Moegramm Had a Little Lamb

Map quest, level 5 (you can take it from level 4). 33rd of 102 in play order.

Quest giver: Moegramm, Lower La Noscea (X 32.3, Y 20.0).

Next: Much Ado About Dodos ›

Steps

Speak with Chartain.
Use the lice comb on the shaggy sheep.
Report to Moegramm.

Journal

Moegramm has been losing sleep over his sheep.
The wool from Moegramm's sheep lacks its former luster, and won't fetch a fair price at market. The shepherd Chartain should know how to make the sheep shine again.
Chartain attributes the lackluster fleece to lice, and attributes the lice to a lack of farmhands to help with brushing. Delouse three shaggy sheep with the lice comb.
Inform Moegramm that his shaggy sheep now have a sheepy sheen.
Moegramm is grateful you brushed up his wool for market. It would have been a shame to make mutton of the sheep when he seems so...attached.

Hidden

Lore Chartain

boasts that La Noscean sheep are famous for their soft white wool. It is 'nothing like that coarse rubbish they peddle up in the highlands'.

Lore Dull wool is a real problem. The Red Rooster Stead makes most of its money from wool and barley. But its main purpose is to run experiments.

Easter egg Chartain

recites the rhyme, but lice take the place of the loyal lamb that follows. Then comes a sigh: 'lousy sheep'. Here it means exactly what it says, because lousy first meant 'infested with lice'.

Easter egg Talk to Moegramm

between quests. He insists that animals flirt back with 'a come-hither stare' and 'provocative tail-whipping'. It is a running joke, put there on purpose.

Easter egg Moegramm's

name means 'Able Ram' in the old Roegadyn language. It fits a shepherd who cares so much for his flock.

Spoiler about later in the story

Foreshadowing Note Moegramm's 'first love' for sheep and his strangely gentle tips on wool care. The punchline comes in Kobolds Ahoy, in what he calls the ones he loves.

Title reference The title twists the children's rhyme 'Mary Had a Little Lamb'. Moegramm

and his sheep take the place of Mary and her lamb.

Characters 2

Moegramm
Moegramm is losing sleep: his sheep's wool has lost its shine and cannot fetch a fair price at market.
What you know from earlier quests 1
- #29 Kobolds Ahoy: Moegramm agrees the kobolds are a real danger, more so since they frighten his "little lamb", whom he loves most of any soul on two legs. He writes a warning to Ostfyr, wants the Yellowjackets called, and sends you through Blind Iron Mines.
Chartain
Chartain is a shepherd. Moegramm says Chartain should know how to make his sheep shine again.

What happens in this quest spoilers for this quest

Moegramm is the Stead shepherd. He cares for all three kinds of livestock, but sheep are his first love. He sends you to Chartain, then praises your work and speaks very tenderly of caring for sheep. His name means "Able Ram" in old Roegadyn.
Chartain blames the dull wool on lice, and the lice on too few farmhands to brush the sheep. Chartain cannot keep up alone and asks you to comb three shaggy sheep. Chartain boasts that La Noscean sheep are famous for soft white wool.

What the French and German versions say 4

French

Title

EN Moegramm Had a Little Lamb

FR «Avoir la puce à l'ovin», 'Smelling a ram'

It bends «avoir la puce à l'oreille», 'a flea in one's ear', a saying for sensing trouble. Here the sheep have fleas, not lice.

Wordplay

EN 'So you can imagine my dismay at finding my flock in frumpy fleece!'

FR «Malheureusement, malgré nos efforts frénétiques et notre idée fixe du fignolage, je crains que leurs toisons ne soient pas tout à fait à la toise de nos attentes.», 'Sadly, despite our frantic efforts and our fixation on fine finishing, I fear their fleeces are not quite up to our expectations.'

The normal phrase has 'height' in place of «toise», 'a height gauge'. Moegramm swaps it in to echo «toison», 'fleece'.

German

Title

EN Moegramm Had a Little Lamb · 'So you can imagine my dismay at finding my flock in frumpy fleece!'

DE „Spannkraft fürs Haar“, 'Bounce for the Hair' · „Es fehlt dem Haar an Spannkraft und Volumen.“, 'The hair lacks bounce and volume.'

The title and Moegramm's worry use hair-care words for fleece.

Different

EN 'A sheep with no shine is good for nothing but mutton!'

DE „Dabei gebe ich ihnen gutes Futter und spiele ihnen sogar manchmal etwas auf meiner Fidel vor.“, 'And yet I give them good feed and sometimes even play them something on my fiddle.'

Moegramm feeds his sheep well and 'sometimes even plays them something on my fiddle', yet the wool lacks bounce. Only the German has this serenade.

Dialogue 10 lines

Accepting the quest

Moegramm

They call me the Stead shepherd, but all three kinds of livestock we breed here fall under my crook. Nevertheless, sheep remain my first love, my one true passion.

