Tag: qunari

vashothari headcanons

notenoughdragons:

for the brand spanking new @vashothculture blog

  • vashothari very often have two names: one their
    parents/caretakers give them, and one they choose for themselves. given
    names tend to be either descriptive, or aspirational, like words that
    mean/have connotations of strong, enduring, etc. children very, very
    rarely get names that are (similar to) job descriptions, as they would
    have under the qun.
  • forehead-touching (both the gentle
    and the more headbutt-y variant) is the vashothari equivalent to
    hugging. of course they also hug each other, but with the horns it can
    often be p difficult to arrange everyone’s head right.
  • VITAAR.
    they have a metric fuckton of patterns, often unique to different
    groups or even individuals, for festivals, rituals, for weddings and
    burials and coming-of-ages, for good luck when you go off mercenary-ing,
    for when you choose your own name, for looking pretty and for looking
    intimidating (both of those tend to feature dragon skulls), and a
    million other things. there is also a key difference in composition
    between combat vitaar and other vitaar: combat vitaar is made of the
    stuff all the in-game vitaar is made of, meaning it hardens their skin
    and grants them +5% crit. chance. i’m kidding, but still, my point is
    the magic/biochemical components of vitaar important for combat are
    fucking expensive and hard to get, and so only get used when they’re
    needed. otherwise, it’s simply very durable bodypaint.
  • one version of burial customs is to burn
    the remains, and then scatter the ashes from a high, preferably very
    windy, place – so that whatever remains of the dead can fly with dragons
    again. i suspect burial customs vary a lot, and the degree of involved
    spirituality, if you will, varies even more, but i think one red thread
    that runs through all of them is the importance of those left behind, of
    those who have to carry the loss and grief, and move forward.
  • SPEAKING OF DRAGONS, i’m 100% here for the vashothari identifying hugely with
    dragons. the qunari already sort-of-rever dragons, but they still
    consider them/their power to be untamed, chaotic, savage, and thus in
    need of killing. but here’s the thing: dragons aren’t really aggressive,
    they’re just territorial. they’re fiercely protective of their own, they’re really fucking strong,
    they came back in force after everyone thought they’d been wiped out,
    and they live and die free. tell me that’s not something the vashothari would feel kinship with / aspirations towards.

romancingironbull:

The Iron Bull does not have tattoos!

Vitaar

After extensive study of the Qunari specimens you kindly provided, I’ve come to the conclusion that the painted markings on their face and body are not, in fact, solely for ceremonial purpose, but provide a practical benefit. Oh, I’m certain there is some cultural significance to the patterns and colors they choose, but the Qunari do nothing without purpose, yes?

They call these markings “vitaar,” which in their tongue means “poison armor.” It’s called this because the markings are magical in nature and actually harden their skin to an iron-like quality without hindering flexibility, and my analysis says the paint consists largely of poison. It’s mixed with something else—blood, perhaps their own?—and that neutralizes the poison, but only for one with Qunari physiology. Anyone else would perish almost instantly (which reminds me: I’ll kindly require another body slave). The process activates the magical qualities of the poison, which provides the protective effects, almost in the same manner that lyrium runes do.

How this works, and whether it can be used for our purposes, will require further study. Perhaps some live specimens this time?

—From a letter written by Nameria Origanus, apprentice to Magister Varas, Dragon 9:32

What you see are vitaar, not tattoos. I’m not sure anyone who’s worked on creating the games has explained why he has his vitaar “armor” on for the sex scenes. (There are some fan theories about Bull not wanting to be completely vulnerable–emotionally or physically?) But. From reading the above, it sounds like they would not poison a non-Qunari partner because it’s not actually poison once it is applied to the body. It goes into effect of hardening the skin and creating a magical protection effect.

Now if you want to say he has tattoos in your own headcannon, that’s totally valid. But if you’re confused about how his markings come and go: they’re not tattoos, they are vitaar.

Hope this helps!