Tattooing Skill(s?) Interest

[Trisa Miroy]

Hey everyone! I'm interested in doing the tattooing skill article, but I've come across a bit of an issue. There are multiple tattooing techniques that would fit into the theme of Miz. Though they are all techniques for the same skill, I think they vary enough so that an expert in one technique wouldn't necessarily be as skilled in another. Should I include these techniques under the skill as sub-skills so they can be awarded like weaponry skills (i.e. "Tattoing: Hand-Tapping", "Tattooing: Hand-Carved", etc.)? Or should I single out a technique and have that be the designated way of tattooing across all of Miz?

Another issue would be the names of these techniques (if we went with having multiple techniques). In real life, one of the techniques is called "Tebori." This is a Japanese word, which would make no sense in the context of Mizahar. Should I just rename the technique to "Hand-poking" or something that summarizes the process well?

On a final note, I was thinking about how it'd be interesting to spread these techniques across Miz just like they are irl. I'm not sure which technique would come from which city/region, but it'd be cool if tattooers had to travel in order to master the various techniques. Just food for thought, I guess.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

[Urkut]

As far as interest goes, I'd love to see tattooing fleshed out. I want to get Urkut into tattooing, but I have zero reference for the skill, so an article would really help me out.

I think that it would be reasonable to have an artist pick one style of tattooing to practice at Novice level, and then pick another at a higher level. That way, they aren't separate skills, but it reflects the differences in them and the fact that mastering one does not mean mastering another.

Names could be redone entirely, or they could be fudged a little. In the case of Tebori, you could either switch up the name, or you could just say that "Tebori" (or something like it) is a, say, Kontinese word, and that Mura is where the style originated.

I don't think it would be practical to force tattoo artists to travel to learn, but you could certainly create specialties from each area of the world. I would imagine the tribal feel of Myrians vary greatly from the intricate Svefra style. I would read up on all of the races and cities before adding this, though, as most have some detail about fashion, and would give you a fair idea about what kind of style they may prefer.

Of course, these are all just my opinions, so don't take them as law. Any final decisions would have to be passed through scribes or founders, or perhaps both depending on the question.

[Attunement]

Greetings. Techniques with specific words for techniques in the real world using a Mizahar word instead, would be favorable. Please note that if referencing something it might be useful to provide where this reference came from so those that don't know them would be able to connect the dots. Using a generalized skill where technique changes as the skill increases would not work, however. As style and technique differs on the artist.

Artistry and drawing; one could pick up different styles through travel. These can be attained by lores. Perhaps if you wanted to include lore specific styles to add to a list to grant to player, this would aid in the overall skill, and help keep it simple.

[Vellichor]

I don't think tattoing should have to be limited to one single technique.
In fact, I think it would be interesting for many sub skills and techniques to be available.
Different regions will have different materials to work with and therefore, different techniques would develop.

As for specific words, I believe "Tebori" translates to "Hand-carved" or more roughly, "Hand-dug".
You can use translations or come up with a new name appropriate to the Mizaharian setting.
For example, tattooing techniques could get their name from the region or peoples that developed them.
"Myrian Hand-Tapping" just as an example.

[Trisa Miroy]

I agree with Attunement that the skill level shouldn't change the techniques that the user is capable of. However, I do think that the different techniques are a bit more complicated than lores would allow. The techniques aren't just different ways of holding a tool, but rather have different tools and materials altogether. For example, one method requires that the skin be cut and then dye placed into the wound while another calls for using a long bundle of needles to insert ink into the skin. I'm just not sure on how to create these "subskills."

Besides the Myrians and Drykas, what other race of culture would have developed a tattooing technique? Perhaps the Akalak?

[Tap]

I know nothing about tattooing but I know about races and lore so here are some races that mention tattoos within their culture.

Akalak:
When speaking of an unbalanced Akalak...

The individuals that have absolutely no control whatsoever, or those that are considered the most dangerous, are often delegated to the Cerulean and wear their faces tattooed to denote their unbalanced state.

Drykas:

They do however unite themselves in their love of tattoos. Even though one is born of the Drykas, that doesn’t necessarily mean that one will bear the tattoos common of one. The Drykas only get tattooed when they get chosen by one of their striders as a rider... ‘windmarks’ as the tattooing is called

Myrians:

The Myrians are great users of tattoos, and excellent artists. These tattoos are awarded as signs of accomplishment and to indicate family ties, such as the Slitted Throat -- they have a tattoo across their necks imitating a slitted throat. Some of these are greatly artistic, but have their own meaning – for example, when a Myrian has demonstrated successfully bonding with a tiger, they are usually awarded a band of stripes, similar to the pattern of their beast, on their body; or especially proficient fighters may seem to have ‘claws’ emerging from their skin.

Svefra:

the Svefra often get whale and dolphin tattoos that resemble the kind of creatures with whom their 'pods' often hang out. Because of their Laviku marks, often the Svefra can befriend individual ocean animals, which in turn will swim with them or even allow themselves to be used as a marine mount. Once these friendships have been established, most commonly with dolphins and small whales, the Svefra will almost always get a tattoo of their 'friend' upon their form. These tattoos vary wildly and can be either very simple line outlines or wildly complex inkings of truly astonishing proportions.

each Svefra family group often has a matriarchal pod representative that is not a human. These pods will often take the name of this individual as their family name and each member of the family will get a custom tattoo that shows they are indeed from that specific pod. Designs and styles vary wildly. The only common factor is that the designs remain the exact same throughout each family member and are given to the family member at the onset of adulthood or at age fifteen.