Tattoos and Piercings

While some are purely decorative, most have requirements or positions to receive.

Tattoos are applied on the few regions of bare skin that exist, primarily insides of ears, nose pad, and paw pads; a few special tattoos are applied in odd areas, such as the edge of eyelids, the inner lips, or parts inside the mouth like the tongue.

Piercings are applied pretty much anywhere they can be put, but are usually put on the outer edges of the ears and the nose septum; also the brow ridge, nose bridge, chin, and the underside of the head. Piercings around and in the mouth are rare, considering the stretchiness required of the skin there, tongue piercings are rare due to how they interfere with the papilla.

The colour of the tattoos varies, due to region, personal preference, and the skin (and fur/feather) colours of the individual. The colour is frequently chosen to both stand out from, and match well with, the colours of the person being inked. It is possible to apply white tattoos to dark pigmented skin.

The material of piercings varies for much the same reasons, with less of an emphasis on how well they go with the colours of the individual. A selection of metals and their alloys, glass, bone, wood, fragments of horn and antler, shells and carapaces; if you can make a tiny thing out of it and it’s fairly solid, you can make it into a piercing.

Some achievements/positions and their corresponding tattoo/piercing:

have a formalised name - pair of earrings in the lower outer section of ear, just below the pocket

leader of a clan/tribe – six-rayed sun tattoo on the nose pad

have a bonded partner – bond-ring, usually on the ear

apprenticed as a healer – dot tattoos near the tip of each ear

fully trained as a healer – smaller stud piercings through the dot tattoos

honoured hero – series of triangle tattoos along the outer edge of the ear

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[ID: Digital art depicting examples of piercings and tattoos from various achievements. In the centre there is a cat in profile, showing the head and neck, with a small hoop earring with small ball decorations in the visible ear, attached below the pocket. To the right, there are three ears on their own. The top shows the standard attachment for a bond-ring, the next displays a row of triangle tattoos across the edge of the ear,  and the bottom one has a single dot tattoo at the apex of the ear. To the left, there is a nose-pad with a stylised six-rayed sun tattoo. The piercings are inked with red, the tattoos with blue. The background looks like aged paper. End ID