Line #76 Webcomic/Vattu


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/cover_70.jpg]]
2
3	[[center:''I am from Ata.'']]
4	[[center:''River and Grass.'']]
5	[[center:''The Hunt and the Cycle.'']]
6	[[center:''A thousand generations.'']]
7	[[center:''Forever.'']]
8	[[center:''Until Sahta.'']]
9
10	Set in the world of Webcomic/{{Overside}}, ''[[http://www.rice-boy.com/vattu/ 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.
11
12	The webcomic consists of four books, beginning in June 2010 and finishing in September 2022.
13
14	'''Book One''', ''The Name and the Mark'', 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. Later, it 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.
15
16	'''Book Two''', ''The Sword and the Sacrament'', introduces a whole host of new characters, and the select stories of denizens from varying classes are explored. 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.
17
18	'''Book Three''', ''The Tower and the Shadow'', begins with a shift of focus upon the Emperor Arrius, and shows hints of the history behind the empire and how the present world has come to be.
19
20	'''Book Four''', ''The River'', follows the various factions fighting for control of Sahta in the aftermath of [[spoiler:the death of Emperor Arrius]].
21
22	Vattu creator Evan Dahm has also completed the webcomics ''Webcomic/RiceBoy'' and ''Webcomic/OrderOfTales'', all of which are set in Overside.
23
24	----
25	!! ''Vattu'' contains examples of:
26	* AGodAmI: Gasha [[http://www.rice-boy.com/vattu/index.php?c=873 declares himself to be Tirkatesh, the Grish god of the current.]]
27	* ActionGirl: Vattu wields a sword nearly her height [[SmallGirlBigGun 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 [[CuteBruiser she isn't physically imposing by far]], but nor is her stature played up as anything special. Possibly a moot point considering Fluters have nothing to do with human cultural constraints - but since she goes from being 'it' to 'he' when a couple of guards catch her with her sword, there is at least basis for it within the empire.
28	** Gradually becomes more competent with her weapon, and eventually, proficient; rumours abound of the 'Fighting Fluter', and Calirus himself (in charge of the expansion efforts) is surprised/amused/respectful enough of her to allow her nightly pilgrimages.
29	** Almost exactly a year into her sparring sessions, [[SurpassedTheTeacher Vattu easily disarms the War Man]].
30	* AddledAddict: Velas' unweight habit, which steadily gets worse until [[spoiler:the Emperor's death]], at which point he's barely able to function without it.
31	* AltarTheSpeed: [[spoiler: After Emperor Arrius dies, Asria and Velas get married by Asria's mother Enteyer to shore up their line's legitimacy.]]
32	* AnguishedDeclarationOfLove: [[spoiler: Junti towards Vattu as she [[http://rice-boy.com/vattu/index.php?c=1121 struggles to hold the latter from falling]].]]
33	--> [[spoiler:'''Junti:''']] I love you.
34	--> [[spoiler:'''Vattu:''']] Be ready.
35	--> [''[[spoiler:Vattu]] falls'']
36	* AnthropomorphicPersonification: The basis of Vattu's tribe's religion is the massive river they live by, known as [[http://rice-boy.com/vattu/index.php?c=078 Ata]].
37	* ArtEvolution: Around the latter parts of book two, Dahm intentionally simplified his inking style, with thicker, smoother lines and less detailed shading. Compare [[http://rice-boy.com/vattu/index.php?c=102 the first appearance of Sahtan soldiers]] with their [[http://rice-boy.com/vattu/index.php?c=879 return to the Flutelands]], 750+ pages later.
38	* ArrangedMarriage: Marria with Lord Morrian, of the political sort. As opposed to the usual trope, the marriage itself isn't paid much attention; instead, it is used to set up Marria's affiliation with the Sisterhood (see below).
39	* BatmanGambit: Junti's [[http://rice-boy.com/vattu/index.php?c=452 enlisting of Vattu]] in her secret research. "I hope you would not tell, [[CassandraTruth but they would not listen if you did.]]"
40	* BerserkButton: Kadarsh can't stand the sheltered Junti, who doesn't know a thing about the impoverished underbelly of the city.
41	* BreakTheHaughty: Emperor Arrius was an arrogant brat as a child, until in a fit of bravado he drank his father's wine in full view of his advisors. The wine turned out to be poisoned, and left Arrius permanently disabled and in constant pain. This and his later experiences in the city slums left him much more humble and empathetic, though constantly in doubt of his capacity to rule [[spoiler:right up until he was poisoned again, this time fatally.]]