FR Tu t'amènes mignoter nos mignons et moelleux moutons ? ‘Are you coming to cuddle our cute and fluffy sheep?’ English calls sheep his first love and one true passion; French asks if you came to pet their cute sheep.

So you can imagine my dismay at finding my flock in frumpy fleece! I can't very well take worn-out wool to market. A sheep with no shine is good for nothing but mutton!

FR Malheureusement, malgré nos efforts frénétiques et notre idée fixe du fignolage, je crains que leurs toisons ne soient pas tout à fait à la toise de nos attentes. ‘Sadly, despite our frantic efforts and our fixation on fine finishing, I fear their fleeces are not quite up to our expectations.’ The normal phrase has 'height' in place of «toise», 'a height gauge'. Moegramm swaps it in to echo «toison», 'fleece'.
DE Es fehlt dem Haar an Spannkraft und Volumen. ‘The hair lacks bounce and volume.’ The title and Moegramm's worry use hair-care words for fleece.
JA エサやりも、放牧もしっかりやっているはずなんだが。 ‘I'm sure I've been feeding them and putting them out to graze properly, though.’ Japanese has him puzzled despite proper feeding and grazing; English has him threaten shineless sheep with mutton.

But where there's wool, there's a way! See what Chartain has to say.

FR Il nous faut très vite trouver un truc valable pour résoudre ceci. ‘We very quickly need to find something workable to solve this.’ English puns "where there's wool, there's a way"; French just says they must quickly find a fix.
DE Irgendwie muss die Sache in den Griff zu bekommen sein. ‘Somehow it must be possible to get the matter under control.’ English puns "where there's wool, there's a way"; German just says the matter must somehow be manageable.
JA なんとか対策を考えなきゃなんねえ。 ‘Somehow we've got to think of a countermeasure.’ English puns "where there's wool, there's a way"; Japanese just says they must think of a countermeasure.

Speak with Chartain

Chartain

Moegramm had some little lambs whose fleece was white as snow. But everywhere the little lambs went, lice were sure to go. Now we're stuck with lousy sheep.

FR Moegramm vous a dit à propos des moutons... ‘Moegramm told you about the sheep...?’ English rhymes about Moegramm's little lambs with fleece white as snow; French asks if Moegramm told you about the sheep.
DE Es stimmt, dass es der Wolle an Spannkraft und Fülle fehlt. ‘It's true that the wool lacks elasticity and fullness.’ English rhymes about Moegramm's little lambs with fleece white as snow; German admits the wool lacks bounce and fullness.
JA 確かに毛づやは、僕も気になってるんですよね……。 ‘Indeed, I'm worried about the luster of their coats too...’ English rhymes about Moegramm's little lambs with fleece white as snow; Japanese admits he too worries about the coats' luster.

In the time it takes me to brush one clean, the lice spread to two more. I just can't keep up with them by myself!

If you could brush three shaggy sheep for me, we might be able to wipe out the infestation altogether.

FR Ça me simplifiera beaucoup la tâche. ‘That will make my task much simpler.’ English hopes to wipe out the infestation altogether; French says it will make his task much simpler.
DE Dann wäre mir ein Großteil der Arbeit abgenommen. ‘Then a large part of the work would be taken off my hands.’ English hopes to wipe out the infestation altogether; German says it would take much of the work off him.

Let Moegramm know his sheep are in shipshape once you've finished.

Report to Moegramm

Moegramm

For an adventurer, you certainly know how to wield a lice comb!

JA すまなかったな、そんなつもりじゃなかったんだがよ。 ‘Sorry about that; I didn't mean for you to do that.’ English praises your skill with a lice comb; Japanese apologizes, saying he didn't intend you to help.
DE Ich nehme an, dass ihr Abenteurer es normalerweise mit übleren Gegnern als Läusen zu tun habt. ‘I take it you adventurers normally have to deal with nastier opponents than lice.’ German jokes that adventurers usually fight worse foes than lice; English compliments your skill with the comb.

As I'm sure you have found, sheep are delicate souls that require delicate care. Truly wonderful wool requires time, love, and tenderness.

You must caress their coats ever so gently, listen to their soft bleating in your ear, feel the warmth of their breath on your neck...

FR Mais grâce à ton aide admirable, nous allons sûrement avoir de la laine lisse et légère cette année encore. ‘But thanks to your admirable help, we will surely have smooth, light wool again this year.’ English describes caressing the sheep and feeling their breath; French instead thanks you for your admirable help.
DE Aber dank deiner Hilfe ist diesmal alles gut gegangen. ‘But thanks to your help, everything went well this time.’ English describes caressing the sheep and feeling their breath; German instead says thanks to you all went well.
JA だが、あんたのおかげで今回は助かったよ。 ‘But thanks to you, we were saved this time.’ English describes caressing the sheep and feeling their breath; Japanese instead thanks you for helping this time.
DE Das Gütesiegel scheint uns dieses Jahr wieder sicher. ‘The seal of quality seems assured for us again this year.’ German thanks you and expects the quality seal again; English drifts into an unsettlingly tender reverie about sheep.