Morroblivion

I'm pretty sure we'll find something soon, maybe the Imperial stuff? And I'm still waiting on updates on that base Netch suit ;) With that one down, the low tier armours would be mostly done. Talking about this one:

We were debating whether it was bonemold or chitin, And I'm still not sold on either. Let's wait up until I do the concept and we can decide. That should be until 7th of January. Maybe some lore master will know better.

Alright, adressed the issues, added scabbards, I think this is the final version.



Yep, that pattern on the quiver is a cliff racer.

Probably self explanatory, stronger skeleton for tombs. Prepared skeleton covered with bonemold pieces, molded directly into the bones.

Finally got around to finish them all. It's one of my biggest armour projects so far, they share bits, but in total got 12 variations. I have no idea how many of them will end up in the game, hoping that eventually all of them. I'm not sure if I've ever put as much thought into any other design so far.

1. Regular Bonemold armour. Almsivi carvings, simple design. This style is not identified with any of the Houses.

2. Native Chuzei Bonemold Helmet. As in original Morrowind, not much is known about the provenience or associations of this helmet.

3. Gah-Julan Bonemold armour. Style associated with the Great House Redoran, here seen with simple, ash protective garments, as Redoran guards will wear it. This style's smooth and aerodynamic shapes are a direct reference to Redoran Architecture.

4. Ornate Gah-Julan Bonemold armour and Redoran War helm. Armour is the same as guards, however with rich noble garments. This is a suit for manor district guards, high ranking members of Redoran, and even councelors. The helmet design is based on Michael Kirkbride's concept art.

5. Redoran Master helm. As in Morrowind, traditional bonemold mask worn by the Masters of House Redoran.

6. Redoran Watchman coat and Redoran Watchman bonemold helm. This is a suit of Redoran Watchmen, who in times of war are used as mounted scouts, and in times of peace patrol the dangerous roads around Ald'Ruhn and Maar Gan. They travel riding battle guar. Inspired by Michael Kirkbride's Concept Art.

7. Redoran Watchman chitin helm. Variation on the watchman helmet made of chitin, staying more true to original Morrowind.

8. Ald-Mahkan Bonemold armour. In Dunmeri language meaning "Old Path", this style is associated with Great House Telvanni. It is the only armour designed completely from scratch (except for early versions from Discoocult, one of Skywind's designers), only the helmet is inspired by Michael Kirkbride's Concept art. This style's organic shapes, spiral ornamentation and spiky portrusions are a direct reference to Telvanni mushroom architecture.

9. Telvanni Molecrab helm. As in original Morrowind, a molecrab shell with a bonemold mask attached.

10. Dust Adept Suit. Based on Michael Kirkbride's concept art, this is a garment worn by Telvanni Dust Adepts. They were banished from Vvardenfel by the Empire so that they can not practice their deadly ash magic, but some of their equipment remained on the Island. And who knows... Maybe there are some of them left on the Island, practicing in secret. The armour features a backpack filled with ash, so that their magic is not limited to ashlands only.

11. Armun-An armor. Style associated with Great House Hlaalu. This is a simpler version worn by common Hlaalu city guards. Based on Morrowind original. The assymetric pauldrons allow for more protection of the shield arm, and more movement for the sword arm. This style's straight angles breaking with smooth corners are a direct reference to Hlaalu urban architecture.

12. Ornate Armun-An armor. Though still Armun-An in style, this one has solidified resin jewels incorporated into it, as well as more ornaments. Yellow cloth pieces with House symbols leave no doubt whom is the wearer representing, and a tusked codpiece with big, spiky pauldrons give off a thuggish, formidable impression. This is an armour worn by high ranked Hlaalu officers, guards of manor districts and House main quarters, as well as personal guards of councelors.

