Halfling Tattoo Practices within Griffo’s Caravan
Following are all the basic tattoos that every halfling of this caravan chain will have, although more are not at all uncommon.
Upon the bridge of his nose lay three distinct tattoos, in a subtle shade of green that symbolise his birth date. The top is the day, the second is the month, the third the year.
His ears are notched along the sides three times upon each. This shows his relative skill with communal arts, dancing and singing. Singing is the right ear, dancing the left. Having no notches means you cannot dance without tripping up every few minutes and singing that you cannot remember any or sing in any key. Six is the highest one can attain and it shows skill unrivaled for that halfling’s generation.
He then has a tattoo upon each shoulder blade, god symbols. Each Halfling chooses two gods when they reach the age of eighteen to be their patrons. These god’ symbols are then tattooed upon the shoulder blades of the halfling. In Griffo’s case they are Jax and Shalherana.
Next comes the spinal aging tattoos. Small circles tattooed every year up a halfling’s spine to indicate their age. The circles stop at fifty, as this is the point at which their culture decides that life starts degrading, and so they try and keep themselves feeling this age, in any way they can.
Halflings will often have other tattoos put upon their chests that are extremely detailed and depict great achievements in their lives. One of Griffo’s depicts him becoming one with his Kin, and accepting it fully into him.
Upon the backs of each hand are the heritage tattoos. These show who the halfling was born to, the left hand depicting the mother’s family, the right hand depicting the father’s family. The gender of the halfling depends upon which symbol is passed on to their children. A mother will pass on her mother’s symbol, whereas a father will pass on his father’s. In this way a family name will barely ever die out. The last name taken by the halfling is also dependant upon what gender the halfling is, however both names will be included, one as a middle name.
Around the ankles are the Halflings chosen names, of which there are always two. This means that if you look down you can tell what the halfling is called without ever having to ask.
This is not official lore for -all- halflings. This only applies to those halflings within the same caravan chain as Griffo.
Following are all the basic tattoos that every halfling of this caravan chain will have, although more are not at all uncommon.
Upon the bridge of his nose lay three distinct tattoos, in a subtle shade of green that symbolise his birth date. The top is the day, the second is the month, the third the year.
His ears are notched along the sides three times upon each. This shows his relative skill with communal arts, dancing and singing. Singing is the right ear, dancing the left. Having no notches means you cannot dance without tripping up every few minutes and singing that you cannot remember any or sing in any key. Six is the highest one can attain and it shows skill unrivaled for that halfling’s generation.
He then has a tattoo upon each shoulder blade, god symbols. Each Halfling chooses two gods when they reach the age of eighteen to be their patrons. These god’ symbols are then tattooed upon the shoulder blades of the halfling. In Griffo’s case they are Jax and Shalherana.
Next comes the spinal aging tattoos. Small circles tattooed every year up a halfling’s spine to indicate their age. The circles stop at fifty, as this is the point at which their culture decides that life starts degrading, and so they try and keep themselves feeling this age, in any way they can.
Halflings will often have other tattoos put upon their chests that are extremely detailed and depict great achievements in their lives. One of Griffo’s depicts him becoming one with his Kin, and accepting it fully into him.
Upon the backs of each hand are the heritage tattoos. These show who the halfling was born to, the left hand depicting the mother’s family, the right hand depicting the father’s family. The gender of the halfling depends upon which symbol is passed on to their children. A mother will pass on her mother’s symbol, whereas a father will pass on his father’s. In this way a family name will barely ever die out. The last name taken by the halfling is also dependant upon what gender the halfling is, however both names will be included, one as a middle name.
Around the ankles are the Halflings chosen names, of which there are always two. This means that if you look down you can tell what the halfling is called without ever having to ask.
This is not official lore for -all- halflings. This only applies to those halflings within the same caravan chain as Griffo.
