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

[blueshit]

[ You're safe. When has anyone said that to him? Ever? Jesse shudders, shaking his head against Daryl's chest. It's still hard to believe. To accept.

But Daryl's arms are around him, strong and reassuring. Holding him in, boxing the rest of the world out. He takes in a shuddering breath, blinking away tears, soaking Daryl's chest. ]

They're dead.

[ He's saying it to himself more than to Daryl, as if saying it out loud will make it more true. He'd seen Jack and Todd and all the rest die. Seen the light fade from their eyes. It had been terrible, horrifying, but sickeningly euphoric at the same time. They're dead now. They can't hurt him anymore. ]

They're dead. He killed them.

[dadyl]

[ It's also a lie. There is no safe in Daryl's experience, not even when you know the land and the dangers, which he certainly does not here. Violence and destruction always come eventually no matter how comfortable you've made yourself, no matter your defences, but from the looks of it he doesn't need to tell this guy that. That isn't what he needs to hear. He needs to hear that he's safe, at least for now, because he is. There is no immediate threat beyond exposure. They've even fallen far behind the unknown elements of the group they were following.

But Daryl is making an educated guess that none of these things are what Jesse is afraid of. ]

Who's dead?

[ There's no telling how any of them have come to be here and maybe if this guy has reason to be afraid of someone then Daryl should pay close attention. ]

Who killed who? Someone we gotta be worried about?

[ It takes nothing for Daryl to lump himself into the problem. He's still holding the guy while he cries, after all, even though now the additional tension in Daryl's grip is because he needs answers out of him. Just what the hell is going on? Could someone be after this guy? ]

[blueshit]

[ Jesse just shakes his head against Daryl's chest, a lump in his throat. He doesn't even know the names of half the guys who'd been milling around the compound, and those he does, he doesn't want to say. Not even here, now. Not even knowing they're all gone for good. He'd seen it. And yet. ]

Mr...Mr. White.

He killed them.

[ As for whether they have to be worried...he has no idea. Mr. White's the one who'd turned him over to Todd in the first place, after all. He'd been willing to watch Jesse die. But he'd also saved him, in the end. There's just too much there. Too much history. It's impossible to predict.

The we passes unquestioned, the same way Jesse doesn't question the fact that he's still clinging to Daryl's naked body, that he's confiding - to some extent, at least - in a complete stranger. Daryl'd reached for him, he hadn't judged him. He'd said he was safe. It's more than anyone's offered Jesse in a long, long time. ]

I...I dunno.

I dunno if he's here.

[dadyl]

[ Mr. White. Of all the names Jesse could have said, somehow calling someone - especially a killer - mister was the strangest possible answer. No one was a 'mister' in Daryl's world and hadn't been for years, not even Hornsby had insisted on it. It was a title that had long ago lost its relevance.

And to say it like Jesse had? Fearfully, through tears? Getting information from this guy felt like he was trying to collect rain in cupped hands. ]

Well...

[ Daryl lets out a tense sigh and moves one hand to the back of Jesse's neck, holding him there and squeezing. It at once keeps him grounded and allows Daryl to detach from him just a little bit. At least Jesse is breathing now, he isn't sobbing anymore. ]

Well if you see him, you tell me. Yeah?

[ He shakes Jesse slightly, trying to get him to agree. ]

Hm? You gotta keep a look out.

[blueshit]

[ It's pointless, Jesse wants to say. Even if he did tell Daryl, even if he somehow managed to spot Mr. White before he saw Jesse first - before he knew, somehow, that Jesse was here without even being told - it wouldn't matter. He doesn't know what he wants now, why he'd killed Todd and the others and let Jesse go in the first place. Or if he'd changed his mind again after. Decided Jesse was better off dead than alive after all. But he knows one thing. If he is here, if he's turned against him one more time, there's nothing any of them can do. He's the devil, Jesse had told those DEA guys, and he hasn't been proved wrong yet.

But he can't explain all of that to Daryl. He wouldn't even know where to start. So he just nods obediently when Daryl shakes him a little, just...letting it happen. Telling him what he wants to hear. ]

Yeah.

