Exploring Histories: Urchin
over 3 years ago – Fri, Aug 21, 2020 at 05:43:11 PM

It's Folklore Friday! As we said in our previous post, we plan to keep content updates coming your way in between our production updates so that you always have new, exciting, Manifest lore to consume! Today we're highlighting another History you can choose at character creation.

Histories define where a drifter's story began and shapes the way that drifter sees the world. Some drifters embrace their history, relying on the lessons learned in those formative years. Other drifters rebel against their history, trying to escape the difficult memories of their past by becoming someone or something else. Regardless of how they feel about where they came from, a drifter's history will always inevitably be a part of them one way or another.

Countless Urchins can be found within the slums of the various Factory Towns, where opportunity and danger go hand and hand. Only the strongest, quickest, and most cunning can claw their way out with a little bit of good luck and timing in such neighborhoods. 

Drifters who have an Urchin background come from having very little of anything. Food, drink, spurs, safety, and housing are just some necessities that they desperately lacked at one or many points in their lives.

The life of an Urchin can be extremely difficult. Without the safety net afforded by people in higher social strata, any risk an Urchin takes is at a severe disadvantage. The punishment for failure can be devastating or even lethal, while the rewards for taking those same risks are usually small. An Urchin is lucky if they manage to earn themselves a few nights of safety, perhaps with a full belly.

There's no one mold for what makes an Urchin. Some go through life entirely alone, or perhaps with a sibling, trying to eke out a small living scrounging for scraps or working for bits and bobs. Others find themselves unofficially adopted by their communities, or fall in with a tough crowd and are forced to prove their wits and mettle to avoid becoming cannon fodder. Others actually have a family that loves and cares for them as best they can while still struggling daily to have enough food and shelter.

Despite their differing origins, Urchins are first and foremost survivors. They have slept in alleyways, on rooftops, and even in sewers. They have endured sickness without medicine or proper treatment and shelter to recuperate in. Because of this, Urchins think on their feet and keep their head on a swivel, they learned at a young age that trouble can come from anywhere.   

But having little in the way of resources or material wealth does not equal a lack of culture, charity, or community. Many urchins belong to a loose local network that looks out for and helps one another. These networks are one of the ways that Urchins can find support, information, and even education. These networks often have ties to other networks, creating a vast system reaching far and wide. 

There's a certain freedom within these networks. The average citizen is quick to balk at an Urchin's inconvenient presence, so avoiding the attention of law enforcement, criminals, and the citizenry alike is a vital skill for most Urchins. While it may not be as fast or reliable as a Long-Range Communique, one of the best ways to get a message or package delivered to somewhere or someone anonymously is to utilize the Urchin's underground networks.

Production Update: COVID Delays & Next Steps
over 3 years ago – Fri, Jul 31, 2020 at 08:06:57 PM

As July comes to an end, our hopes for moving forward with production of the book have been dashed again. With COVID-19 cases spiking all over the U.S, the companies we were relying on for the digital layout and physical printing of Manifest have shut down yet again. Up to this point, we were holding out hope that we could get production back on track as the COVID crisis was reigned in. It is apparent that this virus is going to continue to play havoc with our country, and by extension the unfortunate companies we had already negotiated our printing rates with, for quite some time still.

So we're done waiting for things to get better! We're going to be canceling our arrangements with these companies and start shopping around for layout designers and publishers fortunate enough to be still operating in the chaos of this pandemic. We're not going to rest until we're able to strike a deal with new business partners that can deliver the quality of product we desire! It pains us to backtrack so far, but at this point it's guaranteed to be faster than waiting for COVID numbers to drop to a functional wait.

For the last couple of months we've been sharing elements of the book and the world with y'all. Rest assured those update will continue, though their frequency will go down slightly as we focus our attention on reorganizing our production needs to fit a world that continues to struggle with COVID. Our hope is that the adjustments we make will allow us to also share more substantial production updates with y'all in the weeks/months to come.

We can't understate how appreciative we are for your continued support and patience during these trying times. The community brewing around Manifest is one of the most positive and creative we've seen! Your enthusiasm is inspiring and humbling. We're dying to get this game to y'all, and are doubling our efforts to do so in spite of the devilishly persistent COVID-19 obstacles in our way.

We'll be posting more updates about our progress soon!

