Tattoos, Real and Imagined

Just last night, I got myself a tattoo.  Here, take a look-

That's my full upper left arm, right there!

It's based on a character I made in Skyrim.  I'll be posting about converting games like Skyrim to a pen-and-paper style later on.

For now, here's a pair of magical tattoos.

The Kulmese Resurrection Tattoo-

In far Kulm, the line between life and death is often blurred.  Resurrection of influential peoples (nobility, members of wealthy households, and the like) is a common practice.  The most common method (at least for the first time) is via the Resurrection Tattoo.

The tattoo is a blue-white line, a half-inch wide, that runs parallel along the chi lines of the body.  Two lines flow from just below the eyes, terminating at the toes.  A similar set curves over the skull and down the back, ending at the heels. Branches lead down the arms to the knuckles.
A close examination reveals the line are actually prayers, written in tiny rows on the skin.

The tattoo is applied as the Resurrection magic is cast.  This is an agonizing process, and so the recipient awakes to white-hot pain.

The purpose of the tattoo is to keep the soul within the body.  Kulmese necromancy can raise the flesh easily, but the soul must be tethered to the body.  The tattoo creates a "fence" that prevents the soul from leaving the body.

The monetary cost of such a Resurrection is only half that of the standard spell, though the effects on the recipient is more dire.

In addition to the standard penalties, the recipient of a Kulmese Tattoo loses a pint of Wisdom as their sanity erodes.  They must also make a mental save, or suffer some form of insanity (obsession and phobias are the most common).

Additional Tattoos may be applied, each adding a new line, and incuring the same penalties.

In addition, there are several holy orders that consider the recipient of a Kulmese Tattoo to be undead, and will take actions to kill anybody bearing such marks.


Marks of Blasphemy- 

Made with inks rendered from dryad blood, and applied with a unicorn-horn needle, the deep red Marks of Blasphemy are used by dark Sorcerers to forge deep connections with their familiars.

The Marks can take any form, and always come in two sets- one on the familiar, and an identical Mark on the Sorcerer.  

On a standard familiar (a small animal, an imp, ect), the Marks allow the Sorcerer to cast spells though the ffamiliar meaning that the spell effect originates from the familiar, with a rage of roughly one mile.

If applied to any other being, it allows the Sorcerer to see though the recipient's eyes as though the recipiant was a normal familiar.

The Tattoo costs at least 10,000gp, and inflicts a permanent -1hp to both the Sorcerer and the "familiar".