As it turns out, the tortoise used to be part of the aristocracy, but then were cast out or something like that. I don't quite get the whole story, but it sounds complicated. They are apparently very ancient and helped make the world(!), according to the myths, but i guess have fallen out of favor with the other houses who may have forgotten their past and respect. So this old mister is shown spattered with mud, down in a ditch, but still upright, still bearing some jewelry, a few stripes of decorative color and a tattered banner of rank. But I don't think he much cares about the political workings of things anymore, happy enough to tend to the little ones, and taking the long view on everything and all the little mammals that come and go under the sun.
First of all, this is my version of what a kirin looks like. I've seen radically different depictions, which didn't really fit each other, so I just went with what I thought were the best design choises.
This one is of a Kirin, a member of a species that used to be considered nobility, but are now outcast. Unlike most of the other species, the kirin are one of the few mythical creatures. So I picture the girl here as full of life, firey and hotheaded, etc. Now something of a rebel, since being ousted from the aristocracy, unlike the more accepting and quiescent Tortoises, the other outcast nobility. Unencumbered by social mores and political ceremony, she is actually more free to act as an outsider. So I kinda picture her and the other kirin as Robin Hood types. The "opera" as it plays out in my head, casts them, and this character in particular, as an eternally young and scrappy; a very physical and very passionate species. They are idealistic to a fault and cast out by the other, increasingly jaded houses whose blueblooding bonds them closer together with all their incestual politicking and backstabbing.
I couldn't get her outta my head, so doodlSed this up quick. It's really only about 3" x 4", a little picture postcard. I like this verson of the muzzle shape best. It's hard to work in those catfish whiskers they have.
Before I was asked to draw all these pictures for Jadeclaw, I was first commissioned to draw this image as a promotional visual. It shows a slightly different dragon design, but the first version of the Kirin character, which I ended up falling in some sort of love with :^) Here they are, squaring off on a rooftop, idealogical and mortal enemies.