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Webcomic: Vattu

The outer world knew it as year 855 of the Blue Age.But the nomads knew it unnumbered, in the midst of an age of river and grass with no beginning:the year Vattu was born.

Set in the world of Overside, Vattu is the story of the eponymous member of a tribe of nomad hunter-gatherers whose lives are disrupted by forces of change. The story follows Vattu as she is taken to a foreign society, and gradually accumulates other characters — a struggling artist, a member of a secret society, a young apprentice in an alchemical enclave, and many more.

So far the webcomic has three chapters, with many more expected to come.

Chapter One develops Vattu's origins in her tribe of those marked in white, with the various struggles that can exist in that context. By the end of the chapter, she has been sold into slavery to the imperialistic Sahtans.

Chapter Two introduces the War-Man and intersperses flashbacks to his story between segments of Vattu being taken to Sahta. Over the course of the chapter Vattu and the War Man become friends, get separated, and then are reunited.

Chapter Three is yet incomplete as of this writing, but has introduced a whole host of new characters. Having escaped servitude at a Sahtan house, Vattu now steals and hides to live, receiving further martial training in secret from the War Man and encountering many other residents of the city.

Vattu creator Evan Dahm has also completed the webcomics Rice Boy and Order of Tales, both of which are also set in the world of Overside.

Provides examples of:

Action Girl: Vattu wields a sword nearly her height and don't even care! She also loots for her food and fights her way out of problems without hesitation. Played with by Dahm as she isn't physically imposing by far, but nor is her stature played up as anything special. Possibly a moot point considering Fluter girls don't necessarily follow the same standards as us mere humans - but since she goes from being 'it' to 'he' when a couple of guards catch her with her sword, the perception is at least mirrored across the empire.
Anthropomorphic Personification: The basis of the tribe's religion is the massive river they live by, known as Ata.
Badass: The war man. It appears he's training Vattu to follow in his footsteps. Compounded by the fact that he (and his entire race, of which he was a powerful leader) is completely mute.
Arranged Marriage: Marria with Lord Morrian, of the political sort. Also less dramatic than what one would usually expect from the trope.
Decompressed Comic: The first scene. Lampshaded by Evan in the accompanying news post: "Dialogue will happen very soon! And it won't all be as ridiculously decompressed as this first scene, rest assured!"
Catchphrase: Otti:
"You are an idiot."
Emotionless Girl: Otti, though male, comes off as eerily affectless.
The Exile: Seri, after causing the events that lead to Vattu's temporary abduction by the Dead.
Fantastic Drug: 'Unweight', the blue, paint-like fluid that forms the focus of the Surins' institute (at least what we've seen so far). Particularly well-off Sahtans may also get their hands on it.
Fantasy Counterpart Culture: The Sahtan Empire, which is Roman in nature.
Grey and Gray Morality: Though it's easy to assume the Sahtan Empire are the villians, Dahm goes to great lengths to disspell such a clear-cut perspective - Vattu is a story about civilisations, at least at this point, and the Sahtan Empire considers itself as much of a villian as any civilisation in our world.
Hot Blooded: Vattu; subtle, but pervasively so. This starts as early in the comic as her first dialogue, and then...
Insistent Terminology: It's Lord Morrian, Vattu. Get it right!
Made a Slave: Vattu, the title character, is sold into slavery under the Sahtan Empire.
Precision F-Strike: "Damn Ata."
Starving Artist: The recently introduced Velas
Bread costs more than it did a year ago. Six flatters now. Paintings still cost the same, though.
Sue Donym: "Va... nni."
The Quisling: Otti now scorns the fluter way of life and reveres the Sahtan empire, considering it to be the superior civilization even though he is enslaved by it.
Throwing Your Sword Always Works
Tertiary Sexual Characteristics: Intentionally averted; many species only reflect human gender through their costume, and the Fluters are distinctly ambiguous from our perspective - as well as everyone else's. Played with, as Fluters easily divine each other's genders.
- Dahm has said that male Fluters have more angular heads, and within their own culture, wear brighter colours.
Tribal Face Paint: Indicative of a tribesman's name. A big deal in Fluter culture - when someone is dishonored and cast out, their name is forcibly washed off.
- Vattu carries over these standards to Sahta: when Otti berates her for repainting her mark, she claims that because he has none, he has no name - and she shouldn't even talk to him. As of Book 3, the mark is gone for more practical reasons, but it's clear she still values its significance as a representation of her identity.