Union Spirals

Union Spirals are the colloquial name adopted by The Federation to describe a tradition that has stood the test of time within The Union. Union Spirals are one of the most recognized marks of marriage in the known Realms. Once merely symbolic tattoos, these Spirals were one of the first things to be elevated using Connection through the use of Grafts in Union history. And when Crests were discovered and marketed, the Spirals were once again one of the first things to be elevated in funcion. Their popularity has grown enough that outside The Union, Ink Masters can make an easy profit offering their services to those that want to undergo this marriage rite.

Appearance

Like nearly all Grafts and Crests, the Union Spirals superfically appear as regular tattoos. They are usually made on the arms, but there has been precedent for some outside The Union to have their Union Spirals made on one of their legs. Tradition dictates that the left arm is used and that the Graft is started at the wrist.
A fully formed Union Spiral is helical in nature and has one strand to represent each person in the relationship. In The Union, two and three stranded Spirals is most common, though tradition does allow for up to four strands in a spiral. More than that is traditionally seen as excessively hedonistic, and so it can be difficult to find a qualified Ink Master who will confer the Spirals to those with more than four individuals in the relationship.
Each individual strand, as a representation of someone within the relationship, Bears a Connection to them. A person's strand is of a color that is easily and often associated with them, typically a hair or eye color. When their strand is activated, it will usually glow a different color associated with them, but is frequently known to share this color with the first. Strands that are Connected to particularly powerful individuals might produce a secondary effect outside just glowing, such as sparking or smoldering.

Activation and Use

The activation of a strand often grants some sort of minor ability of the person it represents. For example, a strand that represents someone with a notable Connection to Heat or Flames might grant warmth to each Bearer of that strand when activated. Most of the time these minor abilities are just that: minor. However it has been noted that Connection to notable individuals has allowed the Union Spirals to grant abilities that much more closely matched those they represent.
Due to being Crests, Union Spirals are capable of being Overcharged in order to force the minor abilities to increase in potency. This, however, is seen as taboo as willingly sacrificing the Crest is often considered symbolic of not prioritizing the relationship with those it represents. Burning one's Union Spiral also has precedent for being painful for those its Connected to, often leading to destruction of their Spirals as well. This only adds to the taboo nature of using them this way. Ink Masters are well known to refuse service or even black list individuals who seek to have their Union Spirals remade.

Formation

To begin formation of the Union Spirals, an Ink Master will confer a special seed that aids in the Connection process. Once the seed is settled, the formation of the Spirals is largely out of the hands of the Ink Master; they usually will only offer words of wisdom or advice to guide the process of formation. The large part of formation comes from each member of the relationship Connecting with one another and synchronizing themselves and with their settled seeds. The seed makes it much easier for individuals to convey and sense the raw emotions, needs, wants, aspirations, etc. of those present in the formation. This part of the process can last upwards of two hours, but only takes about an hour on average.
Provided the members of the formation are able to remain synchronized by acknowledging and accepting their partners through this raw Connection, the Spirals will take root within the seed and begin to grow. The growth process, itself, takes the longest, lasting upwards of six hours, though outliers on either side exist. Ink Masters assure their clients that the time it takes the growth process is not a reflection on the state or even fate of their relationship, and so those that happen notably quickly or take extraordinary amounts of time shouldn't be worried.
The guided growth process usually ends around the time that the Spirals reach the elbows of each participant. It has been found that ending the guided process before this point can lead to fading or Rejection over time. A properly grown Union Spiral will continue to grow for the rest of the Bearer's life, though the process is much slower when it grows on its own, often barely reaching one's shoulder by old age. It is unknown how the Spirals will appear once they grow beyond the shoulder, as no relationship has lasted that long since the advent of the Crest version of the Spiral.

Related Discipline

Grafts

Related School

Crests

Effect Duration

Indefinite

Effect Casting Time

Constant

Range

Internal, touch

Level

Basic

Until Death and Beyond In the tragic event that someone Connected to a Union Spiral should pass from the moral realm, their strand will fade to a lifeless grey, a shadow of its former self. Through pain and notable effort, a Spiral Bearer can activate a faded strand to invoke memories, visions, and sensations of those that are no longer with them. Whether these are good memories or not usually depends on the mental state the Bearer has when forcing the activation, but they tend towards being painful, as is the echo of catharsis.
The Unfaithful It is an unfortunate part of reality that not all remain faithful to their partners or the relationship itself. Should any member Connected to a Union Spiral break their vows or otherwise become unfaithful to the relationship, their strand will deteriorate on each of the Connected Spirals, much in the same way as if the Crest were Burned through Overcharging. Except breaking faith won't cause their strand to fully disappear, instead remaining in a broken state as a reminder of their actions. Some see this as a mark allowing for redemtpion, while others see it as a scar of shame.
The Ungrafted There are those that are unable to meet a suitable compatibility with Crests, and still want to partake in this tradition. Many of them turn to the ancient tradition of using regular tattoos to represent their union. In these cases the Ink Master will use their own Connection to facilitate and mimic the growth process of the modern technique but with a much more mundane result.