TEST DRIVE MEME 001

[rubimods]

⚰︎ ⍢ ⌲ ⍚ TEST DRIVE MEME:

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: nudity, spiders, waxplay, character death, and references to children in proximity to sexual situations.

✧ ✧ ✧

Welcome to RUBILYKSKOYE — a dark, horror-smut game where player choices will drive a mod-run storyline about the world and its NPCs. For the first round, this test drive serves as characters' arrival into game.

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.

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

AWAKENING IN PAJAK WOOD

The chirping of partridges in the treetops rouses you. Light barely filters through the canopy, just enough to suggest warmth of the sun. By the time it reaches the forest floor, the daylight has taken on a sickly green tinge. You lie amongst the mosses and ferns, the 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.

Fortunately, you seem to be alone. The birdsong continues 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. Amongst gnarled oaks and moss, you see nothing around. No sign of civilization or sentient life. Movement flickers at the corner of your eye, but it's just a curious animal — brave squirrels or lizards who have come to see what stirs in their home.

Then, like the rippling of the horizon at noontime, the ash-gray soil around you undulates. Sea, not earth. Something else has come to greet you — their grey bodies blended in so easily with the floor, but as you stagger to your feet, you see them. Thousands of spiders roll like waves underfoot. They crawl towards you from the darker edge of the forest.

attack

Individuals who attack the spiders will find the small spiders are easy to kill, but the pheromones released by their corpses draw larger spiders in their place. 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 will attempt to use their webbing to handicap 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.

FAQ: DEATH RULES

hunt

Any aspiring monster-hunters enterprising enough to try to follow the spiders to their nest will move eastward. This way, the forest grows darker and darker — though the sun never grows warm red-gold with sunset.

In the void, the birdsong is replaced by the click of mandibles and the skitter of many legs, but soon it is impossible to see. Even with the brightest magical light does not reach further than a few inches. The air grows heavy and thick, as if it were not air at all but some more solid mass. Almost like liquid-smoke, it presses down upon you. Slowing your movements. Soon, you cannot move at all.

Turn back while you still can — collapsing out here is dangerous. The void can play tricks on your senses. You may find yourself reliving unhappy memories or hallucinating your worst nightmares.

SETTING: THE VOID

But flee the spiders westward and you will discover that the wood is well-populated with the survival resources that someone might seek — berries bushes and trees bearing stone fruits; sticks and dry leaves to aid in the building of a fire; rocks big enough to fashion into crude weapons; small animals that can be hunted or caught; hike long enough, and you might just find the freshwater stream that runs north-to-south, populated by both poisonous toads and delicious crawdads.

What's more, you may run into others with stories just like yours. Some may have already formed clumsy nudist hiking parties, others may still be naked and confused and processing how they have no memory of how they got here. They all stagger vaguely, as you do, with only the sun for a waymarker — and even that won't last long.

Now is a good time to overcome any hang-ups you have about modesty, as it's going to be a long hike. If you sneak a good look at your new companions, you may four varietals of marks on their bodies. Maybe someone will even point out that you have one, too.

FAQ: CURSE MARKS

EVERY DAY LIKE THE ONE BEFORE

Hike far enough — or long enough that the sun does go down — and signs of life come into view. The glow of fires and lights, the smooth curve of a stone wall. A town sits at the edge of this wood, a reward to the survivors.

The fifty-foot wall of beige stone protecting the town's perimeter has only a single entrance — an iron gate positioned on the southern edge. When you arrive, the gate is already open, welcoming people into town from the winding dirt road. Attentive eyes may note that the road itself bears the mark of many wagon wheels and horse hoofs, but not cars.

guards

The guards grant entry to anyone who attempts a conversation with them. However, if your character is more likely to attempt to sneak in, overcome the guards, or attack them, please reach out HERE.

Inside the wall lies a quaint, historic town with a population around five thousand. The streets are cobbled, and their signs are 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 bank — 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.

No matter what time you pass through the gate, the streets are full of people. The climate of the bustle befits a night market or a busy friday downtown — plenty of people to ogle at your exposed body. But despite any efforts on your part to hide or make excuses, the locals don't seem offended by your nakedness. Even families with children don't gawk or look twice. In fact, the further into town you go, the more you may notice that 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! If anything, they seem to be under the impression that you're naked to participate in the evening's events with the rest of them.

Those still determined to find proper clothing will find that modern clothing stores aren't a thing here. The closest this town has is a tailor's shop, which is closed for religious observance, and a stand in the central marketplace selling scarves and blankets.

