inaugural tdm of unspecified duration.

[vestigemods]

VESTIGE TEST DRIVE MEME

WHAT IS THIS?

This is a test drive meme for Vestige is a musebox-game successor to The Box (yeah, the one that died like five years ago). It's invite-only with no activity check and almost no application to speak of.

This is a horror jamjar based on Cabin In The Woods, in which characters are pulled into this containment zone run by the Technicians working from a lab underground with the goal of creating Good Quality Suffering™️ to appease the elder gods who hover on the verge of creating a worldwide apocalypse. But of course, suffering is pointless if everyone is too numb to properly suffer, so there are plenty of morale boosts provided in between bouts of fear and misery.

This TDM is ongoing and will fill the gap between now and when I get around to setting up the comms. There is no official start date and currently literally nothing but this TDM available for perusal, but I'll update this section of the blurb as that changes. Threads in this TDM are welcome to be game canon once this shit opens because fuck it. If you have questions, feel free to ask in the top-level below or just wing it tbh, we'll be doing a lot of winging it up in this shit.

Characters arrive with all powers intact and carrying all items that they had with them on their canonpoint.

Also, feel free to hit up the Intro + Friending meme to network with your future peers in this suffering endeavor. (EDIT 5/20: We also now have a DISCORD SERVER! So hop on into that if you'd like.)

PROMPT 1 ► just your ordinary cabin in the woods

⬛ARRIVAL + GENERAL PROMPT

Whenever you're from or wherever you were, you awaken now with the mildest of headaches in a medium-sized wooden cabin. Maybe you wake in a bed, barely padded and covered in dust (so are you now, congrats!). Maybe you wake on the floor, arguably softer than the bed in spots thanks to some handy dandy water damage. Either way, you certainly aren't where you were before, and you have no recollection whatsoever of arriving.

The cabin is modest but multi-roomed and fully kitted with a kitchen and cozy living room. Nice, dry wood sits stacked by the fireplace, and if you check the various switches, the lights turn on with only the faintest protesting static. The cabinets are surprisingly well-stocked, as is the fridge, with perishables and non-perishables alike. As if someone has been here recently... but how, when everything else seems so thoroughly abandoned?

Should you choose to ignore the cabin's supposed hospitality and try to leave, you'll find that both the front and back doors are securely locked, in a way that no amount of fumbling with the locking mechanism seems to remedy.

That's when a sloooooow creak draws your attention to a door nearby, one you may not have noticed before... but it's open now. Was it before? Better yet, should you check out what lies beyond?

PROMPT 2 ► who's up for some fighty-fight, kids??

⬛MONSTER HORROR.

The basement is musty and dim, though a pull-string at the curve of the creaky stairs seems to turn on a sparse row of lightbulbs dangling precariously from the ceiling along the center of the room. This little bit of light illuminates a room absolutely packed with items, furniture and boxes and various knick-knacks of unknown and questionable origin. Spiderwebs litter nooks and crannies, many with actual spiders still nesting inside, and a layer of dust coats most every surface in sight.

It doesn't seem like there's anyone down here, nor is there any sign of an exit at the basement's far end. There is, however, something that catches your eye. An item, one that your feet seem to carry you toward without your mind quite telling them to do so. Perhaps it's familiar somehow. Perhaps it's so foreign to you that you can't help but get a closer look. One way or another, you somehow end up reaching out to touch it. But what harm can that do, a single touch?

Oh, sweet summer child. Haven't you seen this movie?




---




Whatever else your characters might touch, to activate this prompt they'll also touch one of the following five items:


• A child's drawing, of what appears to be... shit, what even is that? Is it a bat? Is it some kind of... reptile? We just don't know. (result! warnings for gore/violence.)
  
