Seppa, becoming a Skywise

OOPS.

Player events can help find one's character; to begin to discover their personality, as well as a useful environment to kit-test. I realised this morning that I shouldn't have used 'Skywise' yet in front of Seppa's name, ey isn't officially a Skywise until the play's happened, which isn't until November. I apologise for the gaff in my exuberance to embrace it. This doesn't mean I won't still work on the costume and such.

Also, I saw the kit explosion post in the Imperial Orcs group, yeah, the bar went up again. I'll be busy cutting and sewing during the Long Dark, but I'm looking forward to doing it. I do need to also look at cleaning, sorting, photographing, and selling Ieri's customised pieces and downsizing the sari stash to free storage for Seppa's kit.

At E1, I'll be looking at a cored knife or two, to go with the axe and buckler. I usually don't go armed anywhere in Anvil, so I'll have to shift my headspace from pacifist to warrior.

Seppa kit test and preparations

Ah, it's a dozen-hundred little things that all add up to looking good on the field...

Early kit preparations

Some of the preparation is small stuff, such as removing irritating labels or labels that are in awkward places where they'll show up and break immersion with their glaringly plastic presence. The Burgschneider scapular is one with multiple labelling sins, awkwardly located and destructive-to-garment-integrity labels; don't do what they did with their scapular. Yes, I did put this complaint in my product review of their scapular on their site; whether they accepted or permitted it on their page, I haven't checked.

Burgschneider's scapular with its (left) awkwardly-placed label and if I break the stitches to remove the labels, I might damage the garment. Annoying!

Sometimes, removing the label is easy, other times, it's impossible to do without breaking the integrity of the garment. Returning to Burgschneider, their leg wraps, aka winingas, have one easy-to-remove label, unlike the scapular.

Burgschneider winingas have an easy-to-remove label.

Other times, it's selectively removing portions of a garment that doesn't fit and can be glaring in its modernity, such as a chest pocket.

Chest pocket and scratchy shirt label, begone!

 

Then there's the latex mask and its makeup. I don't have Snazaroo, which is the go-to for many people, I do have Grimas water makeup, so that's what I'll use to fill in those areas where my naked skin shows on my face. I will also see about decorating the mask with personalisations such as ear and facial piercings, and possibly some facial markings on the upper left side of the face.

Orc mask by Mandala Studios

Another is getting the group emblem. I failed in this first attempt because I slapped on the paint and didn't replicate the style the others of the group bear on their warskirts. Lesson learned, scrutinise the group's kit more before the painting.

Second attempt, after having another look at some of the emblems, and I managed this in chalk. I'll commit to the paint once I've had another good scrutiny at several of the emblems and sketched up some extra notes. Left wing... LEFT WING...

To-do list (atop everything else of the previous to-do list):

• Jewellery and tat
• Decorate and secure the fabric layers of the warskirt

Seppa first attempt at putting it all together.

The other day, I put together the rough idea of the components that I did already have (currently lacking any quality embellishments) for the Seppa character and here are the pictures I took of the ensemble as placed on my dressmaker's form.

Regrettably, it presently reads feminine to me, and as I'm non-binary, this is generating some 'bleh' that I'll need to remedy before April 2020/E1. Gender pronoun badges notwithstanding.

On to the descriptions and explanations...

The Front view:

Some of the elements need editing, such as the metal dangles necklace, it's currently too short to wear over the scarf, so I'll need to lengthen that.

I didn't include the off-white cotton boxing arm wraps or the grey wool felt leg wraps, because there's nothing for them to cling to.

I also need to make the camel-brown boiled wool waistcoat that will go between the off-white-almost-ankle-length-scapular and the long-sleeved hippy granddad shirt. The shirt's chest pocket isn't visible, but I have now removed said pocket and the neck label tags, because when I wore it camping on a very hot (for England) day, the labels were scratchy and irritating.

The circles panel is a strip of curtain fabric remnant that I liked the printed pattern circles. I will probably fix it to the fabric portion of the warskirt, and add some embroidery/stitching to it to give the circles extra texture and visual interest. I don't know if this will become an item-of-worth, or it's just a decorative feature that helps busy hands when waiting, or when sitting in conclave. Another thought's just come to me, that I could stitch the panel onto the scapular after the remnant's embellished, and that would protect the back of the remnant from wear-damage.

Skywise Seppa - idea for the front

The Right-side view:

The metal plates belt and the peacock beaded brown shawl came from Quercus' Emporium. I haven't yet decided how I'll attach or place the metal plates belt, which is too short for me to wear around the waist, so it was just hung to the belt as a 'thing' (ie tat).

The wooden beads looped on the belt is a curtain tie-back. I've used detachable rings to allow me to move and adjust. I think when I've settled on placement that isn't a nuisance, I'll give it a permanent attachment to the future warkskirt.

Speaking of the warskirt, the red base the pigskins and deerskins are attached to is the wrong colour for the Skywise brief, and this warskirt will be dismantled. The red base will recycle for NPC/barbarian/slave kit.

Also, recognising that I'll probably sweat/freeze, there is a wooden cup on my belt to remind me to drink water. Relatedly, I need to test to see how difficult/easy it is to use the tiny loo cubicles with the kit on. From my observations, Imperial Orcs are never seen half-dressed.

