When I was first coming up with the concept of having Druid Vampire Hunter, Derek Dearg, use his Druidic magic to will his Celtic animal tattoos to peel off his arms and fight for him, I hadn’t come up with the idea of having different “power levels” yet. But as I searched for images of the most interesting battle tattoos to give Derek I realized that small animals have their own strengths and abilities, and so do larger animals. That’s how Derek ended up with the following battle tattoos: hawk, python, stag, wolf, panther, bear, and dragon. I wanted Dearg’s love interest, Cinnia, to have more feminine battle tattoos, and that’s why she ended up with the following: butterfly, snake, cat, fox, unicorn, and dragon.
Excerpt from the novel Druid Vampire about Battle Tattoos:
“At the age of twelve, a Druid Vampire Hunter trainee would get their first battle tattoo. There were different levels of battle tattoos and each level needed a different amount of magical power and skill to control.
Level one battle tattoos were usually small creatures that could be used for spying on vampires. The ink creatures would gather information about the location of the vampires’ cave lairs, and how many vampires lived therein. These tattoos were usually: birds, fish, and insects.
Level two battle tattoos were small creatures that could be used for spying, but also attacking. This was the first real attack tattoo that the trainees got. These tattoos were usually: snakes or rats. Snakes were small enough to spy on vampires, but also a good attack tattoo because a snake could constrict around a vampire’s neck and decapitate it.
Level three battle tattoo were medium-sized creatures such as: cats, dogs, stags, and foxes. These creatures could be used as diversions to help one escape from vampires, or paired with larger ink creatures in coordinated attacks.
Level four battle tattoos were large-sized creatures such as wolves and panthers. These creatures could easily bite into the neck of a vampire and rip their head off.
Level five battle tattoos were animals used for transportation and riding such as: horses, unicorns, bulls and bears.
Level six battle tattoos were dragon tattoos. Dragon tattoos were the most powerful tattoos in one’s arsenal. It took the most magical power to control this tattoo. Usually, the dragon was placed on the entire back of the Druid, and with lots of Celtic knots and spells in the design for protection.”
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