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TEST DRIVE MEME 003
⚰︎ ⍢ ⌲ ⍚ TEST DRIVE MEME:
Welcome to RUBILYKSKOYE — a dark, horror-smut game where player choices will drive a mod-run storyline about the world and its NPCs. This test drive meme provides a medley of prompts evoking the game's general tone.
THESE THREADS CAN BE GAME CANON if both players are accepted into the game and agree to it. However, if players who'd prefer to start fresh are welcome to reuse these prompts in their own personal logs upon acceptance into the communities. Note: characters arriving in September's application round will arrive in the midst of a two-part event that will continue through October. Players may date their character's arrival any time from September 8th onward.
CONTENT WARNINGS for this game include: monsters, body horror, dub-con, non-con, religion, blood/violence, and marking/branding, loss of autonomy/self, and mental influences. This log additionally has warnings for: disorientation, loss of direction, hallucinations, time distortion/lost time, aphrodisiacs, group sex, dubious consent, cannibalism and cannibalistic urges, spiders, bondage/restraint, loss of autonomy, body horror, sadism, torture, cult behavior, assault, arson, caging, free use, and public sex.
If you have QUESTIONS about the test drive prompts, please ask HERE. Questions about the game itself or the general setting should be directed to the FAQ.
FAQ ✧ SETTING ✧ CALENDAR ✧ RESERVES ✧ APPLICATIONS
THESE THREADS CAN BE GAME CANON if both players are accepted into the game and agree to it. However, if players who'd prefer to start fresh are welcome to reuse these prompts in their own personal logs upon acceptance into the communities. Note: characters arriving in September's application round will arrive in the midst of a two-part event that will continue through October. Players may date their character's arrival any time from September 8th onward.
CONTENT WARNINGS for this game include: monsters, body horror, dub-con, non-con, religion, blood/violence, and marking/branding, loss of autonomy/self, and mental influences. This log additionally has warnings for: disorientation, loss of direction, hallucinations, time distortion/lost time, aphrodisiacs, group sex, dubious consent, cannibalism and cannibalistic urges, spiders, bondage/restraint, loss of autonomy, body horror, sadism, torture, cult behavior, assault, arson, caging, free use, and public sex.
If you have QUESTIONS about the test drive prompts, please ask HERE. Questions about the game itself or the general setting should be directed to the FAQ.
IN THE WOODS SOMEWHERE
The chirping of partridges in the treetops rouses you. Light barely filters through the canopy, just enough to suggest daylight. By the time it reaches the forest floor, the light has taken on a sickly green. You lie amongst the frost-covered mosses and ferns, the frozen soil cold and just a little damp on your bare skin. Wherever you were before this moment, whatever you were doing or wearing, when you awaken in this forest, you find yourself naked and helpless as the day you were born. As you sit up and get your bearings, aside from a brief wave of disoriented nausea, you seem to be no worse for wear than you last remember.
The gnarled oaks and moss suggest no sign of civilization or sentient life. Just flickers of movement from curious squirrels or brave lizards emerging from a temporary retreat from the wintry weather. With your feet under you, and you'll find the wood is filled with berry bushes and nut trees, though much of the fruit has been picked clean. The freshwater stream that runs north-south, populated by both poisonous toads and delicious crawdads, is running actively again as the weather warms back up from the recent snowstorm.
You may start out alone, or among others sharing stories just like yours, or you may run into others who are fully clothed and ready for a strange expedition ...
LOST WOODS:
The expedition party made their way into the woods on September 14th expecting a direct route to the Void. Instead, they've found themselves lost and disoriented.
Their navigational tools seem useless, leading them around in circles as ancient trees, caves, water sources, and other reliable landmarks do not align with the maps. Trees seem to move — didn't you see that exact deer drinking from the brook a quarter mile ago? The ever-changing and impenetrable maze of the woods may separate characters from one another, or get them so lost that they wind up back at the edge of the wood, staring at castle walls or farmlands.
