Ruby Quest



"Over the sky and far away and down and down, beneath the sea to a place unlike the glen. A world of men and man's design A place where God's light would not shine A Hell of steel beneath the brine Where misery's echoes boomed."

- The Metal Glen, William Murdoch

"SHIT JUST GOT TRIPLE LOVECRAFTIAN"

- Anonymous

An imageboard-based RPG styled as a text adventure, created and DM'ed by a certain person nicknamed Weaver on the /tg/ board of 4chan. It's now concluded.

It begins when a rabbit named Ruby wakes up in a cell/locker. Together with a cat named Tom she soon meets, they perform puzzles, fight horrible abominations, and try to escape the massive underwater complex they're in. They also meet Red, a creepy but helpful enough fox with a truly awful Evil Laugh; Ace, a giant bird and servant to an unknown master; Filbert, the former head doctor turned delusional; and several unnatural abominations, all of whom used to be normal and innocent.

You can get more info on the plot, characters and also participate in discussions, making theories and guesses on possible plot developments here. For the story itself, look here. WARNING: Some of the threads there contain very NSFW fan art, as does the 1d4chan-article. There is also been both a Facebook fan-page and Tumblr site created for discussing, posting news, ect. for Ruby Quest and also its Spiritual Sequel, Nan Quest. Weaver's own /tg/ Tumblr blog can be found here.

A Flash retelling of the whole story, cutting out most of the discussion, fan-art, and additional jokes/threads/clues (but leaving in choice comments) can be seen on Furaffinity right here with a Fur Affinity account (disabled Mature Content Filter), or on InkBunny right here, no account required if you meddle with the Allowed Ratings. The InkBunny version can also be read here, with no settings-fiddling required. You can also read the full story on evilcorporation in three versions: a slideshow-like sequence, a scene selection screen, and a long single page.

A music album based on Ruby Quest has been made. It can be found here or downloaded here In addition, the artist has put up a high quality version of the album that can be purchased here. All the money made off of this album will go to Weaver.

Now has a character sheet. For additional details and those not directly related to the plot, see Trivia. For a list of quotations relating to the game, see Quotes. For a series of relevant images, see Image Links.

Compare to The white chamber, a Point and Click Game with several thematic overlaps (and which Weaver has acknowledged as an inspiration).

Main Ruby Quest presentation
"''"Time to begin. It is very dark here. Hardly anything can be seen. Please recommend an action."''"

- As Weaver first begins Ruby Quest on /tg/

""Tom and Ruby pass through the door. ""
 * Abandoned Hospital/
 * A-Cup Angst: "Unfortunately for all parties involved, Ruby is as flat as a board!"
 * Air Vent Passageway: More like
 * Alien Geometries: The Metal Glen, itself, displays aspects of this. First there's the metal shutter in Ruby's room, which sometimes opens to a window and sometimes to a passage.
 * Alien Lunch: The--Squick--"Godawful Smoothie". Though Red was not actually seen eating it, it was shown that he did want it.
 * Already Undone for You: It seems most everyone else, apparently.
 * Animal Testing: Technically, "Petting Zoo People Testing".
 * Anyone Can Die: Word of God said no one in the story was destined to live or die.
 * Artifacts of Doom/ These are Things Mammal Was Not Meant to Know: The eye disc; the Dummy; the Green Statuette; the fleshy, red growth; and possibly the the green staves.
 * Arc Symbol: Multiple occurrences of this trope in the story.
 * Art Shift/ Splash of Color: Weaver's works are very distinctive in such occurrences as when he shifts from simple, low color, MS Paint-ish sketches to highly-detailed, other-worldly, and amazing illustrations.
 * Astral Projection: Apparently, the was this; created by.
 * Back from the Dead:
 * Big Damn Heroes:.
 * The Big Guy: Tom is known for his MANLY PHYSIQUE.
 * Big Words: The appears to be something called "" later called "".
 * Bigger on the Inside: Ace's staff accommodations.
 * Bilingual Bonus: The plaque underneath the trauma picture reads "Ancient Wish, Eternal Sleep" in Latin.
 * Black Bead Eyes
 * Body Horror: Many, increasingly horrible, and of just about every type. The simplistic drawing style actually makes it scarier in some cases.
 * Bottomless Bladder: Lampshaded,
 * Brick Joke: The severed hand in the pneumatic tube makes an unexpected return.
 * Came Back Wrong: Everyone... whether they wanted to or not. On the other hand, it's also inverted, as.
 * Cargo Cult: The small fetus statuette.
 * Cat Smile: Both Tom and Ruby once each.
 * Character Title
 * Chekhov's Gun
 * Closed Circle:
 * Continuity Crossover: [Warning: Somewhat Spoilers!] The symbols from Weaver's World Eater campaign also play big role in Ruby Quest.
 * Continuity Nod: When the connection between the poem and the facility the events are taking place in is established.
 * Cool Key: Ace has one.
 * The Corruption:
 * Cosmic Horror Story
 * Dark World:
 * Deadly Gas:
 * Deadly Rotary Fan: One room has a catwalk crossing over a pair of giant fans. They're proven deadly.
 * Dissonant Laughter: "Red begins to laugh".
 * : Red had apparently done this somewhere along the line.
 * Dramatic Deadpan:
 * : Red had apparently done this somewhere along the line.
 * Dramatic Deadpan:

