Comet didn't quite agree with James's statement. "You mean no fighting unless it's self-defense or family-defense or friend-defense or good animal-defense?" He had left out a lot of important people. Because there were others who were important to other than herself, she would certainly fight for them too! If only she could use the mace.

"Do you recommend any metalworkers? And what other things do you have in your collection and what do they do?" Perhaps the bulky mace was not right for her. Maybe.

"Certainly," he answered smoothly, appearing to ignore the tension at the surface (but oh, he wasn't, and it was delicious); "the one named Sirendippity, I believe is her name--Siren, or Dip, for short--has proven herself most skilled. Her workshop is in Monoceros, if I am not mistaken, though she travels to Orion to trade her wares."

Dip was likely currently in her chrysalis, but the Collector neither knew nor cared; he didn't keep tabs on such things, really. Not when it wasn't of use to him. "Alternatively you could perhaps seek out the Blacksmith of Leo, now that the area has been... revealed?"

"As for my collection, I have my share of weapons. A flail--that is a mace, but on a chain--but that is, again, too large for you; a dagger, a knife--but I fail to see how you would use it. Most weapons are designed for wielding by hand, though there are armors, perhaps, that might fit you. The Spiked Coat of Thothemal may be about the right size," he added, looking her over, "-or are you not quite yet full-grown? In any case, there are other things, as well--trinkets to aid in combat, to influence luck, to bestow magic that you did not previously know..." He idly waved one hand away. "It depends upon what you seek. Upon what you wish for."

@James @Comet

James snapped his jaw shut and worked it, "Half of those fights happen because you go looking for them."

He rubbed his face again, "It's a mace! It's more dangerous to you than it is anyone else! Why not keep using your magic? You faced Emuh's trial and succeeded, a mace is useless compared to the things you can do. Just... make ones out of ice!! Perfectly to your size, and if they shatter, perfect! They'll stick whoever it hits!"

Now he was just trying to bargain. He was just going through the stages of grief at this point.

@Comet

Comet sighed, maybe this mace was not the right item for her. James was right, she didn't need a weapon, she had magic! And she was transcendent too, which was more than he could say. "I think you're right, renny. I'll trade it for a different item!"

The pup listened to the Collector offer up some other items. "Hm, I think the main thing I want is something that I could use on my adventures, but not just for fighting. It has to be helpful for other things too! But most important it has to help protect my family and friends."

"Ahh, a Transcendent-?" the Collector asked, peering down at Comet with renewed interest.

"Adventurers and aiding friends, hm-? How... wholesome!" There was a glint of white teeth at this last, and the Collector paced away, moving to sit on a nearby pile of bones. One leg crossed over the other, hooves visible: cloven, black and pointed.

"In that case, I suppose it would depend on whether you wish something to enhance your, I'm sure, already-considerable abilities--and which magic do you adhere to, little one? Ice, I presume--water?" he asked, looking to the ice-encased mace.

It seemed a safe guess.

"Or something unrelated, to bolster strength where perhaps ice would not help you. For example, in my collection I have the following items." A sweep of robe, and a scroll--ancient parchment, neat and rolled over a polished little bit of wood--was taken from the cloth, and unfurled. The Collector seemed to read from whatever was on his side--if either were to pace around to look, it seemed squiggles of harsh black lines. "An item to protect against mental intrusion by those skilled in such things; a necklace to grant luck to strategic actions--not magic, mind you; ah, the Daredevil's Gambit--it greatly intensifies virtually anything that the user does, you see. Spectacular object, a great deal of potential for fun and horror, victory and failure. An item to enhance the body in combat, at the cost of magic potential--the Brute's Boast. I have the Spiked Collar, to allow the user to calcify bones as a defense, externally--painful, but useful. The Petrified Flower, to allow one to drain the life from plants. The Eternal Coal, to allow them to crush things to ash underfoot. -All of these have drawbacks, mind you," he went on, glancing up at the pair. "That is the nature of such things."

