The ladies of Karl's group quickly joined in on the fun, and bought up long strings of cheap glass beads to toss around the necks of the young men.
There was plentiful rum flowing from kegs at every corner, and Karl led them to a corner where the same smoke pit as during the battle was set up.
"Butcher, good to see you again. I'll take whatever you're serving, for the whole Guild group." Karl greeted the portly Demon.
"Oh, congratulations on making Overlord. It's good to see you again, War Champion. Are you sure that you don't want to join them? You're still a young man." The Demon joked.
Karl laughed and tilted his head towards where a young man was being escorted into the back room of a shop by two young ladies in questionable outfits.
"I think that I would insult someone when I had to turn down the most festive of festivities."
The butcher laughed. "Well, youngsters will be youngsters. You can go to the boardwalk if you like, but really, the ladies will likely have more fun here on the docks."
That was definitely true. It was only a little after noon and already the Demons were playing a drinking game where you flipped a full shot glass from your horn to your mouth without spilling it.
In theory. Whoever drank the most of the shot won. And took another shot.
There was also music playing, as whatever bards and musically talented demons the ships had on board had set up an impromptu jam session. That had the people dancing and generally going wild.
Before long, Lotus had dragged Mick up on one of the pier pillars to sing with her, a drinking tune that seemed to be primarily the word 'shots' that every sailor knew.
The combination of rhythmic foot thumping and trumpets made a steady beat as the crowd sang along and thousands of sailors drink from bottles of Rum. Karl could see people closer to the boardwalk giving the crowd at the docks disgusted looks at the lewd lyrics, then confused stares as they realized that it was a Green Dragon Priestess and a Vampire in a Lolita dress with a parasol leading the chant.
Something wasn't right with the sailors, they were certain. Many of the Noble young ladies were tempted to come over and check out the scene, but the rowdy party was causing their parents to glare at them every time that they turned in a vaguely southerly direction.
The song changed and the stomping changed to a new rhythm that was slower and somehow more sensual, but still accompanied by trumpets and a saxophone, which made for a very strange experience to Karl's foreign musical tastes.
But soon enough, he found himself dancing with Dana in his arms, dragged into the crowd and drinking Rum from the bottle as they laughed and spun in the crowd.
They were pleasantly drunk and making new friends among the sailors when a rather horrified looking official in a castle uniform made his way to the dock and caught Karl's attention.
"Overlord Karl? Do you think that I could pull you away from your revelry for a few moments?" The Demon asked.
Karl nodded, and moved to the edge of the crowd, where Dana was handed a kebab and a fresh bottle of rum.
The official cleared his throat. "You have been formally invited, along with your plus one, to the Lord's private Garden Party. Can we expect your attendance?" "How long do we have?" Karl asked, already feeling his constitution burning the alcohol from his system.
"One hour before the first guests begin to arrive, two hours before the party starts." The official explained, looking a bit embarrassed.
He had likely intended to find Karl much earlier but hadn't expected him to be on the docks with his whole Guild.
"What is the dress code?" Karl asked. They were already dressed up pretty fancily, as it was a party day.
"Your current attire will do. It's a semi casual event, but most dress to impress." The official explained, hoping that Karl would understand the meaning behind his words.
The Lord had invited him directly, which was a huge honour. But the demon was a bit worried that Karl was already drunk enough that he might not appreciate the nuance.
Fortunately, Rae had them covered, and she had prepared extra fancy matching outfits in black and white silk to match the fur of their transformed bodies.
Dana was certain that she was going to hate whatever idea Rae had come up with, but the flowing dress was beautiful black silk with white embroidery all over it, creating a vine pattern. It fit like a glove, and it highlighted the white and red jewellery with elbow length sleeves. Karl was forced to change from his casino goon look into a white suit over a black base layer. He had minimal black embroidery on his suit, just a spider web pattern at the collar and cuffs. But she had made up for it with all the spiderweb pattern woven into the tie.
Karl briefly explained the situation to the others, then summoned the Lamia bodyguards to watch over the group and ensure that Lotus didn't get abducted by strangers with candy, before he led Dana off for some last-minute grooming. There was a beautician not far from the docks, and on their way to the castle gates.
They had been partying for hours. A little perfume and a change of clothes might make them smell better, but their fur could use a little brush and polish before meeting new people.
Fortunately, the staff at the salon understood immediately that they were going to a formal event, and not just looking for the sort of festive decorations that many of the party goers were getting.
By the time that they were fully brushed with some sort of pleasant smelling fur conditioner and redressed, it was time that the guests should have been arriving at the Castle.
Time to see how many of the local celebrity chasers knew who they were.