TEST DRIVE MEME 005

[rubimods]

⚰︎ ⍢ ⌲ ⍚ TEST DRIVE MEME:

Welcome to RUBILYKSKOYE — a dark, horror-smut game where player choices will drive a mod-run storyline about the world and its NPCs. This test drive meme provides a medley of prompts evoking the game's general tone.

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. Note: the universal test drive arrival prompt will not be repeated on the any event log, but players are welcome to reuse the prompt.

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: spiders, aphrodisiac and truth serum effects, public nudity, exhibitionism/voyeurism, bdsm, kink negotiation, social pressure, and animal sacrifice.

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

IN THE WOODS SOMEWHERE

The chirping of partridges in the treetops rouses you. Light barely filters through the canopy, just enough to suggest daylight. By the time it reaches the forest floor, the light has taken on a sickly green. You lie amongst the frost-covered mosses and ferns, the frozen 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. 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.

You seem to be alone. The gnarled oaks and moss suggest no sign of civilization or sentient life. Just flickers of movement from curious squirrels or brave lizards reemerging after a long winter. With your feet under you, and you'll find the wood is filled with berry bushes and nut trees, though much of the fruit has been picked clean. The freshwater stream that runs north-south, populated by both poisonous toads and delicious crawdads, will lead people towards the first signs of civilisation, the cabins of those who choose to live beyond Rubilyskoye's formidable walls.

In the forest, you may run into others with stories just like yours. Some may have already formed clumsy nudist groups, others may still be processing their confusion, with no memory of how they got here. Now is a good time to overcome any hang-ups you have about modesty; it's going to be a long hike.

Turn your back to the darker, shadowy parts of the forest and eventually the glow of manmade lights and the curve of a dirt road may come into view. At the edge of the wood, you'll find a town surrounded by a fifty-foot wall of beige stone. The only entrance is an iron gate positioned on the southern edge. When you arrive, the gate is already open, welcoming people inside.

This quaint, historic town of five-thousand has cobbled street and signs 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 grocer — 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.

When you enter, the streets are full of people, but despite any efforts on your part to hide or make excuses, they don't seem offended by your nakedness. Even families with children don't gawk or look twice. Those determined to find proper clothing regardless will find that modern clothing stores aren't available — the closest this town has is a tailor's shop and a stand in the central marketplace selling scarves and blankets.

breaking and entering

If you intend to have your character break into someone's house or yard to steal some of their clean laundry, please review the info about game laws on the FAQ and give the mods a heads up HERE.

SETTING: CRIME

Fortunately, the people of the town are very generous! Anyone who ask the locals will be directed to the boarding house for both clothes and a place to stay. Accessible through an embellished iron garden gate and obscured by hanging plants, trees, and vines, beyond an overgrown yard in the residential sprawl of the town is a bright-red door, which opens to a spacious cottage of several stories. It's already full of people who appeared in the village just as you did today.

finding roommates

Don't spend too much time asking questions in the common areas. 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. Maybe you'll get lucky and run into someone who has decided to move out? (Roommates will not be mod-assigned; players should coordinate directly with one another to determine their living arrangements; at this point, many characters have used activity rewards to move to accomodation outside the boarding house.)

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 a breakfast of thick grain porridge and caramelised bananas from the new peaks; these NPCs can also answer any questions about the situation. You may notice they're dressed in a way you would almost call normal — at least, in a manner befitting 19th century Eastern Europe. Gossip about new arrivals spreads quickly, and Rubeans who run businesses or train trades are eager to help you find a place to apply your skills so you can contribute to your new home.

writer's block?

If you're struggling to pick a way to engage the prompts, try: naked hiking, acquiring clothing, being offered work, asking questions over breakfast, or staking your claim on a bedroom!

HEARTS FESTIVAL

New arrivals to Rubilykskoye will find themselves strongly encouraged to participate in the current zadza purging festival, and will be assigned either a collar in leather or iron based on their Niez or Wilk mark, or a wrist-strap or manacle that suits the attachment of a leash for those with a Diabel or Skala mark.

Characters are encouraged to embrace this temporary designation as a sign that they will be good citizens; those who object or ignore their designation may find the NPCs try to helpfully guide them, express displeasure at "Void-Touched" who won't assimilate, or in rare cases exert social pressure, coercion, violence or shunning to ensure compliance.