With no easy measure of their progress, and the treetops obscuring the light, time feels dilated. Characters may feel they've been in the woods for hours when it has been days, or for weeks when it has been hours. The amount of time that passes in the woods will be individualized for each character, and will not match the full month that passes for characters back in town.
Their navigational tools seem useless, leading them around in circles as ancient trees, caves, water sources, and other reliable landmarks do not align with the maps. Trees seem to move — didn't you see that exact deer drinking from the brook a quarter mile ago? The ever-changing and impenetrable maze of the woods may separate characters from one another, or get them so lost that they wind up back at the edge of the wood, staring at castle walls or farmlands.
With no easy measure of their progress, and the treetops obscuring the light, time feels dilated. Characters may feel they've been in the woods for hours when it has been days, or for weeks when it has been hours. The amount of time that passes in the woods will be individualized for each character, and will not match the full month that passes for characters back in town.
While some folx are being turned around and sent back to start, those that make it deeper are in perhaps worse shape. The dilated time and the circuitous nature of their efforts may stretch their week's worth of rations too thin, driving them to rely upon foraged mosses and fruits for sustenance. 
The woods are full of fungi and edible flora with aphrodisiac side effects like increased bloodflow, heightened arousal, and increased tactile sensitivity.
Much like the animals afflicted by the Void, the plant-life here grows strange. The deeper they go, the more troubling the side effects of their foraged sustenance becomes.
Deep in the forest they may find:
The woods are full of fungi and edible flora with aphrodisiac side effects like increased bloodflow, heightened arousal, and increased tactile sensitivity. Much like the animals afflicted by the Void, the plant-life here grows strange. The deeper they go, the more troubling the side effects of their foraged sustenance becomes.
Deep in the forest they may find:
- A moss that makes them hallucinate an idealized sexual experience from deep in their repressed subconscious, which they will determinedly act out.
- The pulsing fruits that grow amongst this moss will render them desperate to orgasm as if they have been edged for hours, but they will find themselves physically incapable of doing so — unless they succumb to its secondary effect, the hunger for still-warm human flesh.
- A nut that grows in bushes leaves those who eat it unable to feel satisfied by just a single partner, seeking out threesomes and moresomes with a lost hiker or another pair.
REVENGE OF THE SPIDERS:
Monsters thrive this far out. Huge, blood-red spiders the size of hunting dogs drop from the treetops. In addition to their venomous bite, which contains a fast-acting paralytic, these creatures are clever: they attempt to use their webbing to entangle any trespassers, binding limbs together or to trees. If you're unfortunate to become fully cocooned, you don't have long before this forest will be the last thing you see.
However, some of the clothed expeditioners will be able to tell you that the Duchess of the nearby town has a special relationship to these spiders, and players should expect their treatment of the spiders to influence future events
However, some of the clothed expeditioners will be able to tell you that the Duchess of the nearby town has a special relationship to these spiders, and players should expect their treatment of the spiders to influence future events
BORDER CROSSING:
The void can play tricks on your senses. As madness sets in and you lose all sense of direction, you may also lose control of your body — what is that steers your hands to turn against your friends? Why does it sound like your own voice whispering?
In the fog, you may also hear the voices of those familiar to you — people you know from the town, or people whom you know with almost perfect certainty aren't here. these figments may recreate unhappy memories or force trespassers to hallucinate their worst nightmares. Nothing is as it seems in the void, and when you swing at these figments, desperate to silence them, it might not be a figment at all, but a friend in the flesh trying to help you. By the time you see their true face, it could be too late to stop yourself.
There are risks associated with Void proximity: increased aggression, paranoia, emotional instability, accelerated monster transformations, and hallucinations.
As the time dilation worsens, characters' monstrous transformations may happen in uneven stages. For instance, a character may manifest a physical aspect or supernatural ability or urge that suits their fully transformed state even if the other aspects of them remain human. These changes can happen totally unprompted, or as a result of their generalized Void proximity symptoms.
Even untransformed, the closer they get to the Void, the more intensely those on the expedition feel intrusive violent and sadistic urges — not just to lash out at others suddenly, but also a fascination with inflicting pain (emotional or physical) that may or may not be erotic in nature. This sadism seems especially potent in anyone with a Niez mark. Those who notice the pattern may be inclined to urge some of their friends to turn back now, before they reach the Void ...
