"Immaterial?! Who names their child Immaterial?! Only parents that despise a child or wish him gone would give a son a name like that! Did they have a favorite child that wasn't you, perchance?! HA!"
Moebius, of course, knew that the man most likely was not actually named "Immaterial". However, the stranger at the door would definitely be lulled into a false sense of security if he assumed Moebius was too stupid to know any better. It was also a, distant, possibility that if the stranger was sufficiently mocked and riled, he could be angered into revealing his own name.
Such headgames were quickly forgotten when the gigantic thing that Volke had brought with him appeared, seemingly from out of nowhere. Moebius extended himself and leaned out of the window, until it seemed that his hands were gripping vines nearly halfway down the tower to support his slithering, snakelike body and the robes that covered it. The strange creature below him was bulky, broad, big in every way!
"Hmmm... fascinating..."
Moebius knew it would do quite a bit of damage to the newly-installed front door. And that had taken about a week to get done. Each of the various components had been stolen or sourced from nearby forests and the whole thing was built by the dead hands of spirits that only half-remembered their old trades. In other words, it would take some time to replace. And the squadron of undead servants that Moebius commanded would probably be depleted, leaving him unprepared if a real threat should come.
Then again, the strange monster seemed to be fully alive and full of blood. Blood that could feed a grand ritual if Moebius was able to capture it alive...
"Now, as for your kind request... I shall consult with my advisors! One moment..."
Moebius pulled his body back into the window, before turning to the shades that still swirled within the room that he'd turned into his primary quarters and workspace.
"What say you, old kings of forgotten time?"
A shade with a simple circlet of gold around its head spoke first.
"Refuse him and turn him away. If he attacks, we have stone and the strength of iron against his fae-touched blood."
"That is true, I do have the shovel and the pick..."
Another shade, this one with hardly any features aside from a spiky crown piped up.
"No, no, kill him now and steal his beast. Place it in chains and slit its throat with your dagger, and use its blood to raise the soldiers that died around these walls! An army shall be yours!"
"Hmmm. Yes, if I could capture the beast alive, but I don't think we have any chains strong enough. Our ropes are made from vines and wild cordage, they would snap if we tried to contain it."
A third shade, this one bearing an eye-patch and a simple rag over its head, opened a spectral mouth that was missing some teeth.
"Yarr, cap'n. Methinks the best thing ta do would be ta sit down and negotiate. He might have that thing behind him, but if he thought it would be enough on its own, he wouldn't have asked ya ta leave before he had it break down the door. And, he said he don't be wantin' any authorities seein' what he's doin', so perhaps he and ye have somethin' in common."
"AH! Yes, yes... I'm sure he has something he wants that I can provide, and if I could convince him to give me the creature for sacrifice, or just oodles of fresh blood... Thank you, I can always count upon you for decent counsel, Petey!"
The skull-masked face of Moebius poked back out from the window to stare down at Volke.
"Attention, strange mage! I tire of shouting down at you from my window like some codger! And I'd rather not lose half of my forces and drain my magics killing you! Therefore, I propose... negotiations, over a late supper! Do you accept?!"