In the early 20th Century, a family of freebooters brought back to England some strange artifacts from the jungles of Africa. The Cummings Scientific Club found a televideo set made from gold on an abandoned boat just north of the port of Oshanga. There was something strange hidden in that wilderness - the city of Opak-re.
Situated on a dark river and guarded by a bio-engineered river serpent named Esin-ka, Opak-re liked being unknown. They possessed technology far beyond what the rest of the world had achieved. The city was governed by five elders, and organized in a fairly communal structure. They are very fond of their children, calling them "our kings and queens." Any crimes committed by outsiders were usually punished less harshly than those by citizens, on the grounds that the outsiders don't know any better.
This was fortunate for people such as Elijah Snow and Lord Blackstock.
Blackstock was a well-known visitor to Opak-re, and despite their advanced culture and civilization still thought of them in terms of being black. He found the women there fascinating due to their exotic nature, but no more than a kind of sexual novelty. This kind of attitude led to the downfall of Opak-re.
He met a woman named Anaykah, one of the city's leading scientists. She fell in love with both Snow and Blackstock, and became pregnant with the latter's child. This was a violation of one of the city's strongest prohibitions - no interbreeding. They were happy to have visitors, but the elders of Opak-re valued their genetic purity more.
The birth of the child led to the city being sealed off from the world forever. Before it went, however, Anaykah gove her infant daughter to Elijah Snow, who promised to look after her. The girl was raised by a couple in Germany, and was named Jakita Wagner. Jakita is, technically, the last survivor of Opak-re.
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