Throughout town various NPCs have set up tents and booths to host myriad performances, workshops, demonstrations, and food stands for their celebration. The foods were made using some of the new flora that have brought back from the peaks. Characters can get their hands on the following heart-themed foods from the second day of the festival onwards:

• HEART-SHAPED COOKIES: eating these intensifies body heat, making characters a great cuddle buddy for the cold weather and likely to strip down, feeling overheated even in a snowdrift
  
  
• BEEF HEART STEW WITH DUXELLES: eating these fills those who consume it with confidence, making them more solicitous and dominant
  
  
• LIME-GLAZED GOAT HEART SATAY: eating these intensifies sensation, making characters more sensitive to both pain and pleasure
  
  
• CINNAMON GLUWEIN: drinking a cup of this hot beverage will make characters especially honest

The nature of the booths set up for performances, workshops, and other goods focuses around the festival's dominance and submission themes. These persist throughout the day regardless of the hour or the audience, so very few people can be found consistently at their places of work during the day this week. In addition:

• Skala and diabel NPCs may offer to share their partner(s) with the Void-touched, or ask to share theirs.
  
  
• PIOTR, a farmer, brings tools over from the farm including bridles and saddles, which can be found at a booth near some hunters who've made anal plugs that end with real animal tails, as well as muzzles.
  
  
• The cages from the Moot Hall have been moved into the streets, and people are allowed to move freely in and out of them. One of them has been covered in curtains to function as a glory hole booth.
  
  
• Some niez and wilk NPCs line up near the main event stage and kneel to offer themselves as human furniture.

However, characters may also come across some carnival games operated by NPCs who are eager to help the Duchess find her heart! Some involve slaughtering livestock by removing their hearts—rest assured, these livestock were already on the menu, but their ritual sacrifice will now involve the cutting out of their hearts. Cut out an animal's heart yourself, or just attend the show! Many of the townspeople will get into it, painting their faces with animal blood or drinking from it.

writer's block?

If you're struggling to pick a way to engage the prompts, try reacting to being assigned a dominant or submissive role, scenes where your character is starting to feel the effects of the food, watching (or participating in) a performance, or joining in on a gory animal sacrifice. NPCs that are usually welcoming may strongly pressure even new arrivals to participate in their cultural festivities.

the fathomless dark

At the outer edges of the forest, shadows grow long and the air grows thick. Though the sun never grows warm red-gold with sunset, the wood darkens. Birdsong is replaced by the click of mandibles and the skitter of many legs. Anyone who ventures out this way will soon find it difficult to see before them, even in the middle of the day — eventually, even the brightest magical light source or darkvision cannot stretch further than a few inches.

In the void, the air feels heavy, 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. Characters who push too far into the void may stop being able to move at all, and find themselves given over to insanity if they collapse, unable to draw themselves out. This is just one of many dangers.

Monsters thrive this far out. 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 attempt to use their webbing to entangle 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

Those who seem lucky enough not to run afoul of the monsters here are in for a worse fate. The void can play tricks on your senses. As madness sets in and you lose all sense of direction, you may also lose control of your body — what is that steers your hands to turn against your friends? Why does it sound like your own voice whispering?

In the fog, you may also hear the voices of those familiar to you — people you know from the town, or people whom you know with almost perfect certainty aren't here. these figments may recreate unhappy memories or force trespassers to hallucinate their worst nightmares. Nothing is as it seems in the void, and when you swing at these figments, desperate to silence them, it might not be a figment at all, but a friend in the flesh trying to help you. By the time you see their true face, it could be too late to stop yourself.

writer's block?

If you're struggling to pick a way to engage the prompts, try fighting a monster, hallucinating your worst nightmares, and/or attacking a friend or stranger!

HIDING INSIDE EACH OF US

Uh oh spaghetti-os.

The marks worn by all residents of Rubilykskoye aren't just cool body art, as it turns out. The town is full of rumors, whispered in shadows and over candles of a starving creature hiding in the dark corners of your chest. Feed your inner beast, they say, before it finds a way to feed itself.

FAQ: MONSTER CURSES & TIMELINES

Alas, its emergence is inevitable — sooner or later, the horrible things that happen here pile up and make someone repulsed by the idea of human contact. Someone holds themselves back, bites their tongue, or simply does not believe the stories. Today, for one reason or another, that creature is coming out. Someone hasn't been keeping it sated.

