Can you believe I spent 7 hours researching, fact-checking, and theory testing just to design this armor?
Details and lore below.
I started studying parts of armor and revamping the Siquotian Royal Guard armor since 2008, but it was on hold as my creativity dropped and finding resources on how pauldrons are designed and worn were being fairly difficult (especially since actual photos wherein the pauldrons are placed on a human body as opposed to a musuem model tended to be fantasy recreations). It wasn't until recently that I found something I could work with. Some hours later, this is the final result, with each part of the armor having layers dedicated so I can deconstruct them as needed.
Why do I need actual layers of armor and their parts? Because my brain doesn't register armor as clothing--like shoes, they're registered as props, and I can't draw props. Why props instead of clothing? Clothing "moves" with the body; shirts, pants, socks, etc. move and wrinkle as the body is postured, so I tend to see clothes as a different form of life drawing. Stiffer and sturdier wearable items like shoes and armor, not so much; I have an easier time drawing bare feet than I can for shoes (hence the screwed up right foot of the sample drawing). Also, I imagine that, at certain times for certain characters, the armor may be worn incompletely; sometimes the helmet is removed, or only the shawl is taken off, or someone is lifting a tasset, or a wife and husband are disrobing for super-happy-fun times at home and the armor just falls on the floor, etc. How will that look? That needed to be studied. The armor, I mean, not the super-happy-fun times.
Not only that, but as the ranks go up, the armor becomes fancier; I'd rather work on the lower ranked armor then work my way up as we get to the more important characters such as Kogaa, Polore, and Zahura. It also gives me a starting point for designing armor for other kingdoms with armed forces that serve their specific kings and not necessarily the Grand Royal Army/Guard. As more resources are poured to serve the Grand King over regular Kings, and then Kings over Lords, etc etc, the armor is going to appear more and more simpler. Conscripts, more than likely, will just be wearing gambesons; only soldiers from the Juheiho Caste ("Soldier" or "Officer" caste) get to wear scaled armor. Why? Juheiho are actually trained in tactics and combat; conscripts (which tend to be the Sieboh ("Peon" or "Working" caste), or rarely, the Kohuchuba ("Merchant" caste)) tend to be placed as fodder or front line pawns. The conscripts will typically be given clubs, pikes, and so forth, but the Juheiho are the ones with the bows, the shields, the swords, etc.
There IS a difference between the Grand Royal Army and the Grand Royal Guard.
The GRA serves the Grand Kingdom as a great whole, often sent to the other territories that are not directly ruled by the ruling Iinu Family (being the other Kukuya (Mammals), Abeah (Birds), Hosuduh (Reptiles), and Ukazinih (Amphibians)). These, more often than not, are your patrolmen than actual actively fighting soldiers; this is because they are the hands of the Grand Law, enforcing the word of the Grand King while the Kingdoms otherwise take care of themselves within their own lands. While armed skirmishes and conflicts do happen all over Siquotia (usually between territories between Kingdoms), they are usually controlled and quelled, thanks to the GRA. All of these armies serve under the appointed Grand General, the title currently being held by Zahura of the Subathohu (Panthera) Family, who, in turn, works directly beneath the Grand Royal Council (usually Pakah or Gi'utoh).
The GRG, on the other hand, while they certainly can do the same tasks as the GRA, they are specifically the guardians of the Capital City, Shokah, and its Palace. Elite members of the GRA are tasked to guard the Grand King and his family themselves, while others within the GRA would be tasked to guard the other members of the Grand Royal Court. GRAs tend to be already high-ranked officers among the Juheiho, as they have obtained enough merit to serve the Grand King and his court directly. Kogaa of the Takah is the current Captain of the Grand Royal Guard, and is, himself, tasked to protect the very one and only Grand King Hikoro.
"Immy, uh, he seems to have a couple vulnerable spots here and there." Yes, I know. The armor is designed with Siquotia's tech and warring frequency in mind. Rather than go with fedual Europe (which was at constant state of war between the tribes and kingdoms), the general aesthetic and real life cultural comparison would be made with Ancient China. Remember, folks: gunpowder was not a thing in Siquotia just yet, and the predecesseor of the gun was hardly a common thing. And again, war did not happen often; soldiers typically controlled skirmishes that were started by the territories rather than themselves. The armor is designed with bladed or blunt weapons in mind, and shields would be provided should things get uglier. The top armor is reinforced with scaled leather atop of a thick gambeson, while bracers and hand and shin guards are simple hardened leather. The GRG and GRA are visually distinguished by a the presence of a cape worn over the shawl; GRGs besides high ranking officers wholly lack a cape while even low-ranking GRAs can wear one. The cape itself would be patterned to distinguish a high-ranking GRG with any GRA of any rank.
I might consider tabards to help distinguish GRGs and GRAs further, but I'll have to keep studying to get a better idea. For now, have a basic GRA.
