickly peruse the other items and note something odd about one of the swords.

"That sword" you say pointing at a rather odd looking sword "it looks dull to me". The sword you point at is about a foot longer than a long sword, its blade is a long rectangle about six inches wide. The blade itself has been sharpened if you could call it that, but the edges appear to be rounded off.

"To someone in a fight it would be dull and ineffective weapon, or at best a blunt weapon" the shop keep responds. "Little more than a metal club. However, this particular sword's enchantment is a rune of wood cutting" he says pulling it out of the case. "I apologize as I do not know the exact name of the rune placed on it, but it will effectively, in one swing, chop through most trees or logs" he says holding it out for you to hold.

You grab it and notice it is lighter than you thought it would be, but even so its handle is meant to be wielded with two hands. The sheer practicality of it isn't lost on you and you quickly add it to your items. The shop keeps eyes are twinkling even more. The remaining items are daggers of various poison effects which you figure Annabel could equally mimic, and one last sword.

The shop keep notices your eye on the sword and pulls it out of the case to hand to you. The sword is light, and feels good in your hand. The blade appears fairly normal in shape, but has a Damascus pattern to it, and in the pattern it appears to be laced with copper.

"That, my good sir, is an unbreakable longsword. The rune it has is a rune of durability. It will take a great amount of force to chip or dull this sword, much more to actually break it" he says with a smirk. "This particular one is of superior craftsmanship, and came into my store from a wandering trader" he adds.

"Well I'll take it too" you say smiling.

You added various other items such as rations for travel making sure to get a wide array of food as to not dull your taste buds with repetitive meals. You also grab as many spices as you can find. You don't know what would be needed as some you aren't familiar with, but Annabel will probably know you figure. Next you grab some tools such as shovels, hatchets, sickles, hammers, nails, ropes, and anything else you think might come in handy. Next you look through clothing and select some essentials. Socks, boots, shirts, pants, and hats. You grab a pretty wide array of sizing, since you don't know everyone's size. Next you grab a really fancy tent, bedrolls, and blankets. All said and done the shop keep rang you up at twenty one and a half gold, which he rounded down to twenty one gold.

"For the bulk discount" he said smiling. You figure this sale was likely a significant chunk of his yearly intake. Putting the now full packs on your back you start for the front entrance, but decide to exit through the back instead. You cut through alleys and sneak around as best you can. Noticing your innate skill of sneaking around allows you to intuitively notice the best paths to take and where you're less likely to be seen and heard. You wonder briefly if you'll ever really get over the odd feeling of knowing something innately.

Finally you make it back to The Gem and slip inside. You spend a few minutes watching to see if you were followed at all, and seeing no evidence for it make your way to your room. Upon entering you are greeted with the sexiest sight you've seen so far.