Amalgam'verse Expansion: Kirin of the Western Continent · 5:34am Sep 9th, 2016
Hey everybody, been time drained in graduate studies. Writing still trucking along and I got plenty outlined out so I shouldn't get too slowed down outside of exam weeks. How to be publishing soon. In the meantime, here's something I cooked up on some waits between classes for you all to chew on.
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Kirin are a cervid-like race from across Equestria’s Lunar sea and one could say they are something of a counterpart race to the ponies themselves in their native region along the eastern half of the west continent. Unlike the ponies, kirin do not all live in one country under one rule. There are instead four main countries settled along the coast and surrounding islands. While the cultures may be similar in many aspects due to a distant common origin as well as trade, nationalistic identity has spurred many distinctions in both culture and government.
The split occurred long enough ago that the dialects between the regions has drifted enough that they have trouble being intelligible to each other and each nation has a distinct writing system. Because many kirin live in the same place they were born in a majority of their lives, often times the only ones to be bilingual either come from rare multi-national families or work as diplomats or merchants. Even the name of the race isn’t consistent, as depending on dialect or how it is transcribed it can come out as anything from Qillin to Kirin to Gurin. Kirin is the most common transcription, so it’ll be used here just for sake of ease.
Despite their looks, kirin are not the offspring of a dragon and an equine like some have proposed or misidentified. The Equestrian species of dragon is virtually unknown in Kirin homelands and it’s closest approximate, a ryung, is something completely different despite often being labeled as a “Neighpon Dragon” or “Carrean Dragon” depending on region. Kirin themselves frequently find the labeling, even if in a completely well meaning manner, either head tilting levels of confusing, humorous; or very offensive. It doesn’t help that they aren’t equines at all, having traits like wide cloven hooves and antlers that make them visually closer to cervids or giraffids. They could accurately be described as a deer-like giraffid. A Terran zoologist would compare them to the prehistoric okapi relative, Sivatherium. They are mammals, but have numerous reptilian or even fish-like traits such as scutes and body scales and a lizard-like tail. Still they are clearly mammalian overall with a constant body temperature, live birth as opposed to eggs, fur across most of their body (save the chest, belly, neck, cheeks, and spine), with a mane and long tufts on the hooves and tail.
Unlike elk but more like a giraffe or okapi, kirin do not shed their skull ornamentation. Instead their antler-like horns are anchored to the skull and have veins running through them like a unicorn’s horn. While this technically makes them ossicones, not antlers, antler or horn is the layman term used. Typically a kirin has two of them, but rare mutations can cause them to have a different number and the style varies heavily between individuals, looking like all manner of deer, antelope, or giraffe. Number can range from the most common two, to four, to six; to a single one in the middle of the head. A buck usually has larger or more robust antlers than a doe, and babies are born with only small nubs.
Kirin are typically about a half head taller than ponies, but are lankier than earth ponies. However the weight difference closes if the individual undergoes physical training or is abnormally large. The one famous hero-king from Tailand was of comparable size to Princess Celestia or a large Saddle Arabian stallion in life.
A good number of, but not all, kirin are able to perform magic in a similar capacity to a unicorn; such as levitation and telekinesis channeled through their antlers. The range of spells is virtually identical between the two, with novices and prodigies in either species; though kirin do have a harder time with teleportation and self levitation.
While they do have fish or serpent-like scales, they cannot breathe underwater. In terms of strength they tend to fall somewhere around the level of a pegasus, being stronger than a unicorn but weaker than an earth pony; but of course this is only an average and can vary higher or lower with genetics or individual build and training. While kirin can’t change the weather or affect plant growth nearly to the degree of an earth pony or pegasus, they do have an uncanny ability to seemingly affect their own weight. While tales of kirin walking across a meadow and not disturbing a single grass blade are exaggerations, their wide hooves and ability to make themselves far lighter for brief instances means talented individuals of the race can actually run on water in short sprints like a basilisk lizard by using the surface tension.
Like ponies, zebra, and horses; kirin are largely herbivores; though they do harvest eggs from chickens for cooking and supplements. Some populations also eat a small amount of fish or shrimp.
