Tattoo Ink

Watch the swirling patterns inscribed into your skin. Pigment, carrier, preserver. In Levis, ink comes from the land and the sea and imbues the spirit with life and vitality. It is a sign for the mundane of the journeys of their life and the extravagant a chance to give flair to their very vessel.   The first step in making the ink is the carrier, often taken from the fluid exuded from the reeds around the Sunken Isles or the lake to the south of Vertus, this is procured by massaging warmth through the reeds and collecting the fluid that oozes from the growing tips. This is added to the preserver, a mix of crushed herbs that are grown within the town but come from the deep forest, which are dissolved within the carrier liquid. These herbs provide disinfectant and healing after the ink has been injected. This provides the medium.

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Were this to be the only parts of the process then it would likely not be Vertus that became the hub for the production of the finest tattoo ink in Levis. However the first mainstream pigment came from Vertus, specifically from the Southern Lux Dahlia, whose molting petals are wrung for the most refractive and iridescent black color. This pigment leeches into the tattoos it is cast in, to leave a shimmer in and on the skin when light catches it. It is also incredibly hypoallergenic, and as such can be taken up by multiple species.   While things like kraken ink can be used as pigment, often couriered to Vertus in one step of many for trade for application by client request, most stick with the Lux strain when getting their first tattoo, and unless unique and vibrant pigments take them, this is the style most keep to for the injection style tattooing.