#rain world worldbuilding

[slugcatmusings]

What is the Rot? Why is the Rot?

Spoiler Warning and Holy Wall of Text Batman Warning. I got WAY too into questioning the turbo-cancer here, hopefully my rambling makes sense.

So, the Rot is… weird, from a biological standpoint. Really weird, if you stop to think about it. It’s most frequently described as some variation of cancer, and it certainly fits the criteria for it. Caused by damage to DNA? Check. Multiplies uncontrollably? Check. Comes in both benign and malignant forms, one stationary and the other mobile? Big fat check. Heck, even the Rot cysts eating other creatures kind of fits, according to some research I’ve done – there are apparently cancer cells that will eat other cells, which makes sense in hindsight since cancer cells are cells that have lost important genetic restrictions, which may include whatever lets cells identify other cells as “do not eat.”

(I ain’t a biology whiz and I’m doing research on the fly while getting my thoughts out here, so take whatever I say about biology with a grain of salt)

So, Rot is clearly cancer of some kind, right? Case closed. Except when me and a friend of mine were talking Rain World theories on Discord, she brought up some interesting points that got me thinking.

First point: Rot cells obviously mutate in a way that affects FAR more than just cell replication and termination. Some of the cysts can HEAR. As far as I know, cells in the body do not hear sounds. They communicate via chemical signals and maybe, MAYBE react to temperature. Hearing involves complicated, specialized sensory apparatus to pick up on vibrations in the air. Even if you simplify it and say that it’s only vibrations, that’s STILL a multicellular thing, not a single-cell thing. It’s something that took millions of years to evolve on Earth, if not billions.

And while Rain World’s timeline goes on for long enough that it those kinds of mutations might happen eventually, Rot cysts have the ability to hear pretty much right from the start – because even the Proto-Long-Legs react to your presence like the Daddy Long Legs do, and the Rot in Spearmaster’s campaign, where Pebbles has recently contracted it, reacts the same way as it does in later campaigns. It’s already able to hear.

As far as I know, cancer just means the same cell duplicating over and over again. Are more mutations possible with each division, as errors are made in the DNA during splitting? Probably. But not to THAT extent. There’s no way a lump of cancer somehow mutated the exact complicated genetic blueprint needed to grow organs, at least not without outside interference.

Second point: Cases of Rot are way too consistent across the board. Now, we don’t have a huge sample size to work from, but from what we see from both Pebbles’ Rot, and Hunter Long Legs, they’re… pretty similar. Hunter Long Legs is basically a mobile Rot cyst. They move the same way, seem to grow the same way (starts as a growth inside/on the body before eventually freeing itself from whatever wall/flesh it grew from in some capacity and moving elsewhere), they have the same senses, and they even eat the same way, via something like phagocytosis (how white blood cells “eat” invading organisms via engulfing them and breaking them down in a sac in their main “body.”)

Now, this doesn’t tell us much, because cancer, when it does emerge, is pretty consistent in symptoms/what the mutated cells do once they start replicating. It’s pretty much the same regardless of whatever organism the cancer is happening in. But what ISN’T consistent is what causes the DNA error in the cancer cell in the first place. IRL, cancer can be caused by all kinds of things – smoking, radiation poisoning, being out in the sun too long, drinking deadly chemicals and whatnot, anything that damages DNA. But in RW, the only time we ever hear Rot talked about, or see it present, is in the context of an iterator having f*cked up while mucking around with DNA. Pebbles was trying to create an organism that could change his own genome, and No Significant Harassment created Hunter as a messenger and probably mucked something up in the process in his haste to get them to Moon.

This doesn’t mean that there aren’t other causes of it, of course, we’re working with a sample size of two in an apocalyptic world with who knows how much potentially DNA-damaging stuff around, but… that’s still awfully consistent.

So, combining these points and everything we know to be canon, Rot is:

an organism that lives inside another organism

Until a certain condition is met, it cannot harm said host organism.