Yeah, I'll...I'll tell you.

[ He won't, though, he thinks. All it would do is paint a target on Daryl's back too, and he doesn't deserve that. Jesse sniffs, wiping the tears off his cheek with the back of his hand. ]

Um. Sorry. [ He can't quite meet Daryl's eyes, keeping his own cast down to the ground. Which means he has to look awkwardly away, too, to keep himself from staring at other parts of Daryl he definitely doesn't wanna be staring at. ] I didn't...I haven't had much food in a while.

[dadyl]

What's he look like?

[ He doesn't feel great about that dull response from Jesse but it's something, at least. Daryl wants to keep him talking, keep him focusing. The guy's breathing had evened out a bit and his sobs had steadied when he had to listen and respond, but another good sign is the way he had just wiped his own eyes and Daryl doesn't rush him. Not exactly.

But his nod when Jesse apologizes is still curt and quick. They don't have to talk about anything that just happened, that's for sure. Daryl is at least very, very good at shutting the door on uncomfortable experiences. ]

Don't mention it.

[ Really, he's not going to say anything. He's going to mind his business like he almost always does. ]

You just got outta somethin'. Right?

[ He keeps his voice low because they're so close, but also because he knows he's right. The breakdown, the hunger, the state of the guy. He looks like someone who'd been working the wall for Negan. It's far from the first time that Daryl has run into someone as fucked up as Jesse.

Or so Daryl thinks. ]

[blueshit]

He looks like a chemistry teacher.

[ It's still true, even though it's been years since he was Jesse's teacher, even though he's a whole lot more than that now. The guy just screams nerd no matter what. ]

He's got glasses, maybe a beard now, I...I dunno.

[ The memories are hazy, all jumbled up. But he can't lie, not when Daryl asks him directly like that. He won't drag him or anyone else into this if he doesn't have to, but it's better for him to be prepared. To at least have some idea of who to look out for.

When Daryl asks about his past, though, it's a different story. Jesse's throat closes up, his expression going blank immediately, like a switch had been flipped. He nods, the motion jerky, his eyes sliding away from Daryl again. But he can't say a word. ]

[dadyl]

Yeah. Like I ever took chemistry.

[ Like he'd ever gone that far in high school. The information is not helpful at all. 'Maybe a beard now'. At least he can look out for someone with glasses but something is already nagging at Daryl, the notion of glasses having sparked the thought - if they all seemed to be naked here, robbed of all their possessions and supplies, would someone's glasses have been taken as well?

The purpose and motives behind their abduction take over Daryl's flurry of concerns again for a few long moments until he notices how Jesse has just turned off behind the eyes as he nods at him. Yeah, that's what Daryl thought. He isn't exactly a stranger to that thousand-mile stare. ]

Y'think any of the people you know could be behind what's happenin' to us?

[ He can see he's already walking a line with the guy but Daryl has to be blunt. There has to be some answer to what's going on, doesn't there? ]

[blueshit]

[ Jesse just shrugs. Teachers are teachers, right? He doesn't particularly wanna sit here and think about Mr. White, anyway. The glasses thing hasn't occurred to him, nor has the fact that without his khakis and dorky shirts, that nerdy look might be harder to immediately identify.

His eyes flick back to Daryl's at the question, though. That's something else that hasn't occurred to him. He'd been so glad to get out, then so freaked out about the nudity and spiders and everything else. There's been a lot going on.

But is it possible? Not Jack or his guys, obviously, not after what Mr. White had done to them. But Mr. White himself? Someone from the cartel, if there's anyone else even left? He stares for a long moment, then slowly shakes his head. ]

I don't...think so.

Why would they do that? They wouldn't do that, they'd wanna...

[ He stops, biting his lip. ]

They wouldn't just...dump us like that.

[ They wouldn't dump him. Everyone Jesse knows wants him dead or cooking for them, pretty much. Not out in the woods, out of their control. ]

[dadyl]

[ The guy had been just on the edge of telling Daryl something potentially useful, something definitely personal, but then he'd bitten it back. Daryl doesn't push but he listens to that pause like he's waiting for the thunderclap after lightning. He needs to know how far away the storm is. ]

Good.

[ Good, fine. If Jesse is evidence of anything, it's that Daryl doesn't want to meet the people responsible for his half-catatonic state. ]

Then that means you got away. An' you have to get up and keep gettin' away. Right?

[ He doesn't shake him, doesn't squeeze his shoulder like he has been. He just lets his words and the silence of the woods do the work. Jesse has no other choice, after all. They have to get up sometime. ]

[blueshit]

[ Daryl is definitely intense, with the way he keeps asking questions and actually listens to every word Jesse has to say. But he doesn't push. He doesn't insist that Jesse look at him or go anywhere or tell him anything. It's enough to ground him, just a little bit. He doesn't feel exactly safe, but despite the fact that he's a stranger, despite the fact of them that the two of them still aren't wearing any pants, despite everything, Jesse feels a little bit better with Daryl around, he thinks, than he would otherwise.

But just because he's not pushing him doesn't mean he's not challenging him. He doesn't want to get up and keep running, keep fighting. He just wants to curl up and hide himself away, maybe forever. But deep down, he knows Daryl's right. The woods aren't safe, and it's gonna get dark sooner or later. They have to keep going if they're gonna even have a chance of finding their way out. He takes a deep breath, and then nods, meeting Daryl's eyes. ]

Right.

[ He looks at Daryl, at his scars and the measured, knowing way he looks at Jesse, and for a moment there's a question of his own on the tip of his tongue. Daryl had known. He'd known Jesse had escaped something bad, known he was fucked up about it, and Jesse had barely said a word about any of it. There has to be a reason for him recognizing it so quick. A way he got those scars. But he can't ask Daryl any more than Daryl could've asked him outright, and he just nods, raising his chin up a little. ]

Yeah. We gotta keep goin'.

[ We. It's an assumption, or maybe an unspoken request. One he hopes Daryl will agree to, again without Jesse having to ask. ]

[dadyl]

[ There's something more present in the guy when he agrees. Daryl sees intent in his eyes, more strength than there had been a minute ago. It isn't much, but it's eye contact. Very awkward eye contact that it takes all of Daryl's willpower to maintain, given their proximity, but he knows it's important.

However he doesn't like the way Jesse's eyes flit over his own body, over his skin, but Daryl allows it. He allows it because whatever it looks like Jesse is about to say, or ask, it never leaves his mouth. Instead, he squares his chin at Daryl like he's made a decision and finally, it's Jesse that's pushing.

He's ready. Daryl just nods, patting him on the back like he's proud of him. He realizes very suddenly that he is. ]

Damn right.

[ Daryl lets go of him, breaking the last of the skin-to-skin contact in order to stand. His knees only complain a little and he offers Jesse a hand to help him up immediately. ]

But you're gonna hold this branch back while I eat somethin' first.

[blueshit]

[ He's not expecting the physical contact, Daryl's hand clapping him solidly on the back. But it's...nice, kind of. The validation. The clear approval once he mans up and agrees to keep going. The ghost of a smile flickers across his face, and his gaze follows Daryl upwards as he stands and offers a hand to help Jesse up.

It's impossible not to get an eyeful of the guy like this, as he rises to his feet directly in Jesse's line of sight. He's huge, enough to make Jesse himself feel a little self-conscious. Not that anyone's ever complained - he knows how to use it - but still. Jesus, he thinks, and then Daryl's pulling him up and he smiles again, a little more real this time, and nods as he reaches out to hold the branch back from snapping right into Daryl's face. ]

I got it.

[ He can do that much. He watches as Daryl crouches down to the blueberry bush - safer territory this time, or so he thinks. But the guy's back is even more scarred than his front, decades-old wounds that even Jesse can tell hadn't healed right. And there are fresher wounds, too, little pinpricks of blood that he belatedly realizes must be from the same branch he's holding back now, digging into Daryl's back as Daryl held Jesse to his chest, shielding him.

It's all almost too much again, the lump rising back up in his throat, and when Daryl finishes eating and straightens up Jesse has to blink hard and breathe in deep, collecting himself all over again for the next stage of their journey. ]