Girards tattoo

[Dark Elf Bard]

Do you suppose Girard's tattoo is an oath mark of some sort similar to the one Roy's father has?

[Math_Mage]

Given the last comic, it's probably a birthmark of draconic ancestry.

[SavageWombat]

But that is an awfully clever idea. What if they're oath-sworn to protect the gate, and that's why Girard trusted them when he trusts no-one else?

I do think it's a birthmark, but I like this suggestion.

[factotum]

But that is an awfully clever idea. What if they're oath-sworn to protect the gate, and that's why Girard trusted them when he trusts no-one else?

I think Girard isn't much of a one for trusting oaths, given he didn't believe Soon would keep *his* oath to not interfere with the other Gates. It's more likely he's like Haley's dad and trusts only his own blood relatives, and since the entire family have draconic ancestry, I'm with Math_Mage's explanation.

[Firemage]

If you look closely at the last panel in #842 (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0842.html) you'll see that the other grandchildren of the dragon have also a similar tattoo.

So it's definately a birth mark.

[Hironomus]

If you look closely at the last panel in #842 (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0842.html) you'll see that the other grandchildren of the dragon have also a similar tattoo.

So it's definately a birth mark.

Not necessarily. Girard's cousins could have enlisted to the cause of gate guarding and taking the oath as well.

[RMS Oceanic]

Girard had that mark before he took a gate to protect, so I don't think it's bound to any oath he may have made.

[Hironomus]

Girard had that mark before he took a gate to protect, so I don't think it's bound to any oath he may have made.

That on the other hand is probably the best indication we have that the 'tattoo' is a congenital marking of draconic heritage.

[suszterpatt]

At the risk of invoking the Giant's wrath:

http://eberron.wikia.com/wiki/Dragonmarks

[Quild]

At the risk of invoking the Giant's wrath:

http://eberron.wikia.com/wiki/Dragonmarks

Why would this invoke is wrath? Seems really appropriate to me.

[Quild]

At the risk of invoking the Giant's wrath:

http://eberron.wikia.com/wiki/Dragonmarks

Why would this invoke is wrath? Seems really appropriate to me.

[Roland Itiative]

Why would this invoke is wrath? Seems really appropriate to me.

I guess he's referencing the fact the Giant also participated in the contect that made Eberron, the place those dragonmarks come from, an official D&D setting.

Anyway, I always thought his tattoo was a sign of his magic blood, and the revealing of most of his family (all of which were sorcerers, it seems) just serves to add fuel to that idea.

[Goosefarble]

I figured it was just a cool dragony tattoo he got that he put on all his family members too, to show their colours, as it were. You'll notice that the little girl in #841 doesn't have one yet, so I doubt it's a birthmark (of course she could have hers in a different place like the woman who has one on her breast).

[factotum]

I figured it was just a cool dragony tattoo he got that he put on all his family members too, to show their colours, as it were. You'll notice that the little girl in #841 doesn't have one yet, so I doubt it's a birthmark (of course she could have hers in a different place like the woman who has one on her breast).

Dragonmarks showing draconic heritage don't appear until you hit puberty, which is why the little girl doesn't have one. If it was some sort of tattoo to show everyone's a member of the clan, why would everyone's be different? (And why would some have them in almost entirely hidden places, like the woman you mentioned?).

[Goosefarble]

Dragonmarks showing draconic heritage don't appear until you hit puberty, which is why the little girl doesn't have one. If it was some sort of tattoo to show everyone's a member of the clan, why would everyone's be different? (And why would some have them in almost entirely hidden places, like the woman you mentioned?).

Ah, right. Well, yeah then, it's probably that.

[KillianHawkeye]

Sometimes a tatto is just a tattoo.

[Dark Elf Bard]

Sometimes a tatto is just a tattoo.

Would you make all of your relatives get a similar one?

[ti'esar]

I guess he's referencing the fact the Giant also participated in the contect that made Eberron, the place those dragonmarks come from, an official D&D setting.

Anyway, I always thought his tattoo was a sign of his magic blood, and the revealing of most of his family (all of which were sorcerers, it seems) just serves to add fuel to that idea.

They're unlikely to be literal dragonmarks, though - more like birthmarks indicating draconic ancestry.

[Eigenclass]

Not speculating about the origin or purpose of the mark, but I kind of thought it was supposed to be the picture of a dragon. I mean, it's a stick-figure comic...

