Jaguar Warriors and Lasers (Forcie plus one guest)

It was not a good night for Shauna.

Dressed as the mercenary Black Tigress due to a botched heist, she was fleeing from her shadowy pursuers in the dead on night, bleeding in several places. She could not stop to cauterize her lacerations which bled profusely, due to the incredibly sharp pieces of obsidian lodged in the open wounds, movements making it a terrible ordeal.

“I AM GOING TO KILL THAT SUNUVA-” Shauna reached a corner and stopped for a moment, but had no time to rest nor finish cursing as an obsidian tipped spear struck inches from her head. She peered up on the roof, where the tall, lithe and muscular figures loomed like deadly Predators. Loudly they proclaimed in their ancient mayan tongue, "You are a worthy foe... for a plunderer. You will be sacrificed to the jaguar god."

Jaguar warriors – Aztec knights wielding spear and obsidian studded clubs, dressed in deep red war paint on their tanned forms, loomed above Shauna, their chosen prey. Moving with the speed of their namesakes, they slid down the buildings to give chase. Shauna’s eyes glowed with viridian energies as a brilliant green laser beam bursts forth from her eyes. The air popped then crackled with the intense heat, vapors appearing around her lasers; the green beam struck in a line, its full power slicing through the jaguars’ wooden shields and demonic bodies, taking down two of her attackers in one attack, and leaving scorch marks on the walls where they were vaporized. Their bodies, reduced to charred skeletons cleft in twain, smoldered on the alley floor.

The other four attackers were too swift, and surrounded Shauna before she could make good on her escape. All routes were now cut off.

Shauna was outnumbered and surrounded; battle moved in a blur as she ducked and weaved against simultaneous assaults, avoiding spear thrusts, Aztec cudgels and claws, a furious laser beam from her eyes cutting down one more. Shauna would not survive this for much longer, as the obsidian shards cut shallow, but quickly bleeding wounds.

Jaguar Warriors – occult 2 str 5 spd 6 dur 5 Fs 6 Obsidian weaponry 6

It was just another typical night in the windy city. It was cold, of course. Though not cold enough to keep people indoors and huddled up in pursuit of warmth. John Capore was one such person that was not currently doing that. Though it was not exactly by choice. If he had the choice he would certainly be doing that rather than be outside in the cold right now. The reason he wasn't was because at this moment John wasn't John exactly. He had 'stumbled' upon some criminal activity and because he didn't have the ability to mind his own business, had gotten dressed up and went ahead and tried to do something about it.

It was a robbery attempt of a convience store. This place was open most of the hours of the day. The robbers were smart enough to attempt it while it was closed. Apparently they had closed early tonight. To think when it reopened again there would a lot of money missing. Luckily for them he was here to prevent it. Yeah, they were totally lucky. How could they not be? Forcewave was waiting for them by the backdoor. There were only two of them. As soon as they came through the door he jumped them. Forcewave had waited behind the door so he could sneak up on them and immediately did so. His extensive physical training was what he applied in order to defeat these guys quickly. It was over in no time. They dropped the stolen merchandise and just ran for it. He could hear sirens in the distance already. Apparently they had tripped an alarm. Forcewave decided to take off himself and try and head for home.

He snuck around the backalleys only slightly dressed up. He hadn't fully changed but would not be seen as a vigilante of any sort by anyone who happened to notice him. Speaking of noticing things. Forcewave noticed something not too far from him that was quite the weird sight. It was a group of men dressed in really strange clothes attacking a woman. They were dressed like the Jaguars of Aztec lore. Why though? Who were these people exactly? Why were they attacking this woman who for some reason was distantly recognizable to him. They struck at her with weapons that seemed to fit their outfits, and she fought back with lasers. What was going on here? Forcewave decided he should try and put a stop to this. The problem was he didn't know whom he should help. This was a situation where he honestly couldn't tell whom he could even trust. He would just have to figure it out once he stopped the fighting.

In an instant he shot out a bolt that became a barrier of sorts. It separated the guys dressed as Jaguars from the lady who was shooting lasers out of her eyes. Now to try and figure out what was going on. "Excuse me everybody." he said to address them and make his presence known. "Somebody mind telling me what's going on?" he asked nobody in particular and waited to see who would speak up, or do something else entirely.

