If a Wizard had a....

[Lugh]

If a wizard had a birthmark (that identified him as a wizard)... what would it be?

 

If an American Goth Wizard had a tattoo... what would it be?

 

Ideas please (with your reasoning if you have any)

 

THANKS!

[JamesSavik]

If a wizard had a birthmark (that identified him as a wizard)... what would it be?

 

Perhaps a symbol of his order/school of magic?

 

In one campaign setting where magic was tightly controlled by the crown, the only officially sanctioned school of magic were the red diamonds. Anyone with magical ability was sent to the Red Diamond's School by the Crown who paid for four years of training. Then the wizard would enter a period of training with a mentor (established wizard) for two years. Red Diamonds magic tended to be elemental.

 

In the past there were a number of schools of magic- the Black Hand (necromancers), Quarter Moon (summoners), etc.

 

In the War of the Eight Great Houses a coalition of magic users from the Black Hand and Quarter Moon attempted to take over through proxies within the Eight Great Houses of Nobles. They were discovered and killed but only after a great deal of death, destruction and suffering.

 

The Red Diamonds refused to have anything to do with the War and are the ones who exposed the conspiracy. Their order emphasizes the responsible use of power and makes the Ethics of Magic central to their training. Theirs is the only surviving school of magic and the only one blessed by the crown.

 

The war has been over for ~120 years and the Red Diamonds are about to embark on a secret project. It is their intention to attempt to recover the knowledge that was lost when the other great schools of magic were destroyed and their members killed or scattered.

 

 

 

If an American Goth Wizard had a tattoo... what would it be?

 

Goth's are too busy with angst to be wizards. They are too inward looking to see and too certain to understand.

[Dio]

If a wizard had a birthmark (that identified him as a wizard)... what would it be?

 

If an American Goth Wizard had a tattoo... what would it be?

 

Ideas please (with your reasoning if you have any)

 

THANKS!

 

I'm almost afraid to ask: Just what sort of story are you writing exactly?

[JamesSavik]

Magic users & tats

 

There are many precidents for this in anthropology and fantasy literature.

 

In Viking mythology, Preists of the major Gods could "strike runes" on people. These runes could give them strength, protection from evil, courage, resistance to evil magic and a number of other attributes.

 

Necromancers that work with certian types on undead often have wards tatooed on their person to protect them from their creations. The tats are preferred because amulets or spells wear off but super-intelligent upper level undead have long memories of magic users that exert control over them.

 

In Greek and Roman mythologies, the gods are said to leave their mark on people. Whether or not this is a tatoo per see is a mystery but it is said that anyone- man or god will know the mark when they see it.

 

In Judeo-Christian mythology, there is the mark of Cain placed on Cain by God after Cain killed his brother.

In this case the mark is a curse. Cain can not die and must wander the earth until the end of time without family or home.

 

Also from Judeo-Christian myth is the mark of the beast- in the end times a world gov't inspired by Satan takes over and imposes a mark, number or symbol on everyones person so that they can conduct commerce.

 

Just a few more thoughts on the subject.

[AFriendlyFace]

If a wizard had a birthmark (that identified him as a wizard)... what would it be?

I agree that a coloured symbol of some sort would make sense. Just what colour and what symbol would of course depend on the specific story

 

If an American Goth Wizard had a tattoo... what would it be?

I'm thinking a black eagle with an eyebrow ring. Sounds silly, but might look kinda cool.

[glomph]

In Judeo-Christian mythology, there is the mark of Cain placed on Cain by God after Cain killed his brother.

In this case the mark is a curse. Cain can not die and must wander the earth until the end of time without family or home.

 

That's interesting that it would come out that way in the mythology of the culture.

 

In the original context of Genesis, that mark is pretty clearly one of protection, maybe sort of like "Here is an itinerant blacksmith, so don't kill him like you would most strangers that wander in. You might need his services."