The Pickle Vanilla Monthly US server had wiped on 7th November 2024. I had laid a chain of sleeping bags across the map on wipe day, and expected them to have decayed, but somehow one survived until 10th November, at which point I spawned there again, and found that a church had been built next to it.
The building was located at S14, next to the Bandit Camp. It featured religious verses painted on wooden signs. The time was 6am, but Brother Pyrite was awake, painting more verses. He described himself as a Rust Chad that had changed his ways, and was now taking care of the church rather than fighting other players.
He explained the ritual: “the idea is, if I’m not here to confess to – and you just want to have the holy Devs forgive you, you just place your rock on this altar, and you kneel, and then you say a little prayer, and then you take your rock back and place it in the box.” He was indifferent to the idea of other churches existing in Rust, which were uncommon – he had not yet come across any other churches.
He then pointed out the sign reading SALVATION LIES WITHIN, and recommended that I visit the confession booth, which he said was “for all those who have committed sins in Rust.” I joked that “it would apply to 100% of the Rust playerbase then.” The religion appeared to be a reflection of the selfish culture seen in Rust.
Inside the room was a locked door, a chair, and a fireplace adorned with candles. I could have taken a seat and confessed to countless (alleged) murders, or for having (allegedly) pillaged so many bases. But a suspicious red button caught my eye, marked PRESS AND BE ABSOLVED, so I asked about it, and was told that it was “self-explanatory.” I pressed the button, and was instantly killed by a shotgun trap.
I respawned and asked him about the religion. He said it was called “Children of the Rock“. A bear attacked me, so I jumped onto the confession booth ramp for safety, and the bear ran away. A few seconds later, a pair of wolves jumped up and attacked – I was downed, and noticed again that Brother Pyrite had been left unharmed. He got me back on my feet, but a few seconds later, I was killed by a bear, and heard what sounded like my body being chopped up.
For the last decade, standing on a base had granted players protection against animals, which had now changed with the update three days ago. Brother Pyrite denied the accusation of having control of the wolves, which he described as “demonic“.