#i have ideas for some other creatures but scavs? not really.

[tsunochizu]

Hey, sorry if yoi've been asked this before but I was wondering what is your headcannon for the origin of scavangers, more specifically what organism they descended from?

I don't have one.

To me, they just exist in the now I suppose.

[tropicalcontinental]

Trying to draw the curse but rain worldified (still figuring out a solid design)

[ari-zonia]

Decided to revamp my Sinner Slugcats so they're not all just multicolored scugs.

I did look into some of the symbols and stuff of the game, so the writing is more or less "Outlaw, Number", since I wasn't sure how to make a "Sinner" symbol in the RW language, so I just used Outlaw since it has the lowest Karma symbol anyway.

Intricacies under the readmore

Yi Sang: Inspired by daszombes' Deadlands video, he is a "Flying Slugcat", like a sugar glider or flying squirrel. He has no true flight, but it works

Faust: Some sort of Echo or associated. Has her own citizen ID drone of an unknown Iterator, and it also acts as a little scanner (inspired by @astragatwo's take on scug Faust). She still maintains Gourmand's crafting ability, but it might be more taxing with her smaller frame.

Don Quixote: A special breed of Slugcat meant to go fast, her legs are quite powerful, letting her make longer pounces or generally run faster than most other scugs. Obviously, her lack of weight makes her weak to poleplants/worm grass, but y'know.

Ryoshu: Similar to Spearmaster, but by way of King Vulture, she only has one spear directly connected to her that she can recall (it does not act like SM's feeding needles). Also, a subtle detail is that her ears are absolutely massive compared to most scugs, giving her enhanced hearing.

Meursault: (Perhaps a Purposed Being?) He has face armor not unlike a lizard, in fact he's about the same size as a blue lizard. His bite is quite powerful, and he's certainly the best to have in front going through pipes, as his face will deflect spears (should the scavs be aggro or something). He might also have better climbing ability, able to get on walls and such, but he's very heavy so idk

Hong Lu: Bioluminescent, like a fun mix of lantern mice and cyan lizards, he can "turn it off" as it were. His tail also can be used as a small flashbang, but obviously only once (per cycle). Of course, this helps with coalescipedes, but makes him a damn beacon otherwise.

Heathcliff: Still Artificer based, where explosions and such just don't really bother him and he's able to maul enemies (though obviously his bite is weaker than Meur's). He also has a pearl hanging around his neck of unknown use, but clearly given to him by someone special.

Ishmael: Rivulet, but even closer to salamander where she actually has fins, her ability to swim is obviously a cut above everyone else's. She's probably had a bad run in or two with Leviathans. Her cloak is probably a gift from whatever version of Queequeg this world has

Rodion: Also inspired by astragatwo, she's mega fluffy making her very warm. Though, this does make it annoying for her to swim if the area is cold because she'll freeze faster. I still like the idea she can carry more scugs on her, but idk. (She does look more like a fox, but such is the price of floof)

Sinclair: Saint-lite, and still pup-sized (he's an adult, just tiny like Don) so long as he's not at lowest Karma, he has limited ability to incapacitate enemies (not quite enough to ascend) and fly a bit with said ability. I basically wanted to reference his Mark of Cain somehow.

Outis: Ironically, just your average Slugcat. She probably has stuff going on with reputation or maybe she allows Echos to appear on first visit, or convinces Pebbles to not murder everyone immediately

Gregor: Definitely a creature that has been fucked with too much. Originally just a Slugcat that had been spliced with a centiwing (sorta like how the Miros Vultures are hybrids), he seemed to have got infected by the Rot, most likely when whatever Iterator structure he was hanging out around pulled a Pebbles

[its-the-sa]

Different anon. God just boiling down the slugcats to 'animals' angers me in a way I didn't think I could be angry. Yes, they are animals, but by all means they are cognitive and understand complex emotions, communicate with a supposedly complex language, are able to be taught to do things. Why else would the iterators use them as messengers constantly? It's not like they're messenger pigeons where it's just going from point A to point B, they understand exact instructions. If this was just some random animal, making groans and grunts, they wouldn't be able to understand what Five Pebbles even meant when he was explaining how to ascend. Even with the mark, could you imagine if he told a lizard this? Artificer, arguably, is a prime example of this. Just an animal would get over their fallen children, sure they'd grieve but in the end they'd just make more. Arti not only is so enraged by their death, that she is physically incapable of ascension, but also swears vengeance upon a whole other species. This isn't just some animal who lost her children, this is a mother who is enraged at her children's murder. Sure, they aren't on the same level as humans are. Like obviously. But I'd argue it makes sense that a scavenger and a slugcat could fall down the path of enemies to lovers. Especially when you consider the fact that death isn't permanent in Rain World's universe. That would definitely change one's perspective on it. I dunno if I make sense, I'm juggling like three things at once, but I had to say what I needed to say. Wording bad, slugcat smort.

tbh it took me a minute to figure out what this was even referring to, because honestly I don't think that anon meant to use the word 'animal' to dehumanize arti in the first place. it sounded to me like they were just using it as a non-human equivalent for 'person', like "why would anyone fall for a person who committed hate crimes against them?" which is a valid question. it never even occurred to me that they could have meant it in the sense of calling her an inferior creature.

that said... you ARE 100% right and you should say it, lmao.

I very nearly got into this exact argument once, bc i saw some comments from a guy scoffing at the idea of arti showing mercy to baby scavs. because by his logic, 'she is just an animal, so she isn't bound by human morality. in the wild, animals kill any young that don't belong to them without hesitation'. and it just pissed me off so much, because not only was it such an edgy "mercy is for the WEAK!" alpha-male bullshit take, it was also just factually wrong. many animals can and do adopt the young of other animals, even other species, especially when they've just lost their own. and like you said, they can grieve, but then they move on. they keep surviving, and making more babies. they don't dwell on injustice, or let rage consume them to the point that it becomes a hindrance to their own survival. they don't go on single-minded revenge quests. they dont try to justify their own violence by demonizing entire species, and they dont end up plagued by guilt in their sleep. those are very, very human things.

and yeah, i see a lot of people theorize that it's the mark of communication that grants the slugcats higher intelligence, but I don't really buy that either. i think the mark just lets them understand the iterator's language. they must've already had the capacity to understand it, or else it wouldn't work at all. it'd be like trying to install windows on a calculator. also, even without the mark, slugcats are obviously shown to communicate with each other. they have their own culture, they tell stories and make art, and they're apparently able to understand karma and the nature of the cycle at least enough to be able to ascend. so like... any creature thats capable of spiritual enlightenment must at least be sapient, right??

it seems like in the absence of the ancients, both slugcats and scavs are beginning to move in to their niche in the ecosystem

[kalivasquezart]

Just wanted to say that I absolutely love your au about the Pioneer. Its so well thought out and just overall amazing and oh boy dont even get me started on your art— absolutely beautiful💖💕

I also am working on an au based off of Artis pups and when I found you I was like 🫢🫵 Very similar ideas 👀👀👀Also Hunter as Pioneer’s mentor is SUCH A COOL CONCEPT— Like like cause Hunters my favorite scug and the fact that you included him in your au and as Marbles’ mentor is just *squeals* but it also makes a lot of sense considering he comes a little bit after Arti and is one of the few scugs who can encounter pups in their campaign. I also wanted to ask if its okay with you if I use that idea/concept in my own au 👉👈

I was also thinking about Pioneer’s brother— Ik you said that you hc him as being dead, like officially, but I thought it would be interesting if he was still alive. I personally was inspired to let him live in my au simply because of some official art of Gorum (specifically his endings art especially the food quest one where he has a suspiciously familiar green slugpup). I was thinking something like what happened to Surv and Monk (the one-way pipe considering the fact that he kind of began to drift to the right as he sank) happened to him and Gorum found him. Idk these are just ideas Im using for my own au but thought I would share.

