Thousands of cycles ago, a society of highly intelligent beings thrived. They were so powerful that they created massive supercomputer robots with sentient AI large enough to house hundreds of cities. These computers, sporting humanoid puppets so that they could talk to their creators, were made to solve the "Great Problem". When the hyper-intelligent societies died out, though, the robots were left to their own devices. They became the closest thing to what one could call a god. They crafted animals for their purposes, experimenting and genetically changing them like their original creators used to do. Animals became what is known as "Purposed Organisms", or creatures that had been genetically modified for the mechanical purposes. Some were capable of creating ingredients needed for reconstruction or for weapons. Others were made with the intent of cleaning or maintenance.
That was thousands of cycles ago. Since then, most of these robot gods have become eerily silent to the outside world. These gods are what cause the rain, though it is not because they want to. It is done as a process of cooling their massive bodies. Light rain would mean very little to the animals below but the robots, known as Iterators, release much of their water at the same time, creating violent storms that wipe out everything that is not in a rainproof shelter. Most creatures have learned to live with it. The ancient society left hundreds of shelters under each iterator for when they were traveling down on the surface. With the ancients now gone, the animals take those shelters for their own use. Other technology lays dormant all around too. Ancient buildings, machines, and temples dot the landscape. Metal scaffoldings live as the remains of homes. Many creatures have even taken on a mechanical quality.
Over time, a new intelligent species formed. Slugcats were former purposed organisms that ran loose and evolved. Originally, they had been made to clean out pipes and reach small areas. Their opposable thumbs and intelligence gave them the chance to improve. To become fully sentient. They are in a sort of stone age, able to craft using the materials of the lost civilization around them. Many use spears to hunt meat. Other gather berries and other fruits. All across the planet, slugcats created tribes. Most live far out from the dangers of being directly under an iterator but none can fully escape the sight of those hallow behemoths. To the slugcats, the iterators are silent gods. They bring the rain, and thus bring life.
(Official Rain World Art)
The Red Clover tribe rests deep within the Red Canopy, at the far edge of the land affected by the iterator 4 Drops of Sun. They have few enemies save for the wild animals around them. Most of these creatures are ones that they hunt. The Red Canopy itself used to be full of life. Its wet, jungle biome was home to hundreds of thousands of different species. The flora, which takes on a crimson hue across its leaves and flowers, produced plenty of fruits and seeds for the creatures to eat. Bugs and other small creatures made for good eating. Then an illness struck.
It started after a particularly brutal rain. Creatures of all kinds became exhausted and dizzy. Then they would roll over and die. This took a brutal toll on the Red Clover tribe. Many of the tribe members died. Some decided to turn tail and leave. Most of the slugcats were too afraid to leave their ancestral home. However, four slugcats have decided to end the terror of the illness themselves. They intend to go to the God of Rain and ask it how to stop the illness.