Noman is an island

[meteordust]

My Fallen London character has achieved the Noman Tattoo!

There are actually two different ones you can acquire: the normal one ("A Face in the Snow") (in your first or second tattoo slot) and the bonus one ("A Private Tattoo of your Noman, Inscribed in Gant") (in your extra tattoo slot). I chose to only get the bonus one, so that I could use the other slots for other tattoos:

An Incident: Get a private tattoo of your noman

Millicent nods. "I've something special in mind, but I've decorated the obvious places. It'll have to be somewhere more discreet. Over your heart? Perhaps a shoulder. Or a hip."

The result:

A compact

Your noman finds a corner stool. You occupy the divan. Millicent takes an apparently empty vial from a drawer, then closes the curtains and blows out the lamp. The vial's contents gleam, suddenly, like old silver. "Gant ink," Millicent says.

She begins, and your tattoo blooms gradually into the dark. A nuanced dapple of pain as her needle moves across your skin. The sound of her measured breathing, and the drip-drip-drip of your noman melting, slowly, onto her carpet.

When she is done, Millicent lights a candle. The tattoo vanishes, leaving only your bare, red-smarting skin. Your noman reaches out, its snowy fingers soothing. "We'll laugh about this in a year," it says. "You'll see. I'll still be here, and you'll have that silly tattoo you don't need. There's always a way, isn't there?"

The item text:

A Private Tattoo of your Noman, Inscribed in Gant

In the dark, it gleams like the ghost of a star. The memory of your Noman is preserved forever - or at least as long as you have skin.