Like giraffes or okapi, one trait that takes many of the unfamiliar by surprise is the fact kirin have proportionally long, blue tinged tongues up to a foot long. This can be hidden while talking, but the flexible body part is long and controllable enough to be virtually prehensile and grab food to bring it in. This stems from kirin being chiefly browsers rather than grazers like equines, the only grasses they regularly eat are stalk varieties like light bamboo.
Technology and civilization wise, kirin are roughly on the same level as most of Equestria; being simpler in some ways but more advanced in others with cities being significantly more advanced than rural areas. They aren’t as diverse in broad areas across their territory as Equestria is however, all being on around the same level as the mid 1800s East Asia on Terra; with a few hot spots for advancement.
In government all four of the major Kirin countries Equestria has contact with are monarchies, but to varying degrees of authority. Each nationality also has it’s own distinct manner of dress, customs; and food. While there is some mixing and traits that have a common origin, kirin often take pride in their nation and like to keep themselves distinct.
Neighpon is a technically an oligarchy with lords of territories and their advisors controlling their lands with all having loyalty to an emperor in theory, though the emperor has largely a ceremonial or cultural role rather than an executive or military one. If the countries as a whole acts on one accord, it’s because the strongest of the lords by military and economic means, the shogun, whom dictates it so and the other lords follow suit either by agreement to an alliance or by being cowed into submission.
Chineigh, the largest and oldest of the countries, is also ruled by an emperor or empress. Though below them is a large group of advisors and administrators whom are chosen or elected officials serving as magistrates, governors; or generals. Because of this some areas do have a large degree of autonomy. Some imperial monarchs are strict rulers and some are very light rulers. As the oldest of the four main nations to unify, the other three countries emulated a lot from Chineigh early on, however the cultures have since all diverged by doing new spins on what they imported or by fusing it with local customs.
Tailand, the southernmost mainland country, is a monarchy that is both very firm and very loose at the same time. In theory the king or queen has absolute control, but this is rarely acted upon unless they feel necessary (usually in emergency) and their role is largely ceremonial and cultural with a mix of nobility and elected officials serving in their stead. Tailand, despite it’s smaller size, is an economic powerhouse because of its dozens of port cities for trade. And unlike Neighpon, it had no period of isolation or continued warring states to close said ports down. Thus it’s also the nation state that has had the most trade and extended contact with Equestria. A popular book back in Equestria about one hundred years ago was a fictionalization of the life of a Equestrian teacher and widow being requested to the palace by the king under the wish she tutor his heir and family. It has since been adapted into film and a musical, though historical accuracy was lost on some level for sake of storytelling.
Carrea, a peninsula nation between the Neighpon archipelago and Chineigh mainland, has a firmer monarchy than Tailand but control of the country is also decided by numerous officials who gain their power via scoring in an exam and usually don’t serve for more than eight years at a time. Said officials can overrule the king or queen’s judgement via appeal, though usually this is done in a polite manner to offer an alternative to avoid ticking off the royals. These officials also mean the government can change heavily within a decade. On the plus side, this means typically quality individuals are in charge as they had to prove themselves to get their and not just be picked or be of noble birth; on the down side this can lead to levels of bureaucracy in-fighting with some officials trying to get rivals removed from power. Carrea is technically a vassal state of Chineigh, paying tribute and often sending officials and nobility to learn or do business in the larger nation; but politically it is autonomous.
Aside from Carrea and Chineigh, the four nations’ relationship has flip-flopped from reasonable to quiet rivals to disastrous. While times are peaceful now, numerous wars have been fought in the past. The last large one between nations was only about two centuries years ago and engulfed the entirety of Carrea all the way to its north border when Neighpon invaded. In terms of track record, Neighpon is the most war-like and Tailand is the most peaceful. Part of the whole reason the Carrean invasion by Neighpon occurred was the shogun thought giving the Neighpon lords, who’d been fighting each other for decades, a common enemy would stop the infighting. Chineigh itself was also once a warring states setting before being united under its first emperor. Carrea and Tailand also went under, albeit smaller, conflicting states periods.
