Blade & Soul - Scarlet Empire (Gon Outfit) Mod

With the recent NA server patch on 19 June, a new raid - Scarlet Conservatory a.k.a. Temple of Succession has been released. And with new raid, comes new outfits (hmm.. this sounds like a certain uncle Ben 😅 ). The Scarlet Empire is the outfit dropped by the final boss - Scarlet Empress Tayhu in this new raid. And yet, I have already seen players with this outfit with the full accessories, which means they have beaten the final boss several times. 😲

That it why I am so surprise when a patron asked for this mod. But then again, he/she might be from other regions, where this patch has already been introduced. 😆

Just for some information about the outfit, the Scarlet Empire is worn by Dowager Tayhu, who rules over the Stratus Empire in the absence of an Emperor. It is rumored that she is a divine being who had descended from the Divine Realm to bless the Stratus Empire. However, the truth is that she is in league with the forces of darkness and the one who schemed the assassination of Empress Namsolyn so as the secure her daughter Namsoyoo (or rather her blood), in order to perform the Heaven Mandate ritual.

In addition, she might also have been the culprit that insinuated Prince Sobu to perform the Heaven Mandate ritual that eventually caused his life. On the hand, Mushin's accomplice - Yura also tricked Prince Sogan to perform the same ritual that destroyed him and his sister. And thus, securing the throne for Tayhu's own son - Sobin, who is not of royal bloodline.

It was revealed in the storyline, from the not so distant past, that Tayhu is actually another lackey of Mushin, who is intent on acquiring divine powers to rule over all three realms.

The overall design of the Scarlet Empire is very much oriental (except for the pair of sleeves and leggings) with golden dragon embroidered and a full golden dragon wrapped around the waist. In ancient China history, the golden dragon is the representation of the one and only true Emperor. Anyone who dared to have them embroidered into their clothing could be executed for plotting to usurp the throne. 😨

If the Stratus Empire is modelled after ancient China imperial structure, Dowager Tayhu is basically openly declaring that she is the Emperor. But then, it may not have been modelled after ancient China imperial structure, so the golden dragon would loose its meaning. But interestingly, there is also a Dowager in China history by the name of Cixi who took power, for forty-seven years, after the death of the Emperor. Her action of attending court sessions, from behind a thin veil of curtain, where the Emperor listen and give orders to his subjects pertaining to national/political issues, even give rise to an idiom.

Another earlier example, from ancient China history, would be Empress Wu. But in her case, she had actually ascended the throne, to become the Emperor herself.

Wow! That is a lot of unrelated information. Now, let us return to the outfit. 😆

While the overall design is closer to oriental style, the pair of leggings and sleeves are definitely not so. The pair of sleeves looks much more of western design from 1800s colonial era and oriental style does not adopt leggings.

Front View - Original Outfit

The scarlet part of the outfit's name is clearly represented by the red-yellow color theme. The empire part would be the golden dragon and the fact that it is worn by the Dowager.

Front Close-up View - Original Outfit

The golden dragon can be seen wrapped around the waist, like a belt.

Rear View - Original Outfit

The lower part of the outfit is just a pair of red panties, covered in the front and back by two pieces of cloth, and the pair of dark leggings.

Rear Close-up View - Original Outfit

Side View - Original Outfit

The sides of the outfit gives a full view of the legs.

Side Close-up View - Original Outfit

The Scarlet Empire looks really beautiful but I guess some players may not like the two pieces of cloth dangling at the front and back. As such, I intended to trim both of them, but just trimming them is dull. So, I added lace patterns, which are also quite oriental like, on both.

Next, I recolored the pair of leggings into a translucent layer which reflects colors between red and orange.

Finally, I looked at the chest torso and found that the mesh structure around the breasts are quite smooth, so I recolored the area to skin. Although the area do not fully follow the breasts' curvature, it still looks acceptable.

Unfortunately, I found the back's mesh structure is ragged and cannot be recolored to skin, without causing it to look strange, so I have to leave it as cloth.

Let's take a look at the modified Scarlet Empire below.

Front View - Modified Outfit

Notice the front cloth has been trimmed to minimal length, just enough to block the red panties from the front view. 😅

The pair of leggings is now translucent instead of opaque, reflecting red color at knee level and orange at ankle level.

Front Close-up View - Modified Outfit

The part of the red clothing covering the under boobs have been modified to skin color, which looks like it has been taken off.

Rear View - Modified Outfit

Rear Close-up View - Modified Outfit

The red colored cloth at the back has also been trimmed and laced.

Side View - Modified Outfit

From the side view, we can see the transition from skin to red cloth just below the strap because the back has ragged surface and thus, unsuitable to be recolored to skin.

Side Close-up View - Modified Outfit

Hmm.. Should I leave the translucent leggings or turn it into skin... 

This brings us to the end of this post. You can get a better look at the mod in the video which I have captured using the in-game Tailorshop again... Because my characters are not in a powerful clan that can beat the new raid boss yet. 😥

Download Link