Blackreach Wizard Guard

No bird singing in their realm, would it disturb the mellifluous whispering of the Mother. She and her Children; fertile soil for magic, source of power for Geodes, Crimson Root and matters further beyond comprehension. Sole light where never a sun’s ray falls in; and yet the Sun shines eternally over the steaming, puffing heart – the Silent City’s gathering below Nirn’s massive walls.

Deep under rugged pinnacles in ice, under gashed valley, that only the Water and highest art of engineering were capable of perforate – names of mighty glory connecting cope:

Mzinchaleft

Alftand

Ralbthar

Irkngthand

Even towards the Tower of Mzark

This is the Empire of the Mother of Glowing Fungi. The source of Aetherium. Hub beneath Skyrim. There they keep vigil, for no Marsh-Hoodlum, no Fur-Creature, no other Mer, no Human, nay, no Nord intrudes – dares to raise their voice against the Eternal Sun – wake the Dragon – and break the Mother’s peace.

Deep under Nirn, where no bird ever sang, there they keep vigil, side by side with the Colossuses of metal and steam:

The Wizard Guards of Fal Zhardum Din, or as the unworthy call this holy place, Blackreach.

Costume Info

I had it planned for a longer time already. To be precise, the planning phase lasted approximately as long as a normal human pregnancy. I got into labour after AniNite 2014.
The child was finally (almost)completely born on - 19.10.2014, the 2. day of AkiCon in Graz. -.-;

A date I believed reachable after my spurt for AniNite, but questioned multiple times throughout the process. Totally tired out and without embroidery or shin armour(a strap decided to not come with me before I could leave) I dragged myself to the remaining 2 1/2 hours con. But the test run was definitely worth it. ^^

Now enough of that and more about the actual work.

Already obvious for die-hard players of The Elder Scrolls V - Skyrim, this is my own interpretation of a Dwemer armour, set in the time where their nowadays ruined cities in Skyrim were still occupied. Fascinated by the mere beauty of this natural dome called Blackreach, which takes in almost 1/10 of the land's size in the underground, I felt obliged to pay a tribute to this wonder of nature(for philistines: masterpiece of programming).

To give a short (yes, short.) explanation: the Dwemer are/were (since they disappeared into thin air centuries ago without a known reason) a rather runtish sub-race of Mer(also known as elves); whereby they had been called "Dwarves" by outsiders; highly adept in Magic, Alchemy, Botany, Philosophy, Mathematics and, probably most prominent, in Architecture, Smithing and Engineering.

Markarth, once called Nchuand- Zel, the only Dwemer city that is still occupied (not by Dwemer however). Preserved and in use are, next to the mines further away, only the exterior city and the outter halls in the mountains. The inner areas are ruinous.

Dwemer cities always resembled one another and were, with the exception of a not less pompous exterior area around the main entrance, built spaciously into the underground. Their technologies were so efficient that their steam-powered engines like floodgate systems, lifts, pumping plants for drinkinw water and air condition, where the pipes haven't burst due to geological impacts, still work flawless and on their own. Also the dim gas lighting still shines everywhere as beautiful as once.

Adventurers approaching a Centurion, the biggest of Dwemer robot guards, in its anchorage in Blackreach. That might easily go wrong...

However, scientists, adventurers and treasure hunters be warned: As well as their inbuilt techniques work, so their mechanic guards have aged well. Without brake of their vanished builders, they attack everyone and everything that dares to intrude their masters' halls.

Apart from them, Falmer (Snow Elves), who had been enslaved by the Dwemer and at last been consigned to their fate; blind but now blessed with incredible hearing, sound-lessness and cunningness; can also turn a trip into each of the ruins into a nightmare.

Bandits took advantage of a fire trap...

Next to those deadly weapons and creatures, the Dwemer haven't missed to arm all traps(rotating blades as well as fire streams and poisoned spears/arrows, triggered by stone tiles that are almost impossible to detect) against intruders.

So only who learns(or rather survives the try) to deal with all those dangers and manages to master them, will also get enjoy and to marvel at the Dwemer masterpieces on their trip in almost total calm.

A complicated apparatus, solely serving as the safe storage place of an Elder Scroll.

From imposing architecture or detailed ornamented doors, furniture, everyday objects and such made out od their very own alloy that has never been figured by others, their technical marvels in tiniest detail to gigantic extent, to their almost secretly hidden use of supernatural energies.
You best study that in Blackreach and its abutting cities, in which nearly all masterstrokes of the Dwemer as well as the brilliancy of nature meet...

The Eternal Sun of the Silent City in Blackreach; back: the Mother of the Shimmering Mushrooms | Screenshot taken by lupusmagnus

Now to the actual costume.

