Why do the scions have neck tattoos?

Why do the scions have neck tattoos? For such a secret organization, they chose an obvious place to mark themselves. It doesn't make sense to me.

I believe this is actually a Sharlayan thing, the former Circle of Knowing members who have the tattoo studied there and were given the tattoo for becoming experts in their respective fields. Yes, even Yda.

This quote's from 2.4 about Moenbryda.

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Originally Posted by Y’shtola

Only those with proven expertise receive the mark─as our newcomer has. Pay no heed to her manner.

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Astrid has the right of it. There's a longer explanation here, but the Sharlayan neck tattoos are a sign of having completed a high degree of education and being recognized as a Sage of that discipline.

It is, it identifies them as a member of the Circle of Knowing, aka, an 'Archon', a group of Sharlayan scholars that Louisoix gathered together prior to the Calamity as part of his plan to not sit idly by and let Eorzea go to ruin, which was against Sharlayan's non-interaction policy with foreign nations - instead he sent the Archons to Eorzea 15 years prior to the Calamity to investigate reports that an Umbral Calamity was approaching - when Nael van Darnus moved towards summoning Dalamud, he himself arrived in Eorzea also and united the disparate citystates together under the banner of the Eorzean Alliance.

Hence, using the term 'Scion' to refer to this particular group is not truly accurate, given the Scions are actually two separate and very different organizations amalgamated, the previously mentioned Circle of Knowing, and the Path of the Twelve, a group of Echo users dedicated to researching the Echo and using it to make Eorzea a better place (it is the Path side that the player more leans towards - it was this later group that Minfilia personally led). Either way, the neck tattoo identifies that person as a member of the Sharlayan Circle of Knowing.

Professor Moose's link goes into a far greater and more accurate explanation though, as the above probably has a few minor errors in it in hindsight. ;)

I still want to find out how exactly Yda earned a rank of Sage. She doesn't strike me as well educated, at least in a scholarly way.

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Originally Posted by Belhi

I still want to find out how exactly Yda earned a rank of Sage. She doesn't strike me as well educated, at least in a scholarly way.

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Sage of punching things in the face :D

Martial arts usually have aspects of meditation, study, self-control and so on; that's more likely what she'd be the sage of.

Well, as members of my FC reminded me, boxing is the "sweet science".

My headcanon is that Yda is a specialist in hoemostatic healing - chiropracty, acupressure, massage, etc. She knows the abilities and limits of a human body very well, though she tends to use it to more easily break people then heal.

Tattoos mark them as Archons. Circle of Knowing is a separate matter and just so happens to have Archons as members.

From lore book:
"Sharlayan does not bestow the title of Archon upon each and every wise man. Indeed, it is said that only those who have demonstrated an exceptional knowledge of their respective subjects and make a great contribution to their fields are elected and certified. Those who rise to Archon have an arcane pattern etched upon their skin, thus distinguishing them from formal folk with a single glance. Apparently, there are more benefits attached to the position than one might suspect, not the least of which being free access to forbidden tomes."

Thancred earns his in survival & intelligence gathering techniques, so one does not necessarily need to be a book worm to earn the title. It isn't said how Yda earned hers, but I'm going to speculate Martial technique, for reasons already mentioned by PArcher.

So, why would the tattoo disappear?

If you're referring to

'Yda's' one at the end of the Heavensward storyline, that's because it was actually fake, because the real Yda had died not long before the Calamity and her younger sister Lyse had taken her place and identity, which Papalymo knew about and encouraged. The player in ARR never met the 'real' Yda, it was actually Lyse all along masquerading as her (only a 1.0 Gridanian player would have met the real Yda, and even then it was within the Echo).

It was Papalymo who gave her the fake tattoo, and because it was bound to his aether, when he sacrificed himself to seal Ilberd's newly summoned Primal Shinryu at Baelsar's Wall, the tattoo disappeared, as the last lingering traces of his aether returned to the Lifestream when Shinryu finally broke free from the Dalamud-like coccoon Papalymo sealed it in, taking the tattoo's power with it. That also signified Lyse finally stepping free of her sister's shadow and actually taking her own identity.

