On August 15th, the assembled Warp Squad 16 unit encountered and entered an artificial black hole. They were killed and “chewed, sliced and fractionalized” into 8,888 wandernauts. The new wandernauts maintained randomized aspects and possession of their old identities and compensation they had received for embarking on the mission.
The crux of their original 16 remain but sparkle differently through the prism of the wormhole.
Chasm - Cryptic and usually hooded and masked, Chasms take on manifestations of Warlock, Mage, Wizard, Eldritch. He prefers glaives, arrows or sniper. Different Chasms were captured by different enemies of the Alliance but escaped. No records exist prior to his arrival at WS16. Myths say he can speak to the void via astrakinesis. “Chasm whispers but the void screams”
Vizard - Outstanding pilot, an infiltrator and assassin who has never shown his face, not even to Warp Squad 16. Has a vast collection of predatory masks to choose between, depending on mood and the mission. Quick with a knife. Vizards have suffered traumatic loss and he has a reputation for not paying for drinks. There is a fullness and calmness which can come only from knowing pain.
Prodigy - Unusually bright is an understatement. Pioneered photonic AI and has a theory on how to access the seventh dimension. All boys seek heroes to emulate. Prodigy can often be found with clothes or items that pay tribute to his colleagues. Musician, movie fan and sometimes fisherman. Naively has taken work from parties most of the other WS16 are rivals of.
Halcyon - Near-lethal wounds can be healed with a pass of his hand. It’s said he stopped a fight as a young man that lead to him becoming a healer. Resided as a medic at the mega-hospital orbiting Uliah when it was attacked. Disillusioned, Halcyon joined WS16. Always in a meditative pose, he enjoys wide-brimmed hats, especially a non la. Often found with a cyon or lighting the way with a lantern.
Aegis - Clone smugglers hate her. Her defense protocols standardized the bullet-wave deterrent that largely put the smugglers out of business. When she isnt wearing a bright helmet, she is the definition of style. She rocks aviator sunglasses and fashion magazines on Home Planet watch her hair styles. Enjoys a storied history of defending small factions from larger ones. “Love should be enough to save the universe. It’s not, but Aegis is“.
Aegis Sabik SNR, Comms Officer #1461 crash landed on a dense foliage planet after the wormhole events and encountered a system guardian.
Formalin - It’s unusual to find Sluds outside their hydroponic habitats deep beneath their ocean world. But Formalin was called to touch the stars. He requires wearing a helmet that acts as an environment stabilizer. The environments found underneath vary widely from aquatic with fish and barnacles to terrariums. Rumors circulate he sometimes has drugs mixed into his helmet environment. He often runs deliveries for different factions.
Tarlor - Languishing for a million years as the last survivor of an attack on an exploratory ship, Tarlor is a biologist that likes to wear a solar system as a reminder of a past lost to her. Sometimes seen in a robo or armored suit, she prefers bliss as her drug of choice. This isn’t her first run in with a black hole. Her imprisonment on that coffin ship removed the twin demons of mobility and diversion, allowing her to master varied exotic biological skills. She has sold those skills to different factions but with varying degrees of success.
Hawk - Much has been said in the tales of the bounty hunter from Teres. Most are true. Eyewear and helmet are typical. Traditional tools of the trade like grappling hooks, lasers, and bliss are common. His mustache is the stuff of legend. Some factions still owe him ETH for past missions while others have fresh bounties out for him.
Cosmo - Epistemologist and philosopher who joined Warp Squad as part of a greater voyage for meaning. An autodidact proved life in the alliance territory came from comets. Style and swagger voiced through suits and suave hats. There are many enviable sunglasses in the WS16 but Cosmos wormholes are a darkened window into a mind disinterested in the petty squabbles around him. Mysticism without revelation. Has a hobby in cloning different animals.
Siren - Not looking for meaning in the universe, she simply wants to witness the beauty it possesses. “Songs of the stars” call her. A former archeologist that now sells paintings to the different factions. She is elegant, well-dressed and a noted influencer. Her different renditions have bright, poppy accessories like balloons and cat ears. She is perfect and some hate her for being so. She is the music of the spheres.
Guest - Something beyond human. Clinically dead for an entire day, Guest received an experimental nanobot treatment and was miraculously revived. His face is often marked by mutilation from past battles. Or past medical experiments. His clothing is varied; sometimes therapeutic gear, classy suits or military garb. It is rumored he killed the scientists who revived him. Part nano-bot as a result of his treatment. He is incapable of caution and therefore powerful. He cannot inspire love, so he inspires fear.
Oracle - Capable of seeing just beyond the horizon of the preset, Oracle has precog abilities and is a natural strategic battle planner. They are also a natural card player. Joined WS16 because they knew they would. They don traditional clothing, suits, head ornaments, and jewelry. Their variants are very picky about the cockpit their ships have. They predict there are factions who intend to kidnap them and use their special skills.
