Sihabahu Clarifications

Repost of some questions that were sent to me personally, and the answers. :3

So here are all questions I gathered until today. More might be on the way.
Right now this are the parts that I would need for Dalchimba to finally "get a face" and a backstory. So, here we go.

It's said that Sihabahu have a lot of tattoos. What kind of tattos (more tribal-like, more samoan style, more picture-like/yakuza, etc) do they have and what is the meaning of them (if they have any meaning)?

How big would the tallest Sihabahu males be?

What about scars? Some cultures praise their scars as signs of being strong and even color them with tattoo-like colors so they stay colored permanently.

I guess, because of their practical way of living, Sihabahu prefer a easy/short haircut which doesn't disturb them while doing their job. Still, is there any regulation on the hair length?

While on their job, I assume they wear an uniform (when in a job that needs a uniform. For example police, guard,etc). Are there any special designs or regulations?

So, all for now. I hope I don't bother you will all those questions....I'm just really...well..curious

These are great questions! :3 Okay so:

1. I would think something less pictorial, and more like a samoan-style or tribal tattoo. They do tend to have meaning-- Sihabahu fashions "tell pictures with their bodies" if that makes any sense. They tend to be absolutely covered in tattoos. You can assign the meaning to yourself, and I'd expect the number of them to grow proportionally with age. (So someone very young would have fewer tattoos than someone very old.)

2. I would say no taller than 6'6". It is possible to be taller with modifications, but naturally no one would get much taller than that. The Ralasi average height applies to all four Ralasi Families (Sihabahu, Svatantra, Jagat and Sitala) so use that as a general guideline.

3. Scarification would be a-ok as far as visuals go.

4. There are no regulations on Sihabahu hair. The guy who helped me develop them and is responsible for 90% of the things about them suggested hair that was cut or braided into geometric designs, much like the tattoos, if that helps.

5. The police and guards wear uniforms and I... Haven't designed them! You're the first person to ask about them, so if you have something in particular you were thinking of, lemme know! Otherwise I think if you want to keep it vague I can apply my brainmeats to the matter and design at least a police uniform. Guard uniforms might vary by employer (so guards of x guy, company, whatever would dress in a certain way that was different from the guards of y company).

Yes, I have another question! I'm bad, I know XD

6. Tattoo-colors
I'd really like to know how they are made and what colors are possible. Are they done with a tattoo-machine or traditionally (in the samoan style). About the colors, well, since Shuripura is a totally different world is there a chance to make tattoos in colors like white, silver/gold (by shading, etc).
I'm asking because they are having dark skin (mostly) and tattoos wouldn't be that significant if they were just black.

Nah, questions are never bad. c:

The Sihabahu are very vibrant as a general rule. The sky is the limit on colors! The favored shades for Sihabahu are red and gold. Their synthetic dyes are of a high enough concentration that they are vibrant and luminous, even on the darkest of skin. Some pigments even have metal alloy in them, and give a tattoo a metallic sheen for years.

Light colors are entirely possible and very common, because of the pleasing contrast to skin. However, light inks need to be layered in order to stay vibrant. It would be a bit more painful and time consuming than getting a dark ink tattoo, but no Sihabahu would let that stop them from getting a great looking tattoo. ;D

Sihabahu tattoo artists use tattoo machines, not raw ink and needle. Like the rest of the Ralasi, they are very concerned about cleanliness and disease – however unlikely the occurrence of it may be. Seeing as the Ralasi are from the same genetic stock as the unclean Danava, many have the superstition that disease is the only barrier between being Ralasi and being Unspeakable. Very few would be willing to take the rare chance of getting an infection using traditional methods.

Sorry my response was crazy long! Probably more than you wanted to know. xD

Your answer can't be long enough trust me 0o
Every bit of information is great X3

Well, do you know any other "deitys", good signs, symbols, etc for tattoos?
For example, he samoan tattoo style has little symbols embeded in a lot of patterns. Every symbol has a special meaning and every line of the pattern too. If I'd know some symbols of the Sihabahu I'd be willing to do some basic designs that every Sihabahu player could use. Of course, I'd send you the sketches and I'd refine them until they look like you'd want them.
For me it would seem a little strange if I'm creating a tattoo that means, let's say "Strength" with this and that design and the next player creates a totally different tattoo that means exactly the same. I guess that would ruin and change the whole "culture". But it's your choice, I just want to help ^^

The guy who came up with a lot of the Sihabahu stuff, and who would be a better person to answer your questions, gave up the internet for Lent. x3 So he won't be back until after that's over, however! In his line of thinking, suns and flames would be popular patterns-- sun like the sular, and flames for Pujerh. Dog/canine imagery, I'd imagine, would be along the same line and also a popular choice, as dogs are one of the symbols of Pujerh as well. The religion page of the wiki is really sketchy right now, but Pujerh is the patron deity of the Sihabahu, so things relating to him would be heavily traditional.

If you want to design tattoos, please feel free! This world was made with collaboration, and I intend it to grow that way too. I'd love to see anything you came up with. You can either post it here, or send it to the Shuri Pura admin email (shuripura[at]gmail.com).

(By the by, I think black tattoos would be more common on people with a lighter skintone, where the contrast would be more striking.)

Yay....I could drool all over the info you're giving me.
There are so many great aspects in that. The flames and the sun stuff sounds so cool same as the dog/canine symbolic.

I dug out my old tattoo-collections and found some nice samoan ones that could be something like a little "styleguide". Their tattoos are mostly a combination of symbols (for example a stylized sun) and special patterns that are leading the eye to the next symbol. The patterns differ depending on the meaning. More lines, more waves, dots, hard edges, every little thing has a different meaning.
Females often have wavelike lines with dots on their hands. Male not, etc.

Man, can't wait to hear more about them. Too many ideas in my head XD