42	* CategoryTraitor: Various people see Vattu as one after she starts living in the Imperial Tower and becomes an emissary. DeconstructedTrope since many accusers are considered traitors themselves, by OTHER people. In a story about colonization, few of the subjugated can really do much against the ruling power.
43	* CharacterCatchphrase: Otti:
44	-->"You are an idiot."
45	* ChildProdigy: [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed]] with Junti; despite being an unremarkable student and the properties of Unweight being pretty well-understood, she still manages to puzzle out the mechanics of Unweight-powered flight and create a working design for a flying apparatus (in this case, a kind of personal levitation harness) in the span of a few months through sheer deduction. Later on, she puts this discovery to good use when [[spoiler: she breaks Vattu out of the Imperial Tower's prison with [[http://rice-boy.com/vattu/index.php?c=1107 an]] [[http://rice-boy.com/vattu/index.php?c=1112 Unweight]] [[http://rice-boy.com/vattu/index.php?c=1118 airship]].]]
46	* CigarChomper: Bakrah is rarely seen without one. Later on he switches to a pipe.
47	* ColorCodedForYourConvenience: Played straight for Surin and Sahtan architecture and the general aesthetic of either race. Sahtans tend toward red, gray and brown, while Surin go for blue and purple.
48	* ContemplateOurNavels: Velas' Unweight-induced high gets a little [[http://rice-boy.com/vattu/index.php?c=460 intense.]]
49	* CovertGroup: The Sisterhood, composed of women connected to major political figures, who share information amongst each other. Although [[http://rice-boy.com/vattu/index.php?c=345 it is "not as secret as it was".]]
50	* CrutchCharacter: Junti to Vattu, in a sense, regarding her mission to scavenge Unweight; she is rostered onto the Honour Guard, and Vattu has to do it alone.
51	* CuriosityIsACrapshoot: Junti. Her abundance of questions regarding the enclave, Sahta, and Unweight gain her more ire than sympathy.
52	* TheCycleOfEmpires:
53	** Expansion: The Sahtan Empire took wide strides to conquer the War-Men horde, proving to the world that they could take on the most barbaric outlands and win.
54	** Stabilization: By the beginning of the story, the conquerors are taking more calculated risks, conquering beings who have little to produce and next to no military strength, and the emperor is busy pacifying his annexed subjects.
55	** Decay: In response to the feeble placating compromises to the third-class citizens, the nobles plot to usurp the throne, [[spoiler:the Surin enclave secedes, and the emperor dies]].
56	** Long Night: [[spoiler:Vattu seizes control of the throne, [[ZeroApprovalGamit but not to stay its next tyrant]]. [[AuthorityInNameOnly With the credibility of the title of Emperor in tiny pieces]] (what with Vattu being a sub-Sahtan, a commoner, and the woman who murdered the previous emperor), every edict she makes hastens the death of the Sahtan empire, and she eagerly commands the Fluters to prepare its funeral.]]
57	* DecompressedComic: The first scene. Lampshaded by Evan in the accompanying [[http://riceboyart.livejournal.com/68772.html news post]]: "Dialogue will happen very soon! And it won't all be as ridiculously decompressed as this first scene, rest assured!"
58	* DescriptivelyNamedSpecies: The Fluters and the War-Men, reflecting how Sahta sees them.
59	* DontCallMeSir: [[http://rice-boy.com/vattu/index.php?c=448 The small band of Surin who appear to be acting independently of the enclave.]] Is the first inkling that the higher ups are not as single-mindedly devout as they seem.
60	* EarlyBirdCameo: Unweight and a Surin are first seen in one of Dahm's short stories, "[[http://www.rice-boy.com/shortstories.php?ti=1 The Tethered Isle]]".
61	* EmotionlessGirl: Otti, though male, comes off as eerily affectless.
62	** NotSoStoic: [[http://rice-boy.com/vattu/index.php?c=432 Oh, you can feel the headdesk.]]
63	* TheExile: Seri in Book 1, after causing the events that lead to Vattu's temporary abduction by the Dead.