Symptoms escalate over weeks, from monstrous irritability to full-blown body horror transformation, where people physically shed their human forms and evolve into the monsters this place made them. Once a person becomes something more (or less) than human there's only one way to go back — sate the beast.

someone else transforms

Poor Merta Chesnokov, the usually stalwart older woman who mans the Apothecary, has been beset by unusual requests in addition to her regular demands, not to mention sweating blood. The festival, a rash of skala blood flu, and a little extra town chaos in January, has brought a high demand to her little shop. Now there's also a local fashion springing up for teas and herbal remedies sourced from the recently revealed tropical mountains.

After another failed tisane test drive, and the third customer asking for a new kind of aphrodisiac to add to their festival food, she was seen tossing down her work knife with uncharacteristic frustration, and taking an "early lunch" that she didn't return from that night. Though her children, friends and employees reach out to her, there's no sign of her until you stumble upon her in the woods.

Merta overboils with her suppressed fury as her body distorts and her flesh blackens and crusts. Her attempts to hold off her transformation have failed, and Merta turns into a Smoldering Skink, a large repillian creature whose thick scales hold back her magmatic insides. The noise she makes is an unhearthly hissing scream like a boiling kettle, and she attempts to vent her pent-up stress by wildly attacking everything in sight. Immediately, the surroundings catch aflame! There will be a small fire eating at the dead wood of a long winter if it's not put out, but your first priority might have to be fielding a stampeding lizard with massive teeth and burning hot scales...

(There are other monsters lurking in every townsperson — feel free to invent your own npc monsters and scenarios!)

you waited too long

At first, as you hide yourself from your darker impulses, a subtle itch develops under your skin. An irritability that makes you snap at the person who bumps into you on the stairs because all those fleeting emotions that you've been repressing bubble to the surface. Every dark thought you've had about being here, all the fears of never getting home, of being surrounded by ticking time bombs, the anxiety of wondering who you might hurt or what relationships you might betray by doing what you have to do. The anger. Oh, the anger.

Maybe you shut yourself in your room or run into the woods to hide away, but there's only so much you can do to deny the itch that grows into hunger like a spark catching and growing to wildfire. Someone comes to check on you. That knock on the door or crunch of leaves in the wood that fills you with dread at what you might do and hope that you will be sated.

As claws and fangs and scales and spines and fur grow and your body transforms with a sickening crunch of bones and peeling of skin, so do your appetites. If you won't sate them, you'll lose yourself to your beastly impulses sooner or later, mauling friends and taking your fill. Is it better or worse if only your claws get inside of them?

RULES: CONTENT WARNINGS

Comments

Dawn Granger| Titans | WILK

[dawn_is_breaking]

In The Woods Somewhere:

Nudity isn't exactly something that bothers Dawn, what bothers her is that she's woken up in a strange place with no idea how she got there. The last thing she remembers was going to bed in her apartment in New York after doing her usual patrols and now here she is, walking naked through a dense forest.

If there is anyone else in the woods they will notice her rather easily, her pale skin and white blonde hair are a stark contrast to the lush green moss and trees. She moves cautiously yet gracefully, like some sort of albino deer.

"Hello?" She calls out, her eyes flickering through the woods for signs of anyone else.

Hearts Festival:

One of the easiest ways to put Dawn at ease (and she needs to be put at ease after being 'strongly encouraged' to wear a soft leather collar) is to put her near food, not only does she love to cook but she is a big believer of the community aspect of it. Sharing meals with friends and family was something very important to her, especially when she was with the Titans, so once she figures out that the zadza purging festival has food stands that's exactly where you'll find her.

Seated to one side, sipping the Cinnamon Gluwein, and watching all the different people, performances and festival traditions.

Wildcard:
Feel free to throw anything my way.

[dead_tongue]

"It's all spiked, you know."

Said offhandedly by the way-too-tall-in-heels ginger who has just gotten himself some stew. He's dressed all in pink and cream, dominant's wrist cuff pale leather to match.

"The food and drink, I mean. Some kind of magic thing."

[dawn_is_breaking]

Dawn looks up, way up since she is barely 5 foot 3 and the boy standing next to her is well over 6 feet tall, and lifts a brow.

"Is it because this is a festival or is the food always spiked with magic?"

[dead_tongue]

"Festival."

He takes a seat beside her, stretching out his legs.

