Henna stick

Henna sticks are used to ink people with temporary henna tattoos. These items are almost always a "stick," although in the distant past, some were available as a "brush." The stick may be held in either hand while applying it to another player. One may not use a henna stick on oneself.

Two people must be in the same group, in order for one of them to tattoo the other person. The temporary henna tattoo shows up in a character's features, but it does not replace any of the character's features. The tattoo can be inked on a person's face, neck, arms, hands, or ankles.

A temporary henna tattoo can be worn even when a person is wearing blush on the cheeks, warpaint on the face, and a face painting on the face, all at the same time.

A temporary henna tattoo can not be worn with nail polish, nor can it be worn with other face-worn items such as "a fake-looking white beard" either.

The tattoo will last at least four hours. There is no known way to remove a temporary henna tattoo before it naturally fades with time. Once a tattoo has been inked, no other tattoo can be inked over the previous one until after it fades with time.

Usage

1. JOIN <player> or HOLD <player> (you and the target person must be in the same group)
2. FLIP stick (while holding the stick, to choose either face, neck, arms, hands, or ankles)
3. PAINT <player> (to begin the process of tattooing, this incurs a 20-second roundtime)
4. PAINT <player> (this must be repeated to confirm the tattoo, no roundtime)

Location

Here, in bold text, is the location of a temporary henna tattoo in a character's description:

You see Lady XXXX YYYYY the Bard.
She appears to be a Human.
She is tall and appears to be young.  She has a shimmer of <EYESHADOW-COLOR> on her eyelids, beautifully <EYELINER-COLOR>-outlined blue eyes , <BLUSH-COLOR> cheeks, glossy <LIPSTICK-COLOR> full lips, bold <WARPAINT-COLOR> stripes on her face, and <POWDERED>, <SOFT>, tanned skin.  She has long, straight blonde hair pinned back on one side with a <HAIR ADORNMENT>.  She is inked with a <TEMPORARY HENNA TATTOO>.
She has a <FACE PAINTING>.
She has a <REGULAR PERMANENT TATTOO>, and a <PIERCING>.
She has <WOUNDS>.
She is wearing <CLOTHING>.

Identification

A henna stick (whether it is a "stick" or "brush") will always reveal this message when you LOOK at it:

As your eyes travel across the <stick/brush>, faint tendrils of essence slither outward from it, and <design> slowly forms before your eyes. In a heartbeat, it fades away.

Examples:

>look at stick
As your eyes travel across the stick, faint tendrils of essence slither outward from it, and a blooming roses pattern slowly forms before your eyes.  In a heartbeat, it fades away.

>look at brush
As your eyes travel across the brush, faint tendrils of essence slither outward from it, and a wispy black visage of a wraith with blazing crimson eyes slowly forms before your eyes. In a heartbeat, it fades away. 

Inspect

>inspect my stick
Inspecting that may not be a sound idea.

Analyze

>analyze my stick
You analyze your <type of> stick and sense that there is no recorded information on that item.  It may or may not be able to be worked on by a merchant alterer.
You get no sense of whether or not the stick may be further lightened.

Verb Traps

FLIP

FLIPping the henna stick will change the location where the temporary henna tattoo will appear on the target's body: face, neck, arms, hands, ankles.

1st Person Messaging:

>flip my stick
You flip your stick idly around and decide to adorn the hands of people you ink from now on.
>flip my stick
You flip your stick idly around and decide to adorn the necks of people you ink from now on.
>flip my stick
You flip your stick idly around and decide to adorn the arms of people you ink from now on.
>flip my stick
You flip your stick idly around and decide to adorn the ankles of people you ink from now on.
>flip my stick
You flip your stick idly around and decide to adorn the faces of people you ink from now on.

Others in the room do not see the flipping of the stick.

PAINT

Successfully applying a henna tattoo design to another character requires two attempts to PAINT them while holding the henna stick in one hand.

First Attempt:

>paint fleece
You step up to Fleece and look her over carefully, deciding where the best place for a design might be.
(Type this line over again to decorate them.)
Roundtime: 20 secs.

The target sees:
Soliere steps up and looks over you carefully while holding a slender eahnor-hued stick in hand, apparently deciding where she might place a design on your face.
(If you do not want a face-painting, type DISBAND or LEAVE now.)

Others in the room do not see this first attempt.

Second Attempt:

>paint fleece
You step up to Fleece, your stick in hand.  The eahnor-hued stick begins to alight with faint tendrils of essence, and you let it move across Fleece's skin as it draws out an exact, precise design.  After a moment, the light fades, and the ink upon Fleece's hands glistens as it begins to dry.

