diff --git a/microservices/CharacterApi/Controllers/CharactersController.cs b/microservices/CharacterApi/Controllers/CharactersController.cs
index bc04546..c48b879 100644
--- a/microservices/CharacterApi/Controllers/CharactersController.cs
+++ b/microservices/CharacterApi/Controllers/CharactersController.cs
@@ -64,9 +64,23 @@ public class CharactersController : ControllerBase
             return Unauthorized();
 
         var allowAnyOwner = User.IsInRole("SUPER");
-        var character = await _characters.GetForOwnerByIdAsync(id, userId, allowAnyOwner);
+        var character = await _characters.GetByIdAsync(id);
         if (character is null)
+        {
+            _logger.LogWarning("Visible locations request failed: character {CharacterId} was not found.", id);
             return NotFound();
+        }
+
+        if (!allowAnyOwner && character.OwnerUserId != userId)
+        {
+            _logger.LogWarning(
+                "Visible locations request denied: character {CharacterId} belongs to owner {OwnerUserId}, request user was {UserId}",
+                id,
+                character.OwnerUserId,
+                userId
+            );
+            return Forbid();
+        }
 
         _logger.LogInformation(
             "Visible locations requested for character {CharacterId} at ({X},{Y}) radius {VisionRadius} by user {UserId}",
diff --git a/microservices/CharacterApi/Services/CharacterStore.cs b/microservices/CharacterApi/Services/CharacterStore.cs
index f5cfd1a..f16e334 100644
--- a/microservices/CharacterApi/Services/CharacterStore.cs
+++ b/microservices/CharacterApi/Services/CharacterStore.cs
@@ -7,7 +7,8 @@ namespace CharacterApi.Services;
 public class CharacterStore
 {
     private readonly IMongoCollection<Character> _col;
-    private readonly IMongoCollection<VisibleLocation> _locations;
+    private readonly IMongoCollection<BsonDocument> _locations;
+    private const string CoordIndexName = "coord_x_1_coord_y_1";
 
     public sealed record VisibleLocationResult(List<VisibleLocation> Locations, int GeneratedCount);
 
@@ -18,7 +19,8 @@ public class CharacterStore
         var client = new MongoClient(cs);
         var db = client.GetDatabase(dbName);
         _col = db.GetCollection<Character>("Characters");
-        _locations = db.GetCollection<VisibleLocation>("Locations");
+        _locations = db.GetCollection<BsonDocument>("Locations");
+        EnsureLocationCoordIndexes();
 
         var ownerIndex = Builders<Character>.IndexKeys.Ascending(c => c.OwnerUserId);
         _col.Indexes.CreateOne(new CreateIndexModel<Character>(ownerIndex));
@@ -29,19 +31,8 @@ public class CharacterStore
     public Task<List<Character>> GetForOwnerAsync(string ownerUserId) =>
         _col.Find(c => c.OwnerUserId == ownerUserId).ToListAsync();
 
-    public async Task<Character?> GetForOwnerByIdAsync(string id, string ownerUserId, bool allowAnyOwner)
-    {
-        var filter = Builders<Character>.Filter.Eq(c => c.Id, id);
-        if (!allowAnyOwner)
-        {
-            filter = Builders<Character>.Filter.And(
-                filter,
-                Builders<Character>.Filter.Eq(c => c.OwnerUserId, ownerUserId)
-            );
-        }
-
-        return await _col.Find(filter).FirstOrDefaultAsync();
-    }
+    public async Task<Character?> GetByIdAsync(string id) =>
+        await _col.Find(c => c.Id == id).FirstOrDefaultAsync();
 
     public Task<List<VisibleLocation>> GetVisibleLocationsAsync(Character character)
     {
@@ -55,7 +46,7 @@ public class CharacterStore
         return new VisibleLocationResult(locations, generatedCount);
     }
 
-    private Task<List<VisibleLocation>> GetVisibleLocationsInternalAsync(Character character, bool ensureGenerated)
+    private async Task<List<VisibleLocation>> GetVisibleLocationsInternalAsync(Character character, bool ensureGenerated)
     {
         var radius = character.VisionRadius > 0 ? character.VisionRadius : 3;
         var minX = character.Coord.X - radius;
@@ -63,14 +54,15 @@ public class CharacterStore
         var minY = character.Coord.Y - radius;
         var maxY = character.Coord.Y + radius;
 
-        var filter = Builders<VisibleLocation>.Filter.And(
-            Builders<VisibleLocation>.Filter.Gte(l => l.Coord.X, minX),
-            Builders<VisibleLocation>.Filter.Lte(l => l.Coord.X, maxX),
-            Builders<VisibleLocation>.Filter.Gte(l => l.Coord.Y, minY),
-            Builders<VisibleLocation>.Filter.Lte(l => l.Coord.Y, maxY)
+        var filter = Builders<BsonDocument>.Filter.And(
+            Builders<BsonDocument>.Filter.Gte("coord.x", minX),
+            Builders<BsonDocument>.Filter.Lte("coord.x", maxX),
+            Builders<BsonDocument>.Filter.Gte("coord.y", minY),
+            Builders<BsonDocument>.Filter.Lte("coord.y", maxY)
         );
 