Fortunately, the people of the town are very generous! The locals will gladly share what they have with those who ask politely — but those items are as revealing as what they're wearing. You might get a mesh bodysuit or drape outfit. Remember not to be ungracious! it's only appropriate for the occasion.

steal clothing

Anyone unwilling to ask nicely for help could break into someone's house or yard to steal some of their clean laundry. Notably, inside their homes, the people of the town also appear to own some more modest apparel. Be sure to alert us HERE if your character pursues this option.

SETTING: CRIME

And what is the occasion? The locals are excited and flattered by any interest in their ordinary weekly prayer: 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!

Anyone who chats at length with the townspeople will gather that the locals feel it's better for the newcomers to dive into the deep-end because, since you'll be settling in here, they expect you'll want to participate down the line. They seem to be under the impression that the new arrivals are a boon from their god.

In addition, many of the locals' choice of clothes reveal the same four types of marks on their bodies as the folx who were wandering out in the wood!

ROOM AND BOARD

Once you're tired out, the locals will help you find a place to stay. The boarding house is several stories tall and spacious, accessible through an embellished iron garden gate and obscured by hanging plants, trees, and vines. Beyond the overgrown yard is a bright red door, which opens into a spacious cottage.

The house has clearly been empty for some time — dust has gathered on various furnishings — bedding, sofas, curtains, wooden tables. According to the locals, it has remained empty since its last occupant passed away, and that's all they'll say about that!

Each floor of the house has a shared sitting room, but only the first floor has a kitchen — large enough to support feeding the entire household. Here, a few of the townspeople will help out — they stock the kitchen and help make dinner for the new arrivals.

finding roommates

Don't spend too much time in the dining room going for seconds, 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.

Get a good night's rest. By the light of day, locals will help get the new arrivals set up on the coal stove with breakfast. You may notice they're dressed in a way you would almost call normal — at least, in a manner befitting 19th century Eastern Europe. As you find your way around town to get your bearings, folks are eager to help you find a place to apply your skills so you can contribute to your new home.

Comments

Back to the Basics

[immapoorblindman]

The sound that the red giant would hear of another person was the sound of aimless whistling, carefully made into a tune that would let any potential other humans know that there was one more in their midst. True, it might attract predators too, but so would walking around naked with the smell of 'fresh meat' in an unknown forest.

Shades too heard the other man before he heard the shout, and a quick glance showed him that the other was just as naked as himself. Interesting.

Eyes completely closed now, he came out of the bushes, still whistling, and used the straight branch he found as a makeshift blindman's stick until he could find himself back to civilization and a pair of good light blocking sunglasses. His were misplaced -someone did anyway, not him- along with the rest of his clothes, leaving him naked as the day he was born -just considerably more scarred-.

"Any chance you know what's going on so we can start the sorting?" Because sure as hell Shades didn't.

Re: Back to the Basics

[madaboutit]

Alright, so he isn't sure if the new situation is more encouraging. On the one hand, it seems like there may be others in the same boat as him. On the other, he has no recognition of the man, which makes the 'I'm just being crazy' potential far less likely. That opens up a whole new can of worms.

"Well, I ain't a fuckin' nudist." Get that right out of the way.

"Woke up down that way." Sweeney gestures with his free hand. "Haven't seen anyone else." He squints a little, assessing as much as he can, beyond the 'naked' part.

"You?"

Re: Back to the Basics

[immapoorblindman]

The man was an open book written on his body. Scars, front, back, some obviously bullet wounds, thick, and several severe enough that it was a wonder he was still standing today. His eyes remained closed and he moved forward, closer to where the other was but still a distance apart that if he held up his walking stick horizontally in front of him, it would still be a few meters before it reached the other man.

"Neither am I!" Shades exclaimed like to not do so would imply he was a nudist.

"So it's a forest where they like depositing people naked." With his eyes closed, he hadn't quite registered that they weren't even speaking the same language quite yet, just that he had no trouble understanding the redhead.

"Last memories?"

Re: Back to the Basics

[madaboutit]

Now that? That is a question he is not interested in addressing. While nothing immediately pops into his mind, he does know he doesn't want to go looking backwards, either. There's something dark there, and he'd rather stay where he came from. That said...

Sweeney's hand finds his chest at the base of his sternum, and he rubs it subconsciously as his gaze drifts.

"Pretty sure I was in a fight." One he may or may not have died in. Yeah, he definitely doesn't want to go fishing for that shit. Instead, his eyes refocus on the stranger.

"You too?"

Re: Back to the Basics

[immapoorblindman]

None of Shades' wounds were new. He didn't feel a bump on his head or the nasty aftertaste of drugs or any other concoctions. There was always the chance of this being a hallucination, but he doubted even in his most whacked out mind he would come up with today's menu of nude tourism with a redhead taller than himself. Sure, the spiders, and alright, the nakedness, and maybe the forestry too... but definitely not the guy.

