Warfare Rin : Goddess of Artful and Heroic Bloodshed.

It's hard to find a good suit of Korean armor these days. This is what I based Rin's suit on from the few rare pictures in my Korean art books.

Her name is derived from the common blood-thinning medicine called Warfarin (or Coumadin). Warfarin prevents coagulation and clotting in patients who are at high risk for fatal clot formations. The side effects are that the person is at increased risk of bleeding as well.

I thought the idea of a weapon-laden blood-shedding warrior was a nice representation of warfarin's bleeding tendency. The numbers on the masks on her chest and shoulders correspond to coagulation factors that are blocked by warfarin.

Warfarin is also used as common rat poison. It kills rats by causing internal hemorrhaging. Hence the rat skulls on her polearm in the drawing.

A lot of times, to prevent blood clots in bed-bound patients, tight stockings or compression devices are applied to the legs to keep blood moving (and not clotting). I drew Rin with an old-fashioned version of these compression devices binding her legs.

The armor is based on Koguryo period Korean armor. The masks on the shoulders and chest are Korean of course, and are the masks of the yangban, concubine, and tiger.

The drum at her side is used in the beautiful and powerful drum dances in traditional Korean dance. The women playing them could spin their entire bodies around and upside down while never missing a beat on their drums.

The multi-stringed "bow" over her shoulder is actually a Korean harp.

The fan is also used in Korean traditional fan dances, performed by women as well. I've used the retractable wrist fan idea before, and I like it.

The beads hanging from her helm horns look like scholar beads in traditional costume. Warfare Rin is basically your goddess of wisdom, art, and battle. (My version of the Greek Athena).

Warfare Rin is the right-hand femme of the blood goddess, Emma Raj ("hemorrhage"), a drawing I did back in 1997 (damn, that's a long time ago). Emma Raj's symbol is transposed in the center of Rin's skirt.

I would have put a whole slew of more sharp weapons on her but I had to finish this drawing for a talk for work.