Dark Raven Curios

[ramerian]

 Dark Raven Curios looks at first glance like the kind of not-quite-antique junk shop where one might find anything. The front room of the shop is full to the brim with odds and ends. Necklaces, baubles, masks, clothing, rings, bones, antlers. There is a whole wall of books, most of them with deceptively new age or magic-related titles, but some of them about gardening, medicinal herbs, and crafts like making pigments, inks, or brewing alcohol. There is a perch in the corner with parrot toys where a large raven watches customers. It does speak, often demanding corn or chicken from passers-by.

One back room of the shop holds herbs and other ingredients for making homemade inks which are sold in the front of the shop. Kasimir is often found here, working on batches of ink. Most of the ink is for writing or printing, but some of it he makes for tattoos.

The other back room is a well lit tattoo shop. Kasimir's artwork can be found in a book in here, in photographs taken from various clients. He doesn't have a lot of clients, but those he does take on are very loyal customers. Many of the tattoos he designs incorporate both imagery and arcane symbols.

Though the shop might pass casual inspection as just another junk shop, to the trained eye, Kasimir's shop practically screams magic. Most of his clients are interested in magical items, or tattoos, or they're looking to sell a magical item that came into their possession. 

(If you need to get in contact with Kasimir, here is the place! Feel free to start a new thread and he will respond!)

Comments

[ramerian]

The shop was cluttered, dark, with tables and shelves piled with a wide variety of things with seemingly no connection, except for the books. There was a whole wall of books, most of them with deceptively new age or magic-related titles, but some of them were about gardening, medicinal herbs, and crafts like making pigments, inks, or brewing alcohol. Some of the magic-related books took it just a bit too seriously, less as if they're some new age fad and more as if they were written as if it were real. The raven in the corner watched Ash, giving a loud croak when he came in and moving its head to keep an eye on him.

One of the back rooms had a light on, and boxes and crates of fresh herbs and other ingredients, as well as crates of empty bottles visible from the main room. A room for making the ink that's sold in the main store. None of the ink in the store was mass produced. The other room was bright and doctor's office clean, with pictures of tattoos lining the wall and in books on the counter. Kasimir's tattoos are pictured in full in a couple of the bigger pictures, the flames on his lower arms looking as if it were burning away skin to reveal shiny black scales on his torso. Cleverly hidden in the tattoo were intricate runes of an unknown script.

There was a noise from the room full of herbs as Kasimir came out to investigate. He looked out and smiled as he saw who it was. "Welcome. I wondered if you would come over. See anything that interests you?"

[professionalriot]

"Meeting you was perfect timing actually." His eyes drift to where the bird is watching him from, then back to the books. The book he was peeking at was pushed back on the shelf. "Need to get some tattoo work done. Had a bit of an accident."

[ramerian]

The raven showed no fear of Ash. It stared back at him and puffed up its feathers briefly, as if in challenge, before turning its head to preen. All very calculated, as if it were saying it had seen tougher people than him.

Kasimir raised an eyebrow at Ash curiously. He motioned for Ash to follow him back to the tattoo studio. He seemed oblivious to any vibes Ash was giving off. "Come, let's see what I can do for you." The room with the tattoo equipment was clean as a doctor's office, with pictures on the wall of some of the more intricate tattoos that Kasimir had done, including his own tattoos in detail. One of the other pictures showed very obvious magical sigils on someone's back. A clever trick of the color choices made the tattoo almost appear to glow against his skin. There was a photo album on the counter with more of Kasimir's work, which he pointed out as they came into the room. On a wall next to the door are several framed licenses.

He leaned on a counter nearby. "So, what kind of accident was it? Besides the kind that might have messed up some of your tattoos? I assume you're doing okay? Mostly healed? And you have an idea of what you might want? If not, feel free to take a look."

Most of the tattoos were intricately detailed. Some were wholly frivolous. One person had a Romulan crest tattooed on his chest. There were other pop culture references. Animals. People. But some of the tattoos had writing or magical sigils incorporated into them, usually in a way that didn't bring attention to the writing. One person got a tattoo of a knight with a shield, and the crest on the knight's shield was a combination of Anglo-Saxon runes for protection. Another person's intricately detailed sleeve full of jungle flowers also included magical sigils for healing and renewal. None of the symbols on any of the tattoos matched the ones on Kasimir's tattoos.

[professionalriot]

Ash lifted a brow at the bird, a half smirk tugging his lips. He could always appriciate an animal and a person with a strong spine. He followed Kas back to the studio. His eyes wandered as they moved, taking in everything around him.

The tattoo room was very different from the rest of the shop. He went right to the pictures on the wall to investigate. Ash made a soft whistling sound at the images. "That is impressive color work, my man. Shit. You don't see that kind of saturation often."

There were a lot of good tattoo artists, there were not a lot of incredible artists. Ashley has learned that the hard way. Though he would never complain about any of his tattoo work. It all had a memory, a reason for being, there were stories tied to most of it that made them special no matter the quality.

"Healing, yeah. Figured after I saw the work on your arm you are probably not the kind of guy that just takes walk ins or is booked out pretty far. Thought I should come get on your books so when I'm healed you can fix me up the rest of the way. These runes...or sigils...what do they mean?" He tapped a finger on one of the images.

[ramerian]

"I don't usually take in people off the street, it's true. Some of my tattoo work is my design, but was done by a friend of mine, Luther. He works in here part time." He pointed out one of the pictures of his back and the dragon scales there. "Some of this would have been difficult to get to myself."

He pointed out some of the pictures. "This one of the knight. The runes are Anglo-Saxon and are a symbol of protection. It's said they create a barrier around a person that repels attacks." He pointed out a different one. "This is one that Luther has. The jungle flowers are a favorite of his, the sigils are some traditionally used in folk magic. They symbolize healing and renewal. Appropriate, given Luther's work in healthcare."

Next he pointed out some of the photos of his own tattoos. "The symbols on my own tattoos are a bit more intricate, given that I wanted them to be secondary to the art. To be detailed but not take away from the piece. The symbols along the dragon scales all symbolize protection from harm, making human skin symbolically as protective as hard scales. The symbols hidden in the fire are meant to help with magical work."

"Now, I do make my own inks and I don't negotiate on that point. There's no regulation on tattoo ink in the US, and I've dealt with far too many inks that contain more than I wanted. I won't have people sick because of some off label ingredient of my tattoo ink."