"And if you ever go to a party thrown by a horny old doctor, probably there too. You're new, yeah?"

[dawn_is_breaking]

"Well that's a bit of a relief." The festival part, the horny old doctor comment has her mildly worried again.

"Yes, it's kind of obvious isn't it?" She asks and then offers him her hand, "I'm Dawn Granger."

[dead_tongue]

"Maybe a little bit." He shakes her hand and smiles.

"Iggy Melville. I feel like the unofficial welcome wagon! But I also don't want to see newbies thrown to the horny, horny lions unless they're into it."

[dawn_is_breaking]

"Well I appreciate the welcome and the warnings, you don't have to worry too much about me though. Despite my size I can take care of most lions, regardless of how horny they are."

She motions at his wrist cuff.

"That signifies that you're a horny dominant lion, correct?"

In The Woods

[hislittleflower]

A groan answers her call and then the sounds of leaves rustling somewhere nearby as Peony makes an effort to peel herself off the floor.

"Over here." She calls in return, groping at her neck for any obvious vampire bites that might explain why she is naked and alone in the middle of the woods. "Ireena, is that you? Ez?" It sounded like some of the adventurers they had picked up in their travels and Peony was sincerely not looking forward to this explanation.

She pushed her way through the brush, trying to find the source of the calling.

[dawn_is_breaking]

Dawn doesn't recognize any of the names being called out but the voice sounds as confused as she is and she heads towards it, she's not as good at tracking as Dick or Gar but thankfully the forest is quiet and she is able to pick out where the other person is pretty easily.

"Oh." She says as they both step into a small clearing, her eyes grazing over the other person with calm curiosity.

"Hi."

cw: mentions of scars

[hislittleflower]

She's a similar height to the woman who appears across the clearing. Her waist-length hair gives her some covering to her nakedness, but not enough to hide the vicious scar from underneath her right breast to her left hipbone; three raised gashes of where monstrous claw has bisected flesh. There are leaves in her hair and mud around her ankles and calves.

But most importantly Peony doesn't have the same calm composure.

She picks up a fallen branch and brandishes it like a weapon, face twisting into a snarl of defence. "If you're one of Strahd's spawn come to finish your Master's bidding, I'm not going to give you an easy time."

[dawn_is_breaking]

Dawn doesn't come any closer but lifts both her hands up so the other woman can see that she has no weapons.

"I don't know who those people are." She says quietly, "My name is Dawn. I woke up alone a little ways from here."

[hislittleflower]

There's open suspicion on her eyes and Peony doesn't yet relinquish her branch. Strahd had a habit of making spawn of beautiful young women and they were just as dangerous when unarmed.

She waved a hand over the branch - casting the light cantrip - so that it lightened with a bright white light. And then she threw the branch in the no-mans land between them.

"Pick it up. If you aren't spawn, the light won't hurt you."

[dawn_is_breaking]

It's not the first time Dawn has seen someone with abilities so her face remains calm as she steps forward and bends down to pick up the glowing stick. The white light casting a glow across her face, lighting her hair up to look almost white.

"Satisfied?"

Wildcard (cw: light petplay, voyeurism)

[princess_of_ida]

"You and you," came the voice of one of the villagers, the cuff on their wrist sporting a pair of leashes.

It took Ianthe a moment to realize she was one of the Submissives being addressed, but she supposed she'd been unattached from a Dominant long enough that it was only a matter of time that one would capitalize on her availability. She didn't resist as the leash was clipped to her collar, eyes going to look at the other woman that was to join her.

"It seems they're looking for a matched pair," she said, seeing the pale hair of the other woman. Her eyes looked back at the Skala Dominant. "I've heard about your tastes. I'm not doing the ears and tail unless she wants them."

The villager shook their head. "Completely optional, Deathwarden. I want my kittens to play together for me today."

[dawn_is_breaking]

Dawn tilts her head to look at the woman who is now paired with her for the enjoyment of the Skala Dominant, the comment about the ears and tail is mildly interesting but what she's really curious is the name they call her.

"Deathwarden?" She asks with an arch of one brow.

[princess_of_ida]

With both leashes attached, the Dominant gave a light tug to get the women to follow along toward a booth with pet paraphernalia. Since there hadn't been a clear decision, they were certainly going to encourage the ear headband and tail anal plug if they could.