The target sees:
Soliere steps up to you and deftly makes several strokes with her stick, painting out a design upon your hands in mere seconds.

Others in the room see:
Soliere steps up to Fleece and deftly makes several strokes with her stick, painting out a design upon her face in mere seconds.

Messaging

Paint Fading

Over the course of at least four hours of in-game time, the temporary henna tattoo will fade and flake off:

1st person: The ink upon your skin tightens significantly, and you can feel the little fades and flaws begin to form upon the design.

1st person: The ink upon your skin feels as if it's nearly about to fade away, and a few tiny flecks begin to drift into the air.  Looks like it's only got a couple hours left.

1st person: The ink upon your face slowly fades away into nothing.
3rd person: The ink upon Fleece's face slowly fades away.

Errors

Target person has already been inked with a henna tattoo (they must wait until it fades with time, before getting another henna tattoo):

>paint fleece
It appears that Fleece has a design on already.  Can't overdo it now, can we?

Target person is not in the same group as the person attempting to paint them (the painter will need to either HOLD or JOIN the target person):

>paint fleece
You're not close enough, try JOINing them.

Target person is wearing something on their face which prevents the henna tattoo from being inked (the target will need to remove that thing):

>paint fleece
It appears that Fleece cannot be decorated at all.  Perhaps later?

Designs

Index#	Stick Description	Henna Tattoo Design	Where Found
1	a slender eahnor-hued stick	a blooming roses pattern	Silvergate Inn
2	a slender copper-banded stick	a branching thorns pattern	Line in the Sand (EG)
3	a blue wave-etched stick	a buxom mermaid cresting a wave design	Stormwild Hall
4	a slender blue stick	a colorful peacock motif	Oasis (VoG)
5	a slender drakar-banded stick	a dancing flames pattern	This section has not been added yet; please add to it now!
6	an intricately carved stick	a faint lacework pattern	Vanity Fair (PSF)
7	a slender ivory-banded stick	a feathered wings pattern	This section has not been added yet; please add to it now!
8	a thick bevel-edged stick	a geometric design	Vanity Fair (PSF)
9	a slender gold-banded stick	a honeysuckle blossom pattern	Line in the Sand (EG)
10	a slender zorchar-banded stick	a jagged lightning pattern	This section has not been added yet; please add to it now!
11	a slender vaalin-banded stick	a jasmine blossom pattern	Silvergate Inn
12	a slender faewood-banded stick	a lace-winged butterfly pattern	This section has not been added yet; please add to it now!
13	a sunflower yellow stick	a myriad of sunflowers twining through a lattice design	Stormwild Hall
14	a long green stick	a pattern of palm leaves	Oasis (VoG)
15	a short pink stick	a repeating heart pattern	Oasis (VoG)
16	a broken red stick	a rose lace pattern	Oasis (VoG)
17	a star-etched ebon and silver stick	a scattered sweep of stars on a dark background design	Stormwild Hall
18	a twisted yellow stick	a series of blooming vines	Oasis (VoG)
19	a slender gold-brushed stick	a sweep of gold dust	Vanity Fair (PSF)
20	a contorted ivy-carved stick	a tangle of poison ivy	Vanity Fair (PSF)
21	a thorn and skull-etched stick	a tangle of thorny vines piercing a skull design	Stormwild Hall
22	a slender faenor-banded stick	a twining ivy pattern	Silvergate Inn
23	a slender rolaren-banded stick	a wandering rosevine pattern	This section has not been added yet; please add to it now!
24	a red dragon scale-carved stick	an angry fire-breathing dragon design	Stormwild Hall
25	a knobby leaf-carved stick	an autumnal leaflike pattern	Vanity Fair (PSF)
26	a slender silver-banded stick	This section has not been added yet; please add to it now!	Line in the Sand (EG)
27	a slender bronze-banded stick	This section has not been added yet; please add to it now!	Line in the Sand (EG)
28	a slender steel-banded stick	This section has not been added yet; please add to it now!	Line in the Sand (EG)
29	a slender bone-banded stick	This section has not been added yet; please add to it now!	Line in the Sand (EG)
30	a lacquered scale-carved stick	a pattern of serpent scales	Vanity Fair (PSF)
31	crooked star-carved stick	This section has not been added yet; please add to it now!	Vanity Fair (PSF)
32	a stubby dot-carved stick	This section has not been added yet; please add to it now!	Vanity Fair (PSF)
33	a slender flora-carved stick	This section has not been added yet; please add to it now!	Vanity Fair (PSF)