Marks of the Pack
The magick of the Woad combines with strength of faith, and the will of the hunter. Many are the prayers with power, and yet limited is the capability of mortal members of the pack to hold such divinity. Some of the others amongst our brethren, their temples and churches choose prayer books, bearing great similarity to the Magisterium in many ways. Others choose tokens and symbols, trinkets with carved words of power and faith they carry. However those are added weight, added bulk and unnecessary clutter to those of us whom follow the ways of the Divine Huntmaster. Within us he provides a canvas, and the mixtures of his wife's bounty, the vibrant and many colored leaves of the Inksepa bush, combined with woad and tallow, loam and rye, blessed with prayer and ritual creates the Worgen Dyes. With them and but a fine brush, we can use the very flesh we are blessed with as our canvas of faith, hiding our prayers, the calls of power, the gifts of divine might we can call upon, not in some book that could be fumbled or stolen, nor in trinkets easily slipped, cut or lifted from our person. But upon the skin we wear, the flesh of our form. Tis no different than undergarments or tunic or mail shirt. For every morning tis part of our awakening we simply write the prayers and scriptures upon arms and legs. Simple litanies for the prayers of power that Boran the Bloodhound heeds are not the long hymns and scriptures of other dieties, but short, direct utterances and calls for aid from his pack to their leader.
An explanation of Marks of the Pack by one Wolfsguard when asked by a travelling companion about the strange writings they would dab upon themselves that would seem to become as tattoos, only to be gone, as if magick, by the next morning.
Mechanics & Inner Workings
Interestingly enough, though such a thing is naught but myth and legend, some philosophers and scholars argue that those of the Huntmaster's Faithful are actually entrusted, unknowingly, with perhaps the closest known substance to Aetherwylle that remains on Valerick in a form that us mere mortals can directly manifest and interact with in a physical form. They are entrusted through these tattoos they wear as almost daily ritualistic garb, with a minute amount, a diluted form if you will, of true liquid creation.
As to their actual functionality, it is a clear showing of the divide between science and true magick and is perhaps best explained by Matriarch Eva Lyndhilt, the Moon-Mother as she is called for her station, head of the faith;
As to their actual functionality, it is a clear showing of the divide between science and true magick and is perhaps best explained by Matriarch Eva Lyndhilt, the Moon-Mother as she is called for her station, head of the faith;
To wear the Marks of the Pack is to wear our faith as garb, garment, armor and weapon. It is to constantly feel and wear the oversight, protection and care of the Divine Huntmaster, watching over his pack, and to wear and feel his power amongst and within you. It is to feel never naked to any danger, even should you somehow be stripped of weapon, armor and clothing of mortals. You are never without means, never without the ability, and can never be truly made harmless or complicit. It is to feel his presence like a hug, like the embrace of a thick cloak on a cold winter's day. It is to know, not think or believe, but know beyond any doubt, that you are chosen, entrusted with some small fraction of his divine will and it is yours to wield. That no matter the dangers of the world, the situation you find yourself in, you are never naked, never without means or ability. So long as you have a tongue to speak, and Marks of the Pack upon your body, you are not helpless. This is his greatest gift, our most sacred trust and is why only those of our highest orders, the Mooncallers and the Wolfsguard, may utilize and wear such holy garb. For they and they alone have that sacred trust.
Matriarch Eva Lyndhilt, explaining the Marks of the Pack to the newest initiates into the Moon-Callers.
Manufacturing process
A closely guarded secret that only a select few (perhaps one day a player in a game in Valerick might become one to discover it and then I'll put it here as a spoiler) within the upper rungs of the Moon-Callers know how the Worgen Ink is truly made and that secrecy is sworn under pain of terrible end. The Pack does not take well to betrayals of sacred trusts.
History
Worgen Ink is a discovery nearly as old as the Ascension itself. It is a gift given to the first faithful of the Huntmaster, according to their faith, at the last stand Wolven, the first iteration of the Wolfsguard, Boran the Bloodhound's own group, his pack of ten others, now various saints of the faith. It was given to every warrior who stood with them in the great clash with the Ever Hunger, the avatar of Gulagor, and though he was not yet Ascended, the spark of divinity was supposedly present, as the simple litanies he had the men and women write upon themselves indeed provided access to something a force unknown that their bodies were empowered to withstand by the inks themselves, and they could call upon. Thus were the scripture spells of the Divine Huntmaster gifted unto his faithful.
Significance
This accessory, these markings, to call them tattoos will see one reprimanded by those whom wear them. Tattoos are truly permanent, not easily mutable or alterable. That would simply not due, the God of the Hunt would not approve of such a thing. You should consider every morning, carefully, what tools, what gifts you may need for what you suspect the day might bring and choose accordingly. Thus the special blessed ink, this powerful substance that whilst it does meld into the skin as a tattoo, should you not have needed to call upon a particular scripture, when you next sleep, it will simply sweat free of your skin, its power returning to the Wylde around you, the ink left as but perspiration, all the ingredients broken down to but Aether and returned to the world.
Item type
Clothing / Accessory
Creation Date
0
Manufacturer
Owning Organization
Rarity
These are rare enough of course but this technique is actually practiced by three distinct groups, each with their own culture, and methods. However this particular formulation of the ink, the process, and how it works, is solely the territory of the Huntmaster's Faithful. Both Mooncallers and Wolfsguard utilize this process and these 'accessories' as their unique method of Calling, the art of tapping into divine power, magick through prayer, imbuing the scriptures so as to strengthen the body with the energies of the wild itself, to insure they can withstand the force of being a conduit for even the small drops of divinity prayer magick comes from.
Raw materials & Components
They utilize a special ink, for which the process of its creation is only known and described in broad terms, with no recipe with measurements shared outside the church of the Huntmaster, as well as a special thin brush with hairs from a true Worgen, a most rare and holy creature to the Huntmaster's Faithful. These brushes are not made from hunting, a rarity of this faith, but can only be crafted properly and imbued with the necessary qualities and divine gifts if the hairs for their construction were freely given, a gift.
Show spoiler
Though rare, Worgen are not as unique or few in the world as the church of the Huntmaster might make it seem. Members of both the Wolfsguard and the Moon-Callers, at their highest offices are in truth Worgen, and it is lore not spoken of for the masses, but known by both these orders even if not preached to the regular pack and flock, that Boran himself was not actually human, but was Worgen.
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