""Moments later, ""


 * Dug Too Deep
 * Dungeon Bypass: Twice - Lampshaded.
 * Earn Your Happy Ending: And it's all because the players did things that weren't supposed to happen.
 * Eldritch Abomination: Its name has never been given, and an eye chart implies that it is "". It's sometimes also called "" or "".
 * . He has a face that looks like it's made of worms.
 * Eldritch Location: The whole facility to some degree, but especially Cold Storage. The brig also starts going this way hard towards the end.
 * Escape From the Crazy Place: The entire premise.
 * Evil Feels Good


 * Extra Eyes:
 * Everything's Worse with Bears:
 * Evil Eye:
 * Eyeless Face:
 * Eye Scream
 * Eye Take: A recurring event in the game.
 * The Faceless: Subjects 2 and 3 are mentioned and named but never seen.
 * Faceless Goon: Ace.
 * Face Revealing Turn: Oh, it wasn't Tom after all.
 * Fade to Black
 * Fatal Family Photo:
 * Flash Back
 * Foreshadowing: Early in the game, Red called a "survivor", though it was still not clear that there was any sort of major disaster.
 * For Science!:
 * "Friend or Idol?" Decision: There was going to be one wherein either they escaped or Filbert told them about their past; however, by that point.
 * Furries: The cast of Ruby Quest are often mistaken as such by n00bs.
 * Genre Shift: The story quickly departs from its original relatively cheerful puzzle solving into the realms of unimaginable horrors, and doesn't turn back.
 * Gone Horribly Right:
 * Groundhog Day Loop:
 * Heroic Sacrifice:
 * He Who Fights Monsters:
 * Humanoid Abomination:
 * Improvised Weapon: The barbed wire glove, Ace's harpoon, and the BLUDGEONY CANESHOVEL.
 * Also, the JUNKOTRON MISSILE LAUNCHER, although it was only a short jest at another one of /tg/'s ridiculous ideas.
 * Interface Screw: "Red is TWO COINS fishtank."
 * Interspecies Romance: Ruby and Tom are a rabbit and a cat, respectively. Their relationship takes a backseat to all the action and horror, but it's still there. There was also, apparently, a romance between
 * Implacable Man:
 * Irony: When Tom and Ruby had inquired the date near the end of the game,
 * Jigsaw Puzzle Plot
 * Killed Off for Real:
 * Last-Minute Hookup:
 * Rule of Romantic:
 * Leaning on the Fourth Wall:
 * Load-Bearing Boss:
 * Lovecraftian Superpower
 * Madness Mantra: A written version:
 * Mad Doctor:
 * MacGuffin: The cross-peg, for a time.
 * Mature Animal Story/Sugar Apocalypse: Cute anthropomorphic animals right out of Animal Crossing... in a setting that's basically HP Lovecraft meets Silent Hill.
 * Meaningful Background Event: Several: both are first shown like this, for instance. In either case, when the players tried to prompt Ruby in looking at them, they would be gone by the time she did.
 * Meat Moss:
 * Men Are the Expendable Gender: Almost averted:
 * Mercy Kill:
 * Mind Screw: The story's entire premise.
 * Mood Whiplash/ Mood Dissonance: Despite being mostly rather horrific, the story has its occasional comedic moments: Often, when the players suggest something silly, Weaver is more than willing to comply.
 * Morally-Ambiguous Doctorate: The facility in which the entire story takes place in—known as The Metal Glen—was, in a nutshell, built out of an odd, isolated, geological-formation from out in the middle of a secluded loch
 * Multi-Armed and Dangerous:
 * Mundane Solution:
 * Morally-Ambiguous Doctorate: The facility in which the entire story takes place in—known as The Metal Glen—was, in a nutshell, built out of an odd, isolated, geological-formation from out in the middle of a secluded loch
 * Multi-Armed and Dangerous:
 * Mundane Solution:


