Tuluki Markings and the Great Houses

[Merchant Family Member]

The caste tattoos listed here are specific to Tuluki culture alone. Individuals that are not born within the Gol Krathu region, or have not adopted it as their home, would not have any interest in adorning themselves with such tattoos, as they would have little meaning to a foreigner. The populace of Tuluk and the Gol Krathu region would find such caste markings on a foreigner both insulting and derogatory, as it would show that the individual in question had little respect for their heritage and culture.

And -

http://www.armageddon.org/general/tattoos/commoners.html#merchant
http://www.armageddon.org/general/tattoos/commoners.html#family

I never paid attention to the tuluki caste tattooes since I prefer primarily a southern PC but in reading this page I was really surprised that any of the great Merchant Houses would even have any of these tattooes.

According to the paragraph up top, these tattooes indicate pride of culture and Tuluki heritage, they are a symbol of where you come from and what you love, what you have pride in. They mark you as Tuluki.

I find it hard to understand why organizations who are neutral, or who are supposed to appear neutral, would mark themselves at all.  
It's possible I'm putting too much importance to what these tattooes mean but I wonder why members of any merchant house would even consider subjecting their family members and employees to the prejudice that comes along with bearing one of those tattooes outside its region (mainly Allanak).

It makes more sense to me that family members of a merchant house that were born and bred in Tuluk wouldn't have any caste markings at all for the single probability of having to move to Allanak.  Why would someone neutral express such an allience. Wouldn't doing so be detrimental to any business they might have to perform in the opposing city state?  It just seems to me that these caste tattooes would be a mark of allegiance to Tuluk, something all people from Nak would be able to recognize as a mark of loyalty to the false King.

Is it realistic that members of the Great Merchant Houses would get marked like this?

[Unicorn]

It strikes me that your accent would bring you nearly as much suspicion in Allanak as a tattoo would.    And a tattoo is easily covered with clothing.

[Clegane]

I think it is quite realistic for the northern family members to wear caste tattoos. Expected, in fact.

My understanding of it is, despite the presence of PCs who inevitably get bored and want a 'change of scenery', most merchant House family members are tied to one location. They're born there, trained there, raised there, known there, and all of their business expertise and experience is dependant on their knowledge of the culture and people of that area.

The Houses likely have a subset of agents whose purpose it is to travel between the city-states and I do find it unlikely that caste tattoos would be prominantly displayed for these individuals. Nonetheless, they are a rarity in the Houses and not at all the norm.

Zalanthan merchant Houses arent like modern day corporations, rocketing their employees all across the world in jets from week to week.

That's my take on it anyway.

[spawnloser]

Yeah...the fact that different people in the not so distant past have been moved all the way across the world by their merchant house masters has always left me wondering, "Why the hell?"

[marko]

To further what Clegane wrote (that I completely agree with):

Some of Great Merchant Houses have a history of being very involved with Tuluk and being proud of it.

To quote from the History page:

1458

A new government in Tuluk is formed, still headed by the Sun King Muk Utep, giving a greater authority to the common people, noble houses, and merchant houses of Gol Krathu. This council becomes known as the Northlands Alliance.

Therefore, it does not strike me as odd at all.  

Those in the North get branded, it's that simple.  Culture dictates that caste tattoos are the norm.  Therefore anyone born in the North and is a citizen of Tuluk gets a caste tattoo.

[Xerokine]

I was just thinking.. if the caste tattooes are the norm and your branded with this when your born or whenever.. I think that if you choose Tuluk you should automatically have that tattoo on your PC's body where-ever the proper place to have it is.

[Bestatte]

That would be fine except for one thing:

Those markings only apply to TULUK citizens, not just any ole northerner. There are plenty of people who have in their backgrounds that they grew up "near" Tuluk..so they wouldn't get the citizenship marking.

Plus people who show up as non-coded tribals - they need some place to start, they pick Tuluk, but only because they don't have any other logical spot to pick in the Hall of Kings. They are neither born in nor citizens of Tuluk.

I wouldn't mind though, seeing a second room once you pick Tuluk in the hall of kings - that has nothing in it but a tattoo merchant and a sign indicating that you can get your markings there and the syntax for doing so.

Then once you've gotten one or decided not to get one, you go "down" and end up in the starting location in Tuluk.

[Anael]

I believe you mean Gol Krathu as a whole, not just Tuluk, Bestatte. Even though the tattoo's site is called 'Tuluki tattoos' it also says it applies to the Gol as a whole.
Save for that, I second what Bestatte said. Not to mention the fact that even for Gol-born characters, there could be possibilities why they -don't- have the circle or the star or whatever...

[spawnloser]

The Gol is everything inside the Scaien Walls.  That basically means, at this point, that practically everyone born in the Gol, is born in the city of Tuluk.

[Anael]

I won't argue here, but this is where the docs are unclear, so that might be the cause...

...city-state of Tuluk, which now occupies at least half of the area of Gol Krathu. The sub-city of the the Sun King Utep now bears the same name as the land, being called Gol Krathu or the Ivory City interchangeably.

For me, this means 'Gol' has two meanings: could either mean smaller area of the sub-city, or even area beyond the Scaien.  :?
But I get the point...

[spawnloser]

Understood...but if you read the docs and explore everything inside the Scaien Walls, what I have said and what the docs have said coincide.  It is possible to be born inside the Gol, but not Tuluk...you would still be considered a citizen by birth, provided your parents were also citizens.  There are areas inside the walls not inside the city, but the mindset is that it doesn't really matter.  Everything is the Sun King's, from there radiating outward for as long as the eye can see, anyway, I mean, come on.