Jonathon had been to in Chicago to visit a friend, and learn more about a city he rarely visited. He has had many adventures meet many people, outlived many that he has known. Yet he has always made sure to keep a smile on his face, taking whatever wonders and dangers his live had thrown at him. It hadn't been so bad either, he has learned much from the world and experienced more then just about any he knew.

He chuckles to himself, letting the cool night air blowing across his face and moving his brown hair in front of his green eyes. Moving it back into place the well dressed man considers the quiet streets and alleys near, keeping watch for any trouble in city known for making trouble appear when no one was looking. Yet it is what he heard that tipped him off first something was going on down one of the alleys and he catches a glimpse of first a woman and then... no, his eyes had to be playing tricks on him. With such he would move forward, yet as he did his suit became more colorful and even 'fancy', in an old style way that is as an elaborate masquerade mask hides his face.

He took on his persona, his alternate identity though he considered himself neither a hero or villain, as he found such things limiting for one of his abilities and interests. Of any case if what he had seen was true donning his outfit would be needed, if also amusing. One turning the corner he would see what where... a number of Aztec knights, jaguar warriors to be more particular. They were one of the military unites of that culture and it seemed, well it would appearance they were authentic. Even speaking the language though he could not really understand what they were saying, yet a frown did appear on his face when he though he could make out the talk of sacrifice. Which really, was not so surprising given who they were but still.

It would seem that another walked forward... actually asking what was going on which caused Masquerade to shake his head in disbelief. A woman was being attacked by ancient, Aztec warriors and he was asking what was going on. Yet he was also considering what he could do. He had the opening of making a simple illusion or actually do more and, yes he thinks considering the idea of bring forward a fear of the Aztecs as he felt that if he scared them away it would leave the woman free from farther harm as he hide in the shadows.

Shauna thought herself dead, when intervention arrived in the form of an crackling energy barrier that parted her from the Jaguar warriors. She found herself sitting on the ground, gasping from her injuries, relieved that her struggle was over.  

"lightning? wait, it doesn't behave like that..." she thought, taking a look and seeing there was a Cape who projected an energy barrier to separate her from her attackers. That he actually stopped to ask them what they were doing told Shauna volumes about Jon, that he was likely a Cape who talked before beating up people.

"This is none of your business, white man. We will take the defiler of the sacred jaguar and offer her up to our god." One of the Aztec warriors moved towards Forcewave and spoke in the ancient mayan language, while making charades movements that gestured opening up Shauna's chest with their vicious looking obsidian knives and ripping out her heart.

In an instant he had arrived to stop this battle between the laser beam eyed woman and her entourage of opponents dressed as the Aztec jaguars. Though he knew not why this vicious fight between the two parties was occuring, he would still intervene. As for figuring out whom he needed to protect from who, he had ways of doing just that. Forcewave was pretty good at discerning honesty from dishonesty. Though that minor skill did not look like it was going to need to be put to the test.

One of the strangely dressed men approached him and spoke to him in a language that he did not recognize. The tone however he did. It was definitely threatening. Furthered only by the gestures he made. These guys were not only dressed as the Aztec jaguars and wielded weapons like the ones they used, but they portrayed themselves as if they were the real deal. Maybe they were. Could this be another one of those time travel things? Oh please don't be. Those are just too weird for their own good.

Forcewave could recognize the gesture being made. It indicated violence that they were planning on inflicting upon the woman. Further inflicting really. She was already pretty beaten up. If this gesture were any indication, they were here to slaughter her. He could find out why later. For now he had to prevent it from happening. He was expecting to be attacked as well for his interference. Those weapons were clearly made for killing. Forcewave took a half step back and strengthened the barrier to attempt to make sure the woman would be at least somewhat safe.

He considered the man, dressed as one would expect many supers, moving between the warriors and the woman. He also found something intriguing about the woman, a certain familiarity about her. The color of her hair and the fact she had laser vision remind him of a teen super that had lost the spark to fight many years ago. Oh, what was her name? Considering her if he were to guess the woman would be around the correct age. Yet that can be explored another day, he had to focus.

It took a moment of concentration but from the shadows around where the group was came a chattering of voices speaking in mayan a few repeated words, “luk'ul, kinsik, sahkil,  luk'ul,  luk'ul, sahkil, kinsik, kinsik.” What would appear were creatures of a shape and appearance much like children, though they walked more on all fours and three went up walls with a freaky speed. Yet what was worse is when seeing their face, heavily lined as if with age making it seems they were faces of those that were old. Hissing they would reveal sharp, black teeth that shone much the like obsidian spikes of the warriors wooden swords and the tips of their spears.