In the meantime, if you're itching for more Manifest content these days, check out our YouTube Channelfor our livestream backlog! And join us on Twitch every Tuesday at 8pm Central! We start every Twitch stream with announcements, including minor production updates that don't warrant a full Kickstarter post, so it's a fantastic way to keep completely up to date with everything Manifest related! 

Also, if you are a backer or someone who pre-ordered on Backerkit and you're NOT in our Discord, or have NOT accessed the Quick Start Guide, please shoot us a direct message and we'll happily send you the appropriate links!

Critter Sightings: Wihwin and Woolly Trout
over 3 years ago – Wed, Jul 29, 2020 at 04:19:45 PM

Hello all! As you no doubt noticed, we were unable to give you a Manifest Monday update this week! We had a moderate pet emergency that threw off our update schedule. So, we're mixing it up and bringing you two critters this Waypoint Wednesday! (not to worry, Dag the Dog is going to be fine, and will absolutely keep interrupting our livestreams with extreme prejudice)

Manifest is home to all sorts of fascinating wildlife. Ranging from the curious to the outright terrifying, the native fauna is just one of the reasons the life of a drifter requires immense skill and luck. Only truly talented individuals can survive the wilds between settlements.

Wihwin

The haunting melody of the Wihwin can occasionally be heard wafting through the air around the waters of Manifest. This echoing warble, easy to mistake for the whistling of the wind, has many uses for the Wihwin; it helps the nearly blind beast see through echolocation, and can draw curious prey in close. It also serves as a lonely mating call that is seldom answered.

The Wihwin is a large semi-aquatic predator that lives predominantly in the water, but can, typically when forced or in pursuit of injured prey, survive on land for short periods. Most Wihwin prefer the relatively still waters of Manifest’s lakes, ponds, and marshes, but there are breeds of Wihwin that can be found in slow-flowing rivers. 

To the unwary eye, a Wihwin looks like a collection of algae or seaweed floating slowly in an unseen current. Long sensitive plant-like tentacles cover and camouflage this predator’s body and can detect even the smallest movements and vibrations. This gives the Wihwin preternatural sight while underwater, allowing it to hunt through the night with deadly precision.

When on the hunt, the Wihwin prowls slowly through the water methodically stalking its prey to utilize perhaps the most terrifying weapon in its arsenal. Each of the Wihwin’s tentacles contains thousands of microscopic barbed stingers. These stingers are reflexively deployed on creatures that so much as brush against the Wihwin’s tentacles, injecting the victim with a potent venom that renders them temporarily blind and turns them into extremely easy prey.

Given how incredibly stealthy and lethal the Wihwin is, very little else is known about the creature. This has led to legends and tall tales speculating about the creature’s origin. A relatively well-known rumor about the Wihwin is that it didn’t exist before humans arrived on Manifest. The story goes that one of the first horses brought to Manifest fell into a river in the Garden and was drowned. Over the years, this horse’s remains were claimed by luminescent vegetation on the riverbed until it was eventually returned to life as the first Wihwin. 

The mysterious tales surrounding the Wihwin, outlandish as they may be, add to the already unnerving reality that any body of water could easily be a Wihwin’s hunting grounds and a person may not know until it’s far too late.

Woolly Trout

The Woolly Trout is a two-foot-long shoal swimmer with serrated teeth and jaws strong enough to cut through steel and has an appetite for meat that seems to know no bounds. 

Hardly ever found far from their shoal, the Woolly Trout is dangerous alone, but devastatingly lethal with its friends. A shoal of Woolly Trout in the midst of a feeding frenzy converges on and consumes large prey to the bone within minutes.

All Woollies have a single row of sharp teeth on their upper and lower jaws, which are used for rapid puncture and shearing. Their teeth are tightly packed and interlocking, allowing them to tear through anything less robust than the hide of an adult hodag with ease. Terrifyingly, the Woolly Trout is believed to have one of the strongest bites of any predator on Manifest, before accounting for size. 

While Woolly Trout have been seen eating things other than meat, they have only been observed doing so to stave off mortal starvation. Otherwise, they are carnivorous, eating anything unfortunate enough to get within biting range, from swimming critters or ones drinking by the riverside to other aquatic predators and even each other if necessary.