I just realized this is super long sorry HANDNAND I am insane and write too much

ahhhh thank you for the kind words skek YOU FLATTER ME~

[there are rain world spoilers regarding artificer's capaign below, be warned]

while my current headcanon is that the green pup died, i've been thinking very hard about it for the last week or so, and IMO there's a high chance i will retcon that. if the pipe thing is canon to Surv/Monk campaigns then i'm even more eager to adopt that idea. my only real hold-up about the pup was that we clearly see it drown in Arti's dream (the same flashing aura behaviour when you swim underwater), and if he really did drown then the only way to bring him back to life would be through karmic rebirth "last checkpoint save" kind of thing… which feels a bit cheap? a little too simple for me. i'm heavily biased here, because a while ago i read an interesting lore post of someone trying to explain why Arti's pups wouldn't "respawn" if they were killed, while Arti did. in short, the pups were too young to be bound by karma and so when they died, they died for good (reincarnated as a different creature, maybe) - but Artificer being an adult and already having experienced the urges before, was brought back. if i can, i will try to find that post again, and link it here.

ANYWAY yeah, personal AUs don't have to strictly comform to the game's canon, i keep forgetting about that. hell, i've seen people revive scav king or, i dunno, SOS from the dead, and they made it work.

speaking of my AU again, i may also have headcanon'd Arti's mate as a semi-aquatic scug (less freaky than riv tho), and so Bryn/green pup would have inherited some of those genes, making him more likely to survive the drowning. so yeah, i think i like the storytelling potential of keeping the pup alive, althought i'd have to sit down and do a proper brainstorming on what that means… when Arti and Marbles eventually reunite with their long lost other half of the family.

by the way, if you (or anyone else reading this post) wants to use my ideas in their own AU then i'm okay with that! no need to credit or anything. many people come up with similar concepts anyway, it'd be silly to try and police them on it.

[katiekatdragon27]

Thank you Rain World Ray World mod for the inspiration <3

So I got back in to Rain World like two weeks ago and got this cool new mod where I could play as some Rayman characters. I main as Goth Teensy ofc, but it got me thinking about how the actual Rayman cast would work in Rain World. So, here are some concepts.

(Some things for sure are that slugcats are teensies, scavengers are glutes, lizards are dragons, vultures are knaaren, neurons/batflies are lums, ancients are limbless/thingamagigs, the nymphs are iterators, and the lesser fairies are overseers.)

Actual designs the bios below cut:

Limbless Body, Sunray Mind (Rayman) was a purposed organism created by Beyond the Earth and Stars (Betilla). Beyond's fascination and respect for the ancients that built her led to Sunray's creation, a conglomerate of Ancient body parts held together with mechanics. He's still very much like the og Rayman (energetic, kind-hearted, procrastinator, strong, etc.) except now he has two permanent companions in the form of overseers who keep him from dying. One overseer is Ly, and she's actually good at her job. The other, Murfy, is really bad at keeping Sunray alive.

Also, although Sunray can survive downpours of rain, it does cause his body parts to detach and be unusable.

Globox is not his actual name, it was the name that Sunray heard him referred to when they first met. He's a scavenger that is still the same old Globox, big, loving, scared, but this time armed with water and a knife. He and Sunray met on accident while he was being chased by a lizard. Sunray stabbed the lizard (on accident but shhhh) and Globox immediately bonded to him. When he's not hanging out with his own scav colony, he's with Sunray sleeping in shelters or exploring the Glade. He does do weekly food trips for his wife and kids tho.

Raised by a skilled spearsmater and explosive artificer, the Grand Minimus has a knack for fighting and crafting. Although not being the smartest scug in the colony, he is very skilled in thinking on his feet and getting himself and others out of tight situations. However, he does view slugcats higher than most other creatures, so befriending other species is a challenge for him. But with Beyond's protection, the colony has no need to worry about a mass attack anytime soon. He really likes Sunray though; they take awesome naps together.

The Goth is one of the newest residents of Beyond's scug colony. Coming and going from the group quite frequently, he bounces between relaxing / attempting to make friends and guarding the entrance to the Depths and to an extent, the Rubicon. However, he's not very good at either. Whether it's his weird tail and mannerisms or his giant red lizard pet, it's anyone's guess why he struggles. When Sunray comes into the picture, he is able to have an easier time making friends (cuz of that Sunray rizz), but still struggles. When he disappears for longer durations of time, he's either with the Ray Gang or hanging with his found family down in the Rubicon.

I will make more later, but this is it for now. I love them all. If anyone has any ideas or questions, feel free to ask lol.

Have a good one folks :))

[wrmbug]

Is there a reason cinnamon is the only scav that cares about arti? Or were they like: hmmm yes I shall befriend the demon that wiped out 80% of the population.

Well here's my theory that I came up with in the shower.

(oh boy here we go)

Cinnamon was getting back to their shelter as the cycle was 5 ticks away from ending, it noticed a red slugcat running away from scavs with their pups, one got skewered and the other drowned. Just another day cinnamon thought, but a few cycles later it saw the corpses of those scavs. And cinnamon realized the carnage to come. Cinnamon found themself withing LTTMs structure where it lied and waited for the next few cycles. Eventually they came back and found what had happened.

The reason cinnamon is the only one that cares about arti is because they are the only scav that knows what happened. To the other scabs arti was a sadist who attacked without reason. But cinnamon knows. He knows everything that occured.

So is my goofy little theory correct or did I just throw one of the most insane ideas at you at 1000 mph that your gonna make it canon?

holy moly you guys are really interested in cinnamons lore huh

you are somewhat caught up lol probably majority actually

they were one of the scavengers of the toll patrol that arti ran away from with her pups . while the others chased them down , he was the only one that didnt want to engage . he was only expecting the scavengers to atleast scare them off , but seeing one them impale an infant without a clear conscience was something that hasnt left his mind since

he couldnt process what he saw , like at all . cinnamon was somewhat , different than most scavengers . he liked pearls , but not as much to kill somebody for it . if somebody were to steal one , he'd probably chase them down until to give it back ; not necessarily have the gut to kill somebody for it .

cinnamon tried to isolate themselves from tolls after a few cycles since the ideal of a child getting killed was not a very pleasant thing to remember--- especially since slugpups are not like most creatures or animals . once you lose them , theyre gone for GOOD .

cinnamon met arti again after witnessing his tribe get killed , and they were the only ones that got away . he remembered that slugcat--- the color , the eyes , the appearance in general . he knew what was coming . the scavengers bit first , and artificer was coming to bite back harder . cinnamon was loyal , very faithful and trust worthy even to the elites .

theyve met the third time during the battle of the chieftain , as it made their call for other scavengers to sabotage arti during the battle . he knew he stood no chance towards the beast and so he backed down too . shes nobody to mess with , especially with the obvious wrath in her eyes . he was there when she killed their king--- and he was there when they saw her slaughter his kind once more

arti noticed him for a while , and he recognized them from the first time theyve met at the toll--- she couldve killed him there , yet something stopped her from doing so.

cinnamon understood , as actions spoke louder than words . arti is somebody who was struggling . he saw the anguish , and sadness through her eyes . cinnamon couldnt forgive her for what shes done , but he wanted to show that he cared . he understood her frustration and hate , and he couldnt bare to just keep her living with the same anguish . which is why cinnamon is so loyal to her , he wants her to recover as much as she can so atleast she has some hope that somebodys actually there--- even though sometimes she wants him dead

[angelofchaos001]

Ooh good news Tumblr a stroke of genius hit me while drawing

So it's known (and if it wasn't, it is now) that I base all of my fantasy creature art off of existing creatures to give me a frame of reference. Examples are I like to use lizards and birds for dragons, cats of all kinds for sluggies or sometimes dogs, lizards for . . . the Rain World lizards, you get the picture.