 * Nightmare Face: Red.
 * Also, many of the patients at one point or another.
 * And--DEAR, SWEET LORD--
 * No OSHA Compliance/ Malevolent Architecture:
 * Narrow catwalk over huge fans... in a medical research institute for the blind. Granted, there are handrails, but still.
 * Also, the often deadly capabilities of the.
 * Note to Self:: . Also,
 * Official Couple:.
 * Off-Model: There are moments where characters and settings are sometimes disproportionate/ off-scale due to "poor erasure".
 * Off the Rails:
 * Oh Crap: Numerous times, but especially:
 * Oh Crap: Numerous times, but especially:


 * Also, every single time Ace shows up.
 * One Tom Limit:
 * Ontological Mystery
 * Outrun the Fireball
 * The Power of Trust: As said in the poem: "The flock that could not work together are sure still trapped in hell". It can be pretty safe to assume that unless Ruby and Tom trust each other and work together, they will stay down there.
 * Or the line could have possibly been a hidden joke by Weaver in reference to /tg/'s normally chaotic, uncompromising nature.
 * Psycho Serum:
 * Quest for Identity: Neither of the characters know very much of their past.
 * Subverted in that
 * Railroading: A common accusation by the trolls. Lampshaded at the end sequence, when Weaver describes.
 * Also, Word of God says that Red
 * Reveal Shot: Ruby opens a door: the camera shows a close picture of her and a face of a bear, looking at each other. When it pans out, it is revealed that
 * Room Full of Crazy:, which was revealed to be almost normal when compared to.
 * Sanity Slippage:
 * Scenery Gorn: Weaver's incredibly high-detailed illustrations of and such.
 * Scenery Porn: The beautifully painted,
 * Sealed Evil in a Can
 * Sealed with a Kiss: Not the best possible example, as but counts.
 * Sinister Scraping Sound: Happens when Ace pulls apart the Z-Hatch.
 * Shout-Out:
 * All characters are based upon Animal Crossing characters.
 * This fact was directly referenced by Red while using one of his AC counterpart's famous lines.
 * Weaver has admitted that The white chamber was one of the main inspirations for Ruby Quest. Several scenes, in particular the, are taken directly from it.
 * An early command suggests carving a pumpkin into the shape of a keycard to solve a puzzle; Ruby, however, is stated not to be sleuthy enough to do so.
 * There is also a couple of System Shock references and another  This was also probably inevitable.
 * Weaver references two William Murdochs in the game; as both the engineer and the poet.
 * "He menaces with spikes of flesh at Tom."
 * IA IA FHTAGN
 * Slasher Smile:
 * Red has pretty much perfected this.
 * And also #6.
 * Spiritual Successor: One of Weaver's more recent quests, Nan Quest, functions as this to Ruby Quest.
 * Stuffed Into the Fridge:
 * Super Losers:
 * Take That: Remember all those people calling "Railroading!"?
 * Technology Porn: Many of the gadgets and workings of the facility give a big feeling of science/organic-tech fiction into the storyline.
 * Thanatos Gambit: which also serves as his Crowning Moment of Awesome.
 * These Hands Have Killed:
 * Tomato Surprise:
 * Tragic Monster: Mostly everyone, except for Ruby and Tom, who aren't monstrous enough, and Ace, who's not tragic enough )}}.
 * The Unsolved Mystery:
 * The Unpronounceable:
 * Viewers Are Geniuses: Much of the controversy about the Twist Ending revolves around the fact that
 * That's pretty much because many readers probably weren't expecting
 * White Mask of Doom: Ace's mask.
 * White Void Room: The setting in one of Ruby's hallucinations.
 * With Great Power Comes Great Insanity:
 * Who Wants to Live Forever?:
 * X Meets Y: Ruby Quest is often described as Animal Crossing meets Silent Hill.
 * Alternatively, H.P. Lovecraft meets MS Paint Adventures.
 * You All Meet in a Cell
 * With Great Power Comes Great Insanity:
 * Who Wants to Live Forever?:
 * X Meets Y: Ruby Quest is often described as Animal Crossing meets Silent Hill.
 * Alternatively, H.P. Lovecraft meets MS Paint Adventures.
 * You All Meet in a Cell
 * You All Meet in a Cell

Ruby Quest Discontinuity/ Additional Quests/ Jokes by Weaver
Along with the feature presentation, The Weaver also DM'd several other small adventures within the same campaign as Self Parodies and additional reference.