Contact with Equestria took awhile to happen. While some old Saddle Arabian sea charts suggest they or someone they traded with might have known of the continent at some point, contact was lost and the history forgotten to time. This was hampered by a virtual maelstrom in the middle of the Lunar Ocean that turns back most ships who see it. First official contact was caused at first by some Equestrian explorer vessels several centuries ago got thrown off course by a storm, skillfully finding a safe route through the maelstrom; and found their way to the region. Since then long distance sea trade has been established. With it some kirin have chosen to immigrate across the sea to Equestria. A large number of immigrants are lower class from Neighpon and Chineigh, but some artisans and upper class have made the voyage too. A vast majority of immigrants and their families live on Equestria’s eastern coast, with a few taking the trains all the way to Manehattan. Since many are from the coast in their homeland though, settlement in the Equestrian heartland is virtually unheard of and even Canterlot doesn’t have any kirin living in it. Ponyville only has one.
Kirin monarchs are not functionally immortal like one of the two alicorn sisters, though some tend to be incredibly long lived. This hasn’t stopped some from trying for longer and there have been many attempts with both chemistry and alchemy to find some way to ascend to an alicorn equivalent. Kirin chemists are in their regard, second only to the elk and zebra in potion making. No such luck so far though, though some other miraculous inventions have come about due to the quest for immortality. Black Powder was discovered by one inquisitive but bad-lucked Chineigh inventor several hundreds years ago, in an incident where he accidentally burned down his lab. On a tamer example of invention, Neighpon styled comic books and artwork has found a new market in Equestrian youths just as Equestrian culture bled over onto them. Fluttershy is a fan.
Because Ki Seong is from Carrea, some context for them especially is needed. Carrea has three main social classes. The royal family, the Yangban (nobility and officials), and commoners. Mobility between the classes is very limited, but not necessarily impossible; being more rigid than Equestria but less than Saddle Arabia. Carrea is not egalitarian between genders, bucks having more power and rights that does. This was less so in the past, mostly changing after the war with Neighpon shattering the peace. Recently however things have begun to swing towards more equality due to influence from Equestria for a few centuries, no small part caused by some measure of awe for it’s very powerful princess whom even the more hardlined nobles or royals do respect. Ironically this inequality is actually more pronounced in the Yangban than commoners. Whereas two centuries ago a Yangban doe couldn’t leave her household unescorted, it was seen as perfectly normal for a commoner doe to work alongside her husband or father in a trade.
Names in Carrea, like it’s neighbors, are oriented differently than in Equestria. Whereas Equestria often gives a nickname based off a cutiemark and uses the given name first, talent based names remain as casual nicknames in Carrea and it’s the family name which is put first due to a strong sense of descent and kinship in the culture. Upon being granted a prestigious title or rank, a kirin may also add a new name to their title or replace their old one. When adopted, using both family names or discarding their old one for their new one typically occurs. Many Carrean names also use silent letters, a silent “e” before an “o” being very common.
Thus Ki Seong's name, if transcribed directly and put into Equestrian orientation would be "Song Ki". When she first arrived in Equestria and some heard her name, they thought she was saying "Tea Song" (no doubt also due to her skills) and she both liked it and decided to just run with it.
As mentioned earlier, political rank in Carrea is actually partially merit based. While having a prestigious family background is a plus, as long as one qualifies for the examinations and scores well; they can work their way up the social ladder. One renown Yangban who was the chief advisor to the king himself started out as a waiter. In a similar class to officials and magistrates is the military officer route, which is more heavily merit based but some family connections certainly apply. While centuries ago not seen as all that important due to the peacetime, the Neighpon invasion and later attempted raids on the northern border by caribou have kept the nation on its toes.
Marriage in Carrea can take many forms. While marriage after courting and letting the newlyweds pick for themselves has existed for itself, increased somewhat due to Equestrian influence, other methods ranging from a buck and doe living in the same house for X amount of days being counted as married to literally mail ordering a bride or groom from a matchmaker have happened. The most common is an arrangement by the parents to betroth their children by 13 and have them marry once they are older and have a chance to be acquainted some to ensure it’s a good fit. While some kirin youths (especially in modern times) dislike this method and see it as archaic and removing of their freedoms; others defend it and see it as deferring to their parents’ greater experience in marriage to find them a good match without teen hormonal lust driving it. Until recent decades, it wasn’t unheard of for Yangban bucks to have multiple wives; but this has fallen out of favor in the past decades.
The Carrean kirin aren’t alone in inhibiting their lands. Numerous races and species many Equestrians have never seen nor heard of live in the same space. Some are benevolent and revered, like the imugi. Imugi are massive, serpent-like amphibians who live in the sea and water bodies. Imugi have a species magic that activates upon them committing 1,000 good deeds; turning into their legged, adult form of of a Ryung. Often called an “Oriental Dragon” though the resemblance to Equestrian dragons is superficial and not based off familiar closeness. While respected and revered, all four kirin nations always take heed not to offend an imugi or ryung; for a being with wealth of knowledge and power to help can do the opposite if ticked off.
On the opposite side of the spectrum are the numerous monsters and dangerous beasts in the lands, the equivalent to Equestria’s windigos and Everfree monsters. It’s almost ironic the most dangerous and feared of which is both the least destructive and most beautiful. Thankfully, one hasn’t been seen in centuries and the other three nations actually speak very highly of it. What’s one Carrean’s demon is a Neighponese’s fantasy.
Once again, another great addition to the history of Equestria then references to my past ancestry of Japan and Asia (considering I'm 1/4th myself), and you didn't sugar coat it Tarb. Just like the real world, all four of these nations have had their difficulties over the past centuries, but at least the Equestrian versions were a bit more tame than ours, unless you have a reference to Genghis Khan in their history as well.
I suppose in reference to Neighpon, did the way of the Samurai or at least a similar warrior class exist in Neighpon during it's history, and has its influence been lost to time? I'm a huge fan of Samurai tales, like Usagi Yojimbo being my early childhood exposures.
Speaking of Usagi, there was one tale in the series that talked about the disputes that many of the Asian nations had with western influences affecting their culture, such as how the spread of Christianity in the Edo Period was a time of serious dispute and even warfare. Did any of the Kirin nations have similar disputes on the discovery of Celestia as ruler of the Sun?
I don't want to seem like a cultural lud, but what tale is this? It sounds familiar, but I can't quite pin it, and I've made it a personal goal to learn about the classics of Asian folklore, such as Momotaro and The tale of Princess Kayuga. What tale is this?
Oh sweet Celestia, YES, Asian monsters, especially Japanese ones are ****ED UP. The Kappa for one thing, who's now a cute mascot for water safety...well, you don't want to know the method of how they steal your SOULS.
Though, some of the monsters of Asian myth are awesome, like the inclusion of the Gashadokuro in "Kubo and the Two Strings". But there is ONE modern Japanese myth that will continue to scare the loving PANTS of of me: Kuchisake-onna! Pray you never meet this woman in a dark alley or else......well, you wanna know how I got these scars?....
vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/legendsofthemultiuniverse/images/d/d0/Joker_laughing.gif/revision/latest?cb=20131005065202
Seriously, asian ghosts are messed up. Unlike western Ghosts, who seek a form of absolution so they can move on, Asian Yomi are more raw emotions that won't go away, at least that's a recurring the theme I see. BRRRRRRRRR!
BUT, Tarb my good ol' chum, you forgot ONE nation who's influence has spread FAR AND WIDE. I'm of course talking about Neighpon! And which influence am I talking about? Well, how else was Fluttershy supposed to get THESE cutouts?
img13.deviantart.net/8429/i/2015/267/1/9/fluttershy_anime_cutouts_by_gabrielthewolf15-d9astoe.png
Still, an excellent entry dude, and I can't wait for more.
A jab at the King and I, eh~?
4200392
THANK YOU, NOW I REMEMBER!
Now I do feel like a lud. :P
Love all these history and mythology references.
4200392
Eh, less jab and more a mix of noting some historical liberties the story took.... Plus some repressed bad memories of when I was in marching band and had to preform some music from that piece... Ow
4200380
Yah I'm going to be trying my hardest to not make any Mary-Suetopias. Heck, even a peaceful, great place like Equestria has some casual racism, ignorance and pettiness; and other problems. It's a packaged deal, more good than bad, but in some ways just "different". I used a lot of east Asian culture knowledge in this, so I guess those Anthropology classes are showing. I am not East Asian descent myself (least not in any significant portion, I'm a mutt), but do know a lot of it's historical contexts and cultures due to both my family (grandparents fought in Korean war, parents had an extended station near Seoul in 1980s-1990s) and my world learning. Carrea basically is Joseon era Korea for example.
Case where I put the "not better, not worse, just different" was the arranged marriage gig I mentioned. In Western media, we get taught arranged marriages are almost also less preferable to marrying for love. And there is some merit to that view. But then when I studied some cultural context from central and eastern Asia, a new way of looking at it was brought up by the teens letting their more marriage-experienced parents find them a good match while they focused on schooling or career building. Factor in all the stress teen dating causes and happiness success rate with arranged matches and I went "Huh, well it's not my thing but I guess it works for them. Good for them.".
That sort of thing was the differences I was trying to evoke.
Given real life Samurai persisted all the way into the late 1800s, Equestria still has knights, and even after the Shogunate went away the Samurai often just changed roles in becoming military officers or scholars (since they were learned), I'd imagine they're still going on strong even if older ways change some.
Christianity in the East was a very diverse beast. Some cases it was punished greatly, like in Japan and parts of China. Other times it was embraced and synchronized with pre-existing beliefs like in Korea (Pyongyang was once known as the "Jerusalem of the East") to the point it became a means of national pride. Celestia may have had a similar response among the kirin, though maybe not as heavy since Tia never strikes me as one accepting being worships. Revered sure, but more as a respected and beloved leader and protector rather than a deity or religious focus. The biggest stir I'd see she'd cause is a monkey wrench into the patriarchal belief system in some settings (given the kirin's cultural influences were such due to ancient Confucianism very explicitly putting men above women). Here's this foreign ruler they've never even heard of who's so powerful and respected but they not only not a kirin, they're female. Likely put a couple dents in the gender very structure much like how Queen Victoria rattled some views.
Of course any sexism these days would probably be in a well meaning manner, just do to environment they were raised in as opposed to conscious choice in being rude. Think Trenderhoof's racism towards Applejack. Something like, "Let the world respect the diarch of the sun, truly a powerful female if there ever was one. Imagine the might they'd bear if they were a stallion!".
Besides fanon worlds worshiping and not praising the sun are a bit .... weird...
Of course! How could I forget, lemme add that last part in.
And damn straight. Though to be fair people tend to forget how downright creepy Medieval European Fae were, given they were incredibly comparable to the Japanese yokai. Though, we'll definitely see some terror from the east soon enough. Namely me looking at a cute face hiding horrific resolve and intent.
4200409
Why thank you! I am open to any future suggestions!
Maybe you should add some kind of Whatever-Planet-Equestria-Is equivalent to the legendary Sun Wukong, the Monkey King. Maybe you can leave a tidbit that this Monkey King of Equestria was once a very real and powerful warrior, that may or may not still be around in the present, fighting all manner of dangerous creatures and warriors. You should make it where this guy may have found a way to make himself, or herself, truly immortal (basically more immortal than even the Princesses of Equestria, in a cannot die no matter what kind of way), just like the stories and legends of the actual Monkey King himself...
Fun Fact: The Monkey King's Japanese name is Son Goku, three guesses who was inspired by that fact...
That should definitely be a thing because of how big of an influence Sun Wukong was in Asian Folklore and eventually Popular culture today...
4200447 I am well acquainted with Sun Wukong and the role in myth and culture he has played all the way into the present. However if we want to split hairs on myth origins, Lord Hanuman takes seniority as he predates Sun Wukong and Sun Wukong was likely derived from him. Going off earliest (and thus less exaggerated) versions of either and they're both on a high tier of power but not as "OH GOD OP" as they were in later versions. And keep in mind both Sun Wukong and Lord Hanuman's roles in mythology were at students and proteges seeking to help others and not achieving perfection, but doing the good they could in a struggle against evil. As someone who's studied the works these two legends came from, making either top of the pecking order would defeat the point as both Journey to the West and the Ramayana giving them their character in the first place.
As for appearances, I would include either Lord Hanuman or Sun Wukong if I could; but I'd adhere to the Cosmology of the show and not put them on tiers higher than the alicorn sisters. Maybe comparable, but I've worked out a system and don't want things complicating it. Rule #2 of fanon writing is never marginalize the canon stuff. No debating this point please.
4200451 That's alright, I just thought it would be pretty cool to add that kind of character in your mythos of Equestria that you are making...
And honestly, I've never heard of Lord Hanuman until now, and that was why I suggested Sun Wukong instead of him. Now that I think of it, the only time I have even faintly heard that name was in the Phineas and Ferb episode where they decide to make their own cartoon, and Baljeet's hero alter-ego was named; Hanumanman...
I haven't seen it in so long I kinda forgot about it...
Thanks for responding and giving me an answer on why you wouldn't put them in a tier higher than Celestia and Luna...
Ummm...
An interesting description... but I'm left to wonder, what exactly is it?
Wait, let me guess... it's the one Ki Seong will be freaking out about in a future chapter, and I should wait until then to find out, right?
Otherwise, another excellent bit of world building. I cannot comment on how closely it reflects our world, as I am no expert in this topic, but a fun bit of lore regardless.
Really loved this blog, especially how you acknowledged that Kirin have different name variations and that their society was split into four nations with their own writing and language. It was interesting to learn about their customs about marriage, gender roles, and how the government of each nation worked. It was also interesting to know that they were based on an ancient species that existed in the real world and that they have unique features like running on water and control their own weight. I also was fond of the ryung mythology. Thanks for the amazing job.
P.S: If you're curious about OP heroes, then I suggest Hindu mythology. The Hindu epic Mahābhārata has some pretty badass characters, (particularly the anti-villain Karna who isn't even the top warrior of Hindu mythology, only the one in the story). https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indrajit https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karna
4200485 As someone who knows the answer....Yes. All will be revealed soon.
4200485
If I had to make an educated guess, I'd say this passage is referring to the Kumiho, a demon of Korean folklore that happens to resemble the greatest fantasy of furries and otakus everywhere. Much like the more well-known Kitsune, the Kumiho is a magical nine-tailed fox with shapeshifting powers and a tendency to take the form of a beautiful maiden. However, unlike its Japanese and Chinese counterparts, the Kumiho prefers to kill and then eat the heart and/or liver of the young males they seduce rather than try to marry them (I know all this because the SCP Foundation happens to have one of these creatures locked up due to said predilection for recreational murder).
4201031
Why the heck do all these fare-folk and mystical creatures have such a prevalence to kill others for the sake of it?
What is it with all these "Blue and Orange" moral cases? They just creep me the **** out because "That's just what they do". Thank Celestia modern tales try to add some motivation to them. :P
4201093
4201031
Mix of odd morality, sometimes revenge against humans; and sometimes tragic examples. Keep in mind many fae and yokai myths have origins in describing human outcasts and perceived evil. Werewolves for instance were metaphors for human rapists and serial killers (the Big Bad Wolf in earlier versions of Little Red Riding Hood was a werewolf for instance). Succubi were a way of demonizing harlots and maintain lessons of not having sex outside of marriage.
To give an example of odd morality at play would be the Kumiho (or Gumiho) already mentioned. There's an old parable about a young man playing music in the forest. He unknowingly charmed a kumiho who liked to listen to his music. However she wanted to never be without the happiness felt when listening, so she came to the conclusion if feelings come from the chest (i.e the heart), she'd take his with her. So she ripped his heart out and ate it to keep it with her at all times.
4201216
Ah, so there actually IS a motivation or a "human element" behind most of these creatures, aside from the Eldritch Horror explanation of: "It just amused me." SCREW THOSE GUYS.
4201235
Well keep in mind, many times it is unprovoked. So it's not always humans being jerks. Due to values dissonances, many times humans tick off fae in legend the human did something seemingly insignificant the fae took extreme offense to.
4201216
These magical fox-women certainly give new meaning to the term "sexual predator," eh?
On an unrelated note, as a fellow fan of both mythology and paleontology, can I just say how I think it's absolutely gods-damned brilliant that you've made Kirins some manner of Sivatherium-like giraffid in terms of biological taxonomy? I mean, it seems so frickin' obvious in hindsight considering that the word for Kirin is synonymous with "giraffe" in the languages of all these East Asian countries, and yet this is the first time I've ever seen anyone take this sort of path in the depiction of one of the most notable creatures in all of Oriental folklore.