64	* {{Expy}}: Calirus drew a lot of comparison to [[Series/GameOfThrones Tywin Lannister]] - both highly competent and ruthless elder statesmen whose machinations drive much of the story's events, [[spoiler:and who have their own plans for the throne]].
65	** Calirus' son Caniri is likewise almost certainly an analogue for [[Series/GameOfThrones Joffrey]], both of them being horribly unqualified [[RoyalBrat Royal Brats]] whose families plan to use them as a PuppetKing, with dire consequences for everyone else. Tanniri even shares Joffrey's habit of hysterically calling for executions whenever he's threatened. [[spoiler:Fortunately, Vattu's rebellion destroys all of Caniri's support, and he's left unable to do anything but ineffectually protest as she takes the throne]].
66	* EyeScream: [[spoiler: Bakrah gets an eye gouged out in a fight.]]
67	* FantasticCasteSystem: Conquered races are subservient to the Sahtans by default. The War-Men living in Sahta have a comparatively easy deal as they are given room and board in exchange for permanent military service, while Grish are segregated in their own neighborhood of [[TheCityNarrows Grishet]] and mostly left to their own devices; Fluters, who largely reside at the bottom, are either pressed into indentured servitude or live in the streets. The Surin are seemingly external to this, shutting themselves off from the world where possible. (Compared to the lowest castes, though, their living quarters [[http://rice-boy.com/vattu/index.php?c=408 elicit much envy.]])
68	* FantasticDrug: Unweight, the blue, paint-like fluid that forms the focus of the Surins' institute. Particularly well-off Sahtans may also get their hands on it.
69	** Bakrah also speaks of two others: [[http://www.rice-boy.com/vattu/index.php?c=734 Deep-Blood]] and an [[http://www.rice-boy.com/vattu/index.php?c=735 unnamed root.]]
70	* FantasyCounterpartCulture: The Sahtan Empire, which is Roman in nature. They even have extremely similar armor and the famous "scutum" shields.
71	* FlashBack: When the chief of the war-men [[http://www.rice-boy.com/vattu/index.php?c=126 remembers]] [[http://www.rice-boy.com/vattu/index.php?c=135 the]] [[http://www.rice-boy.com/vattu/index.php?c=147 time]] [[http://www.rice-boy.com/vattu/index.php?c=160 before]] [[http://www.rice-boy.com/vattu/index.php?c=173 he]] [[http://www.rice-boy.com/vattu/index.php?c=192 was]] captured by Sahta, and when Arrius the Seventh remembers his childhood.
72	* {{Foil}}:
73	** Otti versus Vattu, the former assimilating into the slave system while the latter rejects it.
74	** Kadarsh, upon meeting Junti, represents the interracial hostility bred by an unequal caste system; Vattu has had little time to be inoculated with it, and puts it aside.
75	** Promptly subverted when she [[spoiler: lockpicks a sacred room]].
76	* {{Foreshadowing}}: During one of Junti's early meetings with the Weightless One, they mention that "one pinch more" of Unweight than normal would send them flying high above the city. [[spoiler:Sure enough, they end up doing just that once the Surin Enclave is blasted out of Sahta.]]
77	* FourFingeredHands: Sahtans have four fingers on each hand, while War-Men and Fluters have only three. The Surin have five-fingered hands.
78	* TheGhost: The Emperor Arius is often referred to by many characters, but he isn't actually seen until book 3.
79	* GodBeforeDogma: The Sisterhood seem to be this with regard to the Sahtan religion.
80	--> '''Carlae:''' It is said that when you are on the ''righteous'' side -- the side of ''Tarrus Himself'', no matter what the church says -- these things have a way of falling into place.
81	* GodEmperor: The Sahtan emperors are considered to be the mortal hand of Tarrus, the Sahtan god.
82	* GoodSmokingEvilSmoking: Bakrah is a heavyset, amoral and very cunning businessman, and is usually smoking a cigar. Seeing as how he's the only character in the entire comic who smokes, it also serves to emphasize his foreign origin.
83	* GreyAndGrayMorality: Though it's easy to assume the Sahtan Empire are the 'villains' as a conquering society, Dahm goes to great lengths to dispell such a clear-cut perspective -- the Empire is very much as amoral as any civilisation in our own history.
84	* HotBlooded: Vattu -- subtly, but pervasively so. This starts as early in the comic as [[http://rice-boy.com/vattu/index.php?c=077 her first dialogue,]] [[http://rice-boy.com/vattu/index.php?c=119 and]] [[http://rice-boy.com/vattu/index.php?c=120 then]]...
