Project Diary: Egeanin Sarna in The Great Hunt

"The first to climb up was one of the armored men, and Domon saw immediately why some of the villagers claimed the Seanchan themselves were monsters. The helmet looked very much like some monstrous insect's head, with thin red plumes like feelers; the wearer seemed to be peering out through mandibles. It was painted and gilded to increase the effect, and the rest of the man's armor was also worked with paint and gold. Overlapping plates in black and red outlined with gold covered his chest and ran down the outsides of his arms and the fronts of his thighs. Even the steel backs of his gauntlets were red and gold. Where he did not wear metal, his clothes were dark leather. The two‑handed sword on his back, with its curved blade, was scabbarded and hilted in black‑and‑red leather. Then the armored figure removed his helmet, and Domon stared. He was a woman"

- The Great Hunt, Chapter 29.


 My costuming challenge for myself this year is to produce a reasonable facsimile of Seanchan armor by Dragon*Con.  I chose Egeanin Sarna, as we first see her in The Great Hunt, because her appearance is reasonably-well described, and because I enjoy the character quite a bit, through all her ups and downs.  This series of posts will document my progress, and if all goes well, will end with pictures of the full costume by September.  

Okegawa-do, by wikipedia user Rama.

I started with some basic research.  The Seanchan combine elements of Japanese and Chinese costume into their clothing and armor.  In the above quote, we get some clues to the proper sort of armor from which to model a Seanchan costume - overlapping plates, steel-backed gauntlets, armor on the chest, outer arms, and fronts of thighs.  To my mind, this description fits the okegawa-do, an armor style that came in to use in the 16th century in Japan, and continued to be used in a modified form for at least the next hundred years.  The name means "tub-shaped", a description of the shape of the chest armor.  The okegawa-do is a "modern style" of Japanese armor - it is meant to protect the wearer against firearms as well as blade weapons.  That's somewhat out of place in the WoT world, since firearms are not in common use, but I can assume that armor that can withstand a blast or two would also be good when you're facing enemy channelers.  The photo to the right shows the riveted breastplate, steel-backed gauntlets, lower-body guard, and shoulder-guards, all affixed over a heavy cloth backing.  In some examples of this type of armor, you would also see metal plates in rectangular or hexagonal shapes sewed into the backing fabric for added protection.  This particular suit also has lacing rather than rivets on the haidate (the thigh protection) and sode (shoulder guards), which may indicate it originates in a transitional period between earlier armors composed of laced-together "scales" and the later plate armors.  I like that style, and will probably be using it for my Seanchan armor. 


The type of helmet that would most likely go with this sort of armor will not be appropriate to the Seanchan, or at least, not without a little alteration.  With the okegawa-do, I have seen open-faced helmets more appropriate to a Malkieri, or helmets with faceplates (called sommen) often shaped like the faces of demons or angry mustached men.  The Seanchan helmet, of course, will evoke the head of an insect.  Fortunately, the chapter art gives a reasonably good sense of what that's supposed to look like.  I like the thick rope tie holding the helmet on.  That's not displayed in the Seanchan helmet art, but I think it adds a sense of plausibility, so I will likely at least attempt the helmet with the tie, and we'll see what it looks like.  If it detracts from the insect-head look, it can't stay, but if it doesn't, I think it's pretty cool. 


Under the armor and quilted backing, either a full-length kimono would have been worn, or a shorter kimono and hakama, wide-leg trousers.  Personally, I prefer pants in all situations, so I'm inclined towards the hakama.  Excitingly, the look was sometimes finished off with a pair of armored tabi, shoes with a division between the big toe and the rest of the toes.  I'm not at all convinced yet that I want to replicate that, or that it is necessary.  Later in chapter 29, Egeanin picks out a merchant to demonstrate a point to Bayle Domon, and the man she indicates  "turned to her and bowed, hands on knees, eyes fixed on her boots."  Above all things in this costume, I am curious to see how one might make boots work with hakama and metal shin guards.  I suppose I'll find out.