The giant of a man didn't notice Niamh take a step back. What he did notice was her stumbling over her need to buy a dagger. And what was that about innuendo? He was thoroughly confused by her rambling, and a tilt of his head was all that signaled that confusion. He didn't linger on it though, instead moving out from behind the counter into the showroom proper, that Niamh was standing in. All around them were swords and daggers and hammers and axes and halberds and maces and, you get the picture. It was a proper weapon showroom, with every sort of death implement you could imagine. There were even some spiked gauntlets and bladed shields in the mix, but no armor. Big Mac didn't make armor, just the finest arms a prospective wielder of weapons could want.
The man led Niamh to a nearby display that held a wide assortment of small pointed stabby implements one might call a dagger. Some were more shiv like, others a bit more like a kunai, some dirks, and even long knives. Here there were also more traditional daggers, made from a wide array of materials, with different hilt types and different cross guards or pommels. It was a veritable cornucopia of slicing, dicing, and stabbing tools.
"If anything catches the eye, I'll be happy to give you a detailed description of the weapons specifications." The large man stepped back to give Niamh more space but in doing so he bumped a display of halberds that created a chain reaction of weapons falling, and a cacophony of bangs and clangs. The big man froze up, in apparent anxiety and began quickly trying to clean his mess, but the banging on the anvil in the back had stopped. Soon after a large hammer came lumbering out of the forge room, or so it appeared from an angle where you couldn't see over the counter. As the hammer rounded the corner it was seen to be wielded by a diminutive woman half its size. She hung it in a yoke on the wall and continued over toward the mountain of a man. Up close Niamh could see that the bite size woman had a fuming expression on her cherubim face. Her golden hair was pulled up in a tight bun and covered with a net. Her purple eyes had a sharp gaze as she glared at the man, and her forge tanned skin shown with sweat from working her forge.
"What in the Five Steps of Torment have you done Melvin," the woman's squeeky voice came out almost cute but mostly shrill. "This is the third time this month! The third time! And it's only six days into it!"
"I'm sorry Mac," the big man said defeated. "It was an accident."
"Of course it was an accident! If I thought you knocked over my displays on purpose you'd be out on your ass so fast you'd see visions of the Nine Voids." Big Mac stood tapping her toe, looking up at Melvin. "And take that mask off when you're taking care of the customers." As she said this, Melvin reached up to remove his protective shield, revealing the large singular eye of a cyclops. "If you weren't so great at working a forge, I wouldn't keep a klutz like you around Melvin. But you're a genius and I'll make you the best to ever live, as long as you don't knock the place down first. Now off with you. Finish that piece. It's been cooling far too long." As Melvin the cyclops lumbered off to the forge, picking up his little hammer on the way, the half a meter tall "Big" Mac turned her attention toward Niamh. With a better look at her, it was easy to see that under all that soot, she was delightfully pretty. With a slight pink tinge to her skin and slightly pointed winged ears. Her tiny nose twitched, almost rodent like, and a welcoming smile spread across her face.
"Sorry about all that," Big Mac said in a delightfully tinkling voice. It was like the gentle flow of a stream across pebbles. So much different than the staccato she had berated Melvin with. I'm Mackenzie Surestrike, owner and proprietor of this fine establishment." As she spoke a few assistants came out and began cleaning Melvins mess. A dwarf, an elf, and two humans, they only spared Niamh a momentary glance as they went about their work. "What is it that I can help you with today?"
