RULES PERTAINING TO MY AU I have boundaries, please respect anything listed out here.

My AU is strictly 16+, I do NOT want to interact with weirdos who sexualize my characters. The focus of this AU is PURELY on the dynamics and interactions of the characters. Enot is based on the concept of being locked to :karma1: , BUT(!!!!!) My interpretation of the symbol is very important to how you should interact with my AU.

I mostly made this AU to roleplay with my other artist friends, so I will not usually accept invites to RP unless I already know you.

About my art, you are free to use them for PFPs. I do not want people to edit my art at all for personal reasons, nor (of course) do I consent to my art being used for other people's content. I am fine with fanart, though! Fanart is original and left to the creator's responsibility.

You are free to speculate about your own RW OCs interacting with my AU based on the information given, but nothing will be canon unless explicitly stated by me!
This is where it all begins.

The Main Plot (Summarized) Enot/???/Inv (The secret slugcat in DP) is the main driving force of this AU, hence the name "Enot's Dream". Enot is very secretive about the true origins of the beginning of the story, or her knowledge about the Saint.

Saint is the main point in which Enot started to grow an interest in restarting the "Rainworld" cycle, as she sometimes refers to it as. Rainworld of course meaning the video game, but Enot is not aware she is from a game. Enot DOES have (mostly) control over the flow of the cycle, and eventually learns she has become god-like.

Saint is important here because Saint is an inevitability in this story. They are the final catalyst which causes Enot to restart the cycle every single time, no matter what Enot does to change this. Enot started to feel pity on the others for their lost memories when she is forced to restart the cycle. So, Enot decides as she changes the story to manipulate the physical memories and bodies of others to keep something consistent. But... Consistency comes with stagnancy. The others do not realize their memories are being "copied", but the Saint is the only one Enot refuses to change (besides in appearance), so they inevitability forget, too.

Eventually, at our current point, Enot has shifted everyone to match in each other's intelligence (at least, who she thinks is important enough to have this). The timelines are folding in on themselves, all the slugcats in particular are now present. But this sort of pushes a hard discrepancy with the iterators, who are the main focus of Rainworld's story. To get around this, Enot has written a very well-knit together plot in order to keep them together. Enot likes these silly creatures, she is not friends with them though. She is not friends with anyone, even the iterators tolerate her at best.

Enot's dejection and desire to stop Saint from repeating this circus act has led her to be bound to the cycle, ironically. She is bound to karma :karma1: , which in my interpretation doesn't represent lust. :karma1: represents a DEEP desire, which can include lust, but Enot's desire is motivated by wanting Saint to be free. It seems Enot cannot simply free them from their own spiral, it was set in stone ages ago. Why does Enot want to free Saint, and not possibly the thousands of other Bodhisattva who awoken in the late ages of the iterators?

That is where we leave off.

The Characters (Short summary for reference)
SLUGCATS
:DragonSlayerB: Spearmaster (He / It)
:OutlawB: Artificer (She / It)
:karma1: Enot/Inv/???/Sofanthiel (She / Them)
:Ripple9: Watcher (She / Them)
:HunterB: Hunter (He / Him)
:karma3: Gourmand (He / Them)
:karma4: Survivor (He / Him)
:MonkB: Monk (She / Her)
:ChieftainB: Rivulet (He / Him)
:SaintB: Saint (They / It)

ITERATORS
:fp: [FP] Five Pebbles (He / Them)
:lttm: [BSM/LTTM] Moon (She / Her)
:srs: [SRS] Seven Red Suns (They / Them)
:nsh: [NSH] No Significant Harassment (He / Them)
:cw: [CW] Chasing Winds (She / All)
:ui: [UI] Unparalleled Innocence (She / Us)
*[SOS] Sliver of Straw (She / Her)

*Sliver of Straw is only relevant because of her overall relevance to the iterators, she is not part of the local group.

THE WORLD / CYCLE
To begin with, we need to set a staple for the world. Where are we? How far out do we know? To set a standard, we must imagine the world from Enot's point of view. The main stage play unfolds in Five Pebble's and Moon's facility. There does exist Outer Expanse, along with the local group's setting, but those are more vague and never set in stone. She does this on purpose because she knows there are other god-like entities who love to interact with this world, so she allows others to manipulate her further vision for the sake of having fun.

Where are we in the timeline? How does the timeline even work, you may ask. Currently, the timeline is looping from Hunter's time to a little after Monk's in the game. The base game offers a point of stagnancy, but opportunity for development that Enot likes. When the timeline loops, any remaining conflicts carry back over, but depending on the severity (like FP's rot) some elements may never notably shift to get better or worse. No one in the story but those bound by a different type of time passage or cycle are affected by this "rewind". In the staple story, Saint is the only one noted to be affected by this. When the cycle resets, anyone under these conditions will effectively forget everything that happened last cycle. In terms of events that have happened, as Enot drew everyone into the same timeline, those events happen technically before the cycle loop starts. Those events are set in stone, and cannot be undone now, unless Enot had some motivation to change the story again. A good set point for when the cycle loop starts is about just after Rivulet delivers the rarefaction cell to moon, but Saint has just awoken (although in the wrong time period).

