A man strode across the horizon, wreathed in the light of dawn— Unknown
Armor worn by paladins of
the Knights of Dawn. A layer of chainmail covered in full metal plate armor, aside from the legs and hands. The legs are instead covered by a heavy cloth combat skirt, which displays the colors of the Knights of Dawn, and allows for more mobility than with full leg armor. The hands are left free aside from a wrist guard, to allow the wearer unrestricted magic usage.
Dawn Paladin Armor by Robotics5 (Me)
The armor's materials are rather mundane. Ordinary steel and brass are the main components, nothing unique. The cloth is typically made of gambeson, with a thinner layer of dyed fire-retardant cloth for coloration and reduced flammability. Cloths are replaced long before their color fades, and armor is always kept polished to a sheen, all the better to strike fear in the hearts of evil. This level of care is also a surefire way to distinguish a paladin's armor from common plate.
The materials may be mundane, but it's the design that truly matters. The helmet is simple design with a full visor, which protects the paladin's entire head. The center strip of metal on the helmet is meant to resemble the crest of a phoenix, and a handful of paladins add feathers or cloth to further highlight this detail. The chest piece, though similar to most plate armor, has a defined point in the chest reminiscent of a phoenix's beak. The arms are made from several individual segments of plate armor, overlaid with a secondary layer to protect the joints. The boots, pauldrons, and poleyns are all pointed to resemble the symbol for fire and a phoenix's beak.
Traditionally, the pauldrons are adorned with feathers or cloth cut to resemble them. Due to their flammability, nowadays most paladins forego these embellishments, though some have feather patterns etched into the metal of the pauldrons.
Dawn paladin pauldron designs by Robotics5(Me)
This is a really pretty armour, that orange-yellow is very striking and go well with the "dawn" part of their name :D Do they really need to not wear anything on their hand or would they be able to have leather gloves for example? Small note, you need to add author credits for your images to take part in the challenge, even if you are the author yourself :)
Thanks for the tip! I've now added credit (to myself). As for the gloves, it's more for comfort & safety than anything. Some do wear partial gauntlets extending over the fingers and the backs of the hands, but the palm is where most of their magic is expelled from. With a combination of fire and light magic, it's not a good idea to have metal in the way of that. The metal would either heat up (painful), or block most of the light.
I love the new illustrations you've made :D