  
• A light-blue paper face mask, the sort used in hospitals for patients who have a cold. Maybe you guys should've brought masks too. It sure would keep all this dust the hell out of your nose... ( result! warning for body horror! )
  
  
• A buzzsaw blade, dusty but intact. ( result! warnings for gore/violence. )
  
  
• A music box, covered in faded yellow flowers. I wonder what music it plays? ( result! warnings for gore/violence and Alarming Children. )
  
  
• A funeral urn. But... It seems that someone glued it shut around the edges? I guess that's one way to make sure nobody spills grandma. ( result! )

These enemies can and will follow characters outside, should they try to flee. It might actually be a good idea to face these foes outdoors where it's less confined, provided they don't stray too far from the cabin (see prompt #4).

The blurbs are just guidelines, feel free to scale up or down how strong/weak the monsters are, how many there are, etc. in order to better fit your characters' level of capability. The Technicians know your characters' strengths and weaknesses, so they'd know how to send enough to make this challenging but not insurmountable.

PROMPT 3 ► congratulations, you fucked up

⬛SURVIVAL HORROR.

Perhaps you didn't touch anything in the basement. Hell, maybe you didn't even set foot through that ominous basement door. But hey, we get it. Not everyone likes to party. You're not getting off easy, but at least you can say that you didn't fall into the trap.

If, by the time an hour has passed since the creaking open of the basement door, no object has been touched and no baddie has been summoned, you'll find your nose assaulted by the prevailing smell of smoke. One glance out any window tells you why: The cabin has been surrounded in it, an oblong ring of fire six feet thick burning tight along the exterior cabin walls. You're safe inside for the moment, but how long will that last?

Now, you have no choice but to try to escape the blaze. It overtakes the cabin quickly, creeping up over the rooftop, shattering windows and burning a path inside. No matter which way you try to run, you're almost certain to get burned... But that's certainly better than burning to death in here.

PROMPT 4 ► "escape"? never heard of her.

⬛PSYCHOLOGICAL HORROR.

For some, staying in this creepy cabin with its stupid locked door was never an option. Maybe you break one of the windows and crawl through that, or maybe you're angry and OP and punched a man-sized hole in the wall itself. Hey, we're not judging. You got yourself outside, and that's what counts.

The outside of the cabin is... actually pretty nice. Picturesque woods, birds singing, perhaps a couple of deer bounding through the trees not far off. This place might actually be relaxing, if it weren't so alarming and kidnap-y. But it is, so it's time to get the fuck out of Dodge.

Or to try to, anyway. Just a few short meters into the trees, you find yourself entering a deep and all-encompassing fog. You can barely see your hand out in front of your face, let alone your path through the forest ahead. If you're not alone in this venture, you'd best keep a hand on your companion lest you lose track of them, as well. And is it just you, or is there a slight chemical taste to the fog that you're breathing in?

(Yes. The answer is definitely yes.)

Before long, you find yourself turned around, stepping back out of the fog with the cabin in front of you. Little do you realize that simply turning you around is the most merciful fate that this fog has to offer.

---

This is easier to break down without narrative, so!

• The first time your character ventures into the fog, they're just turned around and sent back to the cabin.
  
  
• The second time, they hallucinate things that they don't want to hear. Something they fear, something that hurts them, something that stresses them the fuck out. Maybe a character's worst fear is wildcats and they hear one growling just out of sight in the mist. Maybe instead they hear a loved one crying for help back in the direction from which they've come, drawing them back to the cabin. Or maybe they hear the voice of someone they admire berating their cowardice or stupidity or something, for running away from the cabin in the first place. The goal is to psych them out and send them running back to the place where the action is happening.
  
  
• The third time, it's the same but full-blown visual or even physical hallucinations. Basically anything that might lure, scare, emotionally wound, etc. them into going back to the vicinity of the cabin.

Characters are welcome to start off venturing into the mist together, or to discover one another while they're already in the mist. If it's the latter, look out - it may be harder to tell friend from foe when you can't quite trust your own mind.