See here, panel 4 (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0694.html): There's the big squigly-line, which is the dragon's body, the backwards 'C' at the peak of the 'S'-curve, which is the wings, and finally towards the tip, you have the horns.

[KillianHawkeye]

Would you make all of your relatives get a similar one?

If I was a glorified cult leader? Sure I would. :smallbiggrin:

[Dark Elf Bard]

If I was a glorified cult leader? Sure I would. :smallbiggrin:

No evidence of a cult. They all seem to be related.

I like the idea that it's a simplified dragon, though.

[Brahamut]

Panel 8: (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0727.html) :Tarquin: "Draketooth? Human? Red hair, purple squiggly tattoo on his face? Uses illusions?" So it's a tattoo. I definitely agree that they're supposed to look like dragons, check out the guy in the center of 841B - his looks like a dragon flying across his scalp. Of course, many of them aren't that clear, like the woman with the really dark hair on the left.

As far as being a cult, they do exhibit several of the signs - the founder is revered as divine (note the halo 842B), they have beliefs that are considered bizarre, they are extremely insular, and group members occasionally leave to infiltrate society in order to have children which the abduct. As the 'omniscient' reader, we know that the planet actually is a prison for a god-slaying abomination (or do we?), but to most people, the Draketooths are a cult.

[irenicObserver]

No evidence of a cult. They all seem to be related.

I like the idea that it's a simplified dragon, though.
I think he means the fact that he's hoarding some "chosen people" for a higher divine purpose. It might as well be.

[KillianHawkeye]

As far as being a cult, they do exhibit several of the signs - the founder is revered as divine (note the halo 842B), they have beliefs that are considered bizarre, they are extremely insular, and group members occasionally leave to infiltrate society in order to have children which the abduct. As the 'omniscient' reader, we know that the planet actually is a prison for a god-slaying abomination (or do we?), but to most people, the Draketooths are a cult.


I think he means the fact that he's hoarding some "chosen people" for a higher divine purpose. It might as well be.

Either way, really.

[Gift Jeraff]

Panel 8: (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0727.html) :Tarquin: "Draketooth? Human? Red hair, purple squiggly tattoo on his face? Uses illusions?" So it's a tattoo.Tarquin never even saw a Draketooth, so why is he a trustworthy source? That just means that Penelope thought it was a tattoo. Maybe it is, maybe it isn't.

[Agnostik]

Going slightly off-topic here, but it's still relevant to Draketooth tattoo / birthmark.

One thing that always bugged me about Girard and his kin: they're supposed to be ultra-paranoid and secretive, and yet they all have VERY distinguishing traits that allow anyone to figure out they're Draketooths literally simply by looking at their faces.

Sure, you might say that being great illusionists can come in handy, and they can just disguise themselves. But somehow Orrin did nothing of the sort, and his distinguishing features were key to discovering the Draketooth hideout. Girard would be proud, no doubt. [/sarcasm]

[Lyndworm]

Not speculating about the origin or purpose of the mark, but I kind of thought it was supposed to be the picture of a dragon. I mean, it's a stick-figure comic...

See here, panel 4 (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0694.html): There's the big squigly-line, which is the dragon's body, the backwards 'C' at the peak of the 'S'-curve, which is the wings, and finally towards the tip, you have the horns.
I like the idea that it's a simplified dragon, though.
I actually always though that the markings were a reference to Dragonmarks. It's worth noting, however, that that interpretation isn't incompatible with yours; the most prestigious, most powerful, and most complicated Dragonmarks are dragon-shaped. To apply them to a stick figure would look ridiculous, unless you simplified them.

[Zanaril]

I think it's likely that they are meant to look like dragons. Looking at 841, I can't see a single mark that couldn't be interpreted as a dragon with a bit of imagination. Also, compare it to the lines on the wall which the close-up panel reveals is a dragon drawing seen from a distance.

I think the rest of the pictographs might also be of dragons. Possibly the tattos of eveyone living there?

[Dr.Epic]

Given the last comic, it's probably a birthmark of draconic ancestry.

Or all his descended took the same oath.

[Tebryn]

No evidence of a cult. They all seem to be related.

How exactly does that bar one from being a cult?

[Mr. Pants]

If it is, I don't think he's going to be able to fulfill that oath. Vaarsuvius killed him with his Familicide spell...:smallfrown: