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.

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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

C!

[bluelanspecial]

Su Minshan did not arrive in this strange place besieged by a fear of spiders, but it's entirely up in the air whether he will develop this phobia in his sleep. Will he go to sleep and see all those terrible, beady little eyes and gnashing chelicerae the second his head hits the pillow? Will his subconscious mind give him a break? Who knows! Possibly that explains the thousand-yard stare on his face under the hooded tunic and cloak combination one of the townspeople kindly gifted him, as well as the fact that he just does not register that someone has taken a seat next to him, until he hears that name.

Immediately, he whips his head to the side and stares at Jin Guangyao as though he is literal sunshine bursting through a line of thunderheads. "Zongzhu..!" he exclaims--well, whisper-exclaims, because even here in this objectively non-jianghu environment, he can't be too careful about being overheard by their enemies.. whoever they are. "Zongzhu, are you well? Are you injured?"

[taintedpeony]

"Minshan?!" well this was rather serendipitous wasn't it? The unease in his shoulders dissipated instantly. Better to share the room with a known friend and ally than some stranger with unknowable motives.

He was dressed in a rather scandalous see-through cloak, provided by the villagers and was picking off a bit of wax that someone had poured on him earlier off a leg.

"Asides from my dignity? I am unharmed thankfully. It seems as if our enemy has gotten a hold of you as well. It cannot be helped I suppose. This is certainly not Dongying but I suppose the end goal is the same. Are you unharmed?"

[bluelanspecial]

It would take someone with a far thicker face not to notice how utterly inappropriately Jin Guangyao has been provided for. the gall, the audacity Incensed, Su Minshan turns a look of impotent fury on... well, no one, really. The fire in his eyes gutters out about as quickly as it flares to life; in truth, everyone here looks equally miserable.

"I'm unharmed," he confirms, sounding almost shamefaced about it, like he ought to have some injury on his person to justify why he became separated from the one he has sworn to serve. At least his own cloak isn't something better suited to a parlour house curtain, and knowing what he knows about Jin Guangyao's background, his next step is only to be expected.

He shrugs out of his cloak immediately and offers it out. "Zongzhu must take my cloak." He isn't naked beneath it; thankfully someone saw fit to give him a tunic. And shoes.

[taintedpeony]

He just chose not to dwell on his own state too much. These last few weeks have been far too weird for him.

"Good. I'm glad. We have no idea who we are up against and if they have the power to transport us so far from home who knows what else they can do."

At the offer, he looks up and smiles kindly. Su Minshan was always really too good to him. He took the cloak gratefully and covered himself with it, pulling his knees up underneath it. He really did feel the exhaustion from running.

"Thank you Minshan, you really are too kind. I hear the tailor will be open tomorrow so I can find myself something more decent. Have you eaten?"

[bluelanspecial]

Giving Jin Guangyao the literal clothes off his back is the very least Su Minshan can do for the kindness that had been extended to him first. Perhaps it seems a small thing, remembering his name and accomplishments, allowing him to save face in the gilded viper's nest of Jinlintai, but to the nascent Su-zongzhu and his small entourage of disciples, it had meant everything. And now he'll gladly curse or kill literally anyone who looks at Jin Guangyao askance, so, there's that.

He bows his head in response to that beneficent smile and compliment, never particularly good at responding to such things, and is grateful when the subject changes to more practical concerns. "No, I haven't," he admits, then looks towards the bustle of activity he can see near the kitchen. The smells wafting from it aren't familiar, exactly, but something in there smells savoury, and that is good enough for him. "I will fetch us something to eat," he volunteers promptly, already rising to his feet to do just that, "and then we should find a room for the evening." A beat, and then he lowers his voice to say, "Zongzhu shouldn't be out in the open like this." He can't disguise the worry in his voice and the severe set of his brows; stealth he can accomplish, but subtlety in social situations just isn't in his nature.

[taintedpeony]

Jin Guangyao slipped out of the sheer cloak and used it as a tie for the one that Su Minshan gave him. It was nice to have him here, someone who he could trust implicitly even with the dirty things he had to hide from the majority of the cultivation world he was able to trust in Su Minshan's hands. There were few people he could open up to in that way, other than those who shared similar scars as him.

Since he hadn't eaten since the day before, his stomach growled at the prospect of food. The smells from the kitchens were just lovely. Straightening up his back, Jin Guangyao gave him a soft smile.

"That sounds wonderful, Minshan. I think we are safe for the time being, but finding a room for ourselves will be good. A base of operations while we figure out where we are and what we need to do. The people here are kind and helpful but we need to find out what the caveat is. There usually is a cavet."