Clothing and Body Decoration (CBarbH)

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==Clothing and Body Decoration==
Barbarians use skins and furs for clothing as well as armor. Hides may be chewed to make them soft and flexible, a process that can take several weeks. Smoking the hides or soaking them in herbal brews prevents rot. Animal skins may be cut with daggers or sliced with serrated stones. Bone slivers serve as crude needles, sinew strips as thread.
Sheep produce wool which can be made into felt. Piles of wool, weighted by large stones, shrink and compress until the material becomes flat, dense, and smooth. The raw felt can be cut into patterns with any edged tool. Felt clothing is surprisingly durable, because it doesn't unravel.
Primitive weavers make coarse thread from wool and a pair of sticks. The weaver winds a strand of wool around the shorter of the two sticks, called the spindle. The other end attaches to the longer stick, called the distaff. The weaver holds the spindle and spins the dangling distaff, which twists the strand into a thick cord.
Some barbarians make clothing from vegetation. Plant fibres, such as those from flax stalks, can be spun into linen thread with spindles and distaffs. Broad leaves and long grasses may be tied together or sewn with vines. Inner layers of tree bark are softened by soaking them in water, then pounded with stones to make them as flat as parchment. At best, clothing made from leaves and bark lasts only a few weeks, but it's easy to replace.
A typical barbarian wears the same clothing every day. In extreme climates thick fur or layered skins provide warmth; black garments, which absorb sun rays, are particularly valued in the arctic. Desert barbarians prefer wool garments that absorb perspiration and helps keep the body cool.
For male barbarians in tropical lands, a simple loincloth made of leather or fur may be all the clothing they need. A female may wear a shenti, a single-piece garment that wraps around the waist and chest. 
Crude tunics are popular in temperate climates. A typical tunic is made from a rectangular section of fur or leather about half again as long as the wearer's body, cut, folded, and strapped as described under "Armor" above. In cooler climates, a barbarian may also wear a shaggy skirt called a kaunake, made from wool or fur, which hangs nearly the ground. Fringes added to the edges of garments prevent them from unraveling.
Simple shoes, necessary in environments with hot sand or rocky soil, are constructed from pieces of hide strapped to the feet with vines or leather strips. Some island barbarians wear leather sandals called ampootie, waterproofed with waxy plant fibers. A basic moccasin consists of a square of soft leather folded around the foot and tied to the ankle. Primitive boots are made from sections of leather wrapped around the leg up to the knee; layers of hide or skin under the foot serve as soles.  
Occasionally, a barbarian augments his everyday clothing with a special piece to celebrate victory over an enemy or to curry the favor of his gods. He may don a fox fur that he believes will increase stealth, or put on a necklace of wolf ribs to honor the death of a comrade. He wears the piece for a fixed period—say, from dawn to sunset, or until the next full moon—then hides it, destroys it, or gives it away.  
Barbarians usually let their hair grow long and shaggy. It bunches around their shoulders, often reaching their waists. Unless forbidden by custom or religion, men wear full beards. If the hair becomes a nuisance, it may be braided, knotted, or shorn with a dagger.
Most barbarians enjoy bright colors, and are eager to trade dull gray elephant hides for blazing orange tiger skins. They make dyes in primary colors—red, blue, and yellow—from flower petals, clays, roots, and berries. Barbarians not only color their clothes, but they decorate their bodies as well, painting their skins in gaudy patterns. Body paint often denotes status within the tribe; bright yellow lips may indicate the senior cleric, blue splotches on the chest and arms may designate warriors of exceptional skill. To frighten their enemies, they may paint their faces white and streak their mouths with red to represent bloody skulls. Some barbarians use body paint to make themselves attractive; what woman could resist a man with yellow fingers, red thighs, and blue cheeks?
Tattooing is also popular, particularly among jungle, mountain, and plains barbarians. They pierce tiny holes in their skins with bone needles, then fill the holes with vegetable dyes. Some cover every square inch of exposed flesh with detailed images of humans, animals, and monsters. Tattoos may symbolize authority (the chief wears a tattoo shaped like the sun on his chest), honor success in war (a fighter tattoos his arms with two parallel slashes for every enemy he kills), or indicate marital status (a married man inscribes his forehead with a blue circle).
Many barbarians adorn themselves with crude jewelry. Bone pendants are common, as are necklaces made of seashells, the vertebrae of small mammals, and the teeth of predators. Fish spines make good hairpins; so do parrot feathers and rose thorns. Armbands may be made of snake skin or raccoon tails. Barbarians may pierce their noses or lips with small bones, elongate their earlobes by attaching heavy stones, decorate their faces and chests with patterns of scars, or stretch their necks with wooden rings.
Category:The Complete Barbarian's Handbook