Cult of the Jaguar

Deep in the jungles of the Yucatan Peninsula there is an ancient temple, built by the Olmec people some 2200 years ago and still undiscovered by modern historians and archaeologists.  The pictograms adorning its smooth stone walls speak of a man who came to the Olmec lands bearing within him a spirit known as Bastet.  He could take the form of any feline, but came to favour the sleek lines of the jaguar native to those lands.  Many of the Olmecs wore the skin of the jaguar also, and they recognised in this man one of the Great Spirits that guide the Children of Luna (Lycanthropes).

The man rose to rule the Olmecs, and on his death commanded his followers to prepare for the coming of another bearer of the Great Cat avatar: one who would be present at the End of the Age.

Over two thousand years later, Jake Tigron encountered the descendants of those peoples.  To the casual observer they were another 'lost tribe', hidden from the modern world, but the truth is far more complex.  These tribesmen are the followers of the Cult of the Jaguar, ruled by their werejaguar medicine men and the High Priest of Bastet, a man named Hesha.

Although most of the tribesmen choose to live as their ancestors, many have travelled the world and stayed in far-flung lands.  They generally favour the menial jobs into which Central Americans are too often pigeonholed, knowing that they are in a position to see and hear much that is of use.

They return this information to the High Priest in their 'letters home', letters that feature colourful borders with Mesoamerican designs.  None realise that it is the borders that hold the real messages, written in a language long thought dead.  Hesha passes on any information he deems important enough to Jake, providing the current Great Cat with a network of information equal to that of many intelligence agencies.