One I had always been stuck on was the scavengers, even though i've drawn them a lot and such. In game, they're primarily quadrupeds, but can clearly still balance on their hind legs for purposes of throwing. A small detail that kept throwing me off is that some have tails and some don't, which just . . . looks cool but makes no sense scientifically. (I brush it off as 'fantasy game being fantasy game' Im not a nerd in that regard)

For the longest time, I drew scavengers in really weird ways and just generally avoided drawing their bodies. I couldn't figure out a good real-world animal to base their physique on and mainly just drew them similarly to cats, despite them . . . not being cats at all.

Just now, though, I had a fucking breakthrough.

I WAS SO FOCUSED ON THEIR HUMAN-LIKE QUALITIES I FUCKING FORGOT ABOUT OTHER PRIMATES THAT WERE RIGHT THERE

I'm finally pleased to say that I have my scavenger body physique down to an actual process! They're some kind of mix of a gorilla, a chimpanzee, and an anteater (for the tailed ones and to help with the knuckle-walker aspect I swear they do in-game).

I'll post some pictures later, but I'll do it by drawing some scavs I've grown particularly fond of seeing on Tumblr (Some were from the scav submission post earlier, others I've just seen before and like)

So, to recap on how my scavengers are:

-Body shape is a mix of gorilla, chimp, and anteater

-Heads have short, rounded snouts and soft pointed ears (Not based on any particular animal, this was my own brain)

-The unique head shapes they have are all masks, it's a huge part of scavenger culture (Specifically, they're modified vulture masks. Inspired by the elite scavs, of course)

-Knuckle-walkers to keep their claws sharp! They use them when they have no other defenses or to sharpen spears that have dulled with use, as well as cutting fabric for explosive spears or accessories, marking symbols into walls or the ground, carving out masks, or anything else you might need sharp claws for =>

-Have three-word names that describe them and their skills, but also have a one-word baby name (the longer name is part of their ceremony to officially be a part of the tribe) as well as a short nickname.

Bonuses for other ideas I tossed for my scavs before tonight:

-Fucked up catfoxes (Yes, really)

-Bears

-Humans

-Velociraptors

-Ratites (Emus, Ostriches, Ria, etc)

[spotsupstuff]

I saw the Ask regarding your Ancients and

Yeah I agree with everything they said. Ancients being sea anemones is just... So right. Can't see them any other way (They are funky freaky sea anemones that grew legs!) /pos

I love your own spin on things, too! (even if they aren't meant to stick close to cannon, it's fun to think about!)

It still feels all plausible to me in the Rain World Universe, which just opens so many Avenues to expand on things! Words are escaping me but I just

Love yer stuff so much

the ancients are fucking seafood n i think that explains why they are Like That to a degree ngl GJKLSDCMLSK The Seafood Vibes of a Whole Species....

i do find it interesting though how ya two stand behind the sea anemone thing with "it feels right". cuz like yes, i obviously agree! when u look at the hair bullshit they have goin on in the graffiti/murals, it makes a lot of sense. but i do think most fandom still thinks n stands behind the idea of the ancients being some sort of a land creature, like lizards, scav-related, birds, dogs... which is Very valid n in a way i do perceive those as the basis for ancients as well. i think of myself as an outlier. so the fact ya two go "it feels right" is very "👁👁 o wowie... lookit dat.. look..... (*꒪ヮ꒪*)" to me /in a v pos way

-snaps fingers n points atcha- but YES!!! *YES* THAT'S A BIG THING FOR ME- i can go off wherever i wanna n where the feelings will lead me but it Has to still fit into the universe! if the universe is a little changed because of the way i go about drawing the iterators, then okay, but there is still a certain Rain World vibe that needs to be respected no matter what cuz otherwise i stop writing about RW. which i don't wanna do cuz i love this lil shitlet of a game. and IDEALLY by straying away from the largely canon stuff but staying with the Vibes, i will- exactly, yes!!!!- open up new Avenues for world-building!!!!!

world-building is genuinely one of my favorite things to do. with RW it is especially fascinating because all of the information that we are really offered is all from a singular source that is Moon's/Pebbles' facilities (when it comes to visually/gameplay relaid information) Or what we can mostly safely assume is a singular continent wide network of iterators (since Suns is kinda weird to place cleanly)

RW is fascinating and engaging because while it offers only a small piece of the world for us to learn from, it uses the passage of time to expand upon itself n i fuckin Love it. also the main reason why i'm trynna respect the general timeline as much as possible. thanks to this expansion through time, not space, RW manages to never really feel stifling and claustrophobic when reviewing the lore

i do like to pose the question or my tactic of going 180°- which means that i take what is given, turn exactly the other way n start Marching in order to widen the horizont of understanding of the universe (n i also do that with characters pretty often ngl... i love my 180° rule a lot). if RW is focusing on expansion within time, i'll do my best to focus on expansion within space and then detail That

and thank you!!! i'm glad you enjoy my stuff!!!!

[nerdydowntherabbithole]

hey, still working on the fic btw (got some cool ideas about the environment around EF), but i just thought of an insane AU

so i am about to ramble to you now, not going to turn into fic(at least i dont think so, i'm not good at writing gun fights)

but basically, what if the iterators were powered by nuclear reactors? (or what if rain world was stalker/metro/last of us/mad max)

i call it...

The Radiation AU

to start, the iterators and their angst. back when the ancients were alive they kept the reactors nice and functional, but after they left? yeah they started falling apart. of course, they still need water for cooling and energy production (remember, nuclear reactors are basically glorified steam reactors) so the rains are still a factor, but uh oh! the disrepair caused the radiation to fill the systems, so now the rain is radioactive AND acidic!

anyway, the rot! pebbles still tried to kill himself, but not only he failed but the rot is rapidly mutating due to radiation exposure, coming in a full RAINBOW of suffering! all colors and shapes, some are small and fast, others shoot acid and so on! (ofc not all mutations are "good" some for example burn when exposed to UV light) they are basically different species from on another so not only they attack pebbles, they also attack each other!

anyway, so moon fell(got real thirsty) but her reactor is still """"""functional""""". so while it isn't really powering her anymore, it is pumping radiation directly into the landscape, creating a radioactive hellscape around her collapsed structure, a zone, if you will (wink wink, stalker moment)

anyway, fauna time. the lizards (and most creatures for that matter) are mutated abominations, sickly things covered in actual cancerous tumors, radioactive to the touch~!

anyway, scavs! so the scavengers are no longer silly. first, they are armed to the teeth, guns, grenades and everything else. second, they got the rad(iation) protection, instead of googly eyes, they have dark masks with dark lenses covering their face, making sounds of deep breathing as they go. now for how they live, the tolls are essentially outposts to stay alert for threats and protect their main colonies, basically, the outposts hunt for crafting materials, food, medicine and watch for threats, they move those supplies to treasuries(that also serve to supply the outposts themselves) and then all of that supply is taken to their actual settlements(which are underground btw). in this harsh world, clean medicine is very valuable, they also use the crafting supplies to make ammo and weapons for their outposts. very metro-esque aesthetic to them.(and a little bit of stalker in there)

anyway, scugs!(now their aesthetic is more of a mix between stalker, last of us and max max) first off, the masks. while the scavs (as mentioned before hand) use the classic old-school gas masks that have two lenses, the scugs tend to wear respirators with wide visors(like these:)

there is no practical reason for this, it's just neat.

