Ver' kaal
Introduction
"Ink is the blood of memory. Let it run, so you do not forget who you are."
To the Zan'karu, proudest among the wandering tribe of Tir'naru, there is no greater sanctity than honor, and no truer vessel of that honor than the flesh. Pride is not spoken; it is carved, inked, and remembered. Victories and failures drawn upon skin, pain transmuted into reverence. A warrior’s tale is not told. It is worn.
At the heart of this tradition lies the Ver'kaal, the Fang of Honor: a unique tattooing needle bestowed upon each Zan'karu after the completion of their first successful hunt during their rite of adulthood. Forged from the fang or bone of the beast they have slain, each Ver’kaal is a deeply personal artifact, crafted for them by the clan’s Inkbinders; revered artisans entrusted with shaping flesh into living memory.
To bear no mark on the body is to walk nameless.
But to bear many?
That is a burden only the greatest can carry.
Forging the Ver’kaal
The creation of a Ver’kaal is a sacred rite in its own right. Upon completing their first solo hunt, a young Zan'karu returns not just with the meat or pelt of their kill, but with a chosen fragment of bone, fang, or claw. This is the seed from which their legacy will grow.
The raw piece is surrendered to an Inkbinder, who prepares it through days of ritual. The bone is boiled in a mix of the warrior's blood and water, bathed in smoke from burning herbs and incences, and marked with runes of the clan's past. It is then carved into a fine needlepoint, honed to pierce skin but never snap. The handle is bound in leather - often from the same beast - to bind the wielder’s essence with their first kill.
No two Ver’kaal are alike. They are as varied as the warriors they serve: thick or slender, curved or barbed, bone-pale or blood-dark.
A Ver'kaal is not a tool.
It is a piece of a warrior's soul.
The First Mark
The first tattoo every warrior receives is always the same in spirit, but never in form: a symbol drawn to represent their first kill. Whether it be the coiled fang of a dune serpent, the split tusk of a canyon boar, or the shattered claw of a sandcrawler, the mark is etched as a reflection of identity and triumph. It is the memory of conquest made permanent.
This rite is irreversible. Once marked, a warrior is known. To live without the First Mark is to walk unproven, unmarked in both flesh and soul. Failure to complete the Rite of Adulthood brands one as unworthy of the warrior’s path. It is a quiet shame, but not a death sentence. The Zan'karu do not cast out their own; the unproven are guided toward other paths, less adorned, yet still vital. Even an omega has its place in the pack.
But for those who perish in the trial, fate is even crueler. For them there is no song. No fire to guide them in the afterlife. No ink is spared for their names.
It is the harshest truth of Zan’karu law:
Not all are meant to carry pride.
"A warrior without marks is a story without words."
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The Inkbinders
The Inkbinders are more than craftsmen. They are keepers of memory, fleshcallers, interpreters of the soul. Chosen in youth and trained across decades, an Inkbinder knows the language of ink the way a seer knows the stars.
To become an Inkbinder is to forgo the warrior’s path and devote oneself wholly to the art of remembrance. They are taught to read skin like scripture, to mix inks from ash, resin, and extract pigments from the scarce resources of the Wastelands. They inscribe a warrior's truths with precision and purpose. Every line must be earned, whether it is a victory or a mistake.
During tattooing rites, they chant softly; naming ancestors, spirits, and stories as they guide the Ver’kaal through flesh. It is said that the greatest Inkbinders can feel when a line is wrong, when a story does not belong or when a warrior lies of their deeds.
The word of an Inkbinder carries great weight for their clan. Their silence, even more so.
All written content is original, drawn from myth, memory, and madness.
All images are generated via Midjourney using custom prompts by the author, unless otherwise stated.
Oh I adore this article and this item. Its spiritual connection, the symbolism, the story, the keeping of records as one with the flesh. Tattoos holding such power is always beautifully fascinating to me, I adore the visual element, even when in written description, it can add to story-telling. The depth of its importance is felt, not just seen or read, you can understand on a deeper level through the words written here how much this object means to the Zan'karu. An amazing piece, a joy to read :)
Thank you so much! I really like writing stories around tattoos. While I don't have any, I found them fascinating and so rich in storytelling :) I'm glad you liked it!