THE LOOP ► a note on replayability

Regardless of which prompt your character faces, they'll be left unbothered after the creature is defeated or the problem is overcome until sunrise the following morning. Though the fog still keeps characters from straying from the area, they're welcome to recover and lick their wounds in the immediate cabin vicinity. An unburnt cabin leaves them food and resting facilities, while a burnt cabin... Well, at least the fire never spread from that self-contained ring, so they have some nice unburnt grass to sleep on.

Come sunrise, all characters still awake will fall unconscious. At this point, many of them will reawaken in a perfectly undamaged cabin back in Prompt #1 to begin the loop anew. They may have the same comrades in this loop, or perhaps they have different ones. Maybe their new companions have done this before as well. Maybe they're brand new and have no idea what they're up against. R.I.P., you poor unsuspecting fucks.

This is, in effect, a series of trial runs by the current batch of Technicians to see if they're able to run this containment zone scenario long-term. When Vestige opens properly, characters will awaken free of the loop and will have quite a bit more continuity and recovery time between horrors. The 'loop' mechanic is specifically in place to give this TDM some shelf life and let y'all entertain yourselves while I work on the actual pages and such, rather than the one-and-done feeling of the usual TDM.

CODE BY TESSISAMESS (patreon)

Comments

[lethechained]

[ The blonde has been fighting off a slowly growing urge to cough since she came to stand where she is now. Perhaps it's purely sympathetic, but Naminé can't help finally expressing a breathy clearing of her throat as the other woman exhales smoke.

Looking away from her, Naminé frowns at the building itself, more contemplative than offended. ]

Can it do that?

[ It's a rhetorical question, really, because her recent experiences would suggest that neither of them could actually answer it for certain. Whether or not the house is sentient is pretty much irrelevant anyway, because it's far more likely that someone else is calling the shots regardless. Brow scrunching as that cough-y feeling starts to build again, Naminé considers the situation. (The recent memory of voices calling for aid pops up at the forefront of her mind. She can't hear them now, but...) Her hair swings slightly with the alacrity of her head turn, her expression growing concerned as she looks down at Gwenaëlle. ]

There wasn't anyone else inside, was there...?

[hedoniste]

( gwenaëlle's shrug is elegant, which does not particularly detract from the fact that as a response to those questions it is not winning any prizes. )

Be my guest if you want to find out.

( she taps ash into the grass next to her, and it isn't entirely that it doesn't occur to her to put her cigarette out so much as it seems sort of pointless in the face of a burning building belching out whatever the fuck is getting torched inside of it. on the whole, she decides, she is minimally adding to the smoke output in their immediate vicinity and since it's making her feel better, she's going to keep doing it. on the off-chance anyone is actually moved to try and see if anyone's still trapped inside, cigarette smoke inhalation will be the least of their problems.

she is not so moved. it isn't that she withholds an answer on whether or not anyone's in there but that she doesn't know; it had already been burning when she circled back to it, and if she's heard screaming—

well, the fog seems to do that. it's tricky. )

[lethechained]

[ Disbelief flickers briefly over Naminé's face after that answer, but the look is soon overtaken by a quick succession of other expressions that ends in a grim sort of contemplation. Laissez-faire attitude of her unfamiliar companion or not, Naminé endeavors not to jump to any conclusions about the other's reaction to the whole matter.

Besides, talking about it won't do any good. As the girl lifts her head back toward the burning building, she feels - well, pretty out of her depth, honestly. She's usually the one telling people about the disasters and letting them do the running headlong into trouble. But to stand here and do nothing... it doesn't sit right with her.

So for a moment it looks as though she might actually take Gwenaëlle up on it. Carefully, Naminé makes a few steps closer to the fire, her skinny frame shadowed against it. Even from this distance, she can feel the heat coming off of the building in steady waves; it's unfamiliar to her skin but not to her second-hand memories of nights she never spent by the campfire with friends. She lifts an arm, as if shading her eyes would really do much of anything to help her peer in the windows. Shaking her head, she pauses, then turns to walk to one side, following along the outside of the building.