Skywise Seppa - idea for the right side

The Back View:

Recycled from my Freeborn character, Ieri, is the large brown leather belt pouch. I have tried crushing it a bit and twisting it some to help soften the leather as it has been quite stiff. I use this pouch for my mobile phone, my character notebook, and rustic pencils.

One will see there's a second grey-sand mesh scarf. I bought this in H&M several years ago and it was another that I was going to discard due to disuse... but dammit, I like it, so I kept it. The scarf will get purpose amongst Seppa's kit.

Skywise Seppa - idea for the back

The Left-side view:

The smaller brown pouch and the stoppered wooden bottle on a thong are reused from Freeborn Ieri's kit. The smaller brown pouch has also had some crushing and twisting to help loosen the leather some; it also came with a flaw of the buckle-tongue was about 3mm too long and it was skin-lacerating sharp, so the Dremmel came out to cut off the too-long tongue and then grind the edges to remove the burrs and blunt sharpness. The purpose of the smaller pouch might be anything from pocket-watch to car keys to meal and drink tickets.

The wooden bottle is another of those 'I bought it years ago and I don't remember where' but it is lined to make it drink-safe and watertight, and the cork fits well. I use it to physrep potion bottles. It rides on a popper-strap to make it easy to take off and use for play.

Like the off-white scapular, the cotton satchel comes from Burgschneider, and the strap is far too long for my too-short torso, and during the Long Dark, I will be shortening the strap and probably adding some blue stitches to embellish the satchel and its strap. I have another satchel of the same company make and model, but in green that I've used for Ieri. Similarly, this satchel will probably get songbooks, an OOC-bag to contain touch-up makeup for hands and face.

Skywise Seppa - idea for the left side

Other notes:

The white martial arts trousers have taken some work to stain with the likes of grass and dyes that bled onto the fabric so it's not so discordantly white. I will look at taking some abrasion tools and rubbing the knees and then finding some different-stained canvas to patch the knees to give them some character. I'll have to see about finding something rusty and mud-staining to rub into the knee areas.

Orcs in general tend to have well-worn and rustically patched, mended, and embellished garments; everything shows signs of wear, but they value things that have a history of use.

I will add that I have several more beige, stone, sand, and the like coloured scarves. I might take one or two and turn them into a möbius head-shawl to give my head a respite from a hot sun or a cold wind.

To-do list:

• Warskirt onto blue/beige/brown belt panel
• White Raptor Wing motif painted into a brown fabric panel to attach to the warskirt in a prominent placement
• Metal plates belt and the wooden bead curtain tie-back turned into permanent warskirt features
• Add the horse motif for ancestor item-of-worth
• Add the antique brass ring and battered hawk bells for ancestor item-of-worth
• Find more tat in the bronze palette
• Decorate and personalise the orc mask
• Scarves turned into a möbius head-shawl
• Metal dangles necklace - lengthen strap
• Make the boiled wool waistcoat for a torso-warmer
• Embellish and attach the circles remnant to the scapular
• Abraid and stain the white trousers' knees
• Shorten the satchel strap and embellish the strap and bag with blue and brown threads/floss
• Test going to the loo with all the kit on

Skywise Seppa ideas

So I started some sketches and collecting items that could work. Yes, I know, I still don't know whether the group will have me, but my imagination's burning with this.

I suppose including an image of some Imperial Orcs might be a good idea to help illustrate my inspiration.

A group of Skywise Orcs walk through Anvil. Photograph by me.

In the second image, are my rough ideas almost immediately after discussion with one of the group. Group motif, then general possible embellishment, either via paint on fabric/leather, or embroidery on fabric, or appliqué.

Third image is my starting list of what I do have, what I could do, etc.

The fourth image is my ideas for customising shop-bought stuff or alterations or items that I could make because I have the fabric to make it. Ideas for possible embellishment placement to customise generic stuff. You might notice the war-skirt is absent from this drawing; I have something already and will be adding a textile layer once I have access to a cutting table again.

Overall, orc kit, regardless of status of barbarian or Imperial, is rustic. I can play with the sewing and embroidery and not have to worry about being too neat and tidy. I can lie on grass and mud and collect stains and scuffs to add that well-worn quality. I'll need to make some patches for places like elbows knees, and inner thigh where things have worn. Maybe at the collar or allow that button to come off or break.

I also need to figure out what my tat will be. LARP costumes pretty much need tat; a costume is costume, and incomplete, without the tat. With Imperial Orcs, the tat is often translated into items-of-worth, and one needs a story for each piece of tat one wears.

One might notice that the necklines are always high, and that the wrists are covered, and that a body is bulked up by layers. The out-of-character reasons are to hide where the mask ends, and not needing/wanting to paint too much of the body with the orcish-coloured paints. In-character, it's to disguise the signs of slavery, the collar and cuffs left behind scars. For the younger orcs, they emulate their elders, even if they were born free, as a sign of respect to their heritage. A scantily-clad scandalous orc is one who has their arms or other body parts (except their head and fingers) naked.

Another Skywise Orc in discussion with a Leaguer and a Highborn. Photograph by me.