Star Trek: Sigils and Unions--The Honor Vigil

[Nerys Ghemor]

In today's drawing, I've taken a step back into some of Cardassia's most ancient military traditions. This is a design I imagine ancient warriors wearing into battle--these days, it's certainly not practical for battle (can you IMAGINE how heavy that armor and mail is?!), but it is worn by those who take a shift as part of the Honor Vigil: the soldiers who keep watch over the bodies of those who fall in service of the Union until they are delivered to their final rest on their homeworld.

That chain mail about drove me CRAZY to draw! I still couldn't get it to look quite the way I saw it in a dream--but I think it came out pretty well.

[Thor Damar]

^That's brilliant, just the kind of thing that I imagine the ancient cardassians wore.
It does kind of resemble the Jaffa uniform from Stargate sg1.

Are you going back to the past in a later installment of the thirteenth order?

[Nerys Ghemor]

Thanks for looking!

Not going back to the past, no. But, I do intend to discuss the Honor Vigil in some fashion.

Oh...and I guess technically they were Hebitians back then, but of varying nations, just like on Earth.

Never seen a Jaffa uniform, though--got a link?

[Thor Damar]

I sure do...
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3663/...26192eba11.jpg

the guy on the left wears something similar to your Honour Vigil uniform.

[Nerys Ghemor]

I can see where there are a few similarities...this is a bit of a different idea, though.

I did some thinking about why a uniform of this nature might've evolved, and I got the idea that it was worn by charioteers and foot soldiers. In my idea of Cardassia, combat had to evolve in different directions because there were not beasts of burden large enough to bear as much weight as horses did in Earth combat. And since it's easier to pull something than to carry it, I figured chariots and similar conveyances remained in active use for longer.

The idea behind the "robe" of mail is to make it harder for your enemies to cut your legs out from under you, either if you're on foot in an infantry role, or especially while you're standing as you drive a chariot. The pike, incidentally, is to mess with enemies with similar conveyances, either by messing with the chariots or taking a shot at the driver or "gunner" (or whatever you called it back then).

I think that even as Hebitian military traditions evolved more towards things that we would recognize and that we see in modern Cardassian warfare, that this tradition still remained for ceremonial guards even though it disappeared in the modern military--or was highly modified. To me, the cuirass seemed like it could've been an ancient design, and some of the patterning on the sleeves definitely reminded me of chain mail, so it seemed like the modern uniform could be acknowledging something like this in their past while still being adapted for modern day use.

[PSGarak]

I like it! You really put a lot of detailing into the chain mail. I imagine that took a lot of time. I also like the shading and texture of the cuirass. It has some nice depth to it.

[Nerys Ghemor]

Thanks! Yeah, the chain mail definitely took a lot of time--a couple hours, I believe. And glad you like the cuirass! There's a lot of depth to what the modern Cardassians wear, and I figured there would be for this old outfit as well. It lacks the texturing you see on the modern version...but it's definitely intended to be the same idea.

[BolianAuthor]

That is absolutely beautiful... I love the chain mail detail, and the bladed weapon. As always, your Cardassian face details are perfect!

[Nerys Ghemor]

Glad you enjoyed!

BTW, the weapon is based on a medieval voulge. I just changed the design of the blade to fit what I thought might be a more Cardassian aesthetic.

Ohhh, and I should mention I used a photo of a statue of Hawaiian King Kamehameha as a reference for the hand holding the pike.

[Deranged Nasat]

I too love the weapon. It seems to me to resemble- that is, the blade resembles- one of the curved towers on modern Cardassian architecture, though I have no idea if that was intentional (though given your comment above about tailoring it to a Cardassianb aesthetic, I'm guessing it is). I also like the chest armour that links this design to the modern Cardassian Guard uniform. It's details like that which make the design believable as historical; it really slots into established Cardassia nicely. And as others have said, that;s a great job on the chainmail, particularly on the "robe".

[Marie1]

Sweet! Excellent work!

[Kaiser]

Cool

[Nerys Ghemor]

Deranged Nasat wrote:

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I too love the weapon. It seems to me to resemble- that is, the blade resembles- one of the curved towers on modern Cardassian architecture, though I have no idea if that was intentional (though given your comment above about tailoring it to a Cardassianb aesthetic, I'm guessing it is).

Indeed--you're right about that!

And thanks to Marie and kaiser for looking, as well!

[Kaiser]

Nerys Dukat wrote:

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Indeed--you're right about that!

And thanks to Marie and kaiser for looking, as well!

Your welcome

[KimM]

It's an elegant and functional looking combination of tradition and cutting edge; very solemn - the garb of a protector. Very well conceived!