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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
She leads the way out without a word, holding out a hand for one of the knives and trusting that he'll give it to her. Some things are just reflexive at this point. She holds onto her makeshift spear, though. Just in case.
"We're going to be very fucking careful here," she tells him softly. "We don't engage until we know how many there are, and what they can do."
no subject
But he stays silent. He gives her the thicker knife, she's a monster with a blade in her hands and he loves to see it. And they get out unscathed and he's quiet as they walk in the woods.
"Shaw? You'd tell me if we were totally fucked, right?"
no subject
She doesn't believe in no win scenarios. Until about an hour ago, she thought she was the last one standing. Now, she has a brother at her side. Now, she has a chance to fix things. That puts them both ahead.
"Anything else is just a detail." She meets his eyes. "But we need to understand the scenario before we respond. Pope got impatient with Meridian. We're not going to do that here."
He got impatient, and he lost sight of what mattered. She cannot repeat the pattern.
no subject
"You think he got- I mean-" he swallows, licks his lips, hopelessly nervous. But this is Leah.
"We don't have to come at these people swinging this time, right? Maybe we can just trade with them or rob em and go on our way?"
no subject
Out of it, he swings nervous. He has to be watched the way she had to watch Carver in public long before the world ended, lest he start a fight someone else had to end, and she was the one bailing him out of jail, holding his hair back as he worked off the latest bender.
Everyone has their scars, is the point. They're still her boys.
Or they were. She saw them dead. Saw her failure shine through.
She squares her shoulders and keeps walking. If these people so much as look at Bossie wrong, she'll kill them all and hang their corpses from the trees as a warning to God himself.
"We're going to wait and see," Leah agrees softly. "No masks this time. Not until we know more."
no subject
That scares him for reasons he's afraid to tell even her.
"Shaw, maybe we should though. In case things go south with these people. You know, have the masks ready to go."
He doesn't know if he could kill another person without the mask on anymore. He doesn't know if he could win a fight without that bone white barrier between him and the world.
And that means he's weak. He deserves to die. To be left behind.
"I mean just in case."
no subject
"That'll be your job. Make new ones. But keep them hidden. People will wonder if they see us wearing them."
no subject
"Can do. You're gonna love yours."
More than any other reaper, even Austin, making the masks had spoken to Bossie.
"Gonna make you look good, Shaw. You'll be glad you asked me."
He can kill anyone she tells him to as long as he has that mask. She'll never have to know how weak he's really become.
no subject
Just a little.
She reaches out and claps a hand to his shoulder. Brother, she thinks, my little brother. I'll keep you safe like Pope should have.
"Of course I will be," she agrees simply. "You've never let me down."
no subject
So right now, without a Carver or a Turner to draw on, the brunt of her compliment falls on him and he goes quiet and youthful and warm.
And then of course he remembers himself and draws on his brothers' bragging.
"Never will either," he promises, but his eyes are kind and shining with pride. "Call me your rock, Shaw."
no subject
She puts that thought away.
“You flirt,” she murmurs, and elbows him. Not hard, though. “Come on. They’ll have a base. It won’t be far from the water.”
no subject
no subject
It's different from searching the house, a contained area. She doesn't trust these woods.
Still, she softens it a little by smiling at him. "We'll be fine. You and me."
Always.
no subject
"But I'm not letting you get shot again, got it?"
no subject
No. This is a new world. She’ll be deliberate in what she does.
“You’re not injured?” she asks after a moment. He’s moving decently, but they all learned how to hide things.
no subject
When Turner died.
"Doesn't hurt anymore. I'm good."
no subject
The grief is still raw. For Turner, for Bossie, for all of them.
Chin up, Leah thinks, and she doesn’t let it show.
“We’ll keep an eye on it,” she says finally. “So it doesn’t get infected.”
They’ll have to do something to mourn the others, too. Some ritual of their own making. Otherwise, it’d be like it never happened at all.
no subject
"Mancea cleaned it up pretty good, but yeah who knows what kind of dirt's got into it since I've been running around naked."
no subject
“We’ll find something to clean it. Get you a bow. Figure out what the hell they’re playing at here.”
Because someone is clearly playing at something. This doesn’t just happen.
no subject
Torture doesn't bother him anymore. Most of the time. He's sat through it, he's helped with it, he's poured buckets of water down dozens of faces and he's peeled off fingernails and he can do it again if he has to.
His nightmares are usually worse for a few days after someone finally cracks, but that always mellows out sooner or later.
no subject
Brutality can be taught. Pope had Carver and some of the others trained. Leah was one of the first - his experiment, she supposes. Carver followed, and Bossie learned at their sides. Whatever they both feel about it is inconsequential. Carver's dead and unavenged, yet another name to carry like so many others.
But she'll avenge him. She'll hunt Maggie Rhee down to the ends of the earth.
"I know you will," she agrees simply. "We're going to play it smart. No action until we know exactly what they have, and what we need to take."