Piercing

The piercing system allows characters to pierce each other with sharp needles. Piercings show up in character descriptions in the same line as tattoos.

Possible piercing locations are: right eyebrow, left eyebrow, both eyebrows, nose, right nostril, left nostril, lip, left ear, right ear, both ears.

Only those well trained in First Aid should be piercing others.

Supplies

In order to pierce, one needs--at a minimum---a piercing needle and piercing jewelry. Piercing jewelry is very specific to the piercing system and can typically be found at festivals. Some jewelry can be FLIPped to be worn in different places, others were created to only be worn in one place.

LOOK at the jewelry to determine where it is worn:

You notice that your tiny golden rings could be worn in your ears.

Non-empath piercing recipients will need tincture of acantha (or any similar liquid acantha) or some sort of strong alcohol to clean off the piercing for about a week (including immediately after the piercing act) via POUR MY {ACANTHA/ALCOHOL} ON MY {PIERCING JEWELRY NOUN}. Using a liquid herb will cost ten mana, using alcohol will cause a considerable stun.

In addition, repeated piercings with the same needle will cause the needle to dull and a sharpening stone (or diamond) is required (this can be any stone, even a smooth stone) to sharpen it via RUB MY NEEDLE ON MY STONE.

PIERCE

• PIERCE <player> STYLE <style>
• PIERCE AGREE <player> STYLE <style>

It's recommended that one use a sharp and clean piercing needle for minimal healing time and lesser chance of infection. Those who are practiced in tending wounds will also find their skills are useful in this field.

You must have a piercing needle in your right hand and the jewelry you intend to pierce someone with in your left hand. Before you can pierce someone, they must first use the AGREE option for the specified style.

For a list of valid styles, click: PIERCE HELP LOCATIONS

PIERCE <person> STYLE ...	First	Second	Third
leftear	You ask <person> if they'd like to be pierced in their left ear. Type this line over again within the next 45 seconds after they consent. Person agrees to you piercing his left ear within the next 45 seconds. >pierce <person> style leftear You lean over toward <Target's> left ear and line up your silver needle at a precise point. Clenching <Target's> skin tightly, you drive the needle into <Target> swiftly, puncturing <her/his> skin in one clean movement. Moving fluidly, you slide the steel hoop into the small puncture wound you've made. Roundtime: 15 secs.	<Character> asks if you would like to allow <him/her> to pierce your left ear. Click or type: PIERCE AGREE <Character> STYLE leftear to allow them to do this. >PIERCE AGREE <Character> STYLE leftear <Character> leans over toward your left ear and lines up her silver needle at a precise point. Clenching your skin tightly, <Character> drives the point of the needle into you swiftly, puncturing your skin in one clean movement.	This section has not been added yet; please add to it now!

PIERCE HELP LOCATIONS

Valid styles are:

NOSE She has a ring in the middle of her nose.
RIGHTNOSE She has a ring in her right nostril.
LEFTNOSE She has a ring in her left nostril.
LIP She has a ring in her lip.
LEFTEAR She has a ring in the upper ridge of her left ear.
RIGHTEAR She has a ring in the upper ridge of her right ear.
LEFTBROW She has a ring in her left eyebrow.
RIGHTBROW She has a ring in her right eyebrow.
BOTHBROWS She has dual rings in both her eyebrows.
BOTHEARS She has dual rings set along the slender tips of her pointed ears.

Cleaning and sharpening the needle

Piercing needles are sharp and sterile off-the-shelf, but should be sharpened and cleaned after each use. This can be done via a fire spell (such as Fire Spirit (111)), Heal (1101), or pouring alcohol on it.

A fully sharpened needle looks like this:

The needle's tip appears sharper than a razor, and it gleams brightly.

Cleaning

>pour rum on my needle
You pour some of your mint on the rum onto the tip of your needle and twirl it around a bit, making sure the entire sharpened point gets coated.
Roundtime: 10 secs.

>PREP 111
You utter a light chant and raise your hands, beckoning the lesser spirits to aid you with the Fire Spirit spell...
Your spell is ready.

>cast my needle
You gesture at a long black steel needle.
You send forth a carefully-controlled trail of flame onto the needle's tip, and its sharpened point begins to glow a blazing red.
>look needle
You see nothing unusual.
The needle's tip appears sharper than a razor, and it gleams brightly.
The needle's tip looks to be glowing red hot at the moment.

After cleaning with a fire spell, one must wait a few minutes for the needle to cool down before using it on another person. If one does not wait, the following will occur:

You lean over toward Person's right eyebrow and line up your black steel needle at a precise point. Clenching X's skin tightly, you drive the needle into Person swiftly, puncturing his skin in one clean movement.

Person lets out a scream of agony as the red-hot tip of the needle pierces his flesh!  (Piercer's view)

You let out a scream of agony as the red-hot tip of the needle pierces your flesh!     (Person pierced view)

Moving fluidly, you slide the vaalin spike into the small puncture wound you've made.
Roundtime: 15 secs.

Piercing care

Regular cleaning of the piercing is very important. As mentioned above, non-empath piercing recipients will need tincture of acantha (or any similar liquid herb) or some sort of strong alcohol to clean off the piercing via POUR MY {ACANTHA/ALCOHOL} ON MY {PIERCING JEWELRY NOUN}. Using a liquid herb will cost ten mana, using alcohol will cause a considerable stun. Empaths should cast Heal (1101) at their piercing jewelry to cleanse it.

