Character Creation: Tattoos and Piercings

This article is to provide clarification to the "piercings and tattoos are considered taboo" statement in Character Creation.

What is a taboo?

Sociologically speaking, is "a social group's prohibition or avoidance of something based on the group's sense that it is excessively repulsive, offensive, sacred, or allowed only for certain persons."

A taboo might be baked into formal legal structure but is not always baked into formal legal structure. For example: Murder is a taboo and illegal. Using profanity is taboo but not illegal.

In the Evara setting, what is considered a "piercing"?

A "piercing" is an artificial hole in any body part, made so as to insert a ring, stud, piece of jewelry, bone or other decoration. Any hole, any place falls under the category of "piercing". Ears do not get a free pass.

In the Evara setting, what is considered a "tattoo"?

A "tattoo" is an indelible mark on a person/bodypart made by inserting pigment into punctures in the skin. Ritual scarification - the act of marking the skin into meaningful patterns without the insertion of inks or pigments - is also considered a tattoo.

How is the taboo against piercings & tattoos realized in the Evara setting? Is it illegal to learn/perform piercing/tattooing? Is it illegal to have piercings/tattoos?

The taboo against tattooing/piercing is social but not legal.THAT MEANS:

• It is difficult to find someone to teach you tattooing/piercing, but it can be learned
• It is difficult to find someone willing to tatoo/pierce you, but it can be found
• You can tattoo/pierce yourself
• Safe/proper tools are always going to be hard to find
• It's not something you are going to be able to freely discuss
• Tattoos/piercings may be used as a form a capital punishment

Will other PCs/NPCs think my character is bad if my character has tattoos/piercings?

• Because this is a social taboo, not a legal taboo, different PCs and NPCs will feel more or less strongly about seeing PCs/NPCs with tattoos.
• Some PCs/NPCs might not care. Some PCs/NPCs may only care if they see tattoos in certain places (like maybe the NPC/PC will be ok if its one tiny heart tattoo on your back but not if it's chest plate). Some PCs/NPCs will immediately report you to the local authorities for open worship of Lagahashra (which IS illegal).
• Keep in mind: your character is not you. A character who looks down on yours for having body modifications does not mean the person behind the character is ridiculing you personally. It just means they are behaving within the lore of the setting.

What about magical tattoos?

• These are still considered tattoos and subject to all the same social feelings as above.

Tattoos and piercings are considered a form of worship to Lagahashra? Where does it say that?

• See: The Last God, Lagahashra, Tenets of Faith & Other Information. Yes, they are considered a form of worship to the gay chaos god (Lagahashra), the same way as vegetarianism is considered worship to rabbit mom (Leverett) and daily bathing is considered worship to waterwife (Rydia). Or thinking about real world examples: the way Hasidic Jewish men typically wear sidecurls and a beard (based on a strict reading of the Torah that a man must not cut or trim his hair within a special facial region), Orthodox Christians abstain from animal products for ~200 days/year.

That's weird, considering The Last God doesn't have much tattooing or piercing.

The association between Laghashra's followers and their practice of body modification to worship him is what drives the taboo, not Lagahashra's appearance.