ESO Community Spotlight – Chergarka and Isugi’s Cosplay & Vvardvark Figurine

Chergarka and Isugi work together to create wonderful Elder Scrolls cosplay, props, and sculptures, mostly focusing on the island of Vvardenfell and Dark Elf culture. In our latest Community Spotlight, we talk to them about cosplay and one of their more recent (and adorable) creations, a Vvardvark figurine!

The world of Tamriel is packed full of unique and wonderful creatures. Why did you decide to sculpt a Vvardvark?

Chergarka: I fell in love with this creature the moment I saw it in Vvardenfell, during ESO: Morrowind's beta. Aardvarks and armadillos are super cute on their own, but no one can fight the charm of their hybrid, especially the one made in typical Morrowind style (all of the Morrowind fauna looks like a pair of jaws on two legs). I instantly yelled "I want one!" and now I have a 3D version!

What sources did you use for reference when planning to sculpt the Vvardark?

Chergarka: I launched The Elder Scrolls Online and opened the model in the Crown Store while sculpting. I also looked through concept arts, but a 3D model that you could spin and view under any angle proved very helpful.

When I make figurines with objects from other TES games, I like to fly around the reference model using console commands. When doing this in Vvardenfell in The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind I tended to attract all the cliff racers on the continent!

What is the process for crafting a handmade figurine like this? How long did it take?

Chergarka: First, I make a skeleton with wire or resin, which helps the creature to stand firmly on its feet and prevents parts of it from falling off. Then, I sculpt the figurine itself using polymer clay. I start with general forms and proportions and add little details before working on its texture. In the case of a Vvardvark, this means defining its scales and fur. Next, I bake the figure in the oven, so the material becomes firm and solid, similar to plastic.

After baking, I get to do what I love most: the coloring. I first paint the deepest parts with dark colors before adding the base color and then highlighting the details with light tones. I then make the final touches with gloss varnish - my Vvardvark needs to have those curious shiny eyes!

Finally, I make a base for my figurine using a ceramic pot, some EVA foam, and natural stones.

If I could spend my whole day sculpting, the process would take about a day. Unfortunately, I can't spare that much time on my hobby, so it takes me two to four days to create a Vvardvark.

What was the most challenging aspect of crafting the cute critter?

Chergarka: The hardest part was making its feet strong enough to hold its fat belly upright. It was also quite hard for me to make the Vvardvark's muzzle look somewhat friendly. My creatures tend to have a sour expression that makes you think they just swallowed a nasty kwama forager.

How did you two get started creating figurines, props, and cosplay together?

Isugi: Both Chergarka and I work together as a team: We help each other with projects and publish them all mostly under one profile. In real life, we are a couple who got to know each other with the help of ESO :). We were playing in the same guild at first, but we ended up in a real-life relationship.

I got into cosplay in 2013. I spent several years playing TES III back when I was a teenager. There seemed to be nothing left to do in the game, but my love for Tamriel needed some sort of expression, so I decided to make an Ordinator cosplay. The Indoril guards were always visually striking, and they brought me many good memories. I had very little money and even less knowledge about the materials needed to craft armor, so I made it with papier-mâché (newspapers with glue). It took several months of my life, but I really like the way my costume turned out.

Chergarka: My main hobby is visual art, and I draw in several different techniques. But I've always wanted my works to be three dimensional, so that something from a fantasy universe could actually be touched and held in your hands.

My first attempts at sculpting were quite poor and didn't satisfy me at all. This happened in part because I was working with cheap makeshift materials. They made the working process way harder, and the figures turned out quite fragile.

Seeing me so keen to sculpt, Isugi suggested I get some more professional materials, so we got ourselves tons of polymer clay, paints, brushes, and all sorts of visually appealing stuff that inspired me. Creating something with those turned out to be captivating. Now my works look just the way I picture them in my head, and I have many more ideas I want to express! 

Is there any particular cosplay that you're especially proud of?

Isugi: I think all of them are my favorite, as each one reflects a part of The Elder Scrolls that I love.

I picked the Ordinator because of my love for the Tribunal temple and because their helmets are a stylized Dark Elf face, whose features I find beautiful. I picked the Ash Ghoul and the Ascended Sleeper because they seem extremely creepy and I really love the concept. I picked Nerevar because I wanted to inspire my friends to do the Almsivi together and to tell a dramatic story. And lastly, I picked an Ashlander because I wanted to make some concept choices myself instead of just copying an in-game costume and because I quite enjoy their tribal look with all the natural cloth, bones, etc. I was also inspired by my Ashlander ESO character.

Creating the costumes and props is a big part of cosplay, but perhaps an equally important part is actually playing the role. How does it feel to become a part of such an alien culture?

Isugi: One of my hobbies is text roleplaying, so I guess being someone else entirely comes naturally. I roleplay Ordinator guards, Ashlander exiles, old Dres ladies, Telvanni wizards, ancient Altmer vampires, simple-minded Khajiit thieves... I like switching between those characters. It's fun to figure out how each of their minds work according to their morals, cultural traditions, personal features, life experience, etc.

It is a bit harder for me with cosplay, though. I am rather shy in real life, and I feel uncomfortable in front of big crowds. I don't have good acting skills either, so in my performances I try to compensate for my weaknesses with something else in order to give people a good show. For example, my Ascended Sleeper was summoned by a group of cultists and killed one of them during the show. My Ashlander tore a crow in half as part of a bloody ritual. The crow was made with black paper and red ribbons, of course, so it looked symbolic and not too gory!

Despite my fear of the stage, this experience is always fun, and it gives me a great adrenalin boost.

A lot of the cosplay and props you create focus almost exclusively on Vvardenfell and the Dark Elves. What appeals to you about Dunmer culture?

Isugi: There are two main elements that make the Dunmer and Vvardenfell so appealing to me: exoticism and nostalgia. I grew up playing TES III: Morrowind, so ESO: Morrowind definitely had a great impact on me. When I first walked out of the Imperial office in Seyda Neen, I was shocked by absolutely everything I saw. Giant mushrooms, lava rivers, a flea mount, a jumping leech that tried to kill me on sight...

Dunmer culture and morality also feels very alien, and it's enthralling to try to understand them and to apply their ways to the characters I play. It's their hostility to strangers and the weird virtues of their living gods that's so interesting. To me, it's exciting to get a chance to explore a brutal totalitarian theocratic society without having to be a part of it in real life.

Do you have any advice for your fellow fans and creators who want to sculpt something from The Elder Scrolls Online?

Chergarka: Just try to make it! Preferably use good-quality materials; they make the creation process a lot faster and easier. Think of some part of flora, fauna or even architecture that inspires you most and try to recreate it. Some complicated forms might be too hard for a beginner, but you can always find objects with simple forms to practice on. I started with Morrowind's mushrooms: they seem quite simple, yet so stylish and come in so many beautiful forms!

Where can we find your other Elder Scrolls-inspired creations?

Isugi: You can check our pages and work here:

• http://isugi.tumblr.com/
• https://www.instagram.com/isugi.cosplay
• https://www.facebook.com/isugicosplay/
  
  

Thank you to both Isugi and Chergarka for sharing their story with us and allowing us to show off some of their amazing work. If you'd like to see more, don't hesitate to check out their various pages above and show your support.

If you've seen or created something amazing based on The Elder Scrolls Online, send it our way via Twitter @TESOnline or Facebook. We'd love to share it with the rest of the community!