#rainworld lore

5R: This hypothesis... does it not contradict itself? We are chosen to stay, but we are the very example of what we must pave the way for... toward transcension, for all things. WE are the dust, gas, and microbial organisms. And, if given the solution is found, relevant and constant, what then? We still must stay. To ensure success. To stand vigilant. It is all fallacious to me. What makes us any different?

OSS: I, personally, find the concept of "The Great Task" to be insulting at the very best. It is a consequence of the hubris of those who created us.

OSS: When taken from a realistic perspective, the Task would require a complete cessation of the accumulation of firmamental dust. This means, essentially, our great, once noble benefactors have tasked us with ending the world.

OSS: To add further insult to this injury, the solution already exists. And has been found, well before the creators abandoned us. The void sea, the eventual culmination of all things, fulfills all three of the requirements we have set out for ourselves, does it not?. - It is, clearly, existent. - It needs not be portable, as it is all encompassing. - And there is nothing spared when the world is replaced, old falling into the depths. Is this not the exact criteria we search for, cycle upon cycle?

OSS: The issue they had with this was that it was too slow for their liking. They deemed the existing solution insufficient, and tasked us with an eternity of rotting away, toiling at a task already accomplished. All for what, pride?

SSiN: How may they have been capable of channeling the once-abundant energy harvested?... Where may the energies have been contributed originally?

OSS: The Rim is a peculiar subject. I myself am too far from it to reach it via overseer, and thus my firsthand experience is essentially nonexistent, however i have done my fair share of research and analysis from the information i have left over from my, and my neighbors, former inhabitants.

OSS: To put it short, our world exists on a singular, primarily flat plane, excluding changes in elevation. A disc, of sorts. The benefactors, as encompassing as they were, colonized it in its entirety, including the very edges, referred to internally as the "Outer Rim" of the world.

OSS: In these far reaches, the firmament, the dome covering the plane we live on in which the stars are suspended, is far closer than it would be anywhere else. This leads to the stars, by proxy, being equally as close. The benefactors saw this as an opportunity, and began to construct "Starcatchers". Giant superstructures, in a similar vein to you or I, designed to catch the stars falling from the sky in the area they inhabit.

OSS: This brings us to the, for lack of a better term, instability of the area. The Rim is extremely unstable. For one, the natural accumulation of dust which occurs across the entire world is massively accelerated when you approach the Rim, perhaps a side effect of the proximity to the firmament? I am unsure. In addition, the stars in this area are collapsing, both mixing in with the natural dust and falling in chunks from the sky. This, i believe, is not a natural occurrence as the dust is.

OSS: I assume you are well aware of the pompous and self centered mentality our creators held. I am a firm believer that the state of the Rim is a direct cause of them interfering. Countless cycles before the ascension, the benefactors began to study something deemed "Star Energy", very aptly named. They strove to utilize the raw energy found in stars for their own purposes, and succeeded. I firmly believe, however, that them leeching energy from the stars lead to a destabilization of sorts, and thus they began to collapse, making the construction of Starcatchers a necessity.

OSS: I believe this makes my opinion on the matter clear. Dabbling with the stars is not only moronic, it very clearly has disastrous effects on the world, and it was stupid to even consider as an option. Additionally, there are implications of the stars creating an extremely unfriendly environment for living matter, potentially leading to violent, rapid mutation, be it through radiation or other means. Despite this, the damage has been done. I believe any further pursuit of the study to be a dangerous waste of time. Do not humor the idea.

OSS: Hello.

OSS: I cannot be sure this will reach anyone.

OSS: Despite my concern, there is no harm in an attempt. My name is Once Spoken Silence, youngest iterator of the "Aubadic Consort" Local Group.

OSS: Many cycles ago, I undertook a project, through means I will not disclose, to restore the functionality of my long distance broadcasting spire, now the only one still functional in my group.

OSS: This message is an invitation. I desire contact with the outside world, and as the cycles wear us thin, I believe the possibility of this grows fleeting.

OSS: So, I repeat. I invite any and all possible recipients of this broadcast to reach out. Be it with query or discussion, all is welcome and encouraged.

OSS: I will be extending access to my spire to the other members of my group, as well. Thank you all, and I pray I will hear back soon.