She's. Not really looking for the door, is she? That'd just be crazy. ]

[hedoniste]

( well, that's.

presumably it goes without saying that she hadn't anticipated anyone actually attempting that, because that's insane. the ring of fire that's engulfed the cabin is nothing that can be penetrated without being burned in the process; the cabin itself is clearly quite fucked. getting out of there would have been a questionable prospect at best, getting in again...

she breathes out smoke. the cabin is presently burning any handy prescription medication, and she does weigh for a moment how much this might hurt if it works against whether or not there's even any point to it if it does. even if it doesn't. and there is no guarantee, of course, when it's hard to predict the sensitivities or abilities of other people,

and (it is an uncharitable thought) she knows it's possible to be too stupid to influence,

but it also has the benefit of not requiring she get up or put her cigarette out, so she focuses, only a very slight dilation of her pupils— )

Don't go in there.

( it's authoritative; a level of intent that flares to life a sharp spike of pain in the base of her skull. if it doesn't work, well,

she tried. )

[lethechained]

[ Naminé stops.

It doesn't take much, considering her naturally small strides and general lack of momentum. The fire crackles and burns a bit too close for comfort on one side of her, yet she still pauses right where she is, as if something has caught her attention. Maybe it has, in fact - because she's no stranger to nudging minds in the direction she wants them to go, herself. It might well be that she recognizes the foreign influence... or perhaps she's merely surprised by the concern.

Either way, the girl looks bemused as she turns to glance back over her shoulder toward Gwenaëlle. Naminé regards her a moment, then shakes her own head. ]

I won't, [ the blonde promises, ] not unless...

[ Unless she finds someone. But if she does, what then? She wrestles with the idea for a second, then admits, ]

I probably couldn't do them any good, anyway. But I at least want to see if there's anyone around the other side.

[ Someone injured, perhaps, or close enough to freedom to be helped. Her voice is a little gentler than before, almost as if she feels it's necessary to provide reassurance. And sure, she could leave it at that and continue on her way, but she waits instead, presently adding an, ]

Okay?

[hedoniste]

( the tone of it sets her teeth on edge; she'd prefer someone annoyed at her for contraverting their will over someone talking to her like a skittish horse, and she settles curtly on, )

If you're gagging to watch someone burn to death, by all means. I don't want to smell it from this close.

( whether or not some sliver of genuine concern was involved is completely unrelated to gwenaëlle having any desire to have that acknowledged.

she would almost certainly rather deepthroat glass. )

[lethechained]

[ The young lady's mouth turns down at the corners thanks to the mental image - complete with smell, even - but it doesn't register as offense so much as grim acceptance. She's not exactly keen on that possibility either, but takes the comment on the chin with a polite little nod before she turns back around to continue on her way.

Doing a circuit of the building yields no more results than an extra coughing fit, at which point Naminé puts a bit more distance between herself and the growing fire. On the far side of the cabin she finally pauses, peering into the windows as best she can against the brightness of the flames, but it's futile. Her eyes won't do her any good from here (and they'd probably do even less in there.)

Exhaling, the girl spends a few moments in place, waiting, hesitating - she hardly knows for what. Some kind of confirmation that she's right in assuming there's no one left to be saved? Only then does it occur to her to search a different way; if anyone is in there, they probably have a heart, don't they? They probably have memories, at the very least, and those are quite comfortably within Naminé's domain. So presently she gives it a try, reaching out with her magic to see what she can see.

(Of course, someone else sensitive to that sort of thing might notice it when she does - the weird feeling that there's an entity peering over their shoulder, the sensation of being watched when there's clearly no one around. But it's over quickly, and surely no one will mind if she's only checking that memories exist, not actually looking at them.)

Soon enough, Naminé turns up again, making her way from the direction opposite the one she left in after having circled the cabin. Her verdict, which she states as she approaches with a rather preoccupied frown, is, ]

If there was anyone inside, they... aren't there now. At least - I don't think they are.

[ Which doesn't mean that every one of those hypothetical people made it out, but maybe it's better not to assume the worst. ]