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The Overflowing Merchant is one of our long-term suppliers of anomalies and a newfound operational partner. It has a connection to the Chained Goddess, and therefore a connection to the Bust of the Goddess (OLC1) as well as the Vapors Priest (HHH7) and King Peak (HHH19). Specifically, the connection is that the Overflowing Merchant, the Vapors Priest, and King Peak are the now-autonomous ‘Eyes’ of the Chained Goddess that she supposedly tore out of her skull and sent to earth with the intention of being placed in the Bust by her worshippers. This was likely supposed to function as a sort of anchor point of her essence to allow her and her allies to escape their imprisonment in the Lake of Fire in Hell. Whether or not the Eyes were supposed to become autonomous entities in their own right is unknown. Regardless, only the Vapors Priest at this point seems to still be trying to complete the Chained Goddess’s plans though with little current success.
The physical attributes of the Merchant are similar to its counterparts, being a colorful eye-like gemstone that generates matter it can control. This gemstone is yellow and generates a gelatinous liquid of typically bright yellow coloration. For employees who will have to work with the entity, the gelatinous liquid can be utilized by the Merchant to render organisms and objects anomalous so it important to avoid direct contact with the substance. The Merchant usually prefers the liquid to take a bipedal form, about fourteen feet tall with a shoulder width of five feet, with the ‘eye’ resting in the center of its ‘face’. It wears custom suits of a variety of styles over this generated form and enjoys smoking cigars.
Our first encounter with the Overflowing Merchant was shortly after Leopold Lyre first founded PRAE. The Discovery Department (then called the Anomaly Locating and Scouting Office) heard rumors from various contacts among the wealthy as well as our moles in the IPCA about a corporation called the Para-Collector Workshop that specialised in the creation of anomalies. We were able to make contact and discovered that this was one of multiple companies across multiple realities owned by one entity, the Merchant. A contract was signed for the creation of five relatively minor anomalies, most notably the One-Word Dictionary (OLC63). Three of these anomalies were deconstructed and reverse-engineered by Benjamin and Nathaniel Lyre to begin our own anomaly generation program, though our capacity continues to be dwarfed by the Merchant’s organisations. After this we maintained intermittent contact with the Merchant through the Workshop, mostly with regards to the creation of additional anomalies to bolster the size and reputation of the Registry as well as networking opportunities with other elements of society aware of the anomalous. Our interests and those of the Merchant eventually converged in the form of our mutual antagonist, the IPCA, who were impeding our operations and the Merchant’s business. So, a deal was made to provide us with heavily discounted, highly dangerous, and difficult to contain anomalies that we would then covertly release. This was so that the IPCA would capture the anomalies and put a strain on their resources, increasing the effectiveness of Operation Duckskin.
When Operation Duckskin concluded, we continued our previous business arrangement of the periodic order of anomalies from the Merchant until a coordinated attack by the Vapors Priest and its remaining followers severely damaged the operational capacity of the Merchant’s organisations. The Overflowing Merchant itself was nearly captured in the attack, likely with the intention of neutralising it to eventually place it in the Bust of the Goddess. With this situation in mind, we decided on a more official and permanent partnership with this entity to ensure the rebuilding of its organisations and our continued access to new anomalies for the sake of the Registry. This partnership is largely facilitated by a series of unnamed corporate and non-profit entities joint-owned by shell companies stemming from both parties, allowing for a flow of resources that is impossible to trace without prior knowledge of the arrangement.
Contracting the generation of an anomaly from the Overflowing Merchant typically follows the process of a consultation, followed by the completion of a Parameters Form, the issuing of a Quote, renegotiation with a revised Parameters Form if necessary, then signing an Order Form and Bill of Sale, and then receiving the anomaly. This process is most frequently conducted by a sales representative, though the Merchant itself will manage the most important deals. A one-use remote anomaly activator is available as an optional add-on with more dangerous anomalies. PRAE employees responsible for purchasing anomalies must review and approve each step with a supervisor to ensure the proper use of resources. A discount can be acquired if we provide the ‘material’ for our orders, specifically humans or other sapient organisms, to form the basis of the anomaly. Payment for anomalies can be done with money, services, goods, or ‘material’.
As it stands now, any leaks or rumors of our positive operational relationship with this entity must be suppressed or denied. For as long as possible, the existence of this entity should also be denied. In the unlikely event that the Overflowing Merchant becomes hostile to our operations, an anomalous entity entry must be swiftly created for the Registry. Ideally, an entry for the entity would completely negate our dealings with it. If that is impossible, it is necessary to downplay our relationship with it or ascribe blame entirely to disposable individuals.
Public Registry of Anomalous Entities 