Tattoos of the Rooted

We have lived in many places.
Our people are not rooted in on place, but in the earth itself.
Our history is carved into our skin, so that we may never forget.

Tattoos are a very big part of the culture of The Rooted. They show to the world who the person is, where they come from and what they've done in their lives. To have few tattoos is often associated with having led a boring life, not accomplising anything worth telling about.

Childhood Tattoos

It all starts on the child's fifth birthday. This is the age were children are considered to be safe in the world, as it is much more likely that they will grow into adulthood.
The first tattoo the child gets is always a unique symbol for the child themself and it is usually tattooed on the inside of the wrist; as the skin here is thin it is thought that this etches the symbol into the blood and thus the soul itself. This symbol is more important to Rooted than names; names can be changed but the tattoo is there until the body decomposes.
At the child's sixth birthday they get their second tattoo, namely their family's symbol. The placement of this particular tattoo is very important as it is seen as a way to give the knowledge and strengths of dead relatives to the child. Thus, this tattoo is usually placed somewhere related to the skills the parents want the child to have. If, for example, they had a relative who was very intelligent, the family tattoo may be put at the temple of the child.
After these two tattoos children usually only get tattoos if something special happens during their childhood. The next common tattoo that most Rooted get, they get at their 16th birthday. This is one of the most important tattoos the Rooted get and it usually takes up a large area of the back, thigh, or arm. It symbolises the individual in a more practical way, with, for example, symbolism about what they wish to accomplish in life, usually with references to the occupation they are most likely already training for.

Symbolisms

There is a lot of symbolism in the Rooteds tattoos. There is a tradition of coming up with unique symbols and images for your tattoos, which has resulted in the tattoos getting more and more intricate.
However, there are some symbols that show up more often than others.
Spirals vs. circles
Spirals in different shapes are a sign of the unending time, where as circles stand for something finite, like a single year.
Both of these are very common to weave into tattoos with different meanings to show weather it is something that is supposed to be interpreted as finite or infinite.

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