The Tattooed Land

Compiled by Shreyas Sampat

The tattooed land is so-called because it marks its people; a family who is settled there acquires an earthmark, some brand that can’t be washed away or displaced. The land becomes a part of them. Priests in the tattooed land, much like some sects of Buddhist monks, take religious names; they refer to virtuous or terrible things, to remind the faithful of what to fear or emulate. Religious names are unisex, even when they appear not to be (Yellow King, for instance). The sound of these names is patterned after Turkish and Mongolian. They’re also appropriate for Torchbearer.

Male

  1. Harud / forest
  2. Kágubizg / horse rider
  3. Kothás / dagger
  4. Vinid / warrior
  5. Hasau / seeker
  6. Kassai / sandstorm
  7. Yosol / growing tall
  8. Meyem / raging
  9. Kañañ / burning
  10. Mór / birch tree
  11. Syar / breeze
  12. Morug / khan
  13. Násu / lightning
  14. Sesut / poplar tree
  15. Lástal / ash tree
  16. Faraz (or Ferz) / bean
  17. Dhár / strong
  18. Kathkár / hardened heart
  19. Hosor / weaver
  20. Nawar / strength of youth

Female

  1. Luyun / blue
  2. Kúlul / bee
  3. Kálan / goose
  4. Nilázem / hawk
  5. Séliyál / sparrow
  6. Elizdi / the hundredth
  7. Lái Chweng / blackbird
  8. Nábi / lamb
  9. Kíring / brilliance
  10. Yedhem / shade
  11. Luvayry / carp
  12. Radmér / moonflower
  13. Ñíhlendu (or Néllendu) / honeysuckle
  14. Ráka / green
  15. Sóna / apple
  16. Résemu / bitter orange
  17. Thesel / lychee
  18. Payusyem / duck
  19. Kásif / white
  20. Nuíyal / crane

Priests

  1. Deeper-and-Deeper-Water
  2. Crippled Deer
  3. Desolate Vessel
  4. Sparrow Brand
  5. Iron
  6. Yellow King
  7. One Hundred Eyes
  8. In-Darkness-He-Is-Waiting
  9. the Clicking
  10. Hospitable Sword
  11. Sudden Nightfall
  12. Magnificence
  13. Flower-of-Forgetting
  14. Summer-Without-Rain
  15. Creator-of-All-Things
  16. Bitter River
  17. Patience
  18. Darkened Moon
  19. Black Flower
  20. Scattered Spider

Earthmarks

  1. Fingers leave frost trails on surfaces
  2. Clothes caked with mud
  3. Moss grows on right side
  4. Chewing a stalk of ripe wheat
  5. Hands covered with tiny scratches
  6. Sand-crusted hair
  7. Always squinting as if looking into the sun
  8. Smells of honeysuckle at dawn and dusk
  9. Shoulders wet with rain
  10. Dried salt on arms
  11. Dirt under fingernails
  12. Feet always bare and grass-stained
  13. Gets irritable at low tide
  14. Eyes that change to match the sky
  15. Makes sounds like stepping on twigs
  16. Dry, dust-coated lips
  17. Understands the language of birds
  18. Face powdered with gold dust
  19. Feet purple from crushing grapes