"Don't think so. Pretty sure I was in the city." For once. He was between jobs, trying to scrounge up something to make money and therefore unlikely to have met with any of the circumstances that might land him here.

Where was here anyway? "Do you know where we are? Doesn't smell like we're near a city."

Re: Back to the Basics

[madaboutit]

"Nah." Sweeney shakes his head. While his shoulders relax some, his grip in his spear does not.

"I don't think I've been in a forest like this one, much less this actual one." Fuck, he longs for a cigarette.

"My guess? Some wonky magic bullshit or bored gods or we stepped too close ta a ring'a mushrooms. Could've been abducted by aliens, I s'ppose." He glances around their nearby vicinity.

"Though this dunn't strike me as their traditional aesthetic." That said...

"Guess the naked thing would make more sense fer that one."

Re: Back to the Basics

[immapoorblindman]

Shades had experienced a lot of weird things, some even strange and inexplicable, and yes, some would even be considered magic. But usually a person didn't throw around like 'magic' and 'gods' and... what? 'Aliens?'

"Must have been some really good stuff if it was mushrooms."

But he knew it wasn't mushrooms, not unless someone smothered him with them while he was asleep.

"But why can't we be naked for bored gods?" Just for argument's sake.

Meanwhile, he was turning his head, eyes opening very briefly while his head was turned away from his companion to do a quick survey of the place. It was still too bright and he could only make out rough shapes, so he closed them and turned back to the other man. "We should start moving. I hear running water in that direction."

Re: Back to the Basics

[madaboutit]

"A'right." It's an easy enough thing to concede; he'd been gradually moving that way anyway, and having another person splits a lot of the workload. And realistically, if some bad shit goes down, Sweeney's pretty sure he can outrun him.

Collecting the other half of his rabbit, he turns to the stranger with a tip of his head.

"Lead the way." The man was the one that seemed more focused in direction, and it's better to be behind him, incase he's an unexpected threat. Sweeney would rather avoid getting stabbed in the back.

Re: Back to the Basics

[immapoorblindman]

"Wouldn't it be easier for the one who can see to lead the way?" Shades asked with wry amusement in return, drawing attention to the fact that his eyes were closed and he had a walking stick in front of him.

"I'm Hei Xiazi," which magically translated into Black Blindman during their communication, "But people call me Shades." He smiled again, a little rueful but no less carefree compared to his other grins. "Normally I would have some."

He took a moment to open his arms to display his nakedness, not at all ashamed by his nudity. "But the bored gods seemed to have stripped me of everything."

Re: Back to the Basics

[madaboutit]

"Called Sweeney." A name for a name.

"As fer the blind bit, ya seemed ta be managin' just fine prior ta our meetin'." There aren't any obvious signs of tripping or running into things on his naked body.

"An' yer the one with the ear fer water." Sweeney shakes his head. "I know plenty'a blind pricks that do just fine. Gods an' legends alike. Lead armies, solve enigmas. Don't gotta use yer eyes ta see things."

That said, he crosses to the man, ready to walk beside him instead.

Re: Back to the Basics

[immapoorblindman]

Shades shrugged, admitting with a slight smirk that Sweeney might be right that he was far less disabled than his disability seemed. And, in this half light and half darkness of canopy watered light, he could open his eyes to see if necessary. There was just enough darkness for him to get the lay of the land, but he really would rather just rest his eyes when there could be someone else doing the seeing for him.

"Blind gods?" He scoffed slightly as they began their trek through the woods. His steps were sure and steady, guided by the stick at the moment to make sure he could nimbly avoid any obstacles. And then there was the other reason for having a stick in front of him, even if he wasn't blind, he would rather use it to pick out the softest path for this barefoot hike.

"What religion did you come from?"

Re: Back to the Basics

[madaboutit]

Given his doubt of where they actually are, Sweeney decides to cut through some red tape.

"You got an Ireland where yer from?" Because who the fuck knows?

If this is magic bullshit, there's no way to assume this is Earth as he knows it. It might be a faerie world overlaid or on another plane or something.

Re: Back to the Basics

[immapoorblindman]

"I have a... Which world doesn't have an Ireland?" Shades almost opened his eyes in disbelief at that. Thankfully, he didn't and his jaw just gaped a little instead.

"You really think we're not on Earth?"

Because, why else would the guy ask a ridiculous question like that? He had heard of plenty of absurd things before, but that was something else altogether.

Re: Back to the Basics

[madaboutit]

Sweeney shrugs his shoulder, dismissive of any wonder.

"Fuck, I dunno." It's not like he's claiming anything, one way or the other.

"I think there're a lotta places it could be." He looks for something more concrete.

"Guessin' where you an' me are from ain't exactly neighborin'." Not that it's impossible, by any means. "But we're both here, same time, waves of spiders threatenin'." Sweeney shakes his head.

