Elettian Surnames
"What's with the tattoos?"The "tattoos" you've seen on Elettian's left shoulders are actually their surnames (or family name).
These symbols are thought to be the archaic language of Elettian people which has been lost to the world for centuries, along with the ability to read it.
The symbols are carried down through the father's genes, always appearing on the left shoulder. An interesting observation: out of the few (yet growing) instances where an Elettian marries a human, the name is not passed down if the father is human (instead of passing down the mother's name, as it was expected).
In these cases, they usually have the mother's name tattooed onto the child's shoulder during their infancy.
Elettian culture used to actually tattoo the husband's name onto the wife's right shoulder the week after a marriage, but with recent generations and further integration with the rest of Gahtla resulted in social acceptance of divorces.
Nowadays, it's rare to see a married Elettian woman with her partner's name on her right shoulder in Elettia and even rarer in Karakksei and other Elettian-inhabitted countries, "just in case".
Occasionally you will see a couple carry out this tradition since it is thought to bring bad luck on the marriage to do otherwise.
In Elettian culture your name must always be visible; this prevents criminals, murderers, and the like from going unnoticed. If you wear clothing that does not provide view to your name, you are immediately considered suspicious and may be arrested (in Elettian countires) for nothing more than this glitch in wardrobe.
Because of this, any Elettian criminals would not be found so easily in Elettia or Karakksei; and even in other countires will hide any indication of their herritage to avoid being caught by the authorities (i.e. their trade-mark ears). -->