Fission - Hero atomic scientist of the HyperChem Plague. He made the difficult decision to explode the local star in the Teres system, preventing the plague spreading beyond those planets and people. He struggles with mental health issues due to those events. His derivatives have created a number of delightful toys and inventions. Some factions have tried to steal the patents of his inventions causing rivalry with him. It is suspected but unconfirmed his callsign number was 8. He often sports a striking bubble helmet or gas mask and unusual practical work suits. He prefers his bliss in pipe form or sometimes carries it in a tank on his back.
Selene - Enthusiastic child of prominent research scientists on Paldanas second moon who were killed by anti-cloning terrorists when she was 7 years old. At the age of 16, she joined the military to hunt terrorists. She has pursued security work for different factions. She is often seen with a variety of weapons including guns, axes, swords, glaives, and arrows. She is noted for her facial war paint. She takes inspiration from historical female warrior clans and can be found with Valkyrie helmets, decorative armor and braids.
Reef - Marketing himself as a carefree criminal, Reef was an infamous bliss smuggler before being captured by two WS16 members. He was offered a life at WSR or imprisonment. Legendary pilot always looking for the latest way to get buzzed. He provides bliss at a discount to some factions in exchange for other exotic drugs. It is rumored he provides the other WS16 members their bliss. He is always ingesting an intoxicant. Or pizza. He sports trendy hip streetwear or prison uniforms. Some versions have multiple or unusual eyes.
Bliss Mixer Reef Aesculus #8887 crash landed on a desert planet after the events of the wormhole and was attacked by a system guardian and left for dead.
Mortis - Emotion is for the weak. Crippled with guilt after a kill, an experimental surgery removed too much brain tissue from Mortis. His guilt was removed but the surgeons overcorrected, leaving him with no remorse. Mortis doesnt speak much. He did different blue collar jobs for different factions. Once more fun loving, Mortis is now a cold killer. He sometimes wears helmets or face shields but also medical bandages or cyborg implants following his surgery. He enjoys suits from classy to vampire. A bandolier often carries unusual ammunition like bananas and weiners.
Wandernauts are the PFP release of the Wanderverse. Wandernauts are kinetic avatars with mind-blowing variety, animation, story, and music. Using the wanderverse web interface, you can change the state of your NFT. Utilize “The Rift” to swap between the mp4, gif, and png versions of your avatar, while keeping it an NFT so you can stay interoperable across Web3. Wandernauts are hosted on IPFS -- which means the file storage is decentralized.
Mint
The mint occurred on March 25th, 2022 for a cost of .1 ETH. The cost of ETH was $3143 that day. There were 7 mint groups that guaranteed special traits:
- Wanderers
- Glitch
- Radioactive
- Guardian Marked
- Guardian Glitch Marked
- Radioactive Guardian Marked
- Warp Squad 16
In the lead up to the mint, collaboration efforts included Rarible, Argent, Odyssey DAO, Satoshi Runners, Superlative Secret Society, Bankless DAO, Non-Refungible Network, BearX labs, and BYOPills. A Tropix DJ party was hosted the night before release.
Over 95% of the initial wave minted. On June 6th, 2022, it was announced via Twitter the team would give away the remaining 337 wandernauts. One day later, it was announced that over 50,000 “had entered the wormhole” and submitted entry. The remaining 337 Wandernauts were released on Friday June 10th in a free mint. Everyone who entered the giveaway was airdropped a free Queen Arachnid NFT. A Tropix mint out party was held the following day.
Community Engagement
On April 29th, an open casting call was opened on Twitter for people to submit their wanderer assets, including wandernauts, for use in short films. Over 200 applied and those chosen were featured in the short film “Survival”.
Honorary Nauts were presented to prominent members of the web3 community. “Wanderaries” were presented to Cobie, Gramatik, Emonee Saturn, Belfort, XCOPY, Cozomo de’ Medici, Biana de Medici, “Packy” McCormick, uwu, Andrew Wang, Sarah Zucker, clan favorite Boofer, Path, Bigdog, Deeze, Claire Silver and Vitalik.
Music
On August 26th, 2022, long time music composer for the Wanderers, Lando Soundo, announced the completion of the Wandernauts album. Single “Between the Stars” and its visualizer was released on September 2nd. Single “Ad Infinitum” and its visualizer was released on September 19th.
Gaming
Wandernauts have been utilized in web3 gaming. Pixel Nauts have been available free for all holders for use in web 3 gaming. Wanderworlds is soon to be released in Minecraft.
Liquid Lands has been and continues to be a stunning success in the Wanderverse. The Nauts have held first place in the game for months, virtually uncontested. 400-630 Nauts, over 5% of all Nauts in existence, are often in play at any given time. Many wanderers have reached the highest honor in the game of minting eternals.