anyway, the scugs also have the medicine problem, but while the scavs hang around ancient structures and use them to create the aforementioned supply chains, the scugs tend to just leave a location when the existing supplies run out, this also means they are not as well armed as the scavs. hence their migrations.

and FINALLY, our beloved scugs

lets start with gourmand. they are a dreamer, they dream of a sanctuary untouched by radiation, so they lead their colony into constant migrations. and every time they migrate, they lose more scugs, which leads us into...

survivor and monk, they were the most recent casualties. monk slipped because of the rain and survivor was quick to jump after, so they are now alone together, as survivor has no plans of taking them back to the colony. because: 1. they probably already left. and more importantly... 2. survivor is tired, tired of losing friends, tired of travelling harsh terrains, they just want to live in peace and take care of their sister like they promised their parents. so they stay, mainly around outskirts, less radiation. survivor is not the best caretaker and monk is young and naive(which sometimes lands them in unwanted situations) but they live the best they can.

arti time, arti backstory is mosly the same, but changes a bit so i'll detail. arti and her pups were starving, spent some time like that as well, so when they passed by a scav treasury, and smelled the scent of food, one of the pups decided to surprise their mother by following the scent and coming back with a big box full of food and medicine! but their mom wasnt happy, why was she not happy? ... the pup barely had enough time to turn around before they were cut down by bullets. arti grabbed the other pup and ran, they were almost there! they could make it! ... and then, just as she made an explosive jump... an grenade fired from a grenade launcher detonated next to them... and in an instant they were both ingulfed in a cloud of burning white phosphorus, causing her to drop her last pup into the murky, radioactive, leech filled depths. and causing her burn scars

(giving arti another paragraph) now? arti wants to destroy the scavengers, remember all of that about their supply lines they have? yeah arti is taking that down, they blow up treasuries filled with supplies and kill any scavenging parties they see. forcing the scavengers to get more desperate to attain supplies, leaving their main dens, where their young, old, sick and disabled stay, less and less defended. but she is not alone, they have a, somewhat unwilling, follower...

spear master time, or rather bolt master. they use their needles as ammo for their crossbow, not only that, but instead of a mouth they have a built-in organic filter in their face to protect them for the radiation. they were sent to pebbles after moon's collapse, a last ditch attempt to get pebbles to see reason, didn't work. pebbles not only ripped the pearl from spearmaster's chest, but they destroyed the filter in anger and tossed their body out of their chamber, having an inspector toss them into the top of their can.

luckily for the scug without a face, arti was there (yeah its another arti paragraph). you see, pebbles lets arti deal with their scav problem in the city, they dont actually try to live in the city in this one tho, its suicide. during the era of the ancients, the city was safely protected from the radiation by the ancients' maintenance and the iterators' quarantine, but now the ancients are gone and the iterators couldn't care less about their cities, so the are now filled with radiation. the scavs still go there to hunt supplies because its untouched by the rains, so there's way more intact stuff, but in order to do that they need way more protection. so the scavs that go here have way better gear, full body hazmats, closed masks with oxygen tanks, Kevlar plates and so on.

back to arti and spear, arti decides to save spear by first, covering most of their face with bandages to stop it from falling apart further, and putting spear into one of the aforementioned hazmat, oxygen tank and closed mask from one of the scavs she killed. after that spear sticks with arti, helping in her crusade. at first they sympathize with her suffering. but as time goes on? they watch as arti leaves scavs to bleed out on the floor and watch as she destroys their supplies, she laughs when they sob. so they get into arguments, but arti always reminds them how she can do this on her own, and if they dont like it then they should leave. but they cant leave, they dont want to stay alone, they cant stay alone. what if the wounds reopened? what if the oxigen tank broke? what if the oxygen tube or mask ruptured? what then? they need someone else to survive. they cant even go back to their creator... the oxygen tank wouldn't last the journey... at least they know their creator still watches them, they sometimes see the overseer...

now hunter time, hunter is fucked up yo. so basically, sig observed trough sneaky overseers that the rot could consume the mutants that roamed the wastes just fine. so they came up with hunter, a slugcat, but instead of a regular digestive system, they have the rot that does the digesting for them. they are one of the few non-irradiated creatures that is capable of feeding on flesh because of the rot, they are not on a timer btw, sig gave them busted radiation resistance so they could travel through moon's zone.

riv time, this all starts when another iterator(not from the local group) learns of what happened to moon, you know what i said about moon's reactor still "working"? yeah this is where that comes in, after doing the calculations the iterator realized that the winds would eventually carry the radiation halfway across the globe! then they noticed a curious lone aquatic slugcat near their structure, they had an idea... riv was given high radiation protection and high quality anti-radiation equipment. they were given one mission, shut down moon's reactor(btw this doesn't affect moon, she is too disconnected from the structure). riv aggres as a thank you for the equipment and modifications (done with riv's consent btw), after this they could travel pretty wherever they want with the mods and equipment

all of the scugs happen very close to eachother in the timeline of this AU, riv is the last one as they arrive right after hunter arrives to the region.

as for saint... they dont exist because i couldn't think of a way to make them fit.

thank you for reading my insane ramblings

I AM GOING TO FAKKING BITE YOU THIS IS ALL SUCH AN EPIC AWESOME CONCEPT YOU ARE SO EPIC FOR THIS WHAT. AAAHAAAIDHIEUHFEOUFHDUHEFUEHEUEFEFUEEHHE AUGH. HELP I AM STARING

[sp1resong]

TELL ME ABOUT YOUR IETARTOR OCS????????

OKAY SO

So far it's just Arbitrary Evaluation (Val, they/them) and Strives for Neutrality (Neutrality, any/all). Val is situated far to the north in a tundra region and works with the Courier as a messenger, though they favor lizards over scugs in most situations--they have a shit ton of pet lizards (usually found hanging around their access shaft), if they had Tumblr I'm certain they'd run an 'is the lizard video cute' blog, you get the idea.

Their local group is pretty small and made up mostly of younger iterators, as the area would've probably been covered in glaciers until some iterator-induced climate change had happened. They're not particularly close with any of them, really.

Neutrality, meanwhile, is situated a ways to the south, along a mountains coastline. She doesn't really have a designated messenger, but they do love making scugs! Splicing scugs with random creatures is like his main hobby. Not that he has many others.

At least a couple of their scugs are cameos of my older character concepts i.e. Kelp and the Beacon.

Its local group is pretty large, but they're rather on the reclusive side and don't really talk to anyone much.

The two first met through their shared interest in biology (read: Val probably said something wrong abt purposed organisms in a group chat Neutrality was lurking in and he immediately jumped to correct them) and became very close. They collaborated on several projects, made a bunch of slugcats (and at least a few lizards), etc etc.

[narrator voice] all that changed when the triple affirmative attacked

I haven't quite worked out the details, but uh. I support gay divorce <3

It's not that they don't get along anymore, but their relationship has become... complicated.

(picture:

AE: They're adding 'sliverist' to the DSM

SFN: FUCK YOU AND FUCK YOUR LIZARDS)

uhh other fun facts:

despite his love of scugs, neutrality Does Not Like the courier. they clawed her shirt the first time Val sent them and one thing abt neutrality is that they are a boygirl who loves holding grudges. striving for neutrality And Failing <3

val's fluffy cloak is not their original! the courier got it from the scavs and gave it to them as a gift.

most of the creatures unique to Val's area are inspired by ice age fauna because I love paleontology (see: smilodon scugs)

[tammyhybrid21]

Part the Third

SCAVENGER TIME BABY!

