#maws.txt

my theory sorta builds on the theory that the world in rw is infinitely layered. there is a “surface world” above and beneath every world. you can sort of think of them as separate timelines, dimensions, etc. the reason i interpret it like this is because of a specific lore pearl--in one of the subterranean pearls, moon says this:

"If you leave a stone on the ground, and come back some time later, it's covered in dust. This happens everywhere, and over several lifetimes of creatures such as you, the ground slowly builds upwards.

So why doesn't the ground collide with the sky? Because far down, under the very very old layers of the earth, the rock is being dissolved or removed. The entity which does this is known as the Void Sea.

If you drill far enough into the earth you begin encountering a substance called Void Fluid. The deeper you go, the less rock and more Void Fluid. It's believed that there is a point where the rock completely gives way - below that would be the Void Sea.

When that stone you placed on the ground has finally done its time in the sediments, it meets the Void Fluid and is dissolved, leaving the physical world."

THE DUST IS VERY IMPORTANT. IT’S OFFHANDEDLY MENTIONED BUT IT’S IMPORTANT HERE’S WHY: it’s never explained where this dust comes from. supposedly, it comes from the sky. but how? infinitely layered world baby

how it works is that the matter that the void sea in the above surface world is dissolved and becomes dust, which then rains down onto the below surface world. but you can’t just fly up into the void sea, the devs have said the ancients have been to space iirc. the dust comes from an opening in the sky, only perceivable when encountering echoes, because echoes reside in a different realm (but not a different world, more on that in a bit).

now ik you’re saying “okay BUT what abt the whole death and rebirth thing???” im getting to that.

when slugcat, or any other creature dies, they begin perceiving the world from a slugcat on another layer. all of the layers are identical, so when waking up after dying, everything looks the same, so it’s easy to think that you just. died and then woke back up, when really, you’re on a different surface world/layer. it ties into the buddhist concept of there being no single central self.

but what about those who ascend? well take a look at my next funny diagram

*i do want to mention that the top right corner’s text is outdated. i don’t think they’re reborn as their self from their previous existence, rather they’re born into the life/body of another creature depending on karma. they could be reborn as the same species or something new.

so in using the void sea to achieve ascension, it's a sort of false ascension. those who do manage to ascend via the void sea only end up reborn in a new layer. so while the material body is gone from the living realm, the soul isn't. ascension via the void sea is thus just another part of the cycle, since you’re effectively just moving in-between spiritual realms. true ascension means that every instance of yourself from each layer joins into one single, central self, and that central self is crossed out. once that central self dies, it has nowhere to transfer the soul, thus achieving true ascension and breaking the cycle.

and how does one go about doing that? uh. i don’t fuckin know. adopt a The Saint Rain World.