Once said condition is met, it goes out of control, wreaking havoc on the organism’s systems and mutating, giving it sensory capabilities and an appetite

Said condition is apparently someone messing up when re-arranging genomes, in yourself or others

It is widespread across multiple different species, at least iterators and slugcats but potentially other species as well.

Once you have a bad case of it, it is apparently NOT CURABLE. Pebbles tried everything he could think of but apparently exhausted all of his options by the time of the Survivor/Monk campaigns.

So, with all the context FINALLY laid out, here’s my wild theory: Rot isn’t a cancer. It’s a symbiote turned parasite. Specifically, I believe it’s a symbiotic microbe that lives inside the cells that make up every other creature in Rain World, and is held in check by a specific gene that all species share, and altering or getting rid of that gene causes it to go berserk, taking over and eventually mutating the host cells.

Yeah, I did watch Parasite Eve let’s plays as a kid, why do you ask? Anyway, hear me out here.

There is precedence for single-celled organisms living inside of other single-celled organisms. They’re referred to as intracellular endosymbiots (hopefully I got the spelling right there), and the most well-known one is probably the mitochondria. The powerhouse of the cell is thought to be descended from some bacteria way, WAY back that was engulfed by a larger cell and not only survived it, but BENEFITED from it. Since then those ancient proto-mitochondria and eukaryotic cells have mutually evolved to be dependent on each other. So it’s entirely possible for something similar to have happened in Rain World.

However, I don’t think it happened NATURALLY, here. Because something that’s able to take over a cell entirely and begin wildly mutating it is NOT something your average cell wants inside of it. There’s a VERY high chance of extinction if you do that. Which means that of course those funky bio-tech loving Ancients either took a look at a wildly dangerous cellular parasite and went “hmmm we can use this” or made one themselves.

Why did they do this? Who knows! Currently, I’m tied between “they needed a better powerhouse for the cell to power the various weird adaptations they’re building into various creatures,” “there was some sort of disease that this parasite gave immunity against and they wanted to make use of it,” and “it gave their creations massively powerful regeneration factors that made them much easier to maintain.” Possibly it was all three. Whatever the reason, the Ancients either found or created this parasite, and put it into their creations’ cells, hoping to reap the benefits.

Well, they got the benefits, but they also got a microbe that hijacked the cells and harnessed their pre-existing DNA blueprints to build organisms disguised as great big blobs of cancer. Which is not exactly ideal, but hey, they just had to figure out a way of keeping the cell hijacking from happening! And the way they ended up going about it was to alter the thing so that so long as there was a specific DNA sequence in the cell, it laid mostly dormant. All the benefits, none of the risks – so long as that specific string of genes remained intact.

And then BECAUSE it was so beneficial, they spread their artificial symbiote and it’s genetic reins throughout ALL of their creations, from the smallest pipe-cleaning slugs to the iterators. Which meant that as their purposed organisms replaced most of the original ecosystem, they spread the symbiote as well. Thus making it possible for pretty much ANY creature on the planet to come down with a bad case of the Rot. And with the iterators, I wouldn’t be surprised if this symbiote is tied to their self-destruction taboos. Try to cross yourself out? Well, it’s gonna maybe happen now, but it’ll be a slow painful death as you’re eaten alive from the inside and all your own parts turn against you, so was it really worth it?

And they never told their creations this perhaps even actively hid it, because why tell them the cause of the main deterrent to them mucking with their taboos? They might find a way around it. The iterators were left ignorant of how Rot works, and because of this they never figured out that Rot HAD a cure after all: rebuilding that genome that reins in the symbiote. Because why in the name of the Void would they repeat the same mistakes that gave them Rot in the first place, and potentially make it worse?

[joowee-feftynn]

i rarely ever do worldbuilding for anything but here. have some scug worldbuilding .. if you even care

[flickering-nightfall]

Playing with some ideas mostly regarding gender/reproduction in RW, and slugcat colonies.

Full transcript under the cut!

Creatures in Rain World are typically simultaneous hermaphrodites but require partners to reproduce, with either individual capable of being a genetic donor or carrier. Alongside what we are familiar with, this has lead to interesting reproductive strategies such as rotating donor/carrier roles, or dual/simultaneous genetic swaps.