Well actually mostly just me trying to justify the idea that scavengers are colony insects and not monkeys but anyway...

Also scavs are really annoying to try and draw consistently, like what even is their anatomy thankyou?! Also most of these kind of lead into each other more than the Iterator and Slugcat headcanon thoughts because I have, strong opinions... more than I expected since I am kind of indifferent to Scavs in the game(well outside of Artificer’s campaign where it’s very much, please leave me alone or die faster)

I so dearly wish I could rant all about insect wars and how they relate to scavs, but it’s not something I can really sum up succinctly. But it’s in their fight first nature and all over how they react to things. Of course it’s not the start and end of my headcanon, but it’s certainly one of the big things. Reminds me especially of how ant colonies are, although scavs in Rain World are much more universal in their interactions as the reputation system goes...

Colony Insects and good lord do they change the environment. Also I directly relate this point back to the Metropolis scavs. Who booooy will I talk about them again later. I’m working on individual scribble headcanons somewhere down the line and man-- I think the implications of the scavengers in Metropolis say SO MUCH. Both for Scavengers and Five Pebbles.

It’s a bit of a miscommunication but plain terms...

Pebbles might have had better luck dealing with things if he invited Slugcats in over Scavs... because as insect based colony creatures-- Scavs going to look at the environment and go “we will make you work for us!” while Slugcats-- rodents find their way in and adapt to the environment instead... I mean look at how Mice and Rats live out in our world... sure they can and will make new dens, but more often they just find a space and adapt.

Insects though, hah.

I HAVE AN EXPLANATION FOR THIS!

But seriously, decoys! I think the pearls are double timing. It’s not just that they’re shiny and nice to look at. But it’s protection. This is PURE headcanon, but if they really are insects, well Eggs. And again kind of going on ants because there are... some that will bring pebbles down into their nests and well-- yeah.

I also have more thoughts on the hoarding behaviour, but it’s hard to fully explain... Also yeah, Scavs are army ants... well not really, but one of the big species that I immediately thought of. Especially once you have Chieftain and they just send a whole Guard Squad to “help” you sometimes. Like good lord, does anyone else find that their “help” is WORSE that when they don’t care about you and are neutral?! Because lordy I do.

Hah, I mean, they do value karma flowers if you trade them. So I just extrapolated. It’s probably to do with the reincarnation cycle. Also I have... other thoughts on that, but it’s minor. Bet the ancients were more likely to become scavs down the line, those who did-- Scavs or Scugs... but I lean more to scavs for... reasons.

Pearls as well the masks of the elites. Also another point of the insect wars comparison. Because man, when you look at the game there are different tribes kind of... depending on which regions you’re in. Although, it’s very possible that they’re all the same colony under the one Scav Chief since well-- The reputation with them is Universal between Moon and Pebbles’ grounds.

Oh, and just a bonus picture at the end of this all...

Not entirely serious, but-- just something funny I suppose.

[fadebolt]

Some more stuff that happened with me and my little 6 year old cousin while playing Rain World, this time on the Artificer campaign! This was a while ago, so my memory is a bit hazy, but I still have a pretty good idea of everything that happened.

Him: I wanna try the explosive slugcat!

Me: Ok. *starts up the Artificer campaign

*intro sequence plays out

Me: *heads back into the storage room to eat more scavs

Me: So where are we going? Left or right?

Him: Left.

Me: Oh boy....

*attempts to get through the toll, fails miserably

Him: Let's try left again.

Me: Ooookaaayyy...

*gets mercilessly speared again

Me: Yeah, the toll is a little tough. Can we go right now?

Him: ...ok, fine.

After a bunch of messing around with the explosive jumps (was a bit rusty with the game at the time), tough combat with all manner of creatures, and him figuring out the scav karma mechanic with me giving some little hints, we finally made it to the shelter below Memory Crypts.

Me, thinking: Alright, finally! Little guy's first MC visit! And it's with the slugcat who can handle that area the best too. This'll be great! On the other hand...

Me: Seems we're missing a few food pips. Let's hunt down that big Centipede up there, then we can rest in this little shelter!

*climbs up through the leftside tunnel and starts jumping in place to get the bug in line

Centipede: *climbs up and starts charging at me

Me: *throws my one spear at the Centipede right as it's about to reach me. Spear somehow flies off into the distance, right above the creature

Centipede: *does a fast lethal zap moments before my stun blast could go off

Him: You die too much on this one. Let's play the yellow one!

Me: ....

Me: ....

Me: ....fine. *exits the campaign and loads up the Monk save

So yeah, I was essentially told "git gut" by a kindergartener. I definitely won't be showing him Enot anytime soon, that's for sure.

At least his younger sibling tends to focus more around compliments instead. Anytime I do a slide, or a roll, or a tricky platforming section, or a kill on a predator, he always goes "Wow, you're really good at this game!", which is kinda funny, because I basically haven't done any of the stuff that's considered to be difficult (heck, I haven't even completed a Hunter run without karma caching).

I suppose that's what being so young, and so new to the game does. And I absolutely thought that my dad was very impressive too, when I was watching him play Heroes of Might and Magic 3 as a 4 year old, even if he technically wasn't on the top 0,1% of players, and was struggling like crazy on some of the lategame campaign maps.

That's one important thing we could really learn from children. We shouldn't need to be exceptional, flawless or amongst the best, to be appreciated. Pretty good is not perfect, but it is still... pretty good, which is something that you've earned and should undoubtedly be proud of, even if you should still always be striving to improve.

[eltanin0]

I would also like to include forced starve cycles into the campaign. Due to The Relict's survivors guilt, i believe there would be cycles where they refused to leave their shelter and instead opt to starve. this would have a pretty low chance of occurring per hibernation, maybe 10% we'll say. The first time it happens it would trigger a dream sequence showcasing the shelter doors opening and closing with The Relict refusing to leave. now of course this is a significant downside, you're being forced to play a starve cycle which isn't fun. But, logically this wouldn't be the first time The Relict has done this. So my thought is that instead of having largely decreased stats and frustrating exhaustion mechanics, The Relict would be downgraded to the stats of a normal slugcats and have a much more lenient exhaustion threshold. This should still allow them to fight lizards and creatures for food, as well as make progress. the lenient starve cycles is also the reason they can only store 1 food for hibernation. i think i would like it if the game saved during the forced starve cycle, so that you're required to play it out.

I think that's plenty of changes compared to survivor. However i would now like to go over certain mechanics and ideas i've had, but i believe would be too much to add to this scug. for starters, i have thought about the relationship between The Relict and scavangers. I do not believe they would be enemies, but instead would have an easier time with them. increased starting rep and whatnot. This ties into my idea of possible pearl storage. The Relict would be able to store a single pearl, tying it to their chewed ear like an earing. this would allow their stomach to be used for other storage while still holding onto a pearl. I actually brought this up like 8 or 9 months ago in an ask by atom (i have removed it because holy shit my answer was mega cringe :). anyway, the reason i dont think i'd add it is because of the implied connection the Relict has with scavangers, and i cannot be bothered fitting it into their story without making it more bloated than it already is. they also wouldn't have a huge amount of interactions with scavs in their campaign regardless, though i guess it could be useful when playing other campaigns with them. Another idea i've had that i will not be including, because i'm certain this would be too much as well as a lot of coding, is some sort of adrenaline mode. by pressing specific inputs together, you would enter a kind of fight or flight, with a slight increase to all stats at the cost of 1/4 food pips per second (maybe half if it was too op). My thought being that you'd either use it and die fighting, or win and be able to eat the opponent. i thought having a mechanic like this would be helpful in a primarily combat oriented campaign, seeing as Spearmaster has infinite spears and Artificer has a double jump and other stuff. however i believe it would overcomplicate the character and be too much for the player to "buy into". Also, i've tried to have stuff make sense, a lot of their strengths and weaknesses have reasons behind them, but including this "adrenaline mode" wouldn't make sense since the rest of the cast doesn't have access to it. Characters that would be more likely to use it, like Artificer or Hunter or any of them really, wouldn't be able to. And that doesn't sit right with me. So that ability is a no go for me.