In the fog, you may also hear the voices of those familiar to you — people you know from the town, or people whom you know with almost perfect certainty aren't here. these figments may recreate unhappy memories or force trespassers to hallucinate their worst nightmares. Nothing is as it seems in the void, and when you swing at these figments, desperate to silence them, it might not be a figment at all, but a friend in the flesh trying to help you. By the time you see their true face, it could be too late to stop yourself.
There are risks associated with Void proximity: increased aggression, paranoia, emotional instability, accelerated monster transformations, and hallucinations.
As the time dilation worsens, characters' monstrous transformations may happen in uneven stages. For instance, a character may manifest a physical aspect or supernatural ability or urge that suits their fully transformed state even if the other aspects of them remain human. These changes can happen totally unprompted, or as a result of their generalized Void proximity symptoms.
Even untransformed, the closer they get to the Void, the more intensely those on the expedition feel intrusive violent and sadistic urges — not just to lash out at others suddenly, but also a fascination with inflicting pain (emotional or physical) that may or may not be erotic in nature. This sadism seems especially potent in anyone with a Niez mark. Those who notice the pattern may be inclined to urge some of their friends to turn back now, before they reach the Void ...
writer's block?
If you're struggling to pick a way to engage the prompts, try: naked hiking, fighting or getting webbed up by spiders, acting out a hallucination, or grappling with aphrodisiac flower symptoms!
TOWNIE TROUBLES
Turn your back to the darker, shadowy parts of the forest and eventually the glow of manmade lights and the curve of a dirt road may come into view. At the edge of the wood, you'll find a town surrounded by a fifty-foot wall of beige stone. The only entrance is an iron gate positioned on the southern edge. When you arrive, the gate is already open, welcoming people inside.This quaint, historic town of five-thousand has cobbled street and signs lit by gas lamp. Wooden shutters protect otherwise open-air windows on the buildings, which are all under three stories with gabled roofs. A number of businesses hug the main street — a clockmaker, a cobbler, a grocer — while residential homes sprawl outwards towards the wall. At the far end of the main street, visible about a mile to the north now that the trees and the enormous wall is out of the way, sits a castle with three towers.
When you enter, the streets are full of people, but despite any efforts on your part to hide or make excuses, they don't seem offended by your nakedness. Even families with children don't gawk or look twice. Those determined to find proper clothing regardless will find that modern clothing stores aren't available — the closest this town has is a tailor's shop and a stand in the central marketplace selling scarves and blankets.
BUNKING UP:
The locals may still direct newcomers to the boarding house for both clothes and a place to stay. Accessible through an embellished iron garden gate and obscured by hanging plants, trees, and vines, beyond an overgrown yard in the residential sprawl of the town is a bright-red door, which opens to a spacious cottage of several stories. Parts of the house still bear the dust of disuse, gathered on various furnishings — bedding, sofas, curtains, wooden tables. However, it's already full of people! Anyone who's already appeared in the village just as you did today lives here.
Don't spend too much time exploring, though. You'll want to claim a bedroom quickly because each one only has two full-size beds, and there aren't enough spaces for everyone. The last people upstairs will need to double up to squeeze in. Roommates will not be mod-assigned; players should coordinate directly with one another to determine their living arrangements.
Don't spend too much time exploring, though. You'll want to claim a bedroom quickly because each one only has two full-size beds, and there aren't enough spaces for everyone. The last people upstairs will need to double up to squeeze in. Roommates will not be mod-assigned; players should coordinate directly with one another to determine their living arrangements.
ON THURSDAY WE HAVE ORGIES:
On Thursdays, religious ceremony spills into the streets as soon as the sun and the children are safely abed. Dancing locals paint their faces painted red and purple and black and yellow. They all wear revealing clothing that, to your sensibilities, may seem sexually suggestive. Some individuals openly expose their breasts and nipples, while some others may incidentally reveal when they turn around to tend to their errands that their dress is backless — entirely! Notably, the locals' choice of clothes reveal a mark on their bodies. An astute person will notice that there are four varieties — and a very astute (thirsty) person might notice that their fellow woodsfolk also have one of these somewhere on their body.