The dialogue in the patch 3.57 story explains that.

Just throwing out there that an example of an Archon unrelated to Louisoix's Circle of Knowing or the Scions of the 7th Dawn would be G'raha. He has the neck tattoo of an Archon, presumably for expertise in Allagan history, but was only ("only") a Student of Baldesion as far as affiliations went.

There's also Rammbroes, the leader of the Sons of Saint Coinach, who has the Archon tattoo on the top of his head.

He works with the Scions, but doesn't appear to be an official member of the organization.

It said in that page Moose linked that Rammbroes was a former member of the Circle of Knowing. And Gamerescape says he was one of the founding members. I feel like I passed out during a conversation to have missed that? lol Either that or its 1.0 information?

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Originally Posted by Alleluia

It said in that page Moose linked that Rammbroes was a former member of the Circle of Knowing. And Gamerescape says he was one of the founding members. I feel like I passed out during a conversation to have missed that? lol Either that or its 1.0 information?

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I think it got touched on at some point. Maybe not spelt out, but suggested that he has history with them - or perhaps I'm extrapolating from the fact he knows Y'mhitra and Cid.

Could have been in the SMN questline, CT or the string of sidequests around St Coinach's. I think that's all the dealings we've had with him (besides briefly in the 50-60 ALC quests).

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Originally Posted by Alleluia

It said in that page Moose linked that Rammbroes was a former member of the Circle of Knowing. And Gamerescape says he was one of the founding members. I feel like I passed out during a conversation to have missed that? lol Either that or its 1.0 information?

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I don't know where it's said in-game, but the lorebook EE1 says that Rammbroes is a founding member of the Circle of Knowing, yes. (Page 200.)

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Originally Posted by Alleluia

It said in that page Moose linked that Rammbroes was a former member of the Circle of Knowing. And Gamerescape says he was one of the founding members. I feel like I passed out during a conversation to have missed that? lol Either that or its 1.0 information?

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Also according to that Gamerscape page, he was in charge of achievements under the 'Character' category, because back in 1.x the different categories had their own achievement NPCs, so it didnt seem like he had any story involvement.

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Originally Posted by YianKutku

I don't know where it's said in-game, but the lorebook EE1 says that Rammbroes is a founding member of the Circle of Knowing, yes. (Page 200.)

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Ah. Thank you.

They're pretty gaudy, and that's all I'll say about 'em.

The next question is "Where do I apply for one?" :3

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Originally Posted by SaberMaxwell

The next question is "Where do I apply for one?" :3

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Go to Old Sharlayan and earn a degree :P

I'm curious whether there's any significance to the placement of them, for the characters that have them in other places. Is it just a visual thing (eg. it might look odd on Elezen) or is there an actual reason for it?

Urianger's tattoo is placed rather like the Duskwight cultural ones - I thought it was that initially.

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Originally Posted by MrThinker

Go to Old Sharlayan and earn a degree :P

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MA I'M GOING TO COLLEGE

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Originally Posted by Iscah

I'm curious whether there's any significance to the placement of them, for the characters that have them in other places. Is it just a visual thing (eg. it might look odd on Elezen) or is there an actual reason for it?

Urianger's tattoo is placed rather like the Duskwight cultural ones - I thought it was that initially.

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The neck placement is most common, so that's probably the standard. For the others it's probably an aesthetic choice on their part, made out-of-universe so people will still notice it despite the neck being hidden or obscured. Urianger and Matoya have theirs on their cheek due to their necks being obscured (initially, in Urianger's case), while Louisoix and Rammbroes have them on their heads and white to make them stand out against their darker skin tones (both their necks are also somewhat obscured).

IIRC, Ejika (that pompous prick of a Lala in the Eureka questline) has 1 too, but it's on his back. Might be EE2 mentions it, I'll check when I'm home.