#rw watcher lore

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Spinning Top's premature ascension

A number of people took Spinning Top's story as one of a child being needlessly forced to a premature death through ascension by a community with extreme beliefs, but I don't think that's the case

First of all, the ancients did value life greatly, the clearest example of this being the shaded citadel pearl; this post explains this point pretty well

One could argue ST's case is part of the mass ascension that ended the benefactors era, particularly the mention of "ever dwindling population", but that doesn't require premature ascension, just a reduction in birth rates

This line of logic would also require Ancient Urban to have taken place during the iterators era, however most signs seem to indicate this place is from before the construction of the superstructures, even if clearly after the start of the void fluid revolution: Ancient Urban seems to be from a time between Shaded Citadel and Outskirts.

So why then, was Spinning Top made to ascend while still a child, while still not ready?

Well, maybe the overwhelming presence of rot in the campaign is a clue

Many aspects of the campaign seem to call back to the Hunter, particularly obvious with the prince's ending directly paralleling the permadeath ending

So is it really a stretch to say that Spinning Top's ending, the one other ending on release, also parallels Hunter's other ending, where they manage to ascend before the disease catches up to them?

When first taking control of the watcher, an echo ping occurs; given that Spinning Top is the only echo watcher can encounter, this ping most likely indicates that the watcher has attuned to their presence

And this is also perhaps the reason for the presence of the rot in the vanilla regions watcher visits when encountering ST: attunement to one meant attunement to the other, a dream slipping towards disease and misfortune

So yeah, I'm proposing that Spinning Top had a terminal illness, one that was incurable and that would quickly lead to death, and their safest way out of suffering would be to ascend while they still can, before they got dragged back into the cycle of rebirth (which could mean anything from reliving their whole life again to being reincarnated into an animal without the commodities of the ancients or as easy an access to ascension, depending on your personal interpretation) (Reminder that ascension isn't cessation of existence, but becoming whole, moving above and beyond the cycle)

Side note but, while rot seems to be the thematic tie here, I'd like to point out that ancients had multiple diseases which they also tied to misfortune, and Hunter's disease is also "related to the rot", not necessarily rot itself; regardless, they all seem to be related to bad karma and the concept of kegare

And speaking of misfortune, isn't it curious how ST's room is covered in eyes? as if warding off evil eye

^the evil eye in question perhaps? (GodofEyes graffiti near the outskirts pearl, suspiciously DLL shaped)

[internetskiff]

A Puppet's halo could, perhaps, be the visual indicator for the strand it inhabits, the threads erupting from it visualizing a momentary connection being established with another "incarnation" going through a similar event in order to compare, evaluate and determine the optimal course of action. They're certainly connected to some form of thought occurring within their processes, since if memory serves me right, Pebbles' halo "seizes up" at the surprise of our intrusion, emitting strands in droves before finally electing to attempt communication. He's probably determining the optimal course of action to set you on the road to ascension if I had to guess. To be more specific, I think this whole holographic network in the GSB is involved in this process, with the halo hooking up to different components of it using those "threads".

I could also argue that the way the Prince interfaces with the rest of the sentient rot is a stunted physical imitation of this network. Iterators have full access to their perception in different strands, while the Prince describes his experience as mostly sensory, perhaps because his alternative incarnations are "unborn"/nonexistent while the mass that acts as an extension of them (and perhaps holds the potential to spawn them) is very much present. The similarities between the Warp Map and what goes on in a Can leads me to believe this sort of perception is "innate" to Echoes and may be bestowed unto those who commune with them. How living Benefactors figured out the way to imbue a purposed organism with similar insight is beyond me, though I would guess it was the culmination of an extensive neurological study and likely requires a tremendous amount of brain matter.

[mebis-reblogs]

Any theories on what the deal is with Scavenger Disciples and Templars?

We never really got a solid answer on why they're in the Watcher Campaign. They were just kinda . . . . . There.

They may be disciples of the Weaver, being covered in golden glow and karmic protection, and seemingly travelling so far out as Outer Rim

Or the may be scavengers that found holy temple masks of the ancients/benefactors and/or are undder the influence of Karma / Wheel flowers, allowing them to visit other planes and other selves

[randommachines]

really don’t like the implications that’s theres a non zero chance sliver of straw got worm’d because of the watcher now

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There's been plenty "Recursive Transforms array holograms are like watcher's ripple map"

But not enough "General Systems Bus holograms look like it's weaving something

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not only is the prince a decayed flower, its petals are also like a tangled rug, a furry hide, a messy net of flesh tendrils

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On The Prince's awakening, and enlightenment through echoes

While the throne has probably existed for eons, and something was starting to coalesce at its peak, it is pretty openly stated that it is watcher's precense in the throne what acted as catalyst for the birth of the prince's selfhood

Ahh! To move! To breathe free!

Never again... STARVING, pressing, grinding, SQUEEZING

against... us? But now... I? A... SELF And... an OTHER.

Oh the joy! The incomparable JOY!

Ahhh hah... familiar.

There was... such discomfort... and hunger. Endless hunger! And then... a presence!

A light! A scent! A tunnel! To freedom! How beautiful, FREEDOM!

A scent. Familiar. So familiar.

The watcher is probably the first living thing to be to the throne proper in an eternity

But I think there's more to this

4 karma "murals", 4 karma upgrades

4 visits, 4 warp points

Watcher's visits brought enlightenment like visiting echoes would do for a slugcat

"The highest enlightenment, achieved by the hardest path. A feat even guardians must respect" This achievement requires the player to raise their maximum karma to the highest level without visiting Five Pebbles. To do this, the player must find 4 out of the 6 Echoes, each of which raise the player's maximum karma by a small amount. All 4 Echoes must be found before visiting Five Pebbles. The achievement is earned as soon as the last Echo raises the player's karma level to the maximum of 10.

And is not as simple as just visiting 4 times either: for this awakening to properly progress you must make it to the top, eat the karma flower, then make it to a previously sealed chamber to open a warp point there

almost as if you're opening new pathways in its brain (tree)

A light! A scent! A tunnel! To freedom! How beautiful, FREEDOM!

These paths you weave. Through them I have expanded my kingdom. I have tasted and I have become. It is my true purpose I believe. Perhaps the only purpose!

Enlightenment is gaining knowledge, understanding, insight

Perhaps Echoes don't just give you more karma merely by merit of being extraplanar beings with influence over karma itself, or by the insight behind their anecdotes

Perhaps Echoes give you a glimpse into what lies beyond, a window to the fractal layers of reality

Perhaps what is happening here is something similar, the watcher showing the throne other worlds through the paths

the karma flowers though, thats harder to understand

perhaps the one at the very top represents the little death that is sleep ("like sleep like death")

Echoes always send you back to sleep after all

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very simplified Outer Rim map

just felt like drawing this

We visit two starcatchers and the city between them in outer rim