Scribes who work their magic through ink and skin are sometimes known as 'Chimori'. Their art is the most common means of deliberate transit across the Veil, and the difference between being trapped in the shadow city and having a way home.
The Gate-Mark
The Chimori's signature work is the gateway symbol. Etched into a bearer's skin, a gate-mark grants free passage between the mortal world and Nod. The mark is permanent, the process is dangerous, and the cost is high. Chimori are not always forthcoming about the secondary effects their tattoos carry; additional enchantments woven into the design that the customer did not request and may not discover until it is too late to remove them.
For temporary access, a Chimori can write a gate-spell on a person's hand with specially prepared magic ink. These marks fade quickly but serve as a means of extracting someone from Nod in an emergency.
Beyond the Gate
Gate-marks are the most visible application of Chimori sorcery, but the discipline extends far beyond transit. Chimori tattoos can grant enhanced speed, strength, resilience, and the ability to manifest weapons from the skin itself. The most extensively marked individuals carry entire arsenals written into their bodies, blades that form from nothing, armor that hardens beneath the surface, reflexes wound tight as spring steel.
The rare substance Orichalcum (mundane name 'Oric') has particular significance for Chimori work. Its properties enhance the potency of tattooed enchantments, though the details of this interaction are closely guarded within the craft.
The Work
Each tattoo is a unique working. The Chimori are artisans as much as sorcerers, and the placement, design, and execution of a mark determines its effects. A chest tattoo might grant resilience. Marks on the arms might amplify strength. Hands might produce bladed weapons. The back and legs might enhance speed. The art is in the combination, how the marks interact, what they draw from the bearer, and what they give in return.
An unfinished tattoo is a dangerous thing. A partially completed working carries unpredictable effects and may never function as intended. The most complex designs take multiple sessions and require significant trust between the Chimori and their subject.
Regulation
The Prefex regulate all forms of enchantment and thaumaturgy in Nod, and Chimori work falls squarely within their jurisdiction. Overt acts of magic draw their attention and their interrogators. Chimori who operate openly risk capture. Most work through private arrangements, word of mouth, and the understanding that their services are too essential to the city's functioning for the Inquisitors to shut them down entirely.
The Chimori in Context
The Chimori occupy a peculiar position in Nod's economy. They are indispensable; the primary means by which the city maintains contact with the mortal world, the gatekeepers of transit, and the source of some of the most powerful personal enchantments available. They are also mistrusted, because a sorcerer who writes on your skin does not necessarily have your best interests in mind and plenty of stories exist about Chimori using their ability to control others.