"It's my official title here, but you can just call me Ianthe. Especially as I'm on vacation," she said as she tossed her braid behind her, her right arm reflecting the light, skeletal and gilded in gold. "You got that, Rogier? I'm on vacation."

"And right now you're a Submissive and thus one of my beautiful kittens," Rogier quipped back.

[dawn_is_breaking]

Dawn seems to have completely forgotten about Rogier, even with the little tug at her collar to get them going. Her eyes and attention are on Ianthe.

"You're friends with Iggy." She says, a warm smile appearing on her face.

"He told me to look out for you." She explains, "I'm Dawn Granger."

[princess_of_ida]

"Did he now? Best hypeman ever. Most of what he's told you is probably true." Ianthe vaguely recalled a drunken conversation she and Iggy had about whether anyone found her hot - specifically hot - and his decision to find her someone. Was this party of that?

"A pleasure, Dawn. Hope you don't mind being playmates today. There are worse ways to meet people here."

[dawn_is_breaking]

"Considering he told me you were gorgeous then yes, I'd say it's true." She says with a cheeky little grin.

"And I don't mind at all, to be honest with you I was starting to get worried that I was unsuitable in some way. Barely anyone has approached me for any kind of fun."

At the Festival

[madaboutit]

It's not hard to guess that Sweeney might be the fellow Iggy referred to; seven-foot tall Irish redheads aren't exactly commonplace. He's fitted with a wide collar, its O-ring bound flat to it instead of loose to dangle. Shirtless for the festivities, he's chosen white trousers for the event, fitted tight and made of a thinner linen than is proper, so they can be torn with a flick of a whip and will stain if he bleeds.

Though Sweeney's clearly received such abuse previously (given a few stains and some tearing on the back of his thighs), his skin isn't currently open or bloody. That said, his broad back is striped by whip and cane strikes. Relieved to be off the stage, he's finally secured a beer. He's grateful for it; the gluwein seems the only drink amply available, and he's had his fill.

The stranger's hair is what strikes him first, and he makes a quick effort to slide his gaze down and back up. It's nothing overtly lecherous; he's just taking her in so he can decide if the next round should be. Sweeney tips his head and lifts his glass in vague toasted acknowledgement of her presence, even though he's still well outside conversational distance. She's easy on the eyes, if nothing else.

[dawn_is_breaking]

Dawn notices Sweeney before he spots her, it's kind of hard not to considering the size of him, but she stays put at first so she can watch him. He moves with a sort of lumbering, easy graze that some might not suspect of a man so big and when he turns suddenly to look her up and down she finds herself locking eyes with him and lifting her glass up in return.

A moment later she hops down from her spot and walks up to him, at 5 feet and 3 inches she barely reaches his chest and yet she seems totally unafraid and unintimidated.

"Hi."

[madaboutit]

"Hey." His voice is a bit gruff, absent the traditional musical quality often associated with the Irish.

There's a subtle motion slipped into a welcoming lift of his chin; he's noting her scent and if she has any magic about her. Given Leprechaun's nature being made of Belief and Wild magic, there's a innate connection to such things. If she does happen to have an air of magic, it's unlikely he would be able to detail specifics, but it's still good to know.

"New ta town?"

His brow lifts before his glass does, and a Wilk rune is blatant on the first bone of the middle finger of his right hand. Genuinely interested but working to keep things casual, he sticks to the basics to start.

[dawn_is_breaking]

The scent he picks up from Dawn is interesting, she has no magic about her but there's a trace of something, a distant familiar scent that is there and gone so quick he might question if he smelt it at all.

"Yes, I got in yesterday." She says, her eyes flickering to the Wilk rune on his hand as he sips his beer. She has a similar mark but it's hidden between her breasts and by the long white linen dress she is wearing.

"I've been wandering around a lot, getting used to all of this." She explains and then smiles, "I believe I met a friend of yours earlier today."

[madaboutit]

His brow crinkles at the statement; Sweeney doesn't really do 'friends', so he's running down the short list of who the fuck she might be talking about. Curiosity stretches his expression.

"Hope they made a good impression."

He rather not be dealing with guilt by association. Something strikes him, and in the moment, he prays it isn't Cesare.

[dawn_is_breaking]

She makes a thoughtful face for a moment, "Well he said you were a seven foot tall ginger with a big dick.....so I guess that's a pretty good impression."