Fell Friends

Excited to have finally gotten the Nurnhoth Garb, I threw it onto the toon I needed it most for immediately and everything just went from there.

In this outfit, I played a lot with the many different shades of brown, then used some burgundy to give it a look of a long-dried stained blood all over, giving this outfit a cruel and vicious look. However, I have no idea what gave me the idea to include both my bog-lurker and gourd-lurker as part of the outfit, but I spent so much time on the Harvest Festival just to get that cosmetic pet - I think they look good with him, though.

It is at this point I've come to realise I don't have much else to say about this outfit, since I basically threw everything together in an instance, taking me literally 10 minutes to make. Thus, I'll leave you with the rest of the screenshots and component list at the end as per usual.

Head: Wooden Cave-claw Mask (burgundy);

Fine Camail of the Expedition's Vanguard (sienna);

Back: Elk-hunter's Pack (umber);

Chest: Nurnhoth Garb (burgundy);

Hands: Isengard Prisoner Gloves (burgundy);

Feet: Enduring Leather Shoes of Might (walnut brown).

Ma Mian (with Li of Gladden)

Ma Mian, translating to "Horse Face," in Chinese mythology is one of the two guardians - together with Ox Head - of the Underworld. In many stories, it is they who escort the recently deceased to the Underworld for judgement, punishment, cleansing, and finally reincarnation. 

Okay I have to say that Li may be my current favourite guest contributor as 1) she keeps using Chinese themes in her outfits (friends of mine can vouch for my intense fascination and obsession with the culture), and 2) the sheer absurdity that she makes look acceptable I find simply astonishing! I mean, she walks around with a donkey mask pretending to be a guardian of the Underworld who canonically has a horse for a face. And just look at that super weird colour scheme for an entity that escorts you to the Underworld! 

Another brilliant thing Li did was to use a horse-themed shield to reinforce the point that her outfit is meant to have a horse face and not a donkey's. It's the little things that really matter! Besides that, the spear she chose is slightly reminiscent of a trident, one of the canonical weapons born by Ox Head and Horse Face. The dedication to detail of my favourite culture is simply what makes me so excited every time Li comes up with something new!

Li suggested the Barrow-downs as the location for the photoshoot, and I recalled the time Gildomir had his pictures taken here. It really is phenomenal to see the differences and similarities between both outfits and their impact on their surrounding environment. For starters, both have a goofy side to them, using a silly head piece. On the other hand, they both represent, to many, fear and terror and death. Plus, the stark contrast in their colour scheme is intriguing as well: Gildomir's outfit featured typical Halloween colours (black, orange, & green) whereas Li's Ma Mian outfit takes inspiration from statues of Horse Face around Asia, such as shrines in Taiwan and Singapore, using much lighter and a more colourful palette, one not typically associated with terror. As always, well done, Li!

Head: Donkey Mask (white);

Shoulders: Ceremonial Shoulders of the Mighty Verse (bullroarer's green)

Chest: Lore-keeper's Robe (belegaer blue);

Feet: Ragged Leather Boots (black).