I wanted to make a proper post about this to share–because I’m real proud of what @krakendraken and I came up with, simple though it may be! So enjoy a bit of a lore dump

(very brief/undetailed mentions of prejudice and self harm below, the latter without going into any details at all)

Nils and Eidunn (now Cassiana, but Eidunn originally) got these tattoos for each other as wedding gifts. They tell the story of their life together, and new runes appear when they begin a new chapter of their journey with one another.

The first rune is representative of their starting points: who they are as people.

For Nils, he is represented by algiz ᛉ, the elk. It speaks of his strong intuition and protective, guardian-like nature, with the power to manifest his dreams.

For Eidunn, she is represented by kenaz ᚲ, the torch. Eidunn was born into a nomadic tribe of raiders, all shadar-kai. She was content living amongst them until she began to notice how colorful the world was beyond her culture. Kenaz speaks of following your own truth, seeking creativity and inspiration, which she did as she left her people and began a new path in life that was more than what had been prescribed for her.

The second rune is one they share, representative of their marriage. It is dagaz ᛞ, the dawn. It speaks of new beginnings, of new things becoming possible, of hope and security. It is also symbolic, as the rune of the dawn, as the time when night and day meet, when the sun and the moon cross paths. This added a touch of sentimentality to the rune for these two, as they had likened themselves to the sun (Nils) and the moon (Eidunn) in their partnership.

The third rune represented the path they chose to forge together: working and fighting within a resistance. They loved their homeland, but the people who populated it were outright hateful of the less human races. Tieflings often encountered the worst treatment, even being killed on sight due to the stereotypical assumption that they brought Hell’s influence with them. Eidunn, being an elf, was inoffensive, but she found it odd to think that being unaffected by the rampant prejudice was a reason to not want to fight for change.

For Nils, this rune is othala ᛟ, the rune of heritage–but inverted. Inverted, it represents an inheritance of an unwanted nature, such as the prejudice he faces due to simply being born with horns. His involvement in the resistance comes from a place of being personally affected by it, and wanting better for his homeland.

For Eidunn, this rune is thurisaz ᚦ, the hammer. This speaks of powerful direction of energy and force, either of destruction or defense. Conflict that may be cathartic, may be cleansing, or may be purgative. Her involvement in the resistance came from a place of seeking to lend her power to protect and defend those who faced injustice, even though she herself was not a victim of such treatment.

The fourth rune is what derailed their involvement in the resistance: their deaths.

For Nils, this is hagalaz ᚺ, the rune of hail. It represents cataclysmic disaster striking out of the blue, destroying things of deep importance. It is unavoidable change that shakes one to their foundation. This was the case for Nils when Eidunn was ripped apart in front of him, the destruction running so deep that he couldn’t find it within himself to go on living without her.

For Eidunn, this rune is eihwaz ᛇ, the ash tree. The focus of Eidunn’s death (for her) was not the violence with which her life ended, but the transformation it created. As her soul was ripped from its corporeal vessel, it was taken into the care of Kalma, a deity of graves and decay. The henge Nils built for her as her final resting place elicited the approval of this goddess, a shrine to Her domain that saw fit to make those who rested there Her champions.

After thirty years of lying at this gravesite, their bodies had not decayed, preserved by the grace of some otherworldly force. And one by one, the two corpses were granted a new existence adjacent to life.

It was four more years before they reunited again, their reawakening having been staggered so that they did not begin their second life together, nor realize such was even an option. In no small part, because Eidunn did not awaken with any memory of who she was, or the life she had once lived. She did not even recognize the corpse that lay beside her.

When Nils finally found her again, understanding she did not remember him was a hard pill to swallow. But he felt indescribably familiar to her, and so she found herself wanting to remember. Willing to try. The two of them even willing to start over, as long as they could be together again.

Their fifth rune is another they share: ehwaz ᛖ, the horse. It is gradual but steady progress made through teamwork, trust, and loyalty. Moving forward through cooperation and allegiance. It is their rune of beginning again, and rebuilding a trust that, even through death and the loss of Eidunn’s memories, managed to not be entirely lost.