Cain and company stay overnight in Garda to ensure nobody else is intending to attack and for King James to officially approve their negotiated agreement. They'll officially welcome the Dutchy of Garda at the next Royal Court Session, but the documents are already signed and agreed upon.
A patrol of soldiers is coming along with the merchant caravans that had been delayed and a shipment of goods is ready to go east back into Skyview even before the Negotiators are ready to head out.
That leaves Cain and the ladies free of obligations, and with the Auction in Tortuga already approaching, Cain decides it is time to pay the Guild House in the Demon Capital a visit.
What they arrive to after passing through the travel circle is utter chaos. As far as they can tell not one, but two of the Dwarven master smiths are having their hundredth birthday today. They all live in small rooms behind their forges, perfect for a Dwarf, terrible for a party. But the Guild house is very large and mostly unoccupied.
Cain grabs a bottle of whiskey and goes looking for Dimnys and the two birthday celebrants with Cyrene rising to wrap around his waist in order to save her tail. Misha is quickly pulled away to dance by Ragnar, who directs Cain to the kitchen, where he just saw Dimnys.
They hear her before they see her. "Who knew that old grump was so popular? We need more servers, don't you know anyone who needs a day's work?"
"Good news. I can get you some servers. Do you want dwarves or are the Elven dolls fine?" Cain calls out to her, walking towards her voice.
"Boss! You're a life saver. The Elves will be fine, Dwarven servers might not get anything done for being dragged into dances and drinking competitions. If you've got a dozen that should do the job."
He did indeed have a dozen of the dolls on him. He brings a dozen with maid uniforms from his inventory, noticing that he's running low on them now and he'll have to start making custom ones soon.
Looking at the chaos in the kitchen, Cain decides that they need a proper chef as well, so he sets himself to making a properly Demonic Chef in honor of the location. He starts with a base that is a four armed Lamia and then adds the chef coat, hat and both Hakan and Dwarven cooking at Guru and Master 4 skill levels respectively.
A third skill to round her out might be a good call, so he adds [Summon Lesser Golem] so she can create her own kitchen staff. The skills sink into the Puppet body and it activates looking around the kitchen with interest.
"A party already? Don't worry boss, I've got this, just leave everything to me." Her voice has an odd lisp that draws out the letter S and Cain thinks he might have made a mistake in the jaw structure, but other than that, the body seems perfect.
The extra arms should make her job easier and with his level she should be agile enough to make full use of them. She's already started chopping vegetables and meat for whatever dish she's making first, so Cain decides that a name can wait and heads back out to the party with Dimnys and Cyrene, sipping whiskey.
"I hate to be the one who asks silly questions, but you know you're wearing a Lamia and she looks terrified, right?" Dimnys says, poking Cyrene.
"I've never been to a party like this before, and I was afraid for my tail. It's safer up here." Cyrene explains.
"If nobody else has a problem with it, neither do I. Just stay away from the Whiskey, Cain is fine with it, but it hits Obsession Demons pretty hard." The Dwarf laughs, handing her a mug of Dwarven Ale.
Cain sends a message to the Demon King's Palace with a messenger, asking the King for permission to use his travel circle to Tortuga for the auction and settles in to enjoy the party.
It's late afternoon when the response comes back that an escort will come for him in the morning, so Cain heads up to a bedroom just after midnight, making sure he gets plenty of sleep for a long day at the Auction.
Cyrene has never been properly shopping with Misha, and Cain is certain that he won't get off easily without using a skill to order them to stop. The markets of Tortuga are home to an amazing variety of items from three different Continents after all.
Again, he wakes up looking into a pair of eyes, but these ones are golden, and sit below a mass of white hair and fluffy ears. Neffie has come to wake him up.
"Have you figured out how to transform into an Ancient yet?" He asks the intensely focused little Demon.
"Not yet. It keeps telling me your form is invalid. It's the same thing it tells me for the Greater Seraphim, but I've got the feeling I can get this one to work eventually, the same way I got Evangeline to work once I focused on the companion aspect first." Neffie pouts.
"Let's think over breakfast, or is the escort already here?" Cain tells her, equipping his suit and picking her up at he gets out of bed.
Neffie giggles and wraps all four of her arms around his neck. "We're all here, having breakfast before we go. Your new cook is pretty talented."
The others are already at the table when he comes down, since Neffie woke him up last to give herself time to try to obtain his Ancient Species for her records. There are some dwarves still up as well, plus King Aggramor, a female Succubus and his usual set of guards.
"Good timing, there's an item at the hidden auction I want and Vinnie gave me permission to bring your group. Is this all you're bringing?" Aggramor asks, indicating Misha and Cyrene.
"The others are in Skyview in case something happens on this continent. If it's an emergency I can call them to me. Plus it's easier to travel in a smaller group." Cain shrugs and Aggramor nods.
They take the circle back to the Palace, and then go down a half dozen floors to a large open room filled with a huge circle.
"It's what is needed to travel between Continents without a dedicated link. This will bring us straight to the Auction."
Neffie transforms into a small Wrath Demon who looks a lot like a younger version of Vala and equips a set of black plate armor, moving to stand near Aggramor.
"Officially she's my assistant. We never let others know who and what she is." Aggramor says as everyone but two guards steps aside.
"Group size is limited to four for this event. Vinnie has given us seats in the same booth though. When we enter, a barrier will deactivate all active abilities, just so you know. It's a security feature, and then they'll track every ability you use until you leave."
They step through and the auction manager himself is waiting on them. "Your Royal Highness, Duke Cain, it is a pleasure to see you both again. The items that both of your agents sent for the evening's auction have been processed, and here is your pass for the seller's lounge. I trust you recall the procedure?"
They both nod, and Vinnie heads them to a large second room. The moment they step past the door, [Malleable Form] is forced to return Cain to his 10 meter tall natural form and the auction guards panic.
"Sorry, I didn't realize it would force my shape back to default." Cain apologized, but it didn't seem to calm them much, the mental projection carrying a heavy note of authority.
"The effect ends on the other side of the room, if you would please." Vinnie stutters, and Cain strides across the hall before noticing Neffie is hanging off his leg, taste testing him to try to record his species.
Here, Aggramor looks like a grown up male version of her, they even have the same fluffy white ears and gray skin tone. If Cain didn't know better he'd think that Neffie was his daughter.
At the other side of the room Cain can change again, so he shrinks to human sized but keeps his Ancient look, taking his cue from Aggramor who didn't use a new disguise.
"At least it prevented the Existential Dread Aura from activating. That could have been a mess." Misha laughs.
"Why would he need a Terror type aura? That thing is scary enough." One auction staffer mutters.
"No kidding. I think I peed a little." Her partner whispers in response, making Cain smile, an effort that just makes the tentacles on his face wriggle.
It didn't seem to have the desired effect, the staff still looks terrified.
There has no common area here, everyone is in booths with mirrored walls facing the auction, and only one group is brought through at a time for anonymity. That makes Cain very curious as to what they've got for sale.
Beyond that, how many things even count as black market in this world where humans can level cities and dozens of nations deal in people as property?
They've got a fairly long wait before the event starts, having arrived fairly early. More bidders are still arriving right up until the auctioneer takes the stage with a smile.
"Welcome everyone to the Tortuga VIP Market. For those who are new here let me go over the the basics. Every item is listed with a condition. Only those who can provide the item or task in the seller's condition may place a bid. The bid must fulfill the condition, and be an improvement on any previous offer to fill the condition. Simple really, now let us get started."
A large crate is rolled on to the stage and it opens to reveal an Ancient Quality Ability Book. [Dance of the War God].