Rotating donor/carrier roles - A K-selection reproductive strategy. One partner carries the first child, the other partner carries the next child, and so forth. Allows each partner to recover from the demands of childbearing.

Rain Deer aren't quite monogamous, but they tend to choose the same breeding partner whenever mating season rolls around. They serve as a donor one season, then bear and raise a child the next. Calves are raised away from the rain and worm grass, in places that have less food but more safety. Calf wool is softer, not yet gunked up by the dirty rainfall. Their legs are sturdier as children, allowing them to run for cover while the parent wards off threats.

Dual/simultaneous genetic swap - An r-selection reproductive strategy. Parents fulfill the donor and carrier role for each other. The more children you make, the more likely some are to survive!

Multiple batflies lay thousands of eggs in a single "blue fruit." Several eggs congeal and become nutrient paste for the surviving eggs (and for hungry slugcats). Like some plant seeds, batfly eggs that are consumed before pupating can survive passing through the digestive system. Ew.

Ancients also fell under this umbrella. Their genders (and the genders of iterators by extension, who have no sex anyways) could have been determined by a variety of other factors, such as societal role, donor/carrier preference, or simply different categorizations of personal expression.

It's difficult to say how well their common pronouns would translate to ours, but it seems they can translate to an extent, given what Moon and Pebbles use canonically.

Slugcats, like real slugs, can have children with a partner or self-fertilize. Unlike real slugs, they are often known to adopt.

In the case of self-fertilization: children who are born from one parent may display a large amount of genetic diversity despite the circumstances. Maybe slugcats have some sort of... genetic reservoir independent of their own genetic code?

Slugcats live 20-30 years on average... if they manage to reach adulthood. Their mortality rate is sadly rather high, especially in pups. If they were to develop as a civilization, it's likely their lifespan would increase dramatically.

Slugcats in a colony are more likely to have more children, and to successfully rear those children to adulthood, than those who wander alone or in small groups. The safety and stability of a colony cannot be understated.

Colonies either have a set, cycling migration path, or wander continuously. Survivor and Monk's tree home was a nesting site that their colony frequents about once a year. So it's likely that they'll see their family again!

...also, the strength of large colonies are why scavengers are likely to become the dominant species. In the time of Saint's era, continuous migration has become more of a risk, and it has become more difficult to support large populations. Slugcat populations have shrunk back to the more forgiving equatorial zones.

Saint's tongue is pretty unusual and probably unique to them, or to a small population that they hail from. Fur (of varying thickness) is much more common.

Meanwhile, scavengers are bulkier and covered in thicker insulating fur. They:

have seemingly massive populations

have a burgeoning society (the existence of merchants, tolls, bartering, elites and leaders)

are adept at communicating (non-verbally)

manipulate their environment

can build structures (scavenger-made structures were a scrapped idea from Saint's campaign)

can create complex weapons and tools

may have agriculture behind the scenes (unsure if scout parties prioritize exploration or hunting)

I would wager on scavengers developing more quickly than slugcats, but it would be nice if there was a future where both could co-exist.

[snickerdoodlesart]

A small series I hope continue? Basically creating dishes out of Rain World fauna. But first I need to establish their flavors and uses.

[spotsupstuff]

On the Echoes, cosmology, Saint's quest(/inner identity) and the Rubicon. Half of these are from February...

bonus Théta doodles:

[amerricanartwork]

RW Headcanon: Know the Difference! | An Overview of Quetzalli's Slugcats

Here’s a headcanon I’ve wanted to elaborate on for a while, and today I finally felt compelled to make it real! Also, just a disclaimer I am not a huge biology nerd nor have I studied it that heavily, so I apologize if something here doesn’t make sense or if I get something wrong. I just like fantasy worldbuilding from time to time, and I always like trying to make sense of things I’m interested in!

