Day 2: The Rocky Road of the Lost Coast – Glad I got that Rabbit. "Oathday", 20 Rova, 4707/ Sunday the 16th of September, 2018
I woke up in the morning a little bit later than usual. My phone had not alarmed to wake me up, and I didn't know where I was at first. I got up slowly, and did a once over for bugs. I made sure that I got as good a look as I could, but without someone to check the harder to see areas, it's mostly a guessing game. At least I shouldn't have to worry about Lyme or anything like that. I doubt that it has reached this far, but you can apparently cure diseases in this realm, so that's a good thing. I got dressed, equipped, and wandered my happy ass downstairs. Apparently Jonathan was utilizing his skills in the kitchen, making a decent breakfast for the whole Inn. At least he enjoyed it. He thanked me and handed me back my phone and headphones as he handed me a hot drink and a plate of eggs and some kind of chopped and fried meat. It wasn't bacon, but did it need to be? In fact, it was probably the jack-rabbit I had shot yesterday. The drink seemed like some kind of herbal tea, but I wasn't going to complain. It had at least a tiny smidgen of caffeine in it, so I was thanking every deity I could for this small miracle.
Sooner rather than later, we left to go continue on our journey. I was back in the back of the cart, with Faunra and Jonathan, while Dame Rebekah was on her valorous steed not too far away. I made sure to keep the volume low enough that we wouldn't be taken by surprise, but everyone got a decent selection of the oldest music I had on my phone, stuff from the 50's. My parents had a fair amount of it around me when I was growing up, and it seemed like a smart thing to have in a large library of free stuff. With hour keen eyed protector, nothing much happened to us as we made our way to a good stopping point for a break. It would be good to stretch our legs. I tried to stay on Dame Rebekah's good side, and not annoy her too much. It wouldn't help me to have the one person with any kind of heavier armor step out of the way from some rampaging monster just because I pissed her off that morning.
Unfortunately, there was no repeat of the previous day, no rabbit to poach off and provide for a nice breakfast. We mostly just sat around, munching on our various rations or what not, and I decided to mix it up with strawberry and chocolate. I don't think that these would keep me in full health if they were all I ate, but they sure can take the edge off of the hunger. We made decent time, and towards the end of the day, we got to the next town. It was slightly larger than the last, and we managed to find someone willing to pay for all of the goblin crap that we had re-appropriated from their dead bodies. Like I said, at least it keeps it out of the hands of other goblins. I think anyway. When we got to the Inn that we were going to stay at, a nice little place called "A Wanderer's Rest", I tried my hand again at storytelling, while Jonathan proffered his abilities as a Chef. I don't know if we could have ever done better in our lives together that night.
I decided for something of a bit lighter fare, and told the crowd the story of the Count of Monte Cristo, and Jonathan had made some splendid version of a Monte Cristo sandwich, having never heard of the idea before. I swear that guy can learn just by being around people or something like that. The Innkeeper liked it so much that we got our meals, drinks, and stabling for free. We still had to pay for 4 rooms, and I think that the Innkeeper was certainly making out on the deal, but I'm not really all that pissed as he did knock something off of our tab. I'm not used to be able to tell a story and get some free stuff. I doubt that this will last long though. I'm bound to slip up somewhere along the line. Before I headed off to bed, I caught up with Jonathan, and gave him the phone in advance. Before I left, he asked me what Sunday, 16 September, 2018 meant. I had not yet unlocked the phone. I told him that this was the date where I was back home. He told me the date here, and I decided to start using it to date my journal entries, for less confusion when I reread them. I can always just go back and translate the date if I needed to later.
During that night, I slept as best I could. I still couldn't keep myself from worrying about the fleas, ticks, and bed bugs. I'd have to do something about that, somehow. I just wasn't sure what I could do. Maybe some alchemist somewhere has come across something that bugs don't like citronella? Maybe I could find something else that would keep the insects away. Something magical maybe? It wouldn't do to make it home if I carried some fantastical plague with me. I also figured that I might ask Jonathan to continue along with me if his path was taking him that way. He knew a little bit more about this area than me, and he didn't seem to mind my company. If anything, I hoped he was really liking the fact that he could listen to more songs in a night than most people heard in a year.