Masquerade himself, kept hidden and quiet as he whispers the words to his spell, making sure he was not seen so as to not be bothered. If needs be, he had means of keeping away and even invisible but he preferred to keep things as uncomplicated as possible so he did not use more energy then needed. Better to focus on a single spell and make sure it is done right then to chance many spells and have them spell. He felt the creatures Chaneque, those of aztec myth said to scare away intruders and even bring their souls from their body to then drag them to the underworld said to have bodies of children yet faces of old men.

((OOC Note: kinsik: kill, sahkil: fear, luk'ul: go away))
Occult: 2. Strength: 4, Speed: 6, Ability: 1* Durability: 3, Fighting Skills: 6
* Blend into Shadows: The Chaneques can move in and out of the shadows, and when hidden are difficult to perceive by normal means.
1 post duration and a cooldown of 1 point

Angry at the intervention, the Jaguar warriors struck at the barrier, only see their obsidian weapons shatter. They now turned their sights on Forcewave, drawing Obsidian daggers with the intention to capture him for a later sacrifice.

However, such a skirmish would be cut short, as Jonathan's illusory creatures of Aztec myth certainly proved effective, as the Jaguar warriors quickly froze in place upon sighting them. Fearful that they had failed somehow, that their souls were forfeit, they speak among themselves, their squad leader telling them to flee. They flee the scene with inhuman speed, bounding up buildings and vanishing into the pre dawn shadows.

Shauna eyed the illusions cautiously, wondering where they came from and what did they mean to those aztec warriors. She slowly crept away from them, towards her visible savior.

Shauna breathed a massive sigh of relief. Time almost stood still as she sat there in the alley. She was almost sure she was going to have her ribcage ripped open and her heart torn out. She slowly got up and dusted herself off. “Okay... like... Let’s get out of this alley. Who knows what else is lurking around here.” She said, to Forcewave.

Dawn was slowly upon them as the dark sky gradually turned azure from dark, and the first precious rays of the sun shone on the street. It was one of the more rundown neighbourhoods in town, with failed shops from yesteryears, their wooden facades rotting away from exposure. The chronically homeless slept under newspapers on the street, a shopping cart of possessions nearby. A malnourished dog leashed to a hydrant barked weakly.

As the life giving light of the sun touched the darkly dressed Shauna, her wounds gradually began to heal themselves. Her face showed her relief at this, meeting the sun like one would have a cup of premium brewed coffee, complete with a satisfied ‘aaah’.

She turned to her rescuer once again, wondering who he was, and more importantly, if he was curious enough to pry with questions. Ancient Aztec spirit warriors don’t attack people at random, obviously. Shauna had to think quickly, hopefully they’d ask about her first instead of the Aztecs. She also needed to place all the blame on her former accomplice. Her eyes remained on the alley, wondering if the illusions were going to follow them, and if she could hit them.

“So... I guess I owe you one.” She started, and then paused to stretch her arms. She spoke up in a more cheery tone. “Good to see new heroes keeping up the good fight in other parts of the country.” She extended her hand to Forcewave, then introduced herself with a toothy grin, and used some of that family reputation to keep the conversation going her way.

“I am Sun Queen... though most people knew me as Laser Ladette.” She said, taking her mother’s metahuman name. She did honestly contemplate taking up the mantle if she ever returned to hero work, and now seemed like a good a time as any to start- she had a villain with a stolen artefact to capture.

Forcewave readied himself for battle seeing as it definitely looked like one was inevitable. Their faces were full of bloodlust and rage as they drew their weapons and prepared to now attack him instead. Looks like he was going to be involved in two fights in one night. Not even one night. The last one had been only a few minutes ago. This was a out of the frying pan and into the fire situation.

Just as it seemed the battle was about to begin, it was stopped by something. Some strange sight arose and it just terrified these jaguar dressed fellows. It caused them to drop their violent intentions and run away as fast as they could. Well then, that was certainly a relief. Kind of. These things that scared them away were an unusual sight. They just lingered about without reason even after the warriors ran away, and Forcewave still wondered what they were. Were they connected to the jaguar people, or was there somebody else here that had decided to intervene in on this situation?