Man i haven't even touched on the overall story with RoS yet :[ (tbf it's the most iffy part and weakest in terms of thought behind it, much could and would be changed). Basically The Relict would be traveling the land enacting revenge on the lizard population and ultimately trying to find the lizard that massacred it's colony. Eventually throughout exploring it would make it's way down into the earth and meet up with RoS. Their first meeting is the same as what i said in my RoS ramble, RoS offers it's last neuron to The Relict, which it (you the player) refuses to eat. Part of the reason is because The Relict understands that eating the neuron fly would likely result in RoS' "death". It's annoyed by RoS giving up when The Relict themselves has lived with the guilt and refuses to die and waste the opportunity it was given, as well as viewing themselves as only a tool for revenge. Instead they choose to help RoS and force them to see value in their lives, and in doing so provide themselves with their own purpose besides vengeance. Anyway, the rest i've talked about, go deeper, void sea, blah blah, fix RoS a little bit, make way back up to RoS, find purpose in helping something else and proving that your own life has value. The end. I've toyed with the idea that after the campaign there'd be a seperate story about getting revenge and how RoS would try and stop The Relict and all that stuff but i haven't properly thought about it.

Well that was a ton of rambling that hopefully people won't read. If you did, sorry :P . I'm sure i've forgotten stuff or maybe gotten some of it wrong and overall just wasted a ton of time. But at least it's out there and i don't have to memorize it all anymore. Of course stuff can and likely will change but that's where i've been at for the past 8 or so months, yes most of this has been up in my head for a while. I just hope i didn't mess stuff up too much, I kinda lost track at the end since i've been writing this for a couple hours. Anyway thanks for reading and I'm really sorry about all that.

hope i reblogged this shit right

hmm i think it's about time i drop the lore for my green slugcat, dubbed "The Relict" (while the name has slightly grown on me, i'm still hesitant to set it in stone)

unfathomable, insane amounts of rambling below. nobody is forced to read it. Holy shit it's longer than the RoS one D:

About The Relict and general stuff on the campaign. this is just what i've got for now and very well could change in the future.

I would like to start by mentioning that when creating this character i tried my best to keep them plausible within the world of Rain World. With changes that could realistically be created without a ton of extra code, or deviate too far from the base slugcats, at most being within the realm of the "More Slugcats Expansion." so Relict, a green slugcat with a bite taken out of it's right ear and eye, as well as it's right arm (in-game dominant) having a lighter "singed" color to it. The Relict is predominantly shown with an angered expression and focuses on fighting, rather than fleeing. of course it didn't always look this way, starting out as a regular green slugcat and gaining these traits later.

i think i'm going to start with story elements and backstory, i believe knowing these first will help with the understanding of gameplay elements later. The Relict was an average slugcat part of a very ordinary colony. they predominantly hung out with 2 other slugcats, a pale desaturated blue one, and a pink one (this idea is still pending, however it's a viable placeholder for now). one day, while at their home in a region similar to the outer expanse, their colony is attacked by a roaming Lizard. i'm still not 100% decided on what type of lizard, however i'm between either a caramel or a red. either way, their colony is massacred starting with the pink slugcat, and Relict about to be next. The pale blue scug shoves Relict out of the way, sacrificing themselves, and is killed instead. The Relict flees, chased by the lizard, to the edge of their forest area. they're cornered on a cliffside with water below and the lizard slowly approaching. As the lizard bites, The Relict falls backwards out of the jaws, only sustaining minor injuries to it's ear and eye. I'm still not decided whether i should make the avoidance luck, with the ground beneath The Relict crumbling slightly and causing the fall, or whether The Relict should choose to rather die from falling than eaten by the lizard. Regardless, The Relict falls backwards off the cliff and into the water below. unconscious, they drift away atop the water before washing up on shore in an unfamiliar land. along with intense anger to lizards, henceforth they are wracked with survivors guilt and it ways heavily on their mind.This is the basics of their backstory and ideally all of this information would would be conveyed to the player through dream sequences/cutscenes. I would also like to mention that their story is the reason for their name. "Relict" has multiple meanings, however "something surviving where other's did not" is a reoccuring theme. a remnant of something old. (Remnant being a possible name i'd thought of). It's also a connection between the scug and RoS

i think i will now talk a bit about their gameplay changes. they are a fairly standard slugcat, standard in that they don't have crazy abilities like most downpour scugs (no explosive jumps or infinite spears). they are however fairly stronger and quicker than the average slugcat. stat-wise they're similar to the Hunter, above average speed, jump height, slide distance, pole climbing, throwing power (i used to have numerical values for all the stats). like the hunter they're primarily carnivorous, able to eat corpses, only requiring 6 food pips to hibernate and able to store 1 pip spare. there is a reason for all of this later. due to The Relict's hatred and hunting of lizards, all lizards are more hostile to them and are less likely to give up hunting them/ more likely to hunt them given the chance. there are also more lizard spawns in this campaign. if it wasn't obvious, combat is a large part of the campaign and the character of Relict. Okay let's talk about the explosive resistance. The reasoning behind it ties into The Relict's character and story, primarily their survivors guilt. Their view on themselves is pretty negative, seeing themselves as expendable, and will gladly put themselves in harms way to gain an advantage in a fight. like being intentionally bitten by lizards so they can put a grenade in their mouth :P . Due to using this tactic repeatedly, their body has changed in an effort to adapt. This has both upsides and downsides. upside, they've got some resistance to explosives! not immunity, enough will kill them and they're briefly stunned after using them, they can probably tank 2 grenades. Still that's pretty useful. Downside, while the repeated exposure helped harden their skin/fur, it also caused some permanent damage primarily to their right (dominant) arm. This damage has caused their right arm to be significantly weaker than their left, in both throwing power and damage (how fast spears go and how much damage they do). Not to say they're weak by any means. Remember that they're significantly stronger than regular scugs, so this damage only limits their right arm to that of a regular slugcat (1.0). due to having to use their left arm mainly for spear throwing now, their left arm is significantly stronger (1.5). think about it like taking some strength away from the primary hand and reallocating it to the secondary. now it's no cannon arm like Gourmand has, but it's still pretty strong, however it's locked to the left hand which means you need to have nothing in the right to actually make use of it. Would also like to mention that the general toughness that the repeated explosives granted The Relict, also decreases the chances of lethal damage occuring :P (spears, bites, all that). I also like to think this could be conveyed to the player through gameplay cutscenes. so far the changes aren't too crazy, i dont think. to dumb it down a bunch and simplify, we have a slugcat who: has similar stats to hunter, is primarily carnivorous, has some resistance to explosives and bites, and has a stronger left arm and weaker right arm. hopefully these changes aren't too farfetched, because i've got a couple more :P

THIS WILL BE CONTINUED IN THE REBLOG BECAUSE TUMBLR WONT LET ME POST THE FULL THING >:[

[mad-unit-alive]

Roleplay with @l7814-tp

(Part 2!)

The hallways remained dark with only it's faint red lights giving off some ability to even see what's around him. Everything still appeared as though the count of bodies would never end at any point. Scratching of metal could be heard as the monster resumed down a path possibly leading deeper into the facility. Claw marks were on right side of the wall and a trail of blood was following in the same direction as the marks, indicating it may be dragging someone's dead corpse along with it.

