A Hazy Shade of Winter

[Rezantis]

"Drac, your taste in music is worse than my roommate's."

[Dracos]

"Bitch, you dare bad mouth OINGO?"

Dracos

[Rezantis]

"No, you sorry-ass neanderthal, I'm badmouthing YOU."

Rez leans back in his seat and gets comfortable.

[Dracos]

"Rez, you need to work on your insults.  I'm too arrogant to care about being badmouthed myself.  You know this."

Dracos heads into winslow, following the directions to get to that store.

Dracos

[Rezantis]

"I'm hardly going to insult CLAYMORE MAN unless I'm a couple of hundred yards away.  I have a little common sense, ya know."

[Brian]

The BS is launched freely as the banter continues.  You realize, by the time you pull into Winslow, that if Ginrai learns through hynopaedia, he will wake up the world's most foul-mouthed and offensive person.

You find the store you're looking for at around lunch time, when you get a text message on your phones:

Code Select Expand

From: Ayame
Subject: Lodgings and such
Content: I've located a safe-house for you.  The address is 535, Warren Ave, Ripon, California.  There should be a package with the ID you requested inside.  Additionally, your car is now registered to the ID in the package, Mr. Bloom.  Try not to get pulled over before you get the new ID.  I wasn't able to unflag your DMV files, and I think the plate number is still being watched....Then, that horrible eventuality which you thought could be staved off arrives.

The parking lot of the store you're looking for shares it with a few other establishments.  One of them proudly advertises it's authentic Tex-Mex grill.  "That sounds good," Ginrai comments, finally having woken up.

[Dracos]

"Sword Store first, lunch second, hunting goods last, and then road."

Dracos parks near the sword place heading in, and promptly looking around, both at the swords they have (types, styles, quality level) and for anyone who works there.

Dracos

[Rezantis]

Rez, alternately, looks around for anywhere that might sell luggage . . .

[Brian]

In a word, they suck.  They've got really lousy 'authentic' blades, mostly rusted through.  The daggers are better, and you find a solid looking (if ugly as sin) blackened iron parrying dagger.  It's wide, mostly rounded, and would probably work better as a cudgel than an impliment of cutting. But that wider edge would hold up better under a strike from another blade, when compared to a machette, and the point is respectable enough for stabbing, should the need arise.

Ginrai glances around, commenting on the inferiority of most of the weapons to a good hefty pipe.  In this store, you're forced to conceed that he's probably right.

[Brian]

There are no luggage dealers on this lot, though the city's big enough that it has to house a department store, if not a luggage dealers specifically.

[Dracos]

Dracos slips into a scottish accent in his random accent changing ways, "These things look like they got pulled out of a junkyard.  They're wretched.  My baby sister could forge a better blade than some of these pieces of junk."

Dracos looks for the owner and when he finds the bastard he asks, "Show me your decent blades.  Not these cruddy third-hand pieces.  Surely ya got some better ones in the back or something."

Dracos

[Brian]

The guy behind the counter blinks at you, frowns, then says, "What you see is what I got.  I'm not a weapons dealer."

[Dracos]

"Well are there any good weapon dealers around?"

Dracos

[Brian]

He eyes you doubtfully.  "I think I'm the wrong kind of person to be asked that question," he answers you.  "You want an antique clock, or an authentic Civil War sword?  I'm your man.  You want a weapon?  Look elsewhere."

[Dracos]

Dracos shrugs and leads the way out.  Heading out to the car he gets on the net for a quite spurt, doing three things:

looking for combat quality sword providers between here and california.

Checking on irc and getting any of the weapon freaks quickly (there are several), getting access to either the professional quality stuff or the military sword vendors and checking if any of them have a factory or outlet on the way.

Checking email quickly to hard drive.

Dracos