-        return _locations.Find(filter).ToListAsync();
+        var documents = await _locations.Find(filter).ToListAsync();
+        return documents.Select(MapVisibleLocation).ToList();
     }
 
     private async Task<int> EnsureVisibleLocationsExistAsync(Character character)
@@ -82,15 +74,19 @@ public class CharacterStore
         {
             for (var y = character.Coord.Y - radius; y <= character.Coord.Y + radius; y++)
             {
-                var filter = Builders<VisibleLocation>.Filter.And(
-                    Builders<VisibleLocation>.Filter.Eq(l => l.Coord.X, x),
-                    Builders<VisibleLocation>.Filter.Eq(l => l.Coord.Y, y)
+                var filter = Builders<BsonDocument>.Filter.And(
+                    Builders<BsonDocument>.Filter.Eq("coord.x", x),
+                    Builders<BsonDocument>.Filter.Eq("coord.y", y)
                 );
 
-                var update = Builders<VisibleLocation>.Update
-                    .SetOnInsert(l => l.Name, DefaultLocationName(x, y))
-                    .SetOnInsert(l => l.Coord, new LocationCoord { X = x, Y = y })
-                    .SetOnInsert(l => l.Id, ObjectId.GenerateNewId().ToString())
+                var update = Builders<BsonDocument>.Update
+                    .SetOnInsert("_id", ObjectId.GenerateNewId())
+                    .SetOnInsert("name", DefaultLocationName(x, y))
+                    .SetOnInsert("coord", new BsonDocument
+                    {
+                        { "x", x },
+                        { "y", y }
+                    })
                     .SetOnInsert("createdUtc", DateTime.UtcNow);
 
                 try
@@ -116,6 +112,67 @@ public class CharacterStore
         return $"Location {x},{y}";
     }
 
+    private static VisibleLocation MapVisibleLocation(BsonDocument document)
+    {
+        var coord = document.GetValue("coord", new BsonDocument()).AsBsonDocument;
+        var idValue = document.GetValue("_id", BsonNull.Value);
+        string? id = null;
+        if (!idValue.IsBsonNull)
+        {
+            id = idValue.BsonType == BsonType.ObjectId
+                ? idValue.AsObjectId.ToString()
+                : idValue.ToString();
+        }
+
+        return new VisibleLocation
+        {
+            Id = id,
+            Name = document.GetValue("name", "").AsString,
+            Coord = new LocationCoord
+            {
+                X = coord.GetValue("x", 0).ToInt32(),
+                Y = coord.GetValue("y", 0).ToInt32()
+            }
+        };
+    }
+
+    private void EnsureLocationCoordIndexes()
+    {
+        var indexes = _locations.Indexes.List().ToList();
+        foreach (var index in indexes)
+        {
+            var name = index.GetValue("name", "").AsString;
+            if (name == "_id_")
+                continue;
+
+            var keyDoc = index.GetValue("key", new BsonDocument()).AsBsonDocument;
+            if (IsLegacyCoordIndex(keyDoc) || IsUnexpectedCoordIndex(keyDoc))
+                _locations.Indexes.DropOne(name);
+        }
+
+        var coordIndex = new BsonDocument
+        {
+            { "coord.x", 1 },
+            { "coord.y", 1 }
+        };
+        var coordIndexOptions = new CreateIndexOptions { Unique = true, Name = CoordIndexName };
+        _locations.Indexes.CreateOne(new CreateIndexModel<BsonDocument>(coordIndex, coordIndexOptions));
+    }
+
+    private static bool IsLegacyCoordIndex(BsonDocument keyDoc) =>
+        keyDoc.ElementCount == 2 &&
+        keyDoc.TryGetValue("Coord.X", out var xValue) &&
+        xValue.IsInt32 && xValue.AsInt32 == 1 &&
+        keyDoc.TryGetValue("Coord.Y", out var yValue) &&
+        yValue.IsInt32 && yValue.AsInt32 == 1;
+
+    private static bool IsUnexpectedCoordIndex(BsonDocument keyDoc)
+    {
+        var hasLower = keyDoc.Contains("coord.x") || keyDoc.Contains("coord.y");
+        var hasUpper = keyDoc.Contains("Coord.X") || keyDoc.Contains("Coord.Y");
+        return hasUpper || (hasLower && !(keyDoc.Contains("coord.x") && keyDoc.Contains("coord.y")));
+    }
+
     public async Task<bool> DeleteForOwnerAsync(string id, string ownerUserId, bool allowAnyOwner)
     {
         var filter = Builders<Character>.Filter.Eq(c => c.Id, id);
diff --git a/microservices/LocationsApi/Services/LocationStore.cs b/microservices/LocationsApi/Services/LocationStore.cs
index 27e753f..1d589a1 100644
--- a/microservices/LocationsApi/Services/LocationStore.cs
+++ b/microservices/LocationsApi/Services/LocationStore.cs
@@ -4,28 +4,27 @@ using MongoDB.Driver;
 
 namespace LocationsApi.Services;
 