Forcewave looked around for a sign of somebody else's presence. He couldn't quite find anybody lurking nearby, yet still had his suspicions that there was. He heard the voice of the woman that he had just come to help speaking to him. Forcewave turned back to her and did away with the barrier since it was no longer needed. "Yeah, sure, I guess. Are you okay though? You look pretty roughed up right now. Do you need to go to the hospital?" he asked out of concern due to the sight of all the wounds on her.

Dawn was approaching. He did not even realize just how late it was. Forcewave stifled a yawn as he thought about what to do next. Heading somewhere else was probably a good idea. He wasn't too keen on being out in the open in these particular garbs. Not even in this rundown old neighborhood. It just wasn't very pleasant looking. The sight of the sick dog made him sad. If only he had something he could give it.

He suddenly saw that the woman was rapidly recovering from the damage inflicted upon her. She had both laser vision and healing. How interesting. She seemed relieved as she spoke to him. "Oh no. It's no problem." he told her not wanting somebody to feel like they owed him anything.

Being called a new hero felt kind of strange. He had actually been doing this for about two years now. Then again, this woman seemed like she had been doing this for awhile. She probably just did not know about him. Forcewave was one to try and avoid attention.

Forcewave accepted her handshake as she introduced herself. She said she was Sun Queen, but was better known as Laser Ladette. That was actually a name he sort of knew. A superheroine from a few years back. No wonder she acted like she was experienced at this. It's because she was.

"Hi. I'm Forcewave." he replied as the handshake was broken. "So, who were those people you were fighting with and why were they dressed like they were Aztec soldiers? Any clue?" he asked of her hoping for some information.

The illusions would slowly begin to fade after the two started walking away and long after the jaguar warriors had run of from the sight of fears only they would likely fully understand. Masquerade was actually a bit surprised that his idea worked, though also perhaps a bit disappointed as he didn't have the chance to see how his creations did in battle. Each time he used his illusions to create something new in which to fight for him there would be a time of fine-toning.

Yet he heard the woman speak and listened at her words before the two of them started to walk away. Of course he followed, still interested in learning more about the lovely young woman and even the young man that had come to her rescue. Yet while learning the identity of the woman that seemed so familiar was important there was other questions as well involving her assailants.

He kept to the shadows he used his magic to quite his footsteps so they would not be noticed over those that were in front of him as Masquerade followed after. He considered as the woman begin healing her wounds and smiled at her words that there are new heroes keeping people safe.
It was on her words that she had been known as Laser Ladette that everything felt into place and on Forcewaving beginning to ask questions he would then reveal himself to be seen, yet doing so by creating an illusionary copy of himself just to be on the safe side as he did.

"I would like to know that as well and a bit more," came his voice that it would seem he stepped forward from the shadows and smiles. Giving a tip of his hat and a small bow he says, "I hope my creations did not frighten you, I am Masquerade the mystery man of illusions and stories. it is a pleasure to meet two such as yourself, especially you Laser Ladette though it seems you have taken on a new name."

Chuckling a bit the figure moves fully into sight and into the open as he continues, "I thought I recognized you from somewhere with the color of your hair and your laser vision. It was disappointing to learn that you have seemingly burned out and lost motivation to fight. For every villain there should be a hero to face them."

"Um..." Rats, looks like they weren't fans who wanted to catch up on personal info. "Well its nice to meet you Forcewave. You've got an interesting power, making lightning behave like that. Well... where to begin. Do you drink coffee? I know a back-alley place that serves our kind. I'll be glad to tell you about my... uh... mission... over some breakfast." She stuttered very briefly at that, avoiding calling the heist a 'job' out of habit.

Shauna was about to start walking when Masquerade walked out of the shadows. Her eyes glowed with energy for a moment before he explained himself, saving the illusion a lesson in rapid thermal energy transfer. "Fu- Ferret balls, don't do that! I could have given you a laser crew cut!" She sighed, and stopped to talk again.

"You made those things that scared em off? well, I hope they're as dumb as they look, we won't have to deal with the Jaguar warriors.Alright, looks like I've got a story to tell. You wanna join us for breakfast, Mask? honestly I'm starving. That healing factor takes alot of nutrients..." She says.

"Anyway, it's Sun Queen now... yeah you're right, I've missed the old days where I fought in the open. Too bad its just me now. Oh, while the sun's up we're safe from those Aztec warrior spirits."

