Tick-Tock

[Carthrat]

Perhaps hastened on by Liron's hasty choice of music, the pair of magi enter Raven's car, which promptly takes off down the lonely highway towards Austin.

In theory, the journey should only take a couple of hours...

<->

...One hour and fourty-five minutes later, the night lights of Austin light up the horizon, smokey city a contrast to the great outdoors you entered from. Vagrants and homeless people litter the city streets.. as you draw closer to the centre of the place, where people actually *are* lying about on the pavement in a sorry state.

[Brian]

"I and I can't help but think this is a less-than auspicious begining," Liron mutters, shaking his head.  "I have not seen a shanty-town this sad since I left the island.  Land of opportunity indeed."

He pauses, then glances to Raven.  "Or..." he begins, not wanting to voice his thought immediately.

[Corwin]

"Hmm?" Raven looks at Liron briefly, before returning his eyes to the road.

[Brian]

Gesturing to the layabouts, Liron asks, "You think this is maybe just a little unnatural?"

[Corwin]

"Can't say that I do," Raven replies with a shrug. "It's a big city, they attract the beggars and the homeless like nothing else."

[Carthrat]

"Devil's Nest", when you reach it, is undergoing something of a crisis.

A grungy, grey, industry-style building is what it amounts to, squatting somewhere in the inner-city area. Painted in graffiti across the walls are the words "Devil's Nest"- the 'S' has a red line slashed through it diagonally. Punkish-looking clubgoers mill about outside on the long main street, but the club itself is cordoned off by black and yellow police tape. A pair of the lawkeeping cars are parked nearby, lights on and flashing, but the sirens aren't wailing.

[Brian]

After considering Raven's words in silence for the drive, Liron shrugs at the sight of the police.  "One must assume that if law enforcement can handle this, that the vagrants are merely part of the greater plan," he murmurs.  "Should we prepare ourselves before we enter this ... place?" he asks.

[Corwin]

"I was thinking of getting a clearer picture of when the cops got here, actually," Raven responds, keeping his hands on the wheel. He turns his head to look at the warded-off club, a flash of neon light glinting off his sunglasses.

After making sure it's parked, he steps out of the car, and walks towards the closest group of people observing the police.

[Carthrat]

It's a motley crowd of punks and clubgoers. The sort of place you might expect to find fellow Ecstatics, if anywhere...

Most of them are wearing bad clubbing clothes, so ripped jeans, leather jackets, and piercings seem to be the norm. Wacky hairstyles are prolific, too. There's plenty of annoyed mutterings... along with a fair degree of open speculation. "I heard somethin' went down in the shitseat," comes one punk, while another guy swears he saw the bartender pull a shotgun.

[Corwin]

"No way!" Raven exclaims, just loud enough for them to hear. "A shotgun?"

[Carthrat]

"Oh, yeah, a 12-guage!" replies some girl, nodding excitedly. "Went right back into the bathroom, he did, and blew a hole clean through the wall!

'swhat I've heard, anyway. Guess he's inside with the cops."

[Corwin]

"Man," Raven mutters, shaking his head. "Austin's wild. If only I made it half an hour earlier...."

As he keeps on shaking his head, Raven tries to spot any of the punks he saw with his mind's eye at Heron's house or anyone wearing an ankh.

OOC: Perception + Alertness; 7, 5, 4, 9

[Carthrat]

Peering around the crowd, Raven sees many pieces of jewelery, crosses, ankhs, dragons, paper-clips, and other things assorted.. but there's one pair of punks swearing at each other, loudly, wearing quite plainly inverted ankhs.

They're in the centre of the crowd to boot; admittedly, it's not very big, and people are already starting to drift off.

[Corwin]

With a snort of amusement, Raven moves closer to the arguing punks, staring at them as some of the others are doing, and tries to catch their names between the flying insults as he commits their features to memory.

[Carthrat]

"Yeah, y'nipple-twisting plankfucker!"

The latest salvo comes with great force, and the two bickering punks begin storming through the crowd, which parts almost immediately- even Raven takes an involuntary step back.