As they got closer the noises of the beast became more clear, why it did all this there was no hints....

All they could know was that it had some crazied thirst for violence. Either that or it lost it's mind.

The path soon ended revealing a massive control chamber, the room was almost as big as Concordia. It was even more well lit compared to all the other parts... but despite the large open clearing, the beast was no where to be seen.

"Where... W-where did it go!?"

*L7814-tp said out loud as he went into the room. It was better than the dark hallways, but it still unerves him that there's still a monster that could smash him to bits in an instant. Luckily, he can distract himself... For only a minute. And for that minute he thought of nothing but the color green. Don't know why, but he did*

>Hello and welcome to our mutations laboratory! Please wait for a staff member to guide you or if you are trespassing than prepare for a cold dea- ERROR DEFENSE TURRET OFFLINE< the system was cut short and static filled the audio only before the lights flickered once again.

>Oh dear, it seems we are having some technical difficulties. Please stand by while we- bzzt - Hello? Is anyone out there? If you're hearing this message than that mean something bad has happened. Please I'm begging you whoever you are to leave it's not safe here when one of our creatures has gotten loose. I- Bzzt -<

"Why do I make stupid decisions all the time!?"

*The bot yelled as he regrets to not get something (not that it would help) to sort-of-maybe defend himself with. Oh, and he regrets following the beast too I guess.

But, he was frozen in place he did not turn around and leave, or even continued forward. He just stood there. Shaking. This is the most frightening thing in his life!*

The speakers rang once again but this time there was no automatic voice, no fear in it, nothing....

"Oh you have no idea how stupid some decisions can get." A voice spoke over the announcement system. It was deep and there could even be heard a few snarls or growls in the voice. "You and I my friend..... aren't so different now..."

"Eep!"

*He did NOT expect a answer. Dropping his gun, he essentially callapsed into a box. Only his eye and wheel exposed. At this point, with the shaking and being a box, he's as cowardly as any claptrap unit. He slowly went reverse to the entrance of the room. Assuming that there's no one behind him. Essentially anything could be behind him because that's his blind spot. Even though he was frightened out of his mind, he just had to ask-*

"What do you mean by, 'Aren't so Different'?..."

The voice giggled at small one's reaction, it was the same little girl laugh from before. "You and I aren't so different you know. We're both into the human killing and vengeance actions. Why do you think everyone in here is dead? They did things to us that can not be forgiven, I was created by their faults and dump choices." The voice seemed to grow deeper and a bit agitated for a moment before laughter erupted from them. Causing the whole room to shake until their laugh stopped.

"I know about you, L7814-tp. I knew you were behind me the whole time on the way to that room. I'm not blind."

"How the heck do you even know my name!?"

*That was what was conserning him at the moment. Of course the beast knows he was following it. Why wouldn't it? He's louder than most units at times. Or all times.

*But, how would it know his name? He isn't super popular, he is friends with a Sc4v-tp that was left behind to watch an exit of the abandoned scav base. And maybe have a crush on a unit at Moxxie's bar, but other than that, he's not popular among the humans... Nor his clients really. Most of his past clients won't even look at him and he uses his human name, Livia, so a client doesn't shoo him off. So, it's very freaky that this thing knows the right name...*

"Well...." the voice continues. "Let's just say I was created by things everyone has. No matter how they are."

The voice sounded like the was starting to more then one speaker in the room.

"I'm just a part of the mind, except it was

"What I'm formed from was so strong it created a completely new beginning. Since I'm a part of the mind I can tell what makes a being scared even guilty." Another giggle.

"Seeing you coward the way you are now is something that I enjoy. Also the other way I know all this..." the voice began to echo as it continued.

"I'm closer than you think."

A puff of hot air hit L7814-tp's back the second the thing stopped talking

[antiquechampagne]

Chapter 25 - Falling

Hancock was sharing an early morning smoke break with a bleary-eyed Piper by the embers of the fire pit when Nate finally rounded the corner of the main building with a full rucksack in hand.

“What the FUCK?!” ricocheted across the Slog, shattering the peaceful morning stillness. From inside the building, several groggy moans arose from those still trying to sleep off their hangovers.

Nate stormed back into view, his face reddened with anger as he scanned around for the culprit. He locked on to Hancock. Hancock unsuccessfully tried to stifle a snicker and he snuffed his butt out on a nearby table.

Nate’s accusatory finger preceded him to the fire pit. “HANCOCK!” he shouted. “What the hell did you do to my armor!? It looks like a fucking tinker toy!”

Hancock put up his hands in mock surrender. “Hey, brother, you’re barking up the wrong tree.” Nate’s eyes narrowed as he saw the yellow paint on Hancock’s out turned palm. Hancock shrugged. “I may have helped a bit, but I only cleaned up the paint job… but it wasn’t my idea.”

Nate turned and marched towards the building. “PAYNE!” He stomped through the common room, heading for her cot. He brushed aside several ghouls grumbling protests and dodging more than one pillow tossed in his direction.

Payne was curled up facing the wall. As Nate neared, he saw in her limp arms loosely clutching a disembodied canary yellow horse limb. Taking her shoulder, he roughly shook her awake.

“Wake up, Picasso! You have some explaining to do!”

Payne opened her eyes to a world that swam around her. The morning light pierced her hungover brain. Holy hell! She thought, Nate’s voice lost to the pulsing between her ears. It took a moment to focus enough to finally understand what Nate was shouting at her.

“What… what are you talking about?” she stammered after sitting up, still clutching the metal leg.

“Outside. Now.” He ordered.

Payne tried to find her helmet by feeling around with and hand by her feet, her eyes closed and head stock still. Movement was not her friend right now. She started to curse as she groped blindly when something metal rolled into her grasp, kicked by an unseen force. Looking up, she found Hancock looming over her, his red coat abase in the mix of morning sun and alcohol fueled light sensitivity.

“Better get that on quick…. Cause you’re in trouble!” He baited her, sounding like a tattletale in the schoolyard. He was trying hard to reign in a devilish smirk.

A gruff “Shut up” was all Payne could manage as she shoved her helmet on and tottered sluggishly outside. As she rounded the corner trailed by Hancock and was confronted by Nate. He stood, arms cross standing in front of his now obnoxiously yellow power armor. Another ghoul close by, hunched over and closely examining the armor. He stood up and whipped his brow with a dark orange scarf that hung around his neck.

“If you fucked up my armor, Payne, I will make you personally go out scavving today to find a replacement!” He turned to the ghoul. “What’s the damage, Arlen?”

“You won’t believe this, Nate.” He said. “These modifications… they actually augment the capabilities of the armor! See here? Those gears mesh damn near perfectly to increase the torque ratios of the powerlift system. I think they will actually make you move quicker.” He moved to another vantage point, putting his hand on the knee of the machine. “And here, these pistons added to the knee joint, they should add more power to the extension stroke. They should let you jump higher.” Arlen turned to Payne. “You did all this last night?”

Payne could barely follow what Arlen said, both with her pounding headache and lack of mechanical knowhow.

“Huh? Torque what?”

Hancock could no longer contain a fit of laughter. Nate was slack jawed.  Stunned silence, he looked incredulously at Payne and then back to her work.

Arlen faced Payne. “At least you found the pile of broken bits, not my good stash! I have to find another supply of yellow paint though… good job kid.” He patted her on the shoulder as he went back to tinkering in his little shed.

Hancock, finally recovered, clutched his aching sides. “Let’s get you some breakfast, Master Mechanic. I’ll have to remember to tell Fehr to hide all the art supplies and monkey wrenches next time we throw a party!” He started giggling again. “I don’t think Charlie would take too kindly to an upgrade!” 