The cleanliness of the needle and the piercer's First Aid skill (and ??) determine the increased likelihood of an infection.

Cleaning of the piercing should be done until the wound is fully healed.

Places to find liquid acantha (needs confirmation)

• Sylvarraend - (Sylvarraend Herbals) a tincture of acantha (acantha) - 750 silvers
• Ta'Illistim - (Valina's Herbs & Tinctures) a tincture of acantha (acantha) - 750 silvers
• Ta'Vaalor - (Saphrie's Herbs and Tinctures) a tincture of acantha (acantha) - 750 silvers
• Zul Logoth - (Brother Barnstel's Herbals) grey mushroom potion - 500 silvers
• Pinefar - (Infirmary) acantha leaf tea - 200 silvers
• Teras Isle - (The Healer's Tent) Olak's Ol'style ale - Flagon 400 silvers, Barrel 1200 silvers

>pour acantha on {piercing jewelry}
You pour your acantha on the {piercing jewelry}.
You weave a thread of healing essence around the wound in your {piercing location}, and feel it tingle briefly as the spell scours away any chance of infection.
Cast Roundtime 3 Seconds.
You have 9 doses left.

Infections

Just like in real life, piercings can get infected. Unlike real life, piercings have a realistic chance of causing your death at low levels due to 10-per-round disease. Infected piercings should be treated with Undisease (113) and liquid acantha.

A tiny trickle of pus leaks out from your {piercing jewelry}.

You feel a faintly damp sensation from your {piercing jewelry} as a little trickle of blood leaks from the wound. 

Your {piercing jewelry} shifts slightly in the flesh of your ears, causing a faint itching sensation for a brief moment.

A tiny bump rises from the skin around your {piercing jewelry}.

Your {piercing jewelry} itches a bit more than normal.

Your {piercing jewelry} suddenly itches fiercely as a red rash breaks out on it!

The wound around your {piercing jewelry} pulses and throbs with minute waves of sharp pain, sparking a bit of pus to leak from it.

Your {piercing jewelry} feels quite tender, and the skin around it is a bit reddish.

The following indicates a disease has set in:

A thin coating of green crust suddenly coats your {piercing jewelry}. 

A few pus-filled boils suddenly spring up around your {piercing jewelry}. 

Your {piercing jewelry} throbs with a dull pain, and you notice that there's a veritable menagerie of green crustlings gathered around them. 

The skin around your {piercing jewelry} turns a sickly yellow with bits of splotched bruising. 

Healing

There are several messages for a fully healed piercing, depending on the method of treatment:

Removal

>remove {piercing jewelry}
You remove a {piercing jewelry} from your {piercing location}.

You notice that the dull waves of pain you previously felt in your {piercing location} are no longer there. Perhaps the wound has healed completely.

Empath

>prep 1101
You concentrate while murmuring the simple, mystical chant for Heal...
Your spell is ready.
>cast {piercing jewelry} 
You gesture at a pair of dainty silver rings set along the slender tips of her pointed ears.
The small piercing wounds in your ears which harbors the rings is already well-healed, so the spell does little more than give you a warm tingly feeling.

Liquid acantha

>pour aca on {piercing jewelry} 
You pour your acantha on the {piercing jewelry}.
The small piercing wound in your {piercing location} which harbors the {piercing jewelry} is already well-healed, so the spell does little more than give you a warm tingly feeling.
You have 9 doses left.

Alcohol

>pour whis on my {piercing jewelry} 
The small piercing wound in your left ear which harbors the whiskey is already well-healed, so the liquid doesn't do much.

Piercing jewelry verbs

LOCATION	VERB	FIRST	THIRD
Lip	RUB		Person purses her lips, the diamond stud within them appearing a bit more prominent.
	LICK		Person flicks at the end of the pale green jade stud in her lip thoughtfully with her tongue.
	TURN		Person casually spins her vaalin stud around in her lip.
Ear	RUB [pointed ears]	You swivel your left ear back and forth, the {piercing jewelry} dangling from them highlighting the sharp contours of your pointed ears.
	RUB [non-pointed ears]	You wiggle your left ear back and forth a bit, the {piercing jewelry} on it jingling softly.
	PUSH	You push on the hoop in your left ear, causing a goodly bit of it to sink into the depths of the tiny wound that holds it for a moment.
	PULL	You give your silver hoop in your left ear a little yank. Ouch! That stings a bit.
	TURN	You casually spin the silver hoop around in your left ear.
	TAP	You tap a slender silver hoop in the upper ridge of her left ear.
Ears	{VERB} [pointed ears]		Person raises her ears up high, the {piercing jewelry} set along the edges of her slender, pointed ears falling still for a moment.
	{VERB} [non-pointed ears]		Person wiggles her ears, causing her {piercing jewelry} to rock back and forth a bit.
Nose	RUB	You wiggle your nose a bit, causing your {piercing jewelry} to rock back and forth.
	PUSH	You push on the stud in your left nostril, causing a goodly bit of it to sink into the depths of the tiny wound that holds it for a moment.
	PULL	You give your {piercing jewelry} in your left nostril a little yank. Ouch! That stings a bit.
Eyebrow	RUB		Person raises her eyebrow, the {piercing jewelry} set within only enhancing her skeptical expression.
	PUSH		Person pushes on her {piercing jewelry} in her right eyebrow, which sinks into the depths of the tiny wound that holds it for a moment.

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