However, they also have a unique adaptation that makes them integral to the ecosystem of Manifest. Woolly Trout are named for the wool-like chitin that covers the majority of their body. This chitin grows as a reaction to the amount of poison, toxins, and waterborne contaminants that the Woolly comes into contact with. 

When they come into contact with poisonous or toxic materials, the Woolly Trout metabolizes those substances into flexible chitinous crystals that look and feel like wool while wet. This keeps the ponds, rivers, and streams of Manifest pure and crystal clear. 

The natural filter of Manifest, when Woolly Trout are overfished or otherwise removed from an area, the waterways become more polluted with animal and human detritus, proving them a dangerous necessity.

The ‘wool’ also functions as essential protection, as the concentration of toxic materials within the chitin gives it a putrid taste that can be potentially deadly when eaten. However, the meat of the fish is completely edible and a common source of sustenance for humans.

During their yearly migration, Woolly Trout travel from their breeding grounds near a river or stream’s source to the estuary where their river meets Lake Jacobson. While in the estuary, the Woolly Trout shed their ‘wool,’ which eventually decomposes, concentrating all the planet’s toxins into the massive, poisonous lake.

Across Manifest, fishers diligently track these migration patterns because a bundle of Woolly Trout ‘wool’ is a high demand commodity. When collected and pickled in brine, a Woolly’s chitin hardens into very fine, sharp-edged filaments that are frequently used as a finishing abrasive in metal crafting, woodworking, and even jeweling.

Drifter's Choice: The Path of the Deputy
almost 4 years ago – Fri, Jul 24, 2020 at 10:43:24 PM

Let's all go into the weekend with another Folklore Friday update! Here's another path you can pick at character creation.

A drifter's path defines how they've chosen to interact with the harsh realities of life on Manifest. A path could present itself as a chosen profession or a way for the drifter to make a living. Other times a path is more like a set of values the drifter follows. As a drifter's story grows and adapts, they may even find a new path to follow as their outlook on life changes!

Path of the Deputy

While some people see Manifest as a wild and lawless land, the Deputy knows better. Those who walk to Path of the Deputy want to see thieves, murderers, and liars of Manifest brought to justice the right way: working off their debt to society or six feet under. After all, law, order, and accountability to one's neighbor is the only thing separating humanity from the critters they share the planet with.

Manifest has more than its fair share of greedy, opportunistic people looking to prey on those who try to live an honest life. The first, and sometimes only, line of defense for most people against such scoundrels is the Deputy. Deputies are the boots on the ground: the peacekeepers and civil servants in charge of collecting taxes, breaking up barroom fights, and generally keeping the peace in town on a day to day basis. A Drifter who follows this path is often the first to head out of town in pursuit of a fleeing outlaw or searching for the solution to the town's most pressing problems.

Most times, one doesn't need to look far to find a follower of the path of the Deputy. Wherever people gather in search of security and community, they're likely to look to a few trusted individuals to keep the peace, interpret the law, and see that everyone is given a fair shake. The path of the Deputy can take many forms, all of which serve the law of the land in their own way. 

Settlements will often elect or appoint a sheriff to look after matters of peace. In larger towns, a Sheriff often shares the responsibility of adjudication with the mayor or even a judge. In smaller settlements, however, sheriffs are the ultimate authority when it comes to criminals. Factory Towns rely on more than one sheriff to watch over their various sprawling internal districts and utilize their marshals for regulating their territory at large.

If sheriffs and deputies make up the meat and potatoes of the law, marshals are the salt in the stew. They are the elite of Manifest's law enforcement, and a settlement's sheriff is expected to defer to a marshal's judgment in all things. 

Marshals are also frequently trusted with the security of important people, valuable items, or prisoners over long distances. And often, they are sent on special assignment to apprehend dangerous criminals, do specialized detective work, or lead a posse to halt a roving band of outlaws. A marshal will range all over their Factory Town's territory, helping where they can and enforcing the law when they have to.

When it comes to the intricacies of a territory's law and how someone will pay for their crimes, there isn't any authority more respected than a judge. A frequent follower of the path of the Deputy, a judge is a rare sight to see far from a Factory Town. Judges are responsible for much more than just overseeing the issuing of punishment. They are the law keepers of the land, officiating over elections, evaluating taxes, and doing the paperwork necessary to turn a camp into a settlement is just a small sample of their duties. The rare traveling judge oversees a territory's official business with steel nerves and a wary eye.