The folks dancing and selling their wares are all offering their energies to give thanks and ask for their god's patronage! The abstractions are all familiar — fertility, harvest, peace. Smalltalk makes them eager to chat and draw you into those festivities — including some ceremonial wax-dripping on the exposed parts of your body! In addition to dancing and the lighting of any number of candles, you may stumble upon fighting rings inspired by Terry Silver's basement club, where the locals brawl until they're bloody and unable to move.
The folks dancing and selling their wares are all offering their energies to give thanks and ask for their god's patronage! The abstractions are all familiar — fertility, harvest, peace. Smalltalk makes them eager to chat and draw you into those festivities — including some ceremonial wax-dripping on the exposed parts of your body! In addition to dancing and the lighting of any number of candles, you may stumble upon fighting rings inspired by Terry Silver's basement club, where the locals brawl until they're bloody and unable to move.
CULT CONSCIOUSNESS:
Usually, the people of the town are very generous, but the atmosphere of the town this month is a little ... darker.
Word has spread around town that some of the void-touched chose to remain behind, and perceptions turn critical rather quickly. Even those who thought they might offer support in alternative ways, or who weren't quite up for making the trek for various valid reasons, will be seen as refusing to help the Duchess. The townspeople increasingly consider those who stayed behind to be a threat to their beloved matriarch.
This unpopularity has consequences, as the townspeople of Rubilykskoye not only see no problem with acting upon their everyday violent urges, but feel that it's their civic duty! Newcomers who are just settling in won't be spared either, as they're found guilty by association for emerging from the wood instead of staying within it to join up with the expedition team.
As a result, the void-touched who stay behind will be targeted for everyday acts of violence and intimidation: they may be attacked on their way to work, or at the tavern. One reckless individual tries to set the boarding house aflame. Players are welcome to invent and resolve their own conflicts here,
but please make sure to reach out to a moderator if you feel it might be something that leads to meaningful consequences.
This behavior escalates over the course of the month, and by mid-month, the blacksmith has produced a number of stocks and human-sized cages to sit out in the town square. NPC townspeople will not hesitate to gang up on the void-touched, strip them, and throw them into these devices to 'learn a lesson' about being a part of this community. Similarly, the townspeople see no issue with sating their sexual urges with the folx who are caged, whether they're willing or not.
Word has spread around town that some of the void-touched chose to remain behind, and perceptions turn critical rather quickly. Even those who thought they might offer support in alternative ways, or who weren't quite up for making the trek for various valid reasons, will be seen as refusing to help the Duchess. The townspeople increasingly consider those who stayed behind to be a threat to their beloved matriarch.
This unpopularity has consequences, as the townspeople of Rubilykskoye not only see no problem with acting upon their everyday violent urges, but feel that it's their civic duty! Newcomers who are just settling in won't be spared either, as they're found guilty by association for emerging from the wood instead of staying within it to join up with the expedition team.
As a result, the void-touched who stay behind will be targeted for everyday acts of violence and intimidation: they may be attacked on their way to work, or at the tavern. One reckless individual tries to set the boarding house aflame. Players are welcome to invent and resolve their own conflicts here,
but please make sure to reach out to a moderator if you feel it might be something that leads to meaningful consequences. This behavior escalates over the course of the month, and by mid-month, the blacksmith has produced a number of stocks and human-sized cages to sit out in the town square. NPC townspeople will not hesitate to gang up on the void-touched, strip them, and throw them into these devices to 'learn a lesson' about being a part of this community. Similarly, the townspeople see no issue with sating their sexual urges with the folx who are caged, whether they're willing or not.
writer's block?