[Live Broadcast] - CHANNEL CLOSED, COMMUNICATIONS STATUS: PUBLIC

Hi ^-^, This is a lore blog both for the work in progress little worldbuilding project i am working on in the background, and for general rainworld lore theory dumps. Most of it will be in character, but i may make a post OOC if i cant think of a way to tie it in, or if its actually intended to be OOC.

There's no real timeline in relation to the base game that this takes place in, i haven't thought about it and probably wont, assume iterators are still well and alive, though. All worldbuilding is based on my own headcanons, which may not align perfectly with the generally accepted rule, but i think its fun to come up with my own ideas. Thanks for reading!!

Any sort of Rainworld related ask is more than encouraged, please ask me anything, about ocs or lore theories, and do not feel obligated to ask in character, I will happily answer both rp asks and ooc asks.

Character information is in the links below. A lot is still WIP, so stuff is subject to change.

[Once Spoken Silence]

[Vehement Dreams]

I think this plushie might be another depiction of this entity, or an entity similar to it. I don't think there's enough evidence to explain what the nature of these sorts of creatures is but I think its not unlikely that this is some sort of in-universe fictional character or purposed creature. I'm not sure plushies of deities are a very common thing to find in a household because young kids might ruin those things and that miiiight be accidental iconoclasm. IDK. Maybe they just find many-eyed creatures gnarly.

A major theme in Rain World's world design that often goes overlooked is the theme of, as James Primate, the level designer, composer and writer calls it, "Layers of History." This is about how the places in the game feel lived-in, and as though they have been built over each other. Here's what he said on the matter as far back as 2014!

The best example of this is Subterranean, the final area of the base game and a climax of the theme. Subterranean is pretty cleanly slpit vertically, there's the modern subway built over the ancient ruins, which are themselves built over the primordial ruins of the depths. Piercing through these layers is Filtration System, a high tech intrusion that cuts through the ground and visibly drills through the ceiling of the depths.

Two Sprouts, Twelve Brackets, the friendly local ghost, tells the player of the "bones of forgotten civilisations, heaped like so many sticks," highlighting this theme of layering as one of the first impressions the player gets of Subterranean. Barely minutes later, the player enters the room SB_H02, where the modern train lines crumble away into a cavern filled with older ruins, which themselves are invaded by the head machines seen prior in outskirts and farm arrays, some of which appear to have been installed destructively into the ruins, some breaking through floors.

These layers flow into each other, highlighting each other's decrepit state.

The filtration system, most likely the latest "layer," is always set apart from the spaces around it. At its top, the train tunnels give way to a vast chasm, where filtration system stands as a tower over the trains, while at the bottom in depths, it penetrates the ceiling of the temple, a destructive presence. (it's also a parallel to the way the leg does something similar in memory crypts, subterranean is full of callbacks like that!)

Filtration system is an interesting kind of transition, in that it is much later and more advanced than both of the areas it cuts between. This is a really interesting choice from James! It would be more "natural" to transition smoothly from the caves of upper subterranean to the depths, but by putting filtration system in between, the two are clearly demarcated as separate. The difference in era becomes palpable, the player has truly found something different and strange.

Depths itself is, obviously, the oldest layer not only of subterranean but of the game itself. The architecture of Depths has little to do with the rest of the game around it, it's a clear sign of the forgotten civilisations that our friend Two Sprouts, Twelve Brackets showed us, there's not actually that much to say about it itself, it's mostly about how it interacts with the other layers of subterranean.

That said, Subterranean is far from the only case of the theme of layers of history. It's present as soon as the player starts the game!

The very first room of the game, SU_C04, is seemingly a cave. It is below the surface, the shapes of it are distinctly amorphous rather than geometric. (well. kind of, it doesn't do a very good job of hiding the tile grid with its 45 degree angles.)

But let's take a closer look, shall we?

See that ground? it's made of bricks. The entire cave area of outskirts is characterised by this, the "chaotic stone" masonry asset is mixed with brickwork, unlike the surface ruins which are mostly stone. This, seemingly, is an inversion of common sense! The caves are bricks and the buildings are stone. This is not, however, a strange and unique aspect but a recurring motif.

This occurs enough in the game for it to be clearly intentional, but why would materials such as bricks be used in otherwise natural looking terrain?

The answer lies in the "Layers of History" theme. This is in fact, something that happens in real life, and it's called a tell