A Crisis of Wool

Unlike Bellwether, Mozenrath's purpose for venturing into the market was not quite so mundane. He'd gone looking for potential magical artifacts to make use of. Unfortunate for all, he supposed, he hadn't been able to find anything that really spoke to him. It seemed Paris was not quite teeming with magical properties like the seven deserts had been. Oh well, he thought as he continued to walk. He'd find something sooner or later. That much was something Mozenrath was determined to accomplish whether anyone liked it or not. So, as he walked, he went unaware of any other Thorns present at the moment.

Xerxes, on the other hand, was paying attention. The eel floated free of Mozenrath, moving on ahead so that he might be a sort of scout and see what he could see for his master, but didn't expect to see what he saw. The slithery thing caught sight of Bellwether. At first, Xerxes didn't make much of it. So there was a talking sheep. Big deal, he'd thought. It seemed she was freaking out, though.

"Mozenrath, look," Xerxes said. He saw that Mozenrath wasn't paying attention, and he slithered through the air to get in front of him. That resulted in the young man frowning deeper than he'd ever seen him do. Before Mozenrath got to say anything, Xerxes pointed Bellwether's way.

"Hm?" At last, Mozenrath saw her plight. Though he couldn't claim to know her or care for her plight, it did pique his interest. He decided to spare Xerxes from irritation for the moment and changed his course to approach Bellwether. As he got nearer, he did notice the plight. The carpets where she'd been looking were advertised as being made from wool. She was a sheep. It didn't take a genius to figure out what the issue was.

"Last I checked," Mozenrath said as he idly leaned against the vendor's establishment, "sheep just get shaved for their wool. It's not that big of a deal. Just get a different carpet."

The look exchanged between Xerxes and Mozenrath was one that seemed to say 'and your point would be?' more than anything else. Still, Mozenrath let Bellwether get her thoughts out. It was almost cute how passionate the sheep was about this. Mozenrath, though, did have a counterpoint to what she had said. She'd compared the wool to skin.

"Actually," Mozenrath told her, "I think you'll find that that's not an accurate comparison. I'd say wool is more akin to human hair than skin. But otherwise... shocking. Yeah." He couldn't really say she was wrong. It was lucky that no one had really found anything to say that would piss him off. Yet. Mozenrath did have his breaking points, and they just hadn't been reached yet. Perhaps that calm exterior would be shed sooner or later, but for the time being he was inclined to remain casual and keep speaking with this sheep.

"So what did you expect these things to be made of, hm? They can't exactly magic up materials," he said. Even while he talked, he did hear Xerxes snickering a bit. That was what prompted Mozenrath to look at the eel.

"Naked sheep," snickered the eel. Rather than reacting violently, Mozenrath just glared at Xerxes.

"Don't you have something better to do, Xerxes? Like find me somewhere that has something magical for sale?" The way his tone shifted did indicate annoyance, and to his delight he saw Xerxes react in kind. The eel squeaked and hastily made his departure into the market once more. A dramatic sigh was released on Mozenrath's part once Xerxes was gone.

"It's so hard to find good familiars these days. Wouldn't you agree?"