If you're struggling to pick a way to engage the prompts, try: acquiring clothing or other inventory items, staking your claim on a bedroom, or wrassling with a local who's trying to throw that character into a cage!
no subject
[ Junpei is so used to the unrest at this point that he doesn’t jump at the shout. It’s important not to stand out, to act like he belongs here. After all, for awhile he did. Was getting used to being part of a small down, of having a routine. A weird routine where he was dressed in a traditionally female nurse’s outfit most of the time, but a routine nonetheless. Calling it stability would be too generous, but it was a reasonable enough facsimile.
The line of trees is at least in sight, but he holds back from letting himself get too focused on them yet. Just have to keep the casual pace.
My name is Junpei. I’ve been here for about four months. Things have always been kind of creepy here, but it’s only recently that the locals became this hostile. ]
no subject
So. Psychic speech. Okay. He just has to calm down.
Unbidden, the brief thought of a metronome. Back and forth, back and forth.
Calmer, he tries.]
That's a really pretty name.
no subject
It’s not a word he’s ever considered being applied to his name, and only recently had he experienced the word being applied to him at all. John had referred to him as such casually at the party, and it had caught him off guard.
Boys aren’t supposed to like being called pretty. But it sits there, resonating with him like ripples on a pond as it did then.
Pretty. Pretty. Pretty. Pretty. ]
Thanks, I guess.
But see, it’s easy. Pictures and feelings are more complicated, but those can be transmitted as well. I was practicing moving images before things got really ridiculous.
no subject
It's sort of like
[And here he cuts himself off, although a sense of vague familiarity may leak through.]
You mean like a movie? That's awesome.
[It's a bit hard to get used to the communication while walking, so it takes him a little before he tries again. It's doing wonders to make him feel less panicked, as it gives him something else to focus on.]
My name's Ignatius. Isn't that awful? People call me Iggy.
no subject
[ The conversation is so casual, you would think they were having a stroll along the beach and not quietly trying to flee from incensed peasants. Even under his current stressful circumstances Junpei can’t help but feel that little tingle of excitement at the mention of movies. Ducking behind stacked crates he pauses for a moment, motioning for Iggy to do the same. He’d seen a local rounding the corner that might recognize him from one of his night jobs. ]
Ignatius sounds like some kind of old timey monarch. It doesn’t really suit you.
Iggy does.
no subject
[He follows immediately. He's taller than Junpei but he has zero illusions about who is in charge right now. In many ways, it's his nature to submit.
He hunches over, but he can't help but grin at Junpei.]
I'm named after the guy who wrote the Sherlock books because my parents are freaks.
Thanks. I like it, even if it's not very pretty.
no subject
[ It’s very brief, but Iggy will find an image flickering in his mind like an old reel to reel film complete with dust and scratches: Twin girls, dressed identically, standing in a small hallway with flowery wallpaper. A small boy on a tricycle is staring at them in horror as they beckon him to come play with them.
Not really the time to show off this particular skill, he reminds himself, and the scene ends abruptly. ]
Guys don’t usually want to have pretty names anyway.
no subject
The Shining! Oh my god that movie scared me so bad!
[Iggy snorts aloud and tosses his hair.]
Most guys aren't as pretty as us.
no subject
Something about the way Iggy says us makes him uncomfortable. It makes Junpei want to refocus on the severity of the situation around them, retreat back into himself again. Once he peeks around the side of the crates again and confirms the familiar face is far enough away, he starts walking in the direction of the forest again.
When his voice manifests in Iggy’s head next, his tone is noticeably colder. Back to being all business. ]
Come on. We definitely want to get there before the sun starts to set.
no subject
He follows Junpei once more, frowning lightly. Okay. He did something wrong. This is like being back in high school again.]
Right.
[But of course he can't just leave it, so he has to ask a few minutes later.]
Too gay?
no subject
Look, I don’t want to give you the wrong impression. What I did back in the cage isn’t normal for me.
[ Being gay wasn’t the problem. There were sexualities of all stripes living their lives openly in the village, and Junpei had gotten to experience intimacy with other men on multiple occasions since arriving. There was no shame or reason to hide. But … ]
You and I aren’t the same.