Crimson eyes swept back down to the scroll. "I have... Too many to list, in truth. The Ancient Coin, for dire times--great luck or great misery, at a coin toss, and then it is gone. The Golden Ring to enhance Light; the Last Stand to save a life, once, at the cost of itself and lessened luck until then; the Glowing Crystal to teach new magic, the Shard of Ice to grant a burst of magicka; the Cord of Bloodied Sinew-... As you can see, I have many items in my collection. As for ice itself... or, rather, water..." A single claw lifted, tracing its way slowly down the scroll. "I would imagine you do not need either one, but I have two items that might be of interest to you. The first is the Cloudseed, which causes rain to coalesce wherever you are. Mist and clouds, drizzle, would follow you anywhere. The drawback, of course, is that you cannot turn such things off, and at times it might become torrential. It provides water, however, for your needs at a whim. The second is the Icetouch: a ring which causes all that you touch to turn to ice. Powerful--but as you can imagine, you must be cautious as to what you come in contact with."

The Collector sat back, the scroll loosely in his lap, and looked the two over. "Tell me, then; do any of these hold your interest?"

@James @Comet

This time, James was quiet. Relieved, clearly, judging by the sagging of his shoulders and the way his feathers slowly relaxed against his neck. He sighed and nuzzled Comet, head high and ears forward.

He was tempted to speak, but he didn't. This was something the pup ought to do on her own. He trusted her to make this decision, at least. Just swinging a mace around made him shudder. Maybe Comet could just ask for armor or something. It would stop him from having a heart attack, at least.

One of these days he was going to just keel over when she inevitably came home bloody again. His ears drooped at the thought and he shook himself out, hoping to chase it off.

But the fear that she'd go missing and he'd eventually find some wolf hybrid running around with her stone embedded somewhere in it's body made his blood run cold.

@Comet

"Yep! I have water magic." He was awfully observant. She wasn't sure if that was good, or bad.

Comet was amazed by the sheer number of things that the Collector had available for trade. All she had to do was give him a mace. She probably wasn't going to use the mace much anyway, and a lot of the items sounded awfully tempting.

She had no need for an item to protect against mental intrusion, she didn't have much on her mind anyway and she was unable to think a situation where it would be useful. The necklace and Daredevil's Gambit was tempting only for a second, and the Brutes Boast and spiked collar wouldn't be of too much need either. Comet wasn't going to kill plants or burn things by walking over them either, it didn't sound so good.

The Ancient Coin sounded just as risky as the Daredevil's Gambit, while the Golden Ring enhanced light which couldn't be too useful, considering she could already see pretty well in the dark. In the end, things were narrowed down quite considerably, but not too much, to the Last Stand, Glowing Crystal, Shard of Ice, Cloudseed, or Icetouch.

"What do you mean by the Glowing Crystal teaching new magic? And also the Shard of Ice giving more magicka? Can Cloudseed be removed if not wanted anymore?" Comet pondered whether Icetouch would be a good idea, decided it wasn't, and discarded it from her list. Cloudseed certainly had many drawbacks, but also benefits too. Why did it have to be so hard to decide? At least any of those things were better than a mace.

"Between the Crystal and the Shard, it is like the difference between... hm, learning new knowledge, or gaining the power to do so more easily," and that seemed to be the best explanation he could offer Comet. "The Cloudseed is an object hung around your neck, so certainly--but its magic calls to the Lessers who gather such things, so leaving it outright unsupervised is... unwise."

Though, the Collector mused, the constant rain would make it somewhat easy to find again.

@James @Comet

James huddled his head down into his feathers, fluffing them up so that his head looked like it was sitting on top of a pillar rather than his neck, sighing softly. He looked up at the lights around the room, at the bones across the ground, and thought about Eythan.

I wonder how he's doing, he thought, pawing at the ground gently, lost in thought, Would he recognize me if I visited? The last time we say each other, I was nothing more than a scrawny foal. Now I'm big with wings and feathers- maybe he might recognize my gem. I did very nearly give him a concussion with it.

He winced and flicked his tail, Did I ever apologize for it? Knowing me, I did a thousand times. But... one more might not hurt.

And these were the thoughts of James.

@Comet

Well it was obvious now, she would be getting the Cloudseed of course! A necklace would easily disappear into her thick fur, so it wouldn't be very visible or easy to steal without her seeing or feeling it. And James would probably approve of it to, since it wasn't exactly a weapon like the mace. Maybe.

"I'll take the Cloudseed." said Comet, and prepared herself to see how that would work out.