“Lorica” is the Latin word for body armour. The most recognisable type of Roman armor is probably the lorica segmentata, which is pretty much the only armour Romans are ever depicted as wearing in Pop Culture regardless of historical accuracy. In real life it was only utilised from the first century BC to the third century AD. For reference, Rome was founded in 753 BC, the Western Roman Empire fell in AD 476, and, taken to the logical historical extreme, the Byzantines continued calling themselves Romans until 1453.
My original plan was to give all my Amazons names that were either weapons or armour, which is why Falcata is a kind of sword. I quickly learned, however, that there aren’t enough weapons and armour that make good names for an entire society. Either way, “Lorica” was a good name for the Amazons’ best blacksmith.
“Lorica” is a Latin word, so I was a little unclear on how to render it in Greek. According to Google Translate, it’s “Λορικα”, but I’m not sure how credible that translate is, especially in regards to Ancient Greek
Also, since we’re about overdue for a Wrestling reference, “Malleus Ardens” is “Burning Hammer”, an infamous Wrestling move popularised by (though apparently not invented by) iconic Japanese Wrestler Kenta Kobashi and subsequently only ever used seven times throughout his career, in part to preserve its mystique and largely because a lot of that mystique comes from the move basically just being dropping the other dude right on his head.
It has subsequently become widely-adopted to the point of over-saturation by other wrestlers…
Now, it is a Wrestling reference, but it also works in a vacuum as a nickname for history’s best blacksmith.
Lorica’s pose probably changed the least of all of these red-figure images. I tried other poses but couldn’t pull them off satisfactorily.
I wasn’t trying to make her, as they say, “swole”, but the fact that her arms are huge does make sense for a blacksmith. She also still reads “human woman” — reminder that I consider every race (and generally prefer the term “people”) in Realmgard as “human” — and not “the Hulk”, which is the problem I had with the other poses I tried.
I simplified her emblems, just going for a sword and shield and a helmet, rather than two piles of weapons and armour.
Looking at this one after the fact, I might make another go of it after I’m not sick anymore, but I’m more satisfied than dissatisfied with this one, especially in light of the whole “head cold” thing.
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