 The morning dragged on slowly. Nate tested out his new power armor, begrudgingly agreeing that it performed better than anything he had tried in the past. It was well past noon when a quiet lunch brought everyone together again. Nate and Strong had a few more hours of preparation to complete before heading back to Diamond City, dropping Piper off before heading into the Glowing Sea. Hancock, on the other hand, was anxious to be on the road again. After doing a raucous round of goodbyes, Payne and Hancock were traveling through the Commonwealth, lead only by Hancock’s sense of direction.

They made good time, even with Hancock occasionally getting jabbed after taunting Payne about her extracurricular activities. Hancock was on point in front of Payne, looking back over his shoulder about to rib her again when he missed the edge of the rocky outcropping and roughly tumbled down the side. Payne quickly scrambled after him. She helped him right himself at the bottom of the hill as he dusted himself off, assuring her he was only a bit bruised, and no worse for wear.

“Maybe you should keep your eyes on the road instead of running your…” Payne was cut off by hoarse growl. Hancock froze. Out of the corner of her eye, Payne could make out a hulking silhouette. She turned slowly, looking down the slope she saw a yao guai reared up from its radstag carcass meal, it’s snarling muzzle red and bloody. Hancock, his eyes never wavering, reached for his shotgun on his back.

Payne put her hand on the barrel of the gun, gently pushing it down. With a finger to her lips, she wordlessly told him to quietly sit still. Hancock watched in shock as Payne slowly stood up, drawing the angry yao guai away from him. She was remarkably calm, her jaw set but the rest of her strangely serene. The hulking animal charged, but Payne stood unmoving before it. Hancock almost lost his nerve and took a shot before the beast stopped just a few feet from Payne and sniffed the air. Confused, it pawed at the ground. Payne reached out her hand and inched forward slowly. She didn’t even waver when it grunted a fierce warning before she touched the patchy skin of its forehead. Hancock’s mouth fell open. The creature seemed to calm at her touch. It let out a few staccato huffs, before returning to its meal. Without looking away, she motioned to Hancock to move along and out of sight. She joined him a few minutes later as him leaned against half buried bathtub.

“You are just the gift that just keep giving!” he shook his head in disbelief. “Spill the beans! What was that?”

Payne tried futilely to rub her aching temples through her helmet. Her head pounded worse than that morning’s hangover. She was realizing with a bit of dread that she may have overreached herself, particularly given her state earlier in the day. “Sometimes I can get a feel for things. We surprised her as much as she surprised us. That, mixed with the fact she felt she needed to defend her meal…” Her head reeled and she faltered. Hancock stood, giving her a bit of support as she steadied herself. “Sorry. That takes a lot out of me. Mind if we rest of a minute?” He guided her down to the lip of the tub.

After a minute she continued. “I bet you didn’t even see her cub, did you?”

Shock registered on Hancock’s face again. “No, I didn’t, and I count myself as a pretty observant guy.” He studied her aching frame. “You going to be alright?”

Payne nodded her head. “I just need a bit of a breather.” She let out a small sigh. “Sometimes you can just read an animal, know if it’s really out for blood… and sometimes just being calm is enough to send it on its way. It doesn’t always work.” She took a few more breaths. “That trick never works on cazadors. Thank god you don’t have any of those bastards out here.”

“What’s a cazador?”

Payne huffed a chuckle. “Hell beasts, as far as I am concerned. Giant flying wasp things…” She spread her arms as wide as they could go. “Wing span about that size. Fast. Hyper aggressive. Skin tough as carbon steel and territorial. They normally travel in groups and will swarm anything and everything in their path. Oh, and they have a poison stinger that would makes a black bloatfly feel like a puppy bite. Not one of the things I miss about the Mojave.”

“You can’t do that calm trick to people?” Hancock asked.

“Nope. People are a whole different animal, as far as I’m concerned.”

“Well, I’m glad it worked. I don’t think I could find another body guard on such short notice out here.”

After a few moments, they set off again… a little more reserved. They barely made it into the outskirts of the city before night fell. The duo forced a door of a small abandoned apartment building and headed inside. After a quick sweep of the silent decaying lobby, they set up camp in the cleanest corner. Payne’s head had returned to normal, but she was still glad to be stopping for the night. A few hours of decent sleep would make the last leg back to Goodneighbor through the danger-filled city streets easier. Her muscles were weary and aching from the last few day’s exertions. Neither of them felt like cooking, so they quietly munched on a light meal of radroach jerky and cereal before decided Hancock would take first watch.

Payne settled onto a dusty couch and had just laid her head down when they heard the first scream. It pealed over and over again, echoing off the walls.  Their nerves now on edge and guns drawn, they slowly narrowed the source of the sound down to a half obstructed stairwell. Hancock motioned up with the muzzle of his shotgun. Cautiously, they crawled over the tumble of desks and inched up the dark concrete steps, trying to stay as silent as possible. Hancock quickly looked around the second floor while Payne covered the stairs, the gut curdling wails grew louder. They approached the third floor, inching along the shadows. A burning barrel sat in the large space where several apartment walls had collapsed, the flames throwing dancing light into the hallway and down the stairs. Inside, by the barrel, sat two figures calmly engaged in conversation, their faces covered by coarse metal helmets framed by jagged metal wings. Across the room third hooded figure leaned over a prone figure strapped to a dining table. As they watched, the hooded figure steadily flayed the flesh from the chest from their noisily convulsing victim. Somehow the cheerful brightly striped stockings of the victim made the scene even more grotesque.

“Hey Jimmy, do you want my ball gag for that guy? I’m getting a headache over here!” she yelled over the screaming. She turned to her compatriot by the fire and snickered. “I wonder if those Pack fuckers are this loud in the sack, too!” The raider next to her cackled.

Payne pulled out here rifle, motioning to Hancock to concentrate on the two by the fire as she set up her line on the butcher. Glancing back at Hancock, he pulled out a grenade and readied it. Payne smiled and nodded in agreement at his choice, hunkering down behind the hallway wall. Tactically, explosives aren’t really the best option for such close quarters fighting, but these psychos didn’t deserve such practicality, in her mind. Payne lined up her shot. When she heard the pin slide out, she held her breath and fired.

The butcher’s head pitched forward as the bullet struck, slumping him over the table and across his prey. The other two jumped up, reaching for their weapons when the grenade landed at their feet, exploding with a concussive boom, sending pieces of them flying.

Hancock had had enough time to cover his ears, but Payne’s hands were still holding her rifle when the grenade detonated. Her ears rang as Hancock popped his head into the doorway, turning back with a smile and a nod. She could barely hear his words, but she gathered there was nothing left moving in the room. He moved confidently into the apartment, already scanning to anything useful to pocket. Raiders were normally good for some chems in the least.

Payne stood slowly, quickly checking her gun before putting the safety back on. Her ears started to recover, but the painful ringing slowed her gait. She was taken by complete surprise when a nearly invisible hand shimmered into existence over her mouth. In her shock, she nearly missed the sting of the knife slicing into her lower back. Almost immediately her knees buckled. Her vision dimmed as her blood pressure plummeted. She tried to call out, to fight back, but she seemed to float and fall at the same time. Time and motion froze… like the moment before falling, a body suspended indefinitely, before gravity inevitably kicks in and painfully pulls it towards the ground.

The foreign hands guided her to the ground, Payne’s arms still out stretched, grabbing at the image of Hancock wavering in front of her. Right before the whole world fell away into blackness, she heard a toxicly sweet southern voice chime into her ear, somehow both intimately close and extremely distant.

“Don’t worry, sweetheart. Your little ghoul-friend will be joining you soon enough. You just take a little nap now.”