Kit think and rethink

Kit think and rethink

(or what're the origins and influences of one's kit)

Someone else asked about the soft kit portions of Imperial Orc costume, and one of the nation's leads, Matthew Dawes-Wood, answered with this (edited for clarity):

"When I speak to new players about how they're gonna develop their kit I always talk about the origins of the kit they're wearing, I always envisage imperial orc kit specifically to come from one of two places, either orc made or salvaged from another imperial nation.

"I see an imperial orc being able to get away with wearing almost any other nation's kit but with an orc "filter" over the top. Whether it's a Varushkhan caftan or a Dawnish tabard with a bit of ageing and repair work it becomes a salvaged bit of imperial orc kit.

"As for imperial orc made kit I always over-engineer things and make them to look like they're designed to last forever so it might become an item of worth, big chunky over-stitching, simple robust designs, leathers and canvas instead of silks and softer materials. I know the brief says we're just as handy as everyone else but it's about the visual and putting the "orcs are different to humans" message across.

"Something some players do to give a bit of ancestral heritage to their characters is to add a bit of a barbarian twist to their kits, a bit of shoulder fur for Jotun, some robe and magic stuff for Thule, the more Greek look for Grendel and super ragged-dirty look for the Druj, this could be a useful tool for giving away clues as to an NPC's professional focus."

The past week or so, I've been thinking about where Seppa's ancestors hailed from and where Seppa and eir parent(s) came from as well. One of the ancestors was a Highborn slave who was also horse-thief, horses within the Empire went extinct at least two centuries before. The other was a Varushkan slave. But recent heritage influences are Varushkan and barbarian Thule. By recent influences, I mean that Seppa's parent(s) were emancipated about a decade before Seppa's birth, so there will be some influences in Seppa's garments.

• For the Highborn nod, the scapular and probably the möbius scarf.
• For the Varushkan nod, embroidery and their Virtuous animals.
• For the Thule, I'm going to add some blue cloth panels to the fabric portion of the warskirt.

Still, there is the Skywise kit brief to keep in mind as the largest guiding principle for how I dress Seppa. The possible finer and softer fabrics that I was going to cut, now won't be needed for Seppa. I will need to go through my enormous fabric stash and filter for the coarser fabrics, such as the osnaburg and canvas and wool. Though I will likely still add some of the synthetic suede, just to use it up. As to weaving materials, I could look at using the coarser yarns and the mohair, since mohair is so itchy and unpleasant, it can be used for the rougher areas.

Much to think about, yes...