I know I was supposed to work on something else, but I really needed to make a decent portfolio quickly, so I picked one of my works that wasn't too far from finishing, and gave it some painty-time. It's an Altmer variation on glass armor, and it was to be modelled by someone in the past, but the person is long gone, so I guess it's not gonna be used in any near future. Maybe in promotional material? Kind of has an oldschool RPG dungeon crawl vibe to it.


 

Thanks for the critique guys, I probably should avoid finishing old works like that without fixing their problems first... I did some action dynamics experiments  in illustration after this one was started on, and they turned out more entertaining to look at. As Nexos rightfully pointed out it started off as a concept, and got finished as illustration, which made it not too good for either of purposes.

Sechrima wrote:

Other than that, though, I have a few questions about your thought process behind the armour. It seems a little bit less inspired than your previous efforts, such as the Redoran ebony set and bonemold varieties.

That is simply because I don't like the new direction Altmer took in TES V and ESO, before that they were described in lore a bit differently.

Sechrima wrote:

Altmer armours have an avian theme in most Elder Scrolls titles

Which ones? Skyrim and ESO aren't the "most" of the series. True - they were the first ones to have straight up Altmer armors. Before that I guess their military was considered to consist only of pure mages wearing robes and using shield spells for protection, which to me would still make a lot of sense.
In Oblivion avian motifs were to be a main recognizable element of the Ayleid culture, which even though close to Altmer, was more primal in its nature, therefore totemic animalistic motifs work. I always imagined Altmer garments, architecture and decoration to facilitate geometric and abstract shapes pretty much exclusively instead, as their culture is refined like a fauceted gem, not a bird.
In the Pocket Guide to Empire I used to read about crystaline towers glistering in the sunlight, not Rivendell and eagles. I hate how Skyrim turned cool and original, eugenic Altmer into LotR elves (at least in terms of armor and weapons, their asshole lore and faces are pretty cool), and ESO took it a step further. They could've been so much more original, and Thalmor robes are still fitting for that aesthetic - pretty much straight up art deco.

Sechrima wrote:

Also, the shapes of the glass insets are mostly circular or ovoidal. Skyrim's glass armor, primarily donned by high elves and probably meant for them (considering the prevalence of the Thalmor), contained sharper and more angular glass elements, which gave the armor a sleeker, almost aerodynamic and raptor-like appearance. At least that was my impression. I wonder why you haven't gone for that aesthetic with this set. Are the non-glass parts supposed to be made from moonstone?

That probably has to do with the fact that I hate Skyrim's glass armor to bits, it looks random, cumbersome, heavy, unelegant, glass doesn't pop and seems completely pointless on it. The rounder designs were inspired partially by Morrowind glass armor, which even though had mostly a "jagged" silhouette, the decor was often spiral or rounded. Besides, if I went completely with Thalmor art deco I mentioned earlier, it might end up looking too Dwemer.

Sechrima wrote:

Anyway, it's a nice illustration despite these considerations.

And I do appreciate your opinion, despite sounding like a boohooing brat disappointed with anything that came after Morrowind, ruining my personal vision and ideas :P

Sechrima wrote:

Edit: Oh, and why the dark coloured garment beneath the armour? Since Altmer seem to prefer light and solar colours, wouldn't white or light gold be better suited to them? I know it's nit-picking, but until now all your armours have been really great from a lore-friendly perspective. These are just suggestions to maintain that standard with non-Dunmer pieces as well.

Visually it'd make the metal and malachite pop less, and culturally, well, Thalmor does wear an awful lot of black. It's just universal and elegant, and the colour scheme of the original Morrowind glass armor, which here I still wanted to pay homage to.

I forgot to clarify that by art deco making it look too Dwemer I meant in the context of Skywind, since that style (and also similar socialist modernism) was used by Lukkar for many Dwemer concepts.

As far as a sketch of possible Thalmor light armor goes I actually attempted that back in 2011.



Some Chinese cultural influences as all elves in earlier TES seemed to share some asiatic elements, and ancient China was an extraordinary civilisation. Obviously nowadays I'd go a bit differently about this design.