Post by nekomonga on Nov 28, 2018 14:25:15 GMT
Of her mortal servants scattered about the United States, her holdings in New Orleans had been hardest hit, reduced to a small, aging family and a single decrepit ancestral home in the outskirts on New Orleans proper. This was due to no enemy save mother nature, as a typhoon completely wiped out her properties. Traversing Mexico and setting up her Sea Coffin had been an aching chore despite the convenience of trucks and highways. With what meager fortune she had left, she quickly demanded spot repairs done on the ancestral home ... if only to ensure the roof does not cave in and shine sunlight on her when she slept.
French Quarter, 8 pm
The sight of the French Quarter almost unchanged at first sight heartened Safiya, as she looked upon familiar road signs and streets. A hundred years past, and the Quarter still looked and sounded as it was when she left... at first. Her relief and hope were soon dashed though, as she had come to realize that there was indeed profound change here, much as anywhere else.
Madame Laveau's House of Voodoo was merely some attraction now, selling popular culture and baubles, anything of real use long since gone. She could not sense magical items anywhere. The places called the New Orleans Voodoo Museum and Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop were also attractions now, the latter an eatery filled with tourists than blacksmiths. Oh how the disappointed mounted.
Disheartened, Safiya wandered about, until she came upon some establishment called The Cat's Meow and found the inside to be a bordello- or rather, a strip club in modern parlance. Young flesh was freely on display on stages lit by neon lights, dancing to the beat of loud modern music she found more annoying than anything else. Safiya partook readily of the sights. Here the humans were indulging their carnal whims, and the pumping blood and pheromones made Safiya peckish. More than a few eyes- men and women alike- wandered over and followed Safiya move, the vampiress exuding terrible allure even as she wore plain local garb of a fitting, colorful dress, a dress rather miserly with skirt length and generous with cleavage.
The smell of blood filled her nostrils as she settled into her seat. Amidst the drunken stupor and the gyrating bodies, she spied several young women being entranced by fledglings, young vampire spawn still grasping their powers. Once they had that first taste, they quickly drag their prey outside into the alley. Sloppy, she thought, to feed so brazenly in public.
"Can I get you anything, mademoiselle?" the bartender asked with a New Orleans native accent.
"Ah, Non, Merci barman." She replied, sounding much the same and like a local. She had questions for these new vampires....