Tattooing in the Barony

This post is dedicated to the lovely Semiurge. Tattooing in the Barony is not commonly practiced - the art is associated with the nomads from the south, and visible tattoos will mark you as a foreigner. There are a couple of notable exceptions to this; the most common and visible are the mercenary fighter cults. These groups are semi-secret societies within mercenary companies - in the south of the Barony, near to the border, many of them practice something that they call 'enlightened chivalry', a type of appropriation and admixture of nomadic moral tenets, tied to questing, artistic and poetical practice, and the protection of the weak and defenceless. The members of these fighter cults swear oaths to one another, and are forbidden from marrying or bearing children. They go 'questing' together in small groups while the mercenary company are out of work or billeted, and the more philosophical among them will have lots to say (and often write) about how pragmatism should always be…