Where are the characters at? Most of the characters stay around or inside of Five Pebble's city, metropolis. There are some stragglers, Rivulet being the most prominent example as he rejects tradition. All of the characters did not originate from here, so they do have some interesting history still attached to their names about lands beyond the facility grounds.

INTERPRETATIONS OF THE KARMATIC VICES
:1karma: A desire to remove others from the cycle, whether it be through violence or destruction
:2karma: A desire to gain something from the cycle, whether it be desire or power
:3karma: A desire to form bonds which skew the natural order of the cycle, to overpower it through connections
:4karma: A desire to take more from the cycle than one gives back to it, through one's own means whether unconsciously or not
:5karma: A desire to defy the cycle in itself, to deny one's place in the balance between life and death as one exists within it

:6karma: :7karma: :8karma: :9karma: Removal of karmatic vices
:10karma: Enlightenment

THE CULTURE
To set a point clear when talking about the culture, I need to clear up who is directly affected by this artificially heightened intelligence; the characters who this section mostly applies to. Any slugcat introduced into the story will automatically apply, and iterators of course already have this embedded into their DNA. Anything that does not have a reason to be intelligent will not have this applied to them, but may still experience what it's like to be around them. (EX: Lizards, vultures, lantern mice, etc.) Still are stuck at the same amount of intelligence as before.

Onto the culture itself, the specific culture that has been widely adopted into the story is directly lifted from that of the ancients. Enot wants to imagine they are just as / if not smarter than the ancients, hence why those affected tend to adopt a very humanoid look. The fashion and traditions that come from this culture can be further divided into just the kinds we see in game, but there are surely 1000's of varieties for every iterator. Spearmaster would be an example of a stranger who doesn't have a strong variance, but is still notably different.

For those who plan to stay in Five Pebble's city would be hit with the blunt force of the culture as soon as they walked in. The overseers still project advertisements from their long dead creators, which does air a bit of mystery for the inhabitants. The inhabitants of the city are always seen in public with their masks and adornments on, it is seen as careless and rude to go outside without fully covering oneself within the city's bounds. Their adornments are heavily inspired by those seen within the murals in the game, as Enot herself does not have much to go off of about the ancients herself. The only time vulture masks are seen is on younger children, or sometimes used to show a sign of immaturity in older individuals who subtly reject the flashy fashion. The general behavior of the inhabitants does have a major point to make. The slugcats do not care too much for ascension like the ancients had, but they do still practice letting go of their natural urges in order to avoid conflict. They are especially motivated in this after witnessing the horrors that is the Artificer. They like to hold prayers for various reasons, and celebrating other things that the ancients would. Especially in FP's city, Enot likes to imagine that a lot of the citizens were artistically inclined, so the inhabitants like to take up occupations relating to the arts.

In terms of food, due to the scarce ability to farm, the slugcats will send others down toward the surface in order to gather food for the others. Retrieval is made easier due to them being able to access technology that was abandoned by their creators. ID drones, which we only see two of in the game, are implied to be mostly obsolete, but the Artificer does have a genuine one from the old city. She does not show it out in the open, though. Instead of drones, the citizens were given "passes" similar to a primative drone, resembling something like a convention lanyard tag. (Or in this case, a very fancy necklace)

THE INHABITANTS
This list will start from the first citizen and end with the notable outliers

:OutlawB: THE ARTIFICER
The origins of the Artificer are pretty well known, at least in tall tales around the city. A slugcat who experienced a horrid travesty which led to her anger toward the scavengers. Traces of the scavengers are still left in the city, expect the presence of the Scav King, who appears to have vanished. It is unclear to them whether the chief experienced the same fate or not. The Artificer, known as Seven Lapses, Rains of Fury within the bounds of the city, still lives amongst the others. She chooses to live further away, on The Floor, with the Hunter in an isolated Living Block apartment. Most days, she'll jump back down to the surface in order to continue trying to prove her worthiness to the others, but her actions speak loudly through the karmatic value that emanates from her.

:HunterB: THE HUNTER
A strange messenger who briefly crossed paths with the traveling band that would now be known as FP's citizens. He seemed in a hurry and had no time to stop for himself, but this did not concern him. Against everything the cycle wanted, the Hunter pushed valiantly against the forces opposing him to make sure he delivered his message. Once he did, the Hunter... realized something. He was going to die. Over. Over and over. The Hunter, known as Eighteen Lamps atop Five Moons, Of the House of Seven Pipes quickly hastened back to Five Pebble's chamber, where he was met with a nasty confrontation from the Artificer. Motives were questioned, the situation was realized, the Artificer shifted from a stern anger to a sudden bout of mother-like sympathy. FP offered to try to lengthen the time the Hunter had left by equipping him with machines of his own making. The Hunter is unsure of his fate, but now he resides in the city alongside the Artificer. He does not dream of going home.