85	* IcyBlueEyes: Calirus sports some.
86	* InadequateInheritor: There are many who feel that Emperor Arrius is not fit to rule Sahta due to his physical frailty. [[spoiler: He doesn't feel he's right for the throne either, though not due to his physical shortcomings.]]
87	* InsistentTerminology: It's '''Lord''' Morrian, Vattu. Get it right!
88	* InternalReformist: Vattu attempts this in the comic's latter half, with dismal results. One of the story's moral lessons is that change from within is ''impossible'' for imperialist systems, as the system will simply use such attempts to further extend its own power.
89	-->'''Vanni''': The sword is always there. Even when it's left on the ground. ''Always.''
90	* IronicEcho: On pages [[http://www.rice-boy.com/vattu/index.php?c=769 769]] and [[http://www.rice-boy.com/vattu/index.php?c=771 771]]
91	-->'''Junti''': Who are you?\
92	'''Bakrah''': In this sort of work, one must accept a certain level of ambiguity.\
93	'''Bakrah''': Why are you having weapons made?\
94	'''Junti''': I'm sorry, but -- you must accept a certain level of ambiguity.
95	* JumpScare: In-universe, when Kadarsh pops up to greet characters at the canal.
96	* LaResistance: Between Vattu stirring up the street population, the Surin plotters making ready for a coming change, and the members of the Sisterhood looking to gain political significance, the seeds for this have certainly been sowed.
97	* MadeASlave: Vattu, sold to the Sahtan Empire.
98	** Fairly soon into her stint, [[SlaveLiberation she's not]].
99	* MoodWhiplash: Junti, [[NiceJobBreakingItHero causing some trouble after snooping around the Unweight greenhouse,]] suffers a gruesome-looking fall during her escape.
100	** Vattu, also meeting trouble in the Flower Room, [[spoiler:[[http://rice-boy.com/vattu/index.php?c=521 finds out she's learnt swordfighting a little too well]]]].
101	* MultipurposeMonoculturedCrop: The Unweight flowers grown in the Surin enclave's greenhouse, though in this case, it's less the flowers themselves and more the substance extracted from them: Unweight is a popular narcotic in Sahta and is used to make blue paint, but naturally has "negative weight" and falls ''upward''; this property is exploited by the Surin to make [[spoiler:aircraft]].
102	* MushroomSamba: Vattu has a very short one after [[http://www.rice-boy.com/vattu/index.php?c=748 being given some Unweight by Velas]], providing [[http://www.rice-boy.com/vattu/index.php?c=749 the page quote]] in the process.
103	* NamingCeremony: Priestess gives fluters of Vattu's tribe their name and mark after their first turning-move.
104	* NoRespectGuy: Vanni, prior to Priestess' assignment of him as her successor, is ignored or dismissed by most of the tribe due to his inability to hunt. After he becomes Priest, Hunter contemptuously asks him, "She chose you?" and Vattu outright dismisses his authority. This has [[TakeThat consequences for the hunters]] once Sahtan colonization begins and Priest decides which aspects of fluter tradition he is willing to defend.
105	* OutsideContextProblem: Sahta to the fluters.
106	* PalsWithJesus: Vattu [[http://www.rice-boy.com/vattu/index.php?c=893 considers herself the personal friend]] of Arrius the Seventh, mortal hand of Tarrus.
107	* PrecisionFStrike: "'''[[http://rice-boy.com/vattu/index.php?c=082 Damn]]''' Ata."
108	* PublicExecution: Book Two opens with a Grish shipbuilder being hanged by Sahtan authorities for selling to enemies of the state, [[AllCrimesAreEqual and not paying taxes to the Emperor]].
109	-->'''Shakkiz the Red:''' I ''spit'' on your Emperor!\
110	'''Sahtan spectator:''' We spit on all the Grish!\
111	'''Shakkiz:''' No. [[FacingTheBulletsOneLiner You simply kill us.]]
112	* RaceNameBasis: The Sahtans who take Vattu to Sahta call her only "Fluter." [[http://www.rice-boy.com/vattu/index.php?c=139 She doesn't like it at all.]]