The archives to both God Quest and Daisy Quest can be found here.


 * Gag Series: Considerably.
 * Gaiden Games
 * Happy Ending: Weaver's alternate "Good End" to Ruby Quest.
 * Poe's Law: Many of Weaver's discontinuity gags and jokes appear to be actually half-canon to the story.
 * Something Completely Different

The Metal Glen
The poem to which Ruby Quest was based on.


 * Alternate Continuity: Humans were the antagonists of the story, instead of just more animals.
 * An Aesop: The only way to escape from the Hell you are trapped in is by trusting one another and working together.
 * Breaking the Bonds
 * Humans Are Cthulhu

Thursday Quest
Kid whines about Ruby Quest; raging, madness, absence of the fourth-wall, Thursday, and Orkz ensue.

"''"Hey, don't listen to that guy! You're doing great, Maddie!"
 * Anachronic Order
 * Character Title: ???
 * Easter Egg: NotWeaver's blank image file is labeled "invisibleporn.png".
 * In addition, he uses .png as the extension of his image files instead of the usual .gif.
 * Fourth Wall Mail Slot
 * Identity Impersonator: It was hinted that not only was Daisy impersonating Maddie,
 * Jerkasses/ Kick the Dog: Most of /tg/ are all bullying, taunting, swearing, and giving "Maddie" a vicious tongue-lashing by the fact that she is neither Ruby nor "Thursday?".
 * Pet the Dog: At least a few Anonymous treated her to a few nice words, and one was nice enough to comment:

Keep your chin up, man, things are going to be great for you. You'll see."''"


 * Kick Them While They Are Down: Even after the "Maddie" confesses that ; most of /tg/ are unsympathetic and still continue to taunt and harass her.

""Nice pair of eyes. I sure hope nothing happens to ruin their symmetry.""
 * Tempting Fate/ Sarcasm Mode: One Anonymous makes a remark referencing Maddie's monster-mouth mutation which had appeared in her right eye during Ruby Quest.

Mushroom Forest
A baffling continuation of Ruby Quest?

""This one's for Stitches.""
 * April Fools' Day
 * Big Creepy-Crawlies: The "Thing That Should Not Be" looks like a giant, slimy, freakish-looking beetle.
 * Brofist: Ruby to some odd web-creature.
 * Cargo Cult: The totem of the local "Goddess of Pleasure".
 * Chased by Angry Natives
 * Comically Missing the Point: Weaver has Ruby insert a set of stinkhorn mushrooms into a totem of the local Goddess of Pleasure, mistaking /tg/'s suggestions of "giving the idol what it wants" by having Ace... Well, you kinda get the idea...
 * Cool Guns: The LOVECRAFTIAN BLUNDERBUSS.
 * Eldritch Abomination: The "Thing That Should Not Be".
 * Fan Service: Contained in liberal amounts.
 * It's Personal:


 * Nightmare Face: The web-creature.
 * Noodle Incident: Many of them -- Lampshaded
 * Rescue the "Rover"?

Déjà Vu Ruby Quest
Stitcher reposts the opening picture of Ruby Quest.

However, strange things happen as Weaver interferes with fate.

""Auto-electrocution is never the solution.""
 * The Cameo:
 * Fandom Nod:
 * Fan Adaption:
 * Mad Doctor:
 * : Sort of...
 * Slogan: Ruby dimly remembers some faint slogan:
 * Mad Doctor:
 * : Sort of...
 * Slogan: Ruby dimly remembers some faint slogan:

Daisy Quest
The long-awaited sequel to Ruby Quest!


 * Character Title
 * Flipping the Bird: Hard to tell with those scrawny little appendages, but it's presumably what she is doing in the last image.
 * Mind Screw: At one point, water begins to quickly seep in Daisy's cell through the small air-holes.
 * Take That, Audience!: "" *bam!* ♥Yatta♥
 * Mind Screw: At one point, water begins to quickly seep in Daisy's cell through the small air-holes.
 * Take That, Audience!: "" *bam!* ♥Yatta♥

"Where Are They Now? Epilogue And what became of cat and hare? Did they break free to purer air? To guess their fate we shouldn't dare Perhaps their tale closed well..."

"'"—Fuck No. Ruby and her ass pal escape to the fucking moon. They live happily ever after. On the moon. Every night they watch the earth BURN. Purged by cleansing fire. Ruby and Tom fucking love each other. They make a million babies. Their children reclaim earth."'

Oh lord.

"FOR THE EMPEROR!""