Ry'narian Heraldic Sigils

Ry'narian Heraldic Sigils are a type of traditional Ry'nari body adornment comprising of a series of inscribed markings - in modern times typically using body paint or scale staining techniques. Markings can be a combination of abstract imagery, pictograms and script and typically are printed most commonly along the bridge of the snout, the chest and torso, and the length of the tail.

Heraldic markings have a long history and are integral to the cultural structure of the Ry'nari people, worn on person for various official and ceremonial reasons, and used in signage and signatures otherwise.

The typical set of images, named a Ry'narian word that translates in common to "Glyph Stack", represents the Family, Tribe and Horde of the bearer, stacked on top of one another. The individual supporting the family, the family supporting the tribe, the tribe supporting the horde. Additional supplementary glyphs and script usually accompany this stack and typically are representative of the bearers professional history, military or naval rank. Awards, achievements or notable feats are marked along the tail.

A decent amount of noteworthy historical Ry'nari have had full-tail length marks, with a rarer few having a list of achievements longer than their tails can bear the marks of. These few have the title of "True-tail", and are depicted with their "True" tail length in historical imagery to show their full notation.

Typical times that these marks are worn are usually for highly official events, including great hunts and feasts, Council and Military ceremony, funerals and familial rites of passage. In the case of events of the highest regard, of importance to the horde or to the family, blood is used in place of body paint, and during the ascension rites of Gomoran, the blood of the tribe's chosen warriors is used to anoint the one chosen to take the seat and inscribe their new position.

Notably, the concept of heraldic markings have made a comeback within counter-cultural spaces, inverting the idea of the self being a product of their lineage and instead using them as a pure representation of the self, their interests, and of their found families. "Informal" Heraldic marks tend to be symbolic representations of online handles, nicknames, and new symbols representative of those they share bonds with by choice, not by blood. Instead of blood or bodypaint, a wider variety of materials are used, including photoreactive dyes, thermochromatic inks, even nanite lattices to create bodily screens.

A notable Ry'narian celebrity used photoreactive glyphs to counter flash photography, making it impossible to be caught on film except for a burning exposure that blew out the image that read (roughly) "Flakk Off". These informal markings are not considered "Tasteful" in upper society and older generations, but are gaining more and more favor with younger generations open to fresh ideas.