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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.
Room and Board
"Course. Sorry."
Carefully ducking to avoid the doorframe, he steps inside and closes the door behind him. With the crest of red hair, the Irishman edges on 7'. Surveying the room, he tips his head towards the other bed.
"You got someone comin' fer that one?"
Thank fuck he's made these breeches.
no subject
"I wasn't under the impression that anyone was coming for it at all," she points out, dipping the cloth back into the water she's procured before proceeding to run it along the length of her arm.
"Though I get the sense you're not originally from this village, either." The height is a sign all on its own — he might be the tallest person she's seen since her arrival — to say nothing of the shade of his hair. Either way, she turns back to what she's doing, not really concerned with the fact that he's glimpsing her like this. There are worse vulnerabilities than allowing someone to see her nude, in her mind.
no subject
"What gave me away?"
There are a lot of options, afterall. Assuming her statement to allow some vague form of invitation, Sweeney crosses to the other bed.
no subject
Another look from her over a shoulder, this one significantly more pointed, before she intentionally makes a show of giving him a once-over — from head to toe and back up again, before she resumes her bathing.
"I have no intention of remaining here after tonight," she adds, declaring it as much for his benefit as she does to reassert her plan aloud. After some sleep, she'll be able to determine where to go next — and what to do in order to return home. "So the room will be yours alone, beyond that."
no subject
"Fine by me."
Sweeney collapses unceremoniously on the bed, his feet dangling off the end. Ill fit is one of the reasons he tends to end up on the floor.
"You know where we are then?"
He errs on the side of 'leaving town' over 'leaving this room because you're in it now and I would rather be anywhere else'. Hopefully, he's not doing quite that bad.
no subject
Trying to determine which village she's ended up in hadn't been as pressing a need as trying to find food, clothing — anything to meet the most basic of needs. She douses the cloth in the water again and bends lower, making an attempt to wash her legs. Feet are somewhat more difficult to navigate, given the various cuts and bruises she's sustained from running without slippers on.
She straightens, finally, after determining she's cleaned as much of herself as she can without an actual tub, and then moves toward the other, unoccupied bed, tugging the top blanket off of the mattress and wrapping it around herself in lieu of putting that ridiculous excuse for a dress back on.
By the time she perches on the edge of the bed, her violet gaze is fixed on him again. "Are you not concerned about trying to find a way back to wherever you came from?"
no subject
"I ain't in a rush, no." Truthfully, there's a lot of bullshit waiting back there. Grimnir and Promises and wars with New Gods. And a lot of cunt Old ones. Here, at least, no one's made him feel small.
"But it inn't like I've gotta good feel fer the place either." The jury's still out, and only time will tell what the verdict is.
no subject
"What else is there to feel out? Other than the fact that there seems to be a certain... emphasis on fertility, of a sort," she adds, with a subtle arch of one eyebrow. "An offering of flesh?"
If it wasn't obvious by the manner of clothing that has been made available to them, she wouldn't be surprised to learn that there is some revelry taking place that involves paying tribute to these gods.
no subject
He lifts his brows at the ceiling, then lets his head fall to the side to speak to her more freely.
"Lots'a faith's got those," he points out. "Yer gonna judge a people by a single festival?" Sweeney has no reason to assume this is the regular order of business; even the tailor had been closed. Surely, that's the mark of a special occasion.
no subject
"Besides, like I said, I'm not planning on staying here long enough to form an opinion one way or another."
The sooner she can return to that spot in the woods where she first woke up, the sooner she can determine how best to get back home — to Ciri, to Geralt, to the training that she knows the girl will have to undergo in order to hone her power.
no subject
"You goin' out on yer own then?"
She isn't the only other person he'd met that doesn't seem to be eager to be here, and strength in numbers is practical, especially with whatever those fucking spiders were swarming about outside.
no subject
It's not merely about trying to leave this place, at least not for Yennefer — her reluctance to remain here is driven moreso by the desire to get back to her responsibilities in her own world, and what she knows awaits her there. No doubt her disappearance has already been marked by the others back at Kaer Morhen, so at least they're likely trying to figure out how to get to her too.
"Are you planning on staying?" There's no censure in her words, merely just curiosity about his plans differing from her own — if he even has a plan, that is.
no subject
"I ain't sayin' I'm lookin' ta bury roots or anythin'. But I don't see a reason ta up an' rush off, either."
The place is weird, but comfortable, and that's a rare thing in his life. It feels something like a vacation, and while it may be Hell in the end, he'll take the fucking break in the meantime.
no subject
She tosses that remark out nonchalantly — as far as she's concerned, it doesn't matter one whit to her what his aims are, but it's a way to make conversation, especially since she still feels oddly primed after the eventful day she's had rather than moving to let her head hit the closest pillow she finds.
"Like I said, it'll simply mean you get the room to yourself. That'll be nice for you."
no subject
"Though it's a loss that it comes at the cost of such a view."
He smirks at the ceiling. It's honest in that it's obviously nice to have a hot, naked woman less than a stone's throw away from him. But at the same time, there's no sense of overt lechery in his tone. Sweeney's not proposing or expecting her to fuck him.