The Journeyman from Ryu-Kyu

[Brian]

No wireless networks are within range, unfortunately.

You sleep, again without dreams, and wake up on a beach.  Ezmereth and the eagle are nowhere in sight.  It's cold, but you've still got the polar-bear skin thrown over you, and a burnt-out firepit sits next to you.

[RangerShade]

Death gets up and looks around.

[Brian]

The sun is either setting or rising, and you're therefore either on an eastern coast, or a western coast.  Taking what Ezmereth said to you, this should be Drake's point, just north of San Francisco.  You see a lighthouse in the distance, what should be north of you.

Mostly, the beach is just sand, though there's a lot of pebbles in it.  Further inland you can see various scrub brush, and coastal flora, though it's all dried and brown.  You see distant stormclouds from the southwest, and the wind is blowing east.

There's a marker, or a sign of some sort near the trees, and a path through them; ostensibly to some more major road.

Too bad the yakuza kept your bike.

[RangerShade]

Death grabs his stuff anf starts legging it toward the sign near the trees.

[Brian]

The bearskin is huge, but rolls up into a surprisingly compact bundle.  Warm, too.  You dislodge the knife that Ezmereth gave you while rolling it up, and pack that away as well.  Now that you have a chance to look it over, you see that it's stone, alright.  The core of the blade is granite, but the blades are obsidian, smooth and sharp.  It looks flawless.

The handle is carved bone, wrapped in what grips like leather, but feels softer, and is colored a light red.  A series of tiny, tarnished copper and gold beads are impressed across the face of the cross-guard in a pattern that looks like a sun.

When you get to the sign, you see it says, "No camping, no pets, no fires, no littering," and so on.  There is a crudely asphaulted path that leads through the trees, and you think you can get a glimpse of a wider road though there.

[RangerShade]

Death  decides to take the path up to the road.

[Brian]

It wends about a bit, but takes you up to a major road.  US HWY 1, to be exact.  You're near a parking lot, and you see a side-road that you imagine leads to the lighthouse.  There's also a sign from some resturaunt to the south, peeking over the top of a hill, but you can't quite make it out at the sun's current angle.

[RangerShade]

Death decides to check out the lighthouse first.

[Brian]

Back across the beach.  There is a paved (and somewhat raised) road across the beach.  As the sun is setting, the moon is also rising.  It's between 3/4 full, and 1/2.  You have enough light to get to the door, but it's locked, and a sign says, "No entry."

It looks like it's probably automated, all things considered.

[RangerShade]

Death goes back to check out that resturaunt.

[Brian]

It is a resturaunt, as by the time you get back to Highway 1 (still no cars, oddly), the light is turned on, and you can read, "Sams!"  It looks like they stole the color scheme, font, and, once you get in site of the building, the blueprint from a Denny's.

And two things occur to you here.  For one, you've got no US currency on you.  For another, even though you've done nothing but sleep and eat for ... how long has it been, anyway?  It doesn't matter.  You are ravenous.

[RangerShade]

Death checks for his credit card.

[Brian]

Intact, accepted world wide.  Looks like you're set.  You start feeling a bit weak as you top the hill, like something sapped your strength and you're still recovering from it.

[RangerShade]

Death enters the resturaunt and hopes the service here is fast and the food at least edible.

[Brian]

A waitress offers to seat you at either the bar or a table.  Once you have a seat where you choose, you can scan the resturaunt, and see two people at one table, looking like refugees from college, and a lone man at the far end of the bar, chugging coffee like his life depended on it.

After you're seated, you're approached by a woman wearing the uniform (knee-length pink skirt, pink blouse, white apron) and a badge that says, "HI, I'M:  Samantha".

"What can I get ya, honey?" she asks, smacking her bubble-gum loudly.