"Yeah. Nice to meet you too." he said all awkward like. Right about now he was kind of wishing he had stayed in bed or something. Laser eye lady was hard to conversate with for some reason. "No, I don't. Though I guess breakfast sounds good. Though are you sure this place you are talking about is safe?" he asked when she mentioned a place where they could go eat that was friendly even to the super powered folk. It was something he found hard to believe. He had not seen much in the way of such a thing. If it were true, that would be nice though. He was kind of interested in checking this place out. It was better than just standing around among these strange apparitions that had scared away those warrior people.

Before they could really go anywhere however, they were interrupted. A man suddenly appeared nearby and claimed to be the one responsible for these things floating about. Oh, so they were an illusion of sorts. Good to know. Though who was this guy? If that's who this even was. Could just be another illusion for all they knew. "Thanks for the help." he said as he waved hello. Looks like this breakfast thing was inevitable. At least at this cafe they were going to go they could get information on those people that had attacked and what they wanted and such. Plus there was food. Food, always an added bonus to anything. No doubt about that. Forcewave guessed he was in. Hopefully this didn't take too long though.

The place was not far even for walking, though it was in a more active part of the neighbourhood. Shauna kept to back roads and narrow alleys where the impoverished and indifferent stayed, their lot as forgotten as metahumans were feared. They turned a corner, climbed a tall wooden fence then another corner, and then finally arrived at the rear entrance of a large old red-brick establishment refurbished into a biker bar.

The alley was strewn with trash and filth, and smelled of dog poo. Graffiti was strewn all over the walls, and what looked like bloodstains and bullet holes were becoming visible on a part of the wall when sunlight was just starting to illuminate it. There also seemed to be a roughly body sized pile of rags in the corner- no telling if it was a body or garbage, but smelled even more foul than both when approached.

The rear entrance was small, no more than fifteen feet wide and raised from the ground line by a few steps. The windows were shut with nailed planks. Country music played from inside. There was a small plank board sign that read “Billy Ray’s”, and scrawled under it was “Absolutely no fighting inside” in rather poor penmanship and messy paint. The reinforced door was guarded by a most stout and muscular humanoid figure, who was roughly four feet tall and as wide. His arms were as thick as his stocky legs, sported a full long beard, and a mighty beer belly. One might describe him as a dwarf.

“Weclome to Billy Ray’s, how meta are ya?” He asked, his deep voice seemingly marking him as from New Jersey. He crossed his arms and denied Shauna entry.

“Hello, Mac.” Shauna said, letting out a sigh. There were rules and procedures to follow, thankfully short ones.

“Hello Shauna. Still a Meta, I hope?” The dwarf huffed, not moving from his spot by the door.

Shauna’s eyes rolled. She takes a peek at Mac’s lunchbox sitting on a dirty old box. “You packed a BLT for lunch. And a pint of your home brewed beer... which is now warm.” She said, after briefly viewing the contents and using her vision to perform submolecular convection to warm up the beer.

“Surprise, surpise. Go in. Now, who are these two light weights? I’ve never seen such ugly hero costumes since your pink ensemble.” He said, boisterous as ever, as he approached her companions. Shauna simply shrugs and heads inside. However, if they attempted to follow, the dwarf would stop them for a question first.

“Welcome to Billy Ray’s. Name’s Mac, the Bouncer. Billy Ray’s is neutral ground. You wanna arrest one of our customers, you take it outside. You start a fight, everyone beats you down. Norms sit in the front of the place; metas here in the back.” The biker dwarf with the red beard took a good look at Forcewave, sizing him up despite being the shortest in the alley.

“Now, you, you look familiar. Hero type, am I right? Doing good around the city? You still a meta?” He seemed quite adamant. A small demonstration was enough to allow John entry though.

Then the dwarf also eyes Jonathan. He looks at his dress with a hint of contempt. “Jeez, who picked out your outfit, yo mamma? And what’s with that fruity mask? You supposed to be some kinda Vegas magician or somethin’? Got a power aside from pulling a rabbit out of the hat maybe?”  

Once finished with Mac, Shauna walks past the patrons of the bar- mostly small time costumed metahumans- mostly criminals and renegades, a few odd no-name heroes here and there- but in civilian dress; most of them anyway. A few wore their costumes underneath jackets. Their eyes quickly fall on Forcewave, the Chicago superhero’s presence making the crowd uneasy. They also had a similar reaction to Jonathan, whose formal and flamboyant dress made him out of place.