:karma3: THE GOURMAND
The Gourmand came about shortly after the Artificer wiped the old city of it's inhabitants. He was a leader before he came, he is a leader now that he has reclaimed the city for his inhabitants. Five Pebbles was very begrudging about permitting them access, but saw this opportunity as a way to certify no lesser organism would start to tear at him again. The Gourmand, known as Heap of Grains of Gravel, Ceaseless Lights, Of the House of Six Herbs, Count of 17 living blocks, Counselor of 12, Duke of 1, Spiritual Writer of the Congregation of Pure Scripture resides within the previous Council tower that resides in the heart of the city, imposing himself to offer aid to any citizens in need. The Gourmand is generally welcoming of new people, as long as they come with a kind heart. His loyalty and reputation is build upon the foundation of tall tales that he tells about himself, and his adventures. He never specifies when he's exaggerating, but his followers are still in good hands. He has a follower count of 32 (Not including Survivor or Monk). He has a son, but no spouse.

:karma4: THE SURVIVOR
An unfortunate tale of one of Gourmand's citizens being split from the group during their departure to Five Pebble's city. The Survivor earned their titled when he had returned, mostly unscathed to his new home. He hardly talks about his experience on the surface, very noticeably shaken by it more than any of the other surface dwellers. The Survivor, known as Eighteen Oceans, Countless Threads is a simple resident of Metropolis. Besides his story, there was not much to note. Below the surface, The Survivor has a deep appreciation for life, which he shares with his sister.

:MonkB: THE MONK
The survivor's fall was not without a desperate attempt to save him, by his side is a loyal sibling. The Monk is revered for her kindness and pacifistic ways, inspiring others through the simple acts she treats her world with. Even as it supposedly falls apart, she keeps her head up and finds those who need it most. The Monk, known as Sixteen Lagoons, Creased Tapestries is another simple resident of Metropolis. She spends her days with her sibling, after their fateful separate she promised to never let the two diverge again. Through thick and thin, Monk proves herself as the upmost loyal type.

:DragonSlayerB: THE SPEARMASTER
A messenger led astray, with the intention of delivering a message on their creator's behalf. They were cut short after Five Pebble's patience ran dry, performing a nearly lethal move to forcefully drag out the information this messenger had brought in secret. Now abandoned, the Spearmaster found themself being adopted randomly into the Gourmand's city, as they saw their potential through their biological modifications. The Spearmaster, known as Joyous Suns, Of the House of Eight Needles is renowned for their natural ability to produce weaponry from their body. Although, this heavy modification left them without a voice, forcing them to teach others the sign language that their creator bestowed upon them. Unlike the Hunter, Spearmaster's greatest dream is to escape Pebble's facility and return to their parental figure. Though, they do still value the friendships they've built here just as much.

:ChieftainB: THE RIVULET
A citizen of no one, he proclaims himself as only an ally of the scavengers. The Rivulet lives a rambunctious life, away from the weary dreads of tradition, embracing the anarchy of an unstoppable rising civilization. The Rivulet, once known as One Gem below Joyous Pipes, Of the House of Shields is the definition of rebellion. His origins are unknown to the wider populace, even to the iterator he spends most of his off time with. His mysterious past is not much of a concern, if you want something different or a lively event, Rivulet is the one to invite. Life has a different meaning after you've taken a step in his shoes.

:SaintB: THE SAINT
One day, long after all the others settled within the wide facility of two mechanical gods, a stranger appeared. They proclaimed they recall nothing of their own past, and simply wish to help others reach "enlightenment". The stranger had no voice, much like the Spearmaster, but instead spoke in a sign language that predates the one the citizens had come to learn. Despite this, oddly, they were able to perfectly understand every word this being "spoke", it rang through them as if the words touched their soul. Simply known as the Saint, this being carries an oddly holy energy to them that none of the others can explain. When faced with a challenge or triumph, often one is led to the Saint's presence to seek guidance for their future. Despite not knowing their own identity, House of Arches above Flightless Doors continues to roam the lands and even beyond the facility to complete a mission they are also oblivious of.

THEIR RELATIONSHIPS
All of the main information is condensed in this document, and can be added to by suggesting an edit in case anyone would like to add their characters:

THE TIMELOOP
Our current predicament starts with the "first" loop, known also simply as loop -1. The negative represents how the time loop hadn't really begun until it bled over into the first loop, or loop 0. The story of what happens before loop 0 is what defines everything else that happens when the time loop is doomed to eventually reset, although memories and certain status changes will carry over according to Enot's will.

Loop -1
The main story related to the prelude is contained to this document: (Pending............................ apologies)

Loop 0
The foundation of what defines a time loop, the one experienced before the others found the greater multiverse that they explore now. This loop reset because Saint reached enlightenment unhindered. The details of what triggered it specifically are unknown to all but Enot herself.