Vidigrek

Vidigrek is a magical practice from Horvakar culture involving magical tattoos which allow one to mimic the abilities of animals and monsters. The origins of the practice supposedly descend from Orkinos speaking with entranced Horvakar women. The practice continues to be female dominated to this day. Historically, it was used for defending the home while the men of the village were at sea. This led to many stories of Horvakar women transforming into beasts when foreigners landed to attack their islands. The Horvakar cultivated this to enhance their fearsome reputation, but there are as many uses for the art as there are animals.

The ink base is prepared using charcoal and glycerol. The glycerol is a byproduct of soap making. The practitioner uses plant ash and heated limestone with water to create a basic solution before mixing it with animal fats. The soaps created this way are used for healing and religious purification.

Then the practitioner must observe the creature in its natural habitat using the abilities that they wish to copy. While this is theoretically sufficient, many users spend several hours or days learning the patterns of the animal. After sufficient observation, a part of the animal must be collected and mixed with the ink. This traditionally involves slaying the animal but killing it is not necessary and smaller animals that don't represent a fair fight are often released with as little harm as possible.

Once the ink has been marked with the animal parts, the practitioner starts a chant and enters a trance state. Within this trance state, they use a series of bone and steel needles to tattoo the animal into the skin. The animal is tattooed in a traditional Horvakar style, meaning there is no shading and grading between black and skin tone is achieved by negative space between polygons. Once the animal is complete, a process that may take days, the spell is imbued and the practitioner now can use the copied ability at will.