Enchantress of Flame and Familiars
Sometimes even the wildest of Fire Mages must attempt to harness their power for the greater good. Channeling the power of the last precious gem mined from the deepest reaches of her island’s sacred volcano, this Fire Mage and her enchanted flock of furry—er—fiery beasts must protect their land, sky, and seas from those who threaten to harm the island’s inhabitants.
For this commission, I created a “Fire Mage” armor inspired by a sorceress who’s totally wild, a little quirky, and a breed all her own!
“Of course you should fight fire with fire. You should fight everything with fire.”
— Jaya Ballard (“Sizzle,” Wizards of the Coast)
Making the Fire Mage Cosplay
The Fire Mage was specifically designed to be asymmetrical. My client and I thought asymmetry would lend the costume a personal touch, representative of her tendency at times to be a bit off-kilter! She is also left handed, so special care was taken to ensure her right (“blocking side”) was more armored. This included a floating pauldron, and additional flames on the right side of the breastplate. Her coat also comes to it’s point off-center intentionally, skewing once again to the right, more-armored side.
Each piece of armor in the Fire Mage cosplay is constructed using Worbla’s Black Art, formed around 2mm craft foam. The sabatons and breastplate also feature additional sections cut and layered Worbla “flames,” tipped with iridescent magenta “scorch marks.” Each armored piece utilizes custom resin “volcano gems,” cast by swirling two colors of dyed resin into custom molds. A custom leather belt was also created to hold three magenta “fulminating potions.”
The Fire Mage cosplay utilizes several custom sewn pieces. Most notably, the off-center mage jacket, which was created using two altered sewing patterns, as well as customized “teardrop” sleeves. Two rare-earth magnets are hidden within the right arm’s lining, which allow the pauldron to “float” atop the sleeve. The golden design on the hanging purple tabbard is a custom design incorporating inspiration from several of my client’s favorite fandoms. It was designed in Adobe Illustrator, and applied to the fabric with a cut stencil and fabric paint. The corset utilizes a slightly altered sewing pattern and custom bottom trim to match the outer jacket. Leg covers were also custom made to zip at the back, hold the sabatons in place with velcro, and to hide the top of the golden armored shoes. The entire costume is covered in hundreds of sparkling crystals, most notably these “Volcano” crystals!
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