"Just don't think it's outta the realm of possibility."

Re: Back to the Basics

[immapoorblindman]

"Mass kidnapping not withstanding?" He sounded almost hopeful, which, considering their current topic of conversation, to should hopeful indicted just how screwed up Shades thought this was.

"Didn't think so. Hangzhou, China," he answered his part of where he was from.

"Revisit that bored gods or aliens concept with me again?" Because, alright, he agreed that something really wonky was going on here and he felt a bit out of his depth. He didn't like that feeling, and although he couldn't be sure the guy next to him wasn't short a few marbles, some things couldn't be explained either.

Re: Back to the Basics

[madaboutit]

"Yeah. 'Cause I ain't e'er been ta China." Sweeney takes a moment to glance at the flanks of where they're walking. No reason to be further surprised if he doesn't have to be.

"Pretty sure I was in Illinois." More is starting to come back to him, and so far, it's a bunch of shit he wishes wouldn't.

"Which actually has more gods in it than ya might expect, but I don't know one that'd do anythin' like this."

Re: Back to the Basics

[immapoorblindman]

"International kidnapping ring depositing us into a survival reality TV show?" Okay, that sounded absurd even to him. He found both the gods and aliens ideas more believable.

"So not Ireland. Doesn't make it closer to southeastern Asia." He sighed and shook his head, like he sensed his partner was looking behind them. It was what he had been doing all this time using his ears.

"Nothing bigger than a rabbit near us," he informed his companion for both their peace of mind. Even completely blind, Shades was not easy to sneak up on.

"You're a religious guy?" All this talk about gods and all.

Re: Back to the Basics

[madaboutit]

See? This is why this cunt should take point.

"Mm." His squint notes that that's not as simple of a question as it should be.

"Have been." In other lives, both worshiper and worshiped. "Been a while since I've done anythin' formal, if that's what yer askin'."

Re: Back to the Basics

[immapoorblindman]

As if he would let a large stranger like Sweeney flank him.

"You don't sound like an atheist," was his response. After all, people usually thought of more mundane reasons than supernatural means for an inexplicable event. Humans went with what they were used to, so first reactions were quite telling.

"Stream's just ahead." The noise of running water made hearing for predators harder though, so he hoped his partner has good eyesight.

Re: Back to the Basics

[madaboutit]

By now, Sweeney can hear it, so he keeps a keen eye for some sight of it.

"Ne'er said I was an atheist," he points out. "Ya can b'lieve in gods without bein' religious." A shrug of his shoulder accents the casual nature of the topic.

"Most gods are cunts. I got no reason ta patron their business." Especially when most of them go out of their way to make him the butt of jokes.

Re: Back to the Basics

[immapoorblindman]

"Point, and what pantheon do you believe in that have these blind gods and tricksters? Or is that a general umbrella statement?" Shades might not be fully subtle in trying to get a feel for Sweeney's sanity level, but who knows. Maybe the redhead might actually have some insight.

It wasn't as if he had any better himself.

Not that he disagreed either. Of all the supposed worshipped deities he had the bad luck of meeting, he really hasn't met any that didn't want to kill him somehow.

Re: Back to the Basics

[madaboutit]

"Oh, almost e'ery one of them has a trickster." Those are a dime a dozen.

"Coyote, Loki, Kokopelli, Anansi..." He could go on, he supposes, but he feels comfortable in the examples. So he moves on.

"There are, admittedly, fewer of the blind ones. Hod. Plutus." He shrugs a shoulder. "More of 'em only got the one eye." Which is far different, he understands.

Re: Back to the Basics

[immapoorblindman]

"Now you're just making random lists," he accused in an amused half drawl, like they were having an entertaining conversation instead of figuring a serious situation of mysterious kidnapping.

"You believe in all of them?"

A person didn't need to be religious to believe, but usually they were still selective of what they believed. People didn't believe much in old gods and ancient lore anymore, even less think they would have the power to influence anything in this world.

Re: Back to the Basics

[madaboutit]

Sweeney's nose scrunches a little while he considers the question.

"Don't know if it counts as B'lievin' if ya've met them." He does feel the sudden urge to make a clarification.

"Not all of them; pretty sure the last couple didn't make it ta the States. Or at least've been keepin' a real low profile." Old Gods are hard to sell in the New World on a good day, and those are pretty obscure ones.

Re: Back to the Basics

[immapoorblindman]

Shades tried to wrap his mind around that. He really tried. As someone who had seen many things, experienced more crazy than likely a small city of people did added together, there wasn't much that still surprised him.

Here, however, it was enough to even slow his steps for a second.

And he came up with an answer after that.

"You do cosplay?"