113	* RacialRemnant: The Surin's enclave is the last remnant of their once-great culture. [[spoiler:Except they aren't, but their culture has stagnated enough to exile an entire enclave to TheEmpire as a peace treaty.]]
114	* RagsToRiches: Vattu goes from being forced into servitude to homelessness, living by a canal and stealing food to survive, to [[spoiler:being taken into the Imperial Isle as an advisor to the Emperor]].
115	* RiteOfPassage: Surin girls visit the Weightless One when they are of age (or maybe later) in order to join the acolyte classes.
116	* SchizoTech: In a [[http://www.rice-boy.com/vattu/index.php?c=479 few]] [[http://rice-boy.com/vattu/index.php?c=656 instances]] it is shown that the Surin use lighters, in a society otherwise analogous to Classical Rome.
117	* SignificantWardrobeShift: Each book has one for Vattu, as her status and role in life change.
118	* StarvingArtist: [[http://www.rice-boy.com/vattu/index.php?c=311 Velas.]]
119	--> Bread costs more than it did a year ago. '''Six''' flatters now. Paintings still cost the same, though.
120	** [[http://rice-boy.com/vattu/index.php?c=455 Not anymore!]]
121	* SueDonym: "[[http://rice-boy.com/vattu/index.php?c=292 Va... nni.]]"
122	* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: [[spoiler: Asria tries to take charge of a deteriorating situation by disarming a defecting guard and ordering the arrest of the usurper for trying to buy the throne with drugs.]] Except everyone is more worried about the patriarchal succession crisis and immediately detains her.
123	** As CategoryTraitor notes, Sahta’s oppressed cultures have everyone accusing damn near everyone else of being a traitor or a SellOut for arbitrary reasons, which is unfortunately how things tend to go in real life. Most of the subjugated will have to compromise on SOMETHING.
124	* TakeAwayTheirName: After Seri hides a Sahtan game from the rest of the tribe and several fluters die as a result, Priestess [[http://www.rice-boy.com/vattu/index.php?c=067 takes away her name and mark.]] Vanni/Priest threatens [[http://www.rice-boy.com/vattu/index.php?c=089 to do the same thing to Vattu.]]
125	* TemptingFate: Gasha, immediately after claiming to be immortal, [[spoiler: gets shot through the neck and dies on the very next panel.]]
126	* TheBlank: The War-Men have no facial features.
127	* TheHermit: Oh, Velas. Struggles through formal ([[NoSocialSkills or even common social]]) etiquette... avoids opening the door... (His 'best friend' just lets himself in, really.)
128	** He does make an effort to be [[FriendToAllChildren nice to that little street Fluter]], though.
129	* TheQuisling: Otti 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.
130	* TheSpeechless: The War-Men, and [[http://www.rice-boy.com/vattu/index.php?c=158 apparently everyone from their home continent of Grenth.]]
131	* TheWatson: Junti's late initiation allows lots of info on the Surin culture to be fed to the audience.
132	%% * ThrowingYourSwordAlwaysWorks
133	* TertiarySexualCharacteristics: Well averted; many species only demonstrate dimorphism through their costume, and the Fluters are distinctly [[AmbiguousGender ambiguous]] from our perspective - as well as [[SweetPollyOliver everyone else's]]. Played with, as Fluters easily divine each other's genders.
134	** [[WordOfGod Dahm has said]] that male Fluters have more angular heads, and within their own culture, wear brighter colours.
135	* TribalFacePaint: 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.
136	** Vattu clings to these standards in 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 2, though, the mark is gone for more [[TheRunaway practical reasons]].
137	** As beggars and street rats, for many of the Fluters, the memory of their name is all they have left. Vattu, as seen, is highly protective of hers. As she matures and finds new purpose, [[http://rice-boy.com/vattu/index.php?c=440 she lets her obsession go.]]
138	* UptownGirl: Velas, a starving artist, falls in love with Asria, the emperor's daughter.
139	* WillingChanneler: A part of the Grish religion is a [[FightClubbing fighting ring]] in which the contestants are said to be [[http://www.rice-boy.com/vattu/index.php?c=619 vessels for the will of the gods.]]
140	** Later, Gasha claims the god of the current [[http://www.rice-boy.com/vattu/index.php?c=786 is speaking through him.]]
141	* YouNoTakeCandle: Kadarsh is a subtle example, occasionally dropping his auxiliary verbs.

Context Webcomic / Vattu