As I already mentioned, I designed it myself. It combines several stylistic elements of the Dwemer art:

Bracers and pauldron are based on the classic Dwemer armour and the Centurion, the shin armour combines that with a very reduced form of the Dwemer boots.
Reference for the cloths as well as the chest armour were supplied by the concept art shown above. The hip cloth shows the Bloodred Nirnrot(a variation of this plant that is habitant on the entire planet, but however this version only grows in Blackreach) in front of the Sun of Blackreach, flanked by two big Shimmering Mushrooms. The upper braids represent the general ornament of the Dwemer[see Circulation Shield further down] in blue instead of red(ich had the exceptional fortune to find a braid like this, but at that time only the choice between blue and purple, but that wasn't hard to decide ;) ), the bottom ones are crafted similar to a standard Dwemer ornament.
The Tiara combines the top part of a Dwemer shield with the Aetherium pieces[see first picture in the costume info: the blue rocks are likely to be Aetherium, yet it can't be mined by the player] cut to cabochons(half spheres) - here made out of glass - in the
Aetherial Staff, which is one of the only two objects I adopted directly from the game. The reason for that is, as mentioned in the introduction, that Blackreach is the source(mine) of this legendary, shinging blue material which takes in energetic oscilliations, though afterwards can react very temperamental, which often caused explosions.
With an Aetherial Staff it is possible to to conjure smaller Dwemer guards such as the so called Spiders or Spheres. As the staff forged by the player(due to the little usable Aetherium available a singular venture) sometimes only produces scrap metal, it is assumed that the conjured machines come from the past. Whether this fact applies on all of the lost staffs is unknown.
The Circulation Shield is probably the most contrary part of the oeuvre. Satirically based on the Stalhrim Shield(a shield of the Ancient Nord; a human race which was considered minor by the Dwemer; forged from a similarly rare material as Aetherium with ice-like appearance), in its centre the heart of all Dwemer motors: a Centurion-Dynamocore. It keeps the biggest Dwemer robots running, and here, the effect of the shield: energies which hit it are converted positively for the carrier by the Aetherium Cabochons and shot back at the source. The pure Geodes(a mineral that can also be mined in Blackreach and which can take in soul energy; they replace the Salhrim in the design) in the shield feed from the killed opponent's soul(as long as the opponent has one) and save this energy, which then will be sucked up by the Aetherium Cabochons that, if charged, grant the carrier an additional energetic shield until complete discharge.
In short: "Kill your enemy and you are guarded for the next. Your shield doesn't only safe you from them but also beats them down by their own attacks." :)
To get back to to the original design: the bridges in the "Geodes" are referring to the ornament from the coat of arms of the Dwemer as a race, which can be found in all their flags, massive doors and probably best in the metal construction of the Sun of Blackreach.
Furthermore the shoulder cloth is held together by a brooch in shape of the Aetherium Crest. The crest is the only extant key to the Aetherium Forge, its core made out of pure Aetherium which was shattered into four pieces and spread all over Skyrim. Since it is the only Aetherium available, the player has to destroy the crest agin in order to be able to forge either a staff, a crown or a shield(those two are not the ones in my costume). Viewing the forge and its entrance in a cigantic cave deep in the ground; only accessable by an elevator only lifted from the soil with the crest; in awe, is however still possible afterwards as the elevator does not sink into the ground ever again throughout the game.

Costume Status

~ FINISHED ~

Time exposure:

6 weeks of almost constant working time, 9-10 months planning in 2014 + additional 2 weeks in 2015

Chest Armour: 46h15
Pauldron: 13h
Bracers: 12h20
Shins: 16h
Tiara: 13h
Brooch(Aetherium Crest): 8h
Aetherial Staff: 24h
Circulation Shield: 63h
Cloths: 35h
Keening: 21h
Keening Scabbard: 9h30
Oil Coin-Box: 4h

Total: ~266h

Costs:

Fabrics and braids: 52€
Wig: 20.99€
Velcro tape: 10€
Acrylic spheres for Shield: 5.31€
Gear motor for dynamo core: 17.99€
LED wires: 7.16€
Tealight imitation (for top LEDs in the staff): 0.50€
Gesso(1 liter!!!): 11.89€
Acrylics: ca. 20€
Painter's tape: 3.16€
Screws: 8.58€
Hot glue: 14.23€
Wood glue(1kg): 11.47€
Yarn: 12,54€
Golden spray paint(4 cans): 21.92€
Brass sheets: 1.07€

Additional jewellery(temporary): 29.85€

Spray paint(black, clear, matt, clear red) and silky gloss varnish in total value of 32.25€ shouldn't be counted here since I didn't use all of it. Or that I had to get a delta sander plus blades especially for this armour for 35.20€...or the little bit of resin...and compensation for my nerves(:P)...

Total: 218.81€ (expandable to 316.11 ;) )

Events:

AkiCon 2014, October 19th, Alte Universität, Graz (Austria)

AkiCon 2015, October 24th, Seifenfabrik, Graz (Austria)

Awards:

1st Place Cosplay Contest, AkiCon 2015