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Basically, I’m in the crowd that interprets slugcats as mustelids rather than literal slugs. When I say this, however I don’t mean that slugcats would necessarily be classified in the actual mustelidae family, seeing as Rain World’s world is most-likely not Earth and therefore our taxonomic classifications and phylogenetic relations can’t necessarily apply. Thus, when I call them “mustelids”, I really just mean that I imagine them as some kind of weasel with all the necessary physical traits to earn that general label. 

The first half of the name “slugcat”, in my headcanon, is thus not referring to any literal connection to slugs or other mollusks, but is instead derived simply from their appearance. Due to their long ears and thick tail, and because their fur and fat often squishes together in such a way that it makes their features blend together and their bodies appear more smooth (it’s the same physics as that whole “cats are liquid” idea), the general silhouette of a slugcat can easily be likened to that of a literal slug. The second half of their name is also not literal, and instead refers to their jumping and acrobatic abilities and their skill in hunting and pouncing on small prey, which is very similar to that of small cats.

Species Overview

Now to give a little more detail on slugcats themselves as a species! I headcanon them as small to medium-sized mammals most similar to Earth weasels in both their biology and their ecological niche, who originally served as cute low-maintenance pets for the Ancients and as hunters of small pests in facilities on the ground. They’re clever by nature and good at fitting through tight spaces, and later on they evolved greater jumping abilities to pounce on prey. They’re also very social creatures, who’ve taken to forming medium to large colonies primarily in and around the massive trees that thrive between the cracks in iterators’ rainstorm areas (like the one Gourmand, Survivor, and Monk’s colony lives in). Due to this social nature they also generally travel in groups of at least two, both for company and protection against tougher animals. Travel partners are usually siblings or good friends, and sometimes even whole families will journey out together to find food and other resources for the rest of the colony.

Despite being a small prey animal, slugcats have managed to get by not only due to their intelligence — the evolution of which would be seen as a rather unexpected twist of events if you asked their creators, for the Ancients found them cute but rather simple — but because of their impressive adaptability. It’s similar to that of real life red foxes and pigeons, and it allows them to survive decently well even in less ideal environments; a trait especially necessary for a world as industrialized as this one, even if its people are gone and most of the machinery is inactive. As such not all colonies live in trees; some find homes in the abandoned facilities, large underground hollows, and a few bold colonies have even claimed territories high up in iterator cities alongside scavengers. Slugcats are opportunists and masters at making the best of their surroundings, yet even beyond that they carry a certain other, “special” ability of their own that makes them as diverse as they are clever. But that’s a headcanon for another day…

Reasoning

Now for some out-of-universe explanation for this classification choice. I’ve always seen slugcats as some kind of small scurrying mammal (kind of a bias on my part, I just like mammals honestly, and they’re most familiar to me), mainly due to the way they look and move when on all fours, and their place in the game’s food chain. Originally though I saw them as rodents and compared them to mice and rats, which I still sometimes use for anatomy reference for these creatures. But one day a friend of mine saw me drawing slugcats and thought they were weird ferrets, and the more I thought about it and the more I developed personal speculative biology headcanons for slugcats, the more that label seemed the most fitting for them. It was also solidified when I did a bit more research and realized the main characteristic of rodents is their buck teeth, which just didn’t seem to fit with how I perceived slugcats. Not to mention rodents aren’t really predator animals, and slugcats’ implied natural diet and the gameplay itself does strongly imply if not confirm they have some instinctive hunting ability. 

Thus, it seemed “weasel” was the best classification for these creatures, and I quite like it so far! Once again it satisfies my mammal preference, but I also just think it’s a fun idea that neither part of the “slugcat” name is literal, similar to a lot of real-life creatures named after completely different animals, including fellow weasel, the polecat. Plus, I realized recently it’s kind of ironic with how I perceive the messenger slugcats, Hunter and Spearmaster, as being like hunting or guard dogs for their creators, when weasels are exactly the kind of animal humans with their dogs would normally hunt for! It’s cute, it’s familiar, it’s fun, yet I think it still has just as much potential for some interesting speculative biology ideas as the literal slug slugcat interpretations!