Surprisingly, there were no alcoholic beverages around. Billy Ray's was more of a family diner than a bar, though the proprietor was used to running bar atmospheres. Metahumans came here for big meals or a cup of brewed coffee before heading out to either their concealed lives or a caper. A sign at the bar said alcoholic drinks are served 6pm onward.

Shauna just sits down in the far corner booth and waves them over to sit, as she took a photo of their target from the wall- where alot of low and mid level metahuman criminals' photos were- and some papers out of an envelope, indicating they were finally headed somewhere.

"Take a seat, and we'll get started. I ordered a breakfast platter which has everything on the menu in it. You drink coffee? or want anything else?" Shauna asked them both, a waitress waiting right beside them to take their order. The pretty young lady wore a miniskirt and a short sleeved blouse, the Diner uniform, and was blonde- extremely so, since her skin was also golden in hue and shiny and metallic in texture. Her nametag indicated her name to be... Golda.

Forcewave took a moment to consider the two individuals he was standing in that street with. He wasn't quite sure he could trust them to be honest. Just what did Sun Queen here have to do with those Aztec Jaguar fellows, and who was this other guy exactly? He would probably wind up prying them with questions once they got to this cafe. They might be more open to answering tough questions while comfortably sitting in a cafe over just standing there in the middle of a street during sunrise.

The three of them all wound up walking together to this mentioned place. Forcewave kept checking out the surroundings during this trip. He was on the lookout for well, anything. Anything suspicious or potentially a threat to them, or just whatever was around that needed to be noticed.

This cafe was located in a really messed up looking neighborhood. It made the one they had met in look fancy by comparison. What was even here anyways? Was it even worth it?

They arrived at it and it didn't look like it should even be open. It was kind of a dump. Were they really going to eat in there? It did not foreshadow a pleasant dining experience. Outside the building stood a short yet stocky fellow who stared at them as they approached. Who was this guy? The bouncer? Did this place even need one?

The short guy apparently knew Sun Queen. They started talking and she was allowed in. As for Masquerade and himself, they got quizzed for entry rights. What a weird place this was. Why did they have to come here again?

The bouncer person asked them questions that they had to answer in order to be let in. Forcewave answered the ones directed at him as honestly as he could because he didn't really have any other answer to use. "Yeah. I guess so. I try to at the very least." Then he was let in. Forcewave walked into the diner and looked around curiously. The place was full of people in costumes that indicated they were disguised for a reason. Apparently they were all metahumans as some referred to the like as. Though he recognized not a single one of them, quite a few seemed to recognize him. Oh, how strange and kind of unfortunate this was. Hopefully there would be no trouble simply because some people here seemed to know him.

Masquerade smiled at what could be considered a challenged and in a poof of smoke he would seemingly disappear when in truth he teleported behind the Bouncer and when he would turn around to face the the well dressed man it would seem he was gone. In his place was another, and it would seem like Bouncer was looking into a mirror. The one looking like him in every way, same height and width, same face and figure, same clothing, he would preceded to say in the same voice and accent though with a tone that could be considered by some as mocking, "I'm meta enough." In truth he found the dwarf most amusing indeed though he would not use such words if asked, and he felt he had more then proven himself as meta of some skill.

With such he would take his true appearance, no matter how some may see his outfit as silly and his mask fruity he would walk past with the words, "I was a magician before Vegas was build my good sir, before it became fashionable. Two-bit jokes like them do not even begin to compare." He found the comparison to Vegas magicians laughable, though outside of England few seemed to understood the purpose and style of his costume. Fair too old fashioned for those that rarely cared about history and what was considered fashionable. His very name would like go over the head of many, both heroes and villains making the mistake of not taking him serious because they did not understand his dress.

The man would then take a seat with Shauna and Forcewave. One what to drink he would say, "Please, if they have it tea for me, though honestly I would be surprised if they had any good tea. Outside of England few compare for my tastes, though I have often taken what I can get." Masquerade found all this most interesting, as in truth he had never been to this place, nor had he known of it. Which surprised him as he always tried to made certain he knew of the places metas, as it seems they were called here, could be found. Though at the same time the world was a big place, and he was only one man even with his extensive lifespan, so really places falling from his social radar were not uncommon... especially a place as unsavory as this.