[ If asked to articulate exactly what he meant by that, he probably couldn’t. There was just the urgent, awkward feeling that he needed to everything he could to distance himself from the coquettish facade that he’d used to get them free. ]
no subject
You're only a whore when you're forced to be, I'm one by choice. Is that what you mean? Or am I misunderstanding your insults?
no subject
I didn’t insult you. All I said was that I don’t normally act that way.
You’re the one that brought up … that word, out of absolutely nowhere.
no subject
'We're not the same' or whatever? When you say it all offended and shit how is that not implied to be an insult?
[He stops walking and plants his hands on his hips.]
Well?
no subject
Don’t argue out loud, you idiot. You’re going to draw attention.
There, an actual insult for you to be offended by. Keep moving.
no subject
Why are you pretending like you didn't insult me? That's stupid.
[He hears a shout in the distance and jumps. It does get him moving again, though. He breezes past Junpei, face set.]
Let's get one thing clear, sweetie: I don't care what you are. You're not gay? Fine. You don't fuck for things? Fine. You don't... I dunno, know what your foundation match is? Fine!
[he slows when he realises he's still not entirely sure where he's going and should let Junpei lead the way. Crap.]
So, fine. We're not the same. But you don't get to sit there and feel superior about it. I know what I am. I like what I am.
no subject
[ Finally, they reach the gate. Junpei stops, turning to Iggy and gesturing him forward. ]
They won’t give you any trouble if you tell them you’re heading to the Void for the Duchess. If you hang around for a little while I’m sure someone else will show up so you don’t have to travel alone. Good luck.
[ And without another word he starts heading back in the direction they’d just come from. ]
no subject
That would be another man.]
...what? Hey, wait!
[Iggy stands where he is for a second, then flails and runs right back after Junpei.]
You're just going to leave me all alone? Camping in hell? All because I'm too gay for you?!
[People look around, naturally - maybe not recognising them as traitors to the precious Duchess, but definitely wondering what the hell is going on. Someone calls out and Iggy squeaks.]
Where are you going? You said you can't go anywhere else!
no subject
With a frustrated grumble he looks over his shoulder at the redhead, hissing out a whisper. ]
It’s risky for me to travel with you. You’re too annoying.
[ He’ll absolutely transform around this guy. While there aren’t any tentacles sprouting yet, he can feel the unpleasant itch of something just beneath the surface of his skin. ]
Besides, you’ll want to pair up with someone stronger than me. Just stick around the gate for awhile and flirt with the next muscular guy you see heading towards the Void.
no subject
Iggy gasps, offended.]
I'm not annoying!
[This is absolutely not the first time he's been told this.]
We were getting along so nicely until you decided to be mean to me.
[He hugs himself, eyes darting around. He knows damn well how to flirt with people to get them to give him what he wants, but he's scared. He's still not entirely sure why Junpei turned on him, but it feels awful.]
I'm sorry.
no subject
He softens his voice, trying to figure out some way to convince him that he’s better off with someone else. ]
You just met me, you don’t know me, and you shouldn’t be apologizing to me. I have my own business I want to take care of before I go. It really is best if you join up with someone else. I’m not just saying that because I’m irritated.
no subject
[He hugs himself a little tighter. Yeah. This feels just like highschool.]
Look, Junpei. If I don't see you in the woods in the next few days, I'll come looking for you, okay? To make sure you're alright.
no subject
I’ll hang around while you wait for someone to pair up with. But this place is going to eat you alive if you don’t learn to at least pretend to have some confidence. Especially right now.
no subject
[He shrugs.]
You don't have to wait. You said you had shit to do. Also I'm annoying. I don't need you to suffer to put up with me and then talk down to me like some high school bully.
no subject
Junpei shoots up so fast and regrets it instantly as a jolt up pain shoots through him, his worn out body protesting such quick movement. It’s ignored, and he mostly manages to keep any hint of the discomfort off his face as he brushes past Iggy, anger radiating off of him. ]
Idiot.
[ He’s so incensed he may just wander for a bit to cool off before he contacts Ankari or Quentin, but he needs to get away from the newcomer before he really does transform. ]
(no subject)