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

I'm so glad to finally get this out! I like seeing specbio slugcat headcanons in the RW fandom, yet I haven't seen many more in-depth takes from artists who don't take the "slugcats are literal slugs/mollusks/primarily mollusk-based" angle. Not that that's a bad headcanon of course; do what you think feels right! But once again I personally prefer slugcats being mammals, and I always look for fan-content that's as close to my personal preferences as possible. And when I can't find enough of it, I make it myself!

So hopefully this serves as a bit more of that kind of representation for the mustelid slugcat interpretation. It at least helped me develop my own idea of the species a bit more; much of that stuff in the overview part was ideas I came up with while typing this whole headcanon out!

As always, I hope you enjoy this headcanon of mine! I've still got so many ideas to develop and share, and even more coming as I continue to ponder these characters and their stories, so as long as you guys still like these Rain World headcanons of mine, they'll keep coming!

[elliejaybird]

They grew up!

[birdsandrobots]

The rain world brainworm is back again

I’m not very good at writing, but I wanna get better at making lore for things so I tried making a background for this threat theme

Corpus Callosum - The Twins

Two specially constructed superstructures compute the great problem in tandem, connected together with an intricate network of high-speed cables and water ducts. The space in between the two, the Corpus Callosum, is where the network is most dense, blocking out most if not all light from the outside. Over time many creatures have made their home in its dimly lit passages. However now, something is amiss. Synthetic organisms that glow with an eerie light have escaped from deep within one of the superstructures. The iterator inside rests in a vegetative state, for reasons unknown. These purposed creatures - once meant to maintain an iterator’s vast systems - have become misshapen, dutifully acting on broken and distorted directives after centuries of neglect. Having long since forgotten the concept of what is “inside” the iterator, they single-mindedly construct auxiliary memory banks, mercilessly hostile to any life unlucky enough to be in their way.

[bee-sidebranch]

Thoughts on Iterators- a Series(?) Part one: A Puppets purpose

So many thoughts i think i ain't got enough brain power to store them-

Because i'm weird i can't just write down worldbuilding or any information i wanna remember in general.

So in order to coax my brain to write down anything i make the info into a comic (this also greatly improves my chances of actually rereading this and applying it to my work).

Wouldn't recommend it's highly inefficient.

This was supposed to have a fifth page but it was just kind of tagged on at the end and didn't follow the train of thought i had established so it's likely going to become it's own part (organic and synthetic personality traits + naming conventions).

I think the next part will focus on ACTUAL anatomy and what the essentials are for a puppet. I will get to the Superstructure too but i am monkey i like the thing with the face so it comes first.

Thank you for reading all of this if you wanna look i put a tiny scug in one of the panels see if you can find it (it's not all that hidden tbh but maybe that's just me).

[tenspontaneite]

Look at him. He loves his weird worm so much

[slugcatmusings]

Thoughts on Slugcat Mythology UwU

So for the most part I’ve been musing about biology here, but recently I’ve started musing about slugcat culture.  If slugcats are (as I like to think) a sapient species (if not a very advanced one) how might they perceive the world?

More specifically, because I am a fantasy worldbuilder over a science fiction one and I like coming up with stories about gods and monsters, what might slugcat MYTHOLOGY be like?

Rain World is a very harsh world to live in.  It’s full of deadly weather, enormous predators, abominations of nature, and countless other threats for a tiny slugcat, and unlike their predecessors the ancients, the slugcats don’t yet have the scientific knowledge to understand how everything works.  They’re not a united society, more like a bunch of tribes and loners struggling to survive.  Many things they didn’t understand would be attributed to the work of gods or spirits, and they’d revere things that help a scug clan not only survive, but thrive, and whisper warnings to their pups to stay out of dangerous places.

Perhaps the slugcats have gods of the hunt or the bounty of nature, beings who grant them strength to bring down mighty beasts to feed the clan or gift them luck to find food to bring home to their families.  Or maybe they worship gods who have blessed them with resilience, the determination to keep stubbornly going no matter what dangers the world might throw at them.

There are stories of strange beings which live in the metal mountains that tower above the rains and clouds, who gift knowledge never before known.  There are pictures of them carved into trees and stones, odd tailless gods of another long-gone people chained inside their temples with great halos of pearls circling them like satellites.