While many who follow the Deputy's path may be actual officers of the law, countless others follow it. 

Bounty hunters are common, if unexpected, followers of the path of the Deputy, empowered by the system to function as the long arm of the law. 

Bounty hunters are sanctioned by a Factory Town authority to operate in their territory. They will trace skips and rake in bounties inside or out of the city, depending on the particulars of their license. Most bounty hunters will be sanctioned to operate in several territories. This sanctioning is embedded in their Long-Range Communication tag. A bounty hunter is expected to immediately produce their tag and a copy of whatever bounty they are pursuing upon request to resolve any dispute as to the legality of their actions. 

Even ordinary citizens can follow the path of the Deputy, the only requirement is a healthy respect for the law and the wish for a safe society. And many people, especially those who are naturally protective and disciplined, often find themselves following this path, for a settlement is only as safe as those who are willing to play by the rules. The Deputy makes sure there are consequences to breaking those rules because, at the end of the day, the law is the law.

Exploring Histories: Nomad
almost 4 years ago – Wed, Jul 22, 2020 at 10:28:28 PM

Happy Waypoint Wednesday! We hope you enjoy this update about another one of the Histories you can pick at character creation!

Histories define where a drifter's story began and shapes the way that drifter sees the world. Some drifters embrace their history, relying on the lessons learned in those formative years. Other drifters rebel against their history, trying to escape the difficult memories of their past by becoming someone or something else. Regardless of how they feel about where they came from, a drifter's history will always inevitably be a part of them one way or another.

After the factory towns were established, they had no convenient way to transport necessary goods and services across the planet. The Intraplanetary Transport Initiative was established to tackle the problem head-on. The call went out across Manifest for people willing to make the long and dangerous treks between factories and outposts, dig sites, and garrisons, in exchange for the ground or watercraft of their choice. These vehicles were created en masse and given to anyone willing to deliver goods, supplies, and people to the far reaches of the world. 

Gearheads from all over jumped at the chance to take on this new job, and for years the ITI caravans traversed the open wilds of Manifest delivering people and goods for Factory Towns all the way through the Factory Wars.

After the War, these caravans continued to ride their routes around Manifest, even aiding in the completion of the High-Speed Railway connecting the Factory Towns and Waypoint. But even after the completion of the High-Speed Railway, the culture that had grown around the customizing of vehicles and always being on the move refused to die out. The Nomad packs were born.

After the High-Speed Rail completion, the Nomad packs saw their calling shift from servicing the Factory Towns to transporting people and goods between settlements. The packs were fast and their large numbers made them safe, so they pledged to anyone paying a fair coin for transit that they would arrive on time and with all their parts and parcels intact. 

While all Nomad packs are different in unique ways, true packs are the same in two tenets: go fast, carry a big stick. And they mean it. They make sure they're seen coming for miles whether by air, land or sea. Their land vehicles kick up the largest dust clouds in the Badlands; by sea, you can hear the drone of the fan boats in your sleep, and in the air, the wail of jetpack scouts are all but impossible to miss. There's no sensible reason to get in the way of a Nomad pack, they've got their trails carved out, and they’re sticking to them. If they see you in their way, they're more likely to ping you as a threat than a friendly, because their loyalty is to their roadkin and cargo. 

A Nomad pack’s hierarchy is most often modeled after a warrakin pack, with the leader known as the Alpha, the strongest, smartest, largest, and fiercest driver that the pack can muster. The Alpha sets the pace and tone for the pack, only being questioned when there's a formal challenge to Zimballis. 

No one is sure when the first Zimballis took place, or even where, but the sanctity of the ritual is held by all true Nomads. When a Nomad no longer believes that the Alpha is acting in the best interests of the pack, they'll challenge the Alpha to a contest of driving, wits, and martial prowess. Decide the route, 3 laps, first one to finish, or the last one standing wins the Zimballis, and the dispute is resolved unequivocally. Being lapped in Zimballis is the greatest mark of shame a Nomad can conceive, and is considered a fate worse than death.

Nomad packs may be made of a chosen family, a group of convenience, or a group of interrelated generational families. These packs form bonds most settlers and urbanites find hard to comprehend, but there's nothing else like these transient families on a non-stop road trip. From birth to death, the majority of a Nomad's life is spent on the move, and they wouldn't have it any other way.