This auction was a touch unusual. She had a horse for sale. Not just any horse, of course. If he were plain he would have been eaten by now. This horse was more intelligent than most. It was that fact that had saved his life otherwise he would have been the blót's sacrificial centerpiece.

Because she was dealing with a horse, Balian was wrangled differently than the other captives. Instead of being weighed down with a bundle of stones, the stallion was tied between Valkyrie's market tree and its neighbor. He had two ropes around his neck; one leading to one tree and one leading to the other. The ropes had very little slack to them to keep him from thrashing around.

Instead of leaning against the tree like she usually did, Valkyrie stood in front of the horse just outside of his reach. "The next auction is about to begin!"

""

He'd been watching quietly as things proceeded today, figuring everything out. He'd already watched a few auctions from afar, and when he decided to finally show himself it was for something that had truly caught his eye. Well aside from a few wolves that was. This was a creature he had only heard about but never seen. He was even marked like Gunther. His paws brought him forward, his mouth carrying a few prey items he could catch without an adult about. He placed them down at his paws and eyed the woman. His pumpkin eyes were curious but he put on a hardened mask to try to make himself look tougher.

"What's the price for the horse?" he tried to feign disinterest in the beast to make sure she didnt raise the price just on that. She'd been offered food and drinks and all sorts of things, but what could he offer aside from the rabbits and pheasants and fish he had? He doubted he'd win an auction like this but maybe no one else would be interested. Besides if he gave the creature his freedom he'd owe Gunther. And when a beast so big owed you then you had to have some form of power right? That or Gunther could just keep him as a beast of burden... the possibilities were endless.

He was pissed! And rightfully so. He had been minding his own business before he got captured, the youth separated from his companion and now he had no clue where she was. Although he and the monkey were often at odds with one another, right now he missed her company and comfort. He stood between the trees that his captor had tied him to, the stallions wild eyes glaring at her as he tried time and time again to get at the ropes, but he couldn't reach. He pawed the ground with a hardened hoof, leaving deep grooves in the earth. Ears were flattened to his head as he tried to fight his bonds, but he knew it was useless. Maybe if anyone coming by saw him acting wildly, they wouldn't want him. He would not he tamed by no beast, especially these mutts that roamed around. The Egyptian prince snorted when a young pup came up, asking about his price. He glared at the boy, too. Did this child think he would obey him? Ha! He would obey no one! Much less those who sought to buy him for their own personal gain. He shook his head and attempted to rear but the ropes didn't give him enough room for that. So instead he continued to act as wild as he could with the room he had. "Speech"

There was a horse? Why was he wasting time on wolves to pull his cart when he could get a fucking horse to pull a bigger one? One big enough to hold all his goods and his lazy ass when he didn't feel like walking? Hell yeah he was going to bid on a horse. The big blue titan strolled up to the auction stall. He eyed the kid there and then made a point to amble up to him and try to bump his shoulder roughly. An intimidation tactic? Maybe. If his only competition was a kid then he'd deal with the kid. "It's an auction, kid. Meanin' she'll wait until a'coupla adults are here to start the bidding." He made a point to eye the kid up and down. "Probably starting with more than a raggedy little pup can get his paws on, so you might wanna go run an' get your daddy to bid for ya." "Jupiter"   "Amadeus" ”You”

Artur was fairly sure that if Aurielle had known he was attending a slave auction, she would have had a coronary. It seemed like a fairly good reason to attend, to him, and so he found himself strolling through the market with a pack full of trade goods, looking for the rumored slave auction.

And there it was, and Artur's ears flicked forward at the sight of the creature tethered there to be sold. Blue eyes gleamed with avarice at the wild attempts to rear and plunge against the ropes, the creature's rolling eyes and pawing hooves. That beast could easily pull or carry far more weight than a wolf. No more dragging carcasses back to the pack on their own backs. No more backbreaking labor in gathering parties to bring back enough wood to keep Paladin's fire going.

His greed deflated suddenly into an irritated scowl, because that all would have depended upon Aurielle bending her stiff-necked morals enough to allow them to make use of even a prey animal that way. Still, perhaps if he freed the horse after purchasing him, the creature would be grateful enough to work willingly for them in exchange for the protection afforded by Valhalla's walls so he wouldn't be... well, to put it bluntly, eaten.

He met the auctioneer's eyes and inclined his head respectfully to her as he seated himself, indicating his interest. He cast his glance over the two others gathered, a faint frown gathering his brows together at the sight of the pup there. Surely a pup wouldn't have anything worth trading for a slave... the other wolf was older than he himself was, and with unusual blue coloration that seemed to shimmer and swim over his pelt. Eye-catching. Artur kept his expression neutral while he studied him for a beat before turning his attention back towards the horse.

A very tall, very blue male beat her to answering the yellow boy’s question. Valkyrie nodded in confirmation, then said brusquely, “He is right, boy, this is an auction and there is no set price.”

Because this was a horse and an intelligent one at that, the bidding was going to start a great deal higher. “This is no ordinary horse. Don’t let his antics fool you, he is far more intelligent than the bulk of his species. It is for that reason we will start the bidding at one bison or a similarly sized prey animal.”

OOC: the auction rules apply to this one as well.

Jupiter’s ears pricked forward in interest. The starting bid was steep but manageable. With a little help from some of his family members - he might have to do some arm twisting to achieve that - he could get his paws on a bison with relative ease. This was a bid he could meet. So he told the auctioneer as much. “One bison? I can do that - I’ll take that bid.” He didn’t think his grandfather would see the value in a living horse, but he thought some of his cousins might. Perhaps if his father was around he could convince him to chip in.

 

Alright, blue boy won. It was an easy enough trade to make. Short, sweet and to the point. He wanted a horse, she wanted a bison, they each walked away happy.

Valkyrie nodded to Jupiter, her tail flicking at her haunches, and then said, "You know the drill at this point, I hope, but in case you've forgotten," she said in a pithy tone, "You have three days to bring me the bison." Valkyrie shrugged. "Bring it to me in pieces if you like, just bring me the whole thing. If you do, the horse is yours. If you don't...he'll make a fine meal."

""