Kaalki + Stompp designs!
They’re based on the Guards of the Underworld, Horse-Face/Mǎmiàn (马面) and Ox-Head/Niútóu (牛头) who act as bounty-hunters for souls. They have scarves (accurate) and tiny guard hats (not accurate, but I took some creative liberties)
Kaalki is inspired by the Tianma (天馬) a flying heavenly horse that’s sometimes depicted with wings. The mane is meant to resemble feathers. This way, we can keep the Pegasus motif, while staying true to Chinese mythology.
I was fighting for my life to draw a horse that doesn’t look like a mlp character, and failed spectacularly.
From what I read, Niútóumǎmiàn had started with just Ox-Head and originated from Indian Buddhism (I believe the original name was Gośīrșa गोशीर्ष) When the myth reached China they added Horse-Face due to cultural preferences for deities with symmetry and duality. (the strong Ox is balanced with the vigilant Horse)
—So I made Stompp look like it was painted as a reference to the Holi festival in India, where they paint cows and oxen to celebrate their role in agriculture. I also added jasmine petals to the tail and the skull designs.
AU lore: the Ox miraculous originated from an Indian miracle temple, and later was gifted and relocated to China, where it was partnered up with the horse miraculous— up until the Tang dynasty when both were reorganized as part of the Zodiac miraculouses (the myth of the underworld guard(s) predates the Zodiac Race, but it seems to have had solidified around the time when the Zodiac myth came to be)