4200458
I recently had an idea that Sun Wukong could be the fantasy equivalent of Sun Tzu by writing the literal book on how to wage war. Seriously, "the Art of War by Sun Wukong" just has a way of rolling off the tongue. For bonus points, our lovably violent Monkey King could even be a descendent of Lord Hanuman whom was born to a group of Vanara (monkey-people from Hindu mythology) that migrated across the Himayllama Mountains to Chineigh from... whatever the Ponyverse equivalent of India is. Heck, for even more fun, Sun Wukong could in-turn be an ancestor of King Louie, leader of the infamous Bandar-log gang.
4203630
Aw, thanks man! Really appreciate the compliment! The idea came to me from multiple angles.
1. Sivatherium and giraffids in general once being far more widespread than they are now, plenty of species in southern Asia and even placed the Kirin myth came from.
2. The association of words between the mythological Kirin and the regional name in a lot of East Asian countries for a giraffe either being directly adapted from or being the exact same word as the name for a kirin.
3. The infamous Chinese Treasure voyages of Zheng He brought back a few giraffes to China after being bought by Somali traders. These giraffes were called Quilins/Kirins and some of the kirin's traits like "scales" (giraffe's body coat resembles scales) and not disturbing grass (long legs make pathways vague) probably came from the captive giraffes.
4. If you were to take a kirin and strip away all the fantastical elements, you'd actually get something quite similar to some ancient giraffids given many of them had very elaborate ossicone antlers and horns. As an added perk of a giraffid over a cervid like an elk, kirin have very wide hooves which are much more like the wide feet of a giraffe or okapi than a deer. Plus we already had cervid nations in this fandom (which ironically both the canon deer and fanon caribou both ended up being hated).
As an added plus it was a chance for me to deflect on the fanon idea that Dragon + Pony = "Kirin" by not only making them a unique race, but basing them on a real life species that actually existed not too long ago. And if horses can be given very primate-like heads, odd proportions, bright coats, horns, and bird wings I think I could get away with giving a Sivatherium scales and a longer tail.
4203686
Yeah, I read about most of that stuff earlier on the Wikipedia page for Qilin, and Sivatherium is a criminally under-represented prehistoric beastie that deserves more love/recognition. Also, I've gotta agree with you on being sick and tired of ignorant people in this fandom thinking that Kirin are some kind of dragon/pony hybrids; "Them's Fighting Herds" should've taught them by now that the proper name for the hybrid offspring of dragons and equines would be "Longma" (though I'm also willing to accept "Dracony" or the like in the event of Longma being made into a unique sub-race or whatever).
Going through this, when he mentioned the four main countries, I figured right away they’d be China, Korea, and Japan, but I couldn’t decide who the 4th would be. It could have potentially been Hong Kong, Cambodia, or Vietnam, maybe even Malaysia or Indonesia. Or if he waned to be a little more mysterious, Tibet. But Taiwan is a fine choice.
So part of me wants to think of the different Kirin races as being the modern generation of a very old species, evolved relatively little from their ancient ancestors. Which could help account for why they exhibit such atavistic traits similar to reptilians, and their Equestrian cousins do not.
The famous hero-king of Tailand you say? Hmmm….
Well I would imagine that the Kirin would be very adept swimmers anyways, having the long sleek bodies, and tails for propulsion. Though I would wonder if they would keep with their mammalian kindred and use the up-down motion, or use the side-to-side like a reptile or a fish, which might look more appropriate given their body design.
So the Kirin have long quasi-prehensile tongues. Well done Tarb, I think you’ve given Derpibooru quite enough material to work with, they can take it from here.
Jokes aside, that’s actually a really cool distinction you’ve chosen to make, that they are primarily browsers rather than grazers. And since they also partake in small amounts of meat in the form of fish and eggs, I can imagine them using these tongues to dig into holes to get at insects.
By the way Tarb, this little blog gave me the idea for an interesting story, I’ll PM you more info.
I would prefer to respond to more of the article, but I'm terribly tired at the moment.
4204299 Yeah! Don't they know the difference? Those uncultured swine. And I'm with you, more Sivatherium, more I say! They could be the basis for an interesting pre-historic race of Equestrian occupants.
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Just a bit of correction here, but I'm going to attribute this to similar country name and you being bone-tired when you wrote this; the fourth Kirin kingdom is based of Thailand not Taiwan. Taiwan is basically island-China without the communism, being set up by the nationalists after they got back-stabbed by the Red Army and fled to the island to fortify it. We call it Taiwan to distinguish it from mainland China, though the nation's name is really Republic of China.
Thailand is a nation on the south Asia peninsula to the south of China and it's technical name is Siam but Faithy and I couldn't come up with a pun for it and wanted to avoid confusion so we used the modern name. This isn't completely modern map we're using anyways so countries that are now distinct from Thailand now like Vietnam and Laos are still part of it since they were once part of the Siam kingdom at some point or another to varying degrees before French and later Cold War carved it up.
Kirin probably are decent swimmers, though if they could use their tail for propulsion is a question mark as outside of primates, mammalian tails tend to be much less muscular and lack the hip anchor muscles lizards and archosaurs have to undulate their tails effectively to swim with. Still plenty of ungulates can swim quite well, like tapirs. I just noted the "no water breathing" to affirm they are terrestrial primarily.
I'm already gonna touch someone's crazy oriental fetish and given how humanity is I know someone out there finds plenty of other traits kinky. So meh, tongue part wouldn't surprise me. Threw it is in a funny surprise trait given at the zoo I work at, the giraffes constantly take tourists by surprise with that (we have a feeding platform where you can feed giraffes fruit slices or crackers. Freak outs once the tongue comes out are hilarious).
Yah though it be a neat thing to throw in to again reinforce the giraffid biology to oppose the equine biology. Besides plenty of kirin traits (lifted from similarly browsing Sivatherium and Okapi) fit a browser and most of eastern Asia has much more forest than plains anyways. Can even play in subtle ways, like I'd imagine kirin restaurants sent to have much lower set seats and higher set tables because a browser wouldn't be as used to bending their neck down to eat as a grazer would so the food would be higher up relative to them.
I could see the tongue getting up some insects, maybe not as the primary purpose or by intent but giraffes slurp up hordes of tree ants all the time without even focusing on it. Tongue tongue and cheeks meant to grasp thorns meant stings do jack nothing to them and I believe okapis are the same way.
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I did put Taiwan!
You put the ball on the tee for me and I still missed! Jeezus-fuckin'-christ.
I don't know terribly much about the history of East Asia, though history in general, and ancient migrations do interest me a lot. Not that I think it's not interesting, I just figured I owed it to my own heritage to study Western history primarily.
With the long tails and reptilian traits, I thought they could perhaps swish their tails side to side like a crocodile. Or because they're mammals, up and down like a dolphin. I could see either way, their frame is fairly lithe and sleek.
I suppose you could have Kirin restaurants be like the traditional Japanese style, where they sit on the floor. Only here, the tables are raised a bit higher.
As I understand it, insects are a great source of protein, and are plentiful. So I think they'd be a convenient snack for the passing Kirin on the go. Something like a 'ant-pocket' where they just slurp their tongue into a long cup-like thing. Or even a termite Payday!
I have to say that I find myself interested in the Chineigh nation. And I have to wonder if they have a wall on their own western border to keep out a certain enemy nation. I can though, imagine a large collection of Chineigh Kirin doing Tai Chi, or some long-bow Kung-Fu.
A little bit of headcanon that would be cool, would be like an annual martial arts tournament amongst themselves, culminating in one Pan-Kirin champion.
Oh, and I definitely recognized The King and I at first glance. Which could be an interesting premise for the show to take inspiration from for an episode.
Interesting that you chose to leave out the split between North and South Korea in your transposing. I guess it keeps things relatively simple, and Fuck Communists. So while I do think it would have been interesting to have some kind of geopolitical rift the Carrean peninsula, I suppose it's not necessary.
Let's not forget about the time when large numbers of Chineigh Kirin were brought in to help build the Trans-Equestrian railway, before being deported under the Chineighse exclusion act.
Alright, so the caribou are the analogies to the Russians, (is my guess) so I wonder who the Elk would be analogical to. Perhaps the Celts and their druids.
CUDDLY! *