-public class LocationStore
-{
-    private readonly IMongoCollection<Location> _col;
-
-    public LocationStore(IConfiguration cfg)
-    {
-        var cs = cfg["MongoDB:ConnectionString"] ?? "mongodb://127.0.0.1:27017";
-        var dbName = cfg["MongoDB:DatabaseName"] ?? "GameDb";
+public class LocationStore
+{
+    private readonly IMongoCollection<Location> _col;
+    private readonly IMongoCollection<BsonDocument> _rawCol;
+    private const string CoordIndexName = "coord_x_1_coord_y_1";
+
+    public LocationStore(IConfiguration cfg)
+    {
+        var cs = cfg["MongoDB:ConnectionString"] ?? "mongodb://127.0.0.1:27017";
+        var dbName = cfg["MongoDB:DatabaseName"] ?? "GameDb";
         var client = new MongoClient(cs);
-        var db = client.GetDatabase(dbName);
-        var collectionName = "Locations";
-        EnsureLocationSchema(db, collectionName);
-        _col = db.GetCollection<Location>(collectionName);
-
-        var coordIndex = Builders<Location>.IndexKeys
-            .Ascending(l => l.Coord.X)
-            .Ascending(l => l.Coord.Y);
-        var coordIndexOptions = new CreateIndexOptions { Unique = true };
-        _col.Indexes.CreateOne(new CreateIndexModel<Location>(coordIndex, coordIndexOptions));
-
-        EnsureOriginLocation();
-    }
+        var db = client.GetDatabase(dbName);
+        var collectionName = "Locations";
+        EnsureLocationSchema(db, collectionName);
+        _col = db.GetCollection<Location>(collectionName);
+        _rawCol = db.GetCollection<BsonDocument>(collectionName);
+
+        EnsureCoordIndexes();
+
+        EnsureOriginLocation();
+    }
 
     private static void EnsureLocationSchema(IMongoDatabase db, string collectionName)
     {
@@ -95,18 +94,55 @@ public class LocationStore
         return result.DeletedCount > 0;
     }
 
-    public async Task<bool> UpdateNameAsync(string id, string name)
-    {
-        var filter = Builders<Location>.Filter.Eq(l => l.Id, id);
-        var update = Builders<Location>.Update.Set(l => l.Name, name);
-        var result = await _col.UpdateOneAsync(filter, update);
-        return result.ModifiedCount > 0;
-    }
-
-    private void EnsureOriginLocation()
-    {
-        var filter = Builders<Location>.Filter.And(
-            Builders<Location>.Filter.Eq(l => l.Coord.X, 0),
+    public async Task<bool> UpdateNameAsync(string id, string name)
+    {
+        var filter = Builders<Location>.Filter.Eq(l => l.Id, id);
+        var update = Builders<Location>.Update.Set(l => l.Name, name);
+        var result = await _col.UpdateOneAsync(filter, update);
+        return result.ModifiedCount > 0;
+    }
+
+    private void EnsureCoordIndexes()
+    {
+        var indexes = _rawCol.Indexes.List().ToList();
+        foreach (var index in indexes)
+        {
+            var name = index.GetValue("name", "").AsString;
+            if (name == "_id_")
+                continue;
+
+            var keyDoc = index.GetValue("key", new BsonDocument()).AsBsonDocument;
+            if (IsLegacyCoordIndex(keyDoc) || IsUnexpectedCoordIndex(keyDoc))
+                _rawCol.Indexes.DropOne(name);
+        }
+
+        var coordIndex = new BsonDocument
+        {
+            { "coord.x", 1 },
+            { "coord.y", 1 }
+        };
+        var coordIndexOptions = new CreateIndexOptions { Unique = true, Name = CoordIndexName };
+        _rawCol.Indexes.CreateOne(new CreateIndexModel<BsonDocument>(coordIndex, coordIndexOptions));
+    }
+
+    private static bool IsLegacyCoordIndex(BsonDocument keyDoc) =>
+        keyDoc.ElementCount == 2 &&
+        keyDoc.TryGetValue("Coord.X", out var xValue) &&
+        xValue.IsInt32 && xValue.AsInt32 == 1 &&
+        keyDoc.TryGetValue("Coord.Y", out var yValue) &&
+        yValue.IsInt32 && yValue.AsInt32 == 1;
+
+    private static bool IsUnexpectedCoordIndex(BsonDocument keyDoc)
+    {
+        var hasLower = keyDoc.Contains("coord.x") || keyDoc.Contains("coord.y");
+        var hasUpper = keyDoc.Contains("Coord.X") || keyDoc.Contains("Coord.Y");
+        return hasUpper || (hasLower && !(keyDoc.Contains("coord.x") && keyDoc.Contains("coord.y")));
+    }
+
+    private void EnsureOriginLocation()
+    {
+        var filter = Builders<Location>.Filter.And(
+            Builders<Location>.Filter.Eq(l => l.Coord.X, 0),
             Builders<Location>.Filter.Eq(l => l.Coord.Y, 0)
         );
         var existing = _col.Find(filter).FirstOrDefault();