The slugcats tell of a plague inflicted on those who intrude on the decaying ruins, one that lingers in the highest, twisting places of the world, and oozes into the depths.  A corruption that consumes the body and in turn forces it to consume, friends turning upon friends, littermates upon littermates, parents upon pups, as it eats the entire world starting from the tallest of peaks.  There are stories of what might happen if its endless hunger consumes all, the world becoming nothing but disease and rot.

There are great heroes of legend, slugcats who ventured beyond their lands to bring home wisdom and lead their peoples into posterity.  There are stories of the messengers of the gods, slugcats chosen to bring the holy words and wisdom of the gods to new recipients, for the cost of never living amongst their kind again.  There are stories of great wars between colonies, of slugcat pitted against slugcat for the struggle of survival.  There are whispers of monstrous slugcats who have bathed in the blood of their enemies and become drunk on the slaughter, stuck in a never-ending cycle of bloodshed and pain.

There are tales of a great sea of gold beneath the earth, so deep below that the rains cannot reach them.  A sea which offers an end to the strife and suffering.  A place where the people of the past turned to, when their gods could not save them, and the realm that chained gods long for, hoping to reach it once they’ve broken their bonds.

There are prophecies of a guide who will one day lead the dying gods to their final resting places, deep beneath the earth.  Of the world one day crumbling, and everything ending in one last dying gasp - for everything lives and dies again, becoming something new, and the world is no different.

[kadalcoffee12]

white board brainstorming

so regarding this i've been thinking on if every iterator lives in different region that would mean that their access on void sea would also be different. pebbles/moon have their access through the underground cave like place from it seems, yet their place is not too deep underground bc how it connected to the outer expanse. here i have chart for my itty oc Songs For The Sea or Sea what i would like to call. Since he is built near a shore, far south east from pebbles. The void sea is located deep within the dark abyss of the sea trench (which id refer now to Abyssus Trench) Of course he's not alone on operating it nor even build it but he help on the research of Deep Sea Void project, founded by his creator

here we have the Subject 00-1 leviathan, a purposed organism thats used to extract the void sea from the deep sea extractor to the DSV facility (facility operating for processing the Void fluid) Sea's the one actually raising this creature with little help from his founder thats why it is named Bueno.

[rain-world-headcanons]

The aincents were severely misguided in their understanding and interpretation of the Karma system. Instead of shedding or rising above worldly desires, Karma levels are gained by understanding these worldly desires and accepting them as a part of the world and yourself. That's just how the world works, and to ascend is to understand this world, and prepare yourself to see the next.

Just makes more sense to me than "become a husk of yourself with no desire for anything". That thought just makes me a little sad.

Conclusion: Gourmand is the most holy being in Rain World

-

[snickerdoodlesart]

In regards of taste, if you stuff your face with the flour as is, it's mostly like cornmeal and unsalted popcorn.

[ceaseless-rambler]

What if I wrote the world's most specific crossover fic that nobody else would care about. What then

[ask-mobile-iterator-project]

Asking all what are your opinions on the Ancients?

[BROADCAST HANDLED BY ADMIN AND OVERSEERS]

admin notes

firstly: thank you @cloverlady and @charlottenanachi for helping me with coloring!! and @fauxbia for helping with the writing :D

This is ask #30, wowie!! I've made a couple (3) Activation Logs I'll be posting in the next few days!! There was a comic I was working on, too, but idk when that'll be done, sorry...

I don't have Activation logs for all of them on the Askblog because I feel the first three explore what I want to share right now well enough. Hopefully you guys like LOF, PU, and SLS

In the meantime, I've also updated ToyHouse bios slightly, mostly surrounding relationships.

Also, I plan to open a Discord Server focused on my OC AU very soon!! It'll be 16+, though, due to subject matter. That being said, here is another reminder to check the content warnings!! The more lorestuff I post, the more I'll be getting into sensitive and upsetting subject matter...

and once again, "architect" is just the in-universe term for "ancient."