The Homunculous

The Homunculous is a strange creature of which there seems to be only one. There has never been a point in history without Homunculous sightings, and even at the dawn of the 1st century, villagers across Itaedia knew of him from interactions since time out of mind. The Homunculous has never been known to speak, though seems perfectly sentient. Thus, there is little we know about its origins, longevity, or anything more than its appearece and habits. What little we do know is documented below:

Caravan
The Homunculous is never seen away from it's caravan, which is painted in a myriad of clashing, bright colors. It looks like a cross between a traditional gypsy cart and a small gingerbread house, and is covered with strange little lights affixed to a long thin rope. Thus, the Homunculous caravn is always easy to spot. Moreover, the many oddieties hanging off of the sides of the structure create a sound much like gourds being knocked together, making it easy to hear the Homunculous. Considering the small, defenseless Homunculous and looking at how easy it is to find him, and noting that he regularly seems to be in the least hospitable of environments, it is often speculated that there must be more than one Homunculous, as it is impossible he wouldn't be attacked by beasts and bandits.

However, sentient creatures, at least, are warded off by the fact that, though he determidly holds a set of reigns and stares forward as if at a horse, nothing pulls the cart along, and the Homunculous doesn't ever seem to steer it.

One fearless prince of the Ghobi, seeing what looked like the easy prey of a small caravan, quickly called his horde off the carge when he noted that even the Rocs overhead, who could have easily picked up and devoured the entire cart, were fleeing from it.

Packages
Probaby the most well-known aspect of the Homunculous and, seemingly, the entire reason for its existance is to provide strange and sometimes otherworldly goods to people at random throughout Itaedia. These packages, while they all roughly seem the same size and weight before they are opened, will usually dramatically change once unleashed from their wrappings. "Unleashed" is generally a good term, as the items will, more often than not, be semi-sentient and occasionally on fire.

Payment
It is the opionion of all who have had multiple dealings with the Homunculous that he only has the vaugest grasp of how commerce works. Any amount will result in recieving a package, whenther it's a near-worthless copper coin or a bill for a thousand Porchiisian Drachmacks. However, it has been found that one money = one package, and if two bills or coins are given to the Homunculous, two packages will be handed over. The same goes for selling to the Homunculous; he will, without looking at his purse, hand over a random amount of currency for whatever is offered to him, and he never refuses to buy.

"Repair"
Many have present items, anywhere from a rock to a family heirloom, to the Homunculous, who pays them and hands them a receipt for it. Exactly twelve days from that moment, no matter whether the person in question is at home, work, or kidnapped and thrown into the brig of a distant Haavermark ship, the Homunculous will be standing over them when they awake, with the item and expecting payment.

The item may look exactly the same, or it might be almost unrecognizeably altered, but either way it will now be imbued with the powerful and unredictible qualities of all the Homunculous' wares. Many have found their possession's newfound abilities to range from the amusing but useless to beng downright dangerous for Itaedia as a whole.

Physical Appearance
The homunculous is characterized by its incredibly odd skull, or what might be an exoskelleton, or a series of plates, which form a perfectly smooth, almost featureless oval that curves forward into two horns. The Homunculous has two small eyes, and no mouth or nose or ears, at least none that cause a break in the skin of it's face. The body, in general, is stubby, and small, being in its entirety only 32 inches high.

The Homunculous' skin, being quite thick and tough, like an elephant's, is a mottled grey. It recalls, more than anything, the mouldy cover of a leatherbound book. His two eyes are small and black, seeming to be all pupil with no whites or iris. The horns on the side of his head are dull, though firm.

The Homunculous has three fingers, and walks upright on two legs that seem to not have a definite stucture. While the Homunculous walks by bending a joint in its leg, careful observation shows that the joint doesn't seem to stay in any particular place, but appears somewhere in the leg only when the leg must bend. The Homunculous' feet are two smooth, featureless stumps with flattened bottoms, and there is no definite ankle or other moveable part. The arms and fingers are much the same.