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Entry tags:
TEST DRIVE MEME 001
⚰︎ ⍢ ⌲ ⍚ 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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
no subject
"Technically both," Ianthe responded after a brief moment. "I am one of the two Tower Princes - the only one that actually does anything, by the way - but before my ascension I was the Princess of Ida." A beat. "Still am, though my current status far outranks my father at the moment."
She turned his arm so she could drip the wax back down is arm, this time along the more sensitive underside. "But if what you're really asking me is if I'm a man or a woman, flesh is just flesh. Bodies are nothing more than skin, blood, viscera, and bones, and titles are just politics."
She switched the candle from her bone hand to her other, then moving to rest the golden hand against his cheek as she stared into those dark lenses.
"Identity lies in the spirit, within the soul, and I am definitely a woman."
no subject
But that skeletal hand, that was incredibly intriguing and much more interesting than titles he had never heard of and an explanation of the meaning of gender.
It was very much where his attention was captured, although his gaze flickered back to her face even though his head was turned to the hand -bones- against his cheek. How did she even control that? There were no tendons nor muscles attached. His gaze behind his glasses flickered to double check along that bony arm and nope, none of that.
He grinned, masking over slight creep of discomfort at such an unnatural touch, and took a smooth step back. "Couldn't agree more. Princess then, I'm glad we got that figured out. So what brings royalty to these lands... and you wouldn't happen to know the location of your diplomatic visit, would you?"
no subject
"This is just an outlying planet we've been stewarding into the Dominican Empire," she said as though it should be obvious. "There've been insurgents interfering with our efforts to save these kind of planets from obliviation, and I'm here to ensure they don't find a foothold." She offered the still burning candle to him should he wish to take it and be on the other end of the wax dripping.
"You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you...?" Her tone indicated that she was expecting a name from him.
no subject
He probably shouldn't grin if that really was the case. Not that it wiped the grin off his face yet. Honestly, it was too early to say that was the case, but he'll accept that as a possibility. Further investigation required.
Catching onto the inquiry, he helpfully supplied, "Hei Xiazi," which would automatically translate into the Black Blindman with the weird lack of language barrier going on, "But people just call me Shades. But nope, absolutely idea. First time visiting, lovely foreign culture. Very interesting worship."
He eyed the way she held the candle out and hesitated a long second or three before sticking out his bared arm. "Sure, yeah, why not. When in Rome..."
no subject
"Do you prefer your name or the nickname?"
no subject
"You can call me either. People call me both, or Master Black if you want to really get on my good side." He shrugged and glanced back at the skeletal hand again, his curiosity on that no less than the locals.
"So, is that... a blessing? A curse?"
no subject
She held the skeletal arm out, turning it a bit to let Hei get a good look at it. "A blessing, for sure," she answered, perhaps a hint of breathiness in those words until she continued. "Losing the arm in the first place fucking sucked, and my initial replacement attempt was shit, but the end result... flawless."
Harrowhark creating the arm was one of Ianthe's most treasured memories. It also happened to be her go-to when she needed some old fashioned self-release.
no subject
"So that's really a fancy prosthetic?" Since offered the chance, he didn't hesitate to look, and touch too, if that was allowed. He knew bones, having a lifetime of experience robbing tombs would make anyone an expert on the matter, and feeling it between his fingers -not on his face again, thanks- would tell him right away what exactly he was dealing with.
"I thought space technology would have something fancier looking."
no subject
"Incorrect. It is my arm. Regrown from my own body by a transcendent bone adept," Ianthe replied, a hint of sharpness in her tone. "Why would I bother with some inferior, inorganic... thing that could never be a part of me, like dead weight, and make me useless when my rapier is needed when I could have my own sword arm back?"
And then her tone relaxed again. "The golden hue is just cosmetic."
no subject
Looks like his list of impossible events for today just got longer.
"Ah..." Shades was admittedly at a loss for an explanation. The body mutation with zombification didn't even work on ancient corpses because they lacked the muscles to work their dried bony form, yet here was a working, functioning bone arm that looked like it grew out of the living woman's shoulder.
"Congratulations?" He dropped the hand. "What planet did you say you come from again?"
no subject
"The shining jewel of the Nine Houses of the Dominican Empire." A beat. "Am I your first encounter with a necromancer, Hei?"
no subject
"Actually, no." Over the years he had met a number of people who claimed they could work some sort of magic or power over the dead and while the majority of them were absolute quacks, there were the handful that he couldn't outright dismiss.
"First one who's royalty though... at least of the living kind. And only one with a skeletal arm. Definitely the first one who's still pretty."
no subject
No one called her pretty. Ianthe couldn't even recall the last time it had happened - likely in her childhood before puberty. Coronabeth always got the attention, the compliments, and with the way she looked, it was expected. Ianthe always faded to the shadows while Corona shined. And here Hei was calling her pretty...
She really didn't know how to deal with it right then. At least she had enough control over her sympathetic nervous system to keep herself from blushing. Mostly.
"You likely won't ever find another with an arm like mine. Most necromancers wouldn't be able to control it as though it was blood and flesh," she said, focusing on that instead of the compliment or the fact that Hei likely caught her reaction. "As I'm a Lyctor and they are not."
no subject
"Definitely haven't seen anything like it," he agreed, "Dead flesh moving, but never bones moving."
More terms he never heard of, but he smiled like he understood anyway and nodded his head. "Is necromancy common in your... kingdom?" Planet?
By now at least Shades had figured out that this wasn't a weird hallucination episode he was cause inside of. None of it made sense, which would have been the basis of hallucination, except it made so little sense that it went beyond even what his hallucinating mind could come up with. So if this was something else, he needed to gather information on everyone involved and find a common ground.
no subject
Ianthe set the spent candle aside and decided she was done with the wax for the moment. "Tell me about the necromancers you've encountered," she said, moving to go sit off to the side and expecting him to follow.
no subject
Figuring that if he wasn't in the butt of some incredible cosmic joke -pun absolutely intended- then this was a close encounter of the third kind and a genuinely new experience for him. Personal doubts aside, he followed, if only for the opportunity to rest his aching feet.
Seated with his long legs stretched out in front of him, he peered over at the necromancer princess with a somewhat thoughtful expression on his face. "They're not likely born to it. Maybe some predisposed talent for it may be necessary, but power of that sort is mostly cultivated or formed through pacts with something not quite of this world. For the ones who have someone to teach them, the secrets are passed down from master to student and wouldn't be exposed to anyone outside of that."
no subject
"I can't help but ask what kind of necromancy they practice. Examples and such. And what planet do you and these necromancers call home? I originally thought you may have been of the Ninth House, but your not from any of the Houses."
no subject
"Didn't your diplomatic envoy inform you where you were visiting, princess? Welcome to planet Earth." Because no matter what Shades was willing to believe, himself being on another planet was definitely not one of them. It was far more likely to believe he was kidnapped into an isolated community in the outskirts of Russia than another planet having developed the Cyrillic script for their writing system.
"But to answer your curiosity, reanimation of corpses mostly. Using the flesh of the dead to rebuild something else. There was once upon a time a nasty business where they stitched together body parts and reanimated them to be fighting puppets. Very nasty."
no subject
Internally, she scoffed at the necromancy Hei described to her. She didn't doubt that it was significant to someone who wasn't a necromancer, but if that basic magic was all these people were capable of, they weren't worth her time. "But really, stitched together body parts? How..." She gestured with her bone hand, searching for the right word.
"...inelegant."
no subject
"But I absolutely agree. Grotesque and crude. But they're usually not looking for aesthetics when playing Frankenstein with the dead. They wanted fighters that fought, and they served their purpose... Or so I heard anyway. Those things happened before my time."
no subject
"And by inelegant, I mean the technique itself. I don't care what a construct looks like, it's the necessity of sutures to hold flesh together instead of using ligaments and tendons. It reflects a deficiency in their grasp of the magic."
no subject
Now Shades was really wary even though all that showed was a look of confusion. His adventure through the woods had been altogether much too bright, and now that he had proper eyewear, maybe he should venture out that way sometime again.
"Ah, the stitching was more of a figure of speech. I'm sure they had better ways to put together dead body parts than sew them together like a mended shirt. The necromancers I've personally met were more along the lines of animating whole corpses and not Frankenstein puppets."
no subject
"And words cannot do what lies beyond justice," she added on. "An unfathomable thanergetic darkness that sucks in all light that beckons."
no subject
But he quieted down at her description, thinking of the type of dark void that was out there for her to describe it that way. "Maybe I will ask to accompany you for a trip out east at a later date."
He stretched though, starting to feel a bit restless. And hungry. He hadn't eaten much since waking up. "But not tonight. Tonight I think I'm ready to see if the village's hospitality extends to a meal and bed."
no subject
She let the matter go for now, focusing more on Hei's interest in seeing the Void. There would be a lot of opportunity there if he did wish to see it. She hoped he wasn't pulling her leg and was going to have her take him to the Void. Ianthe could and would be as patient as she needed to be, but only to a point.
"I'm not hard to find," she replied with a grin and a flexing of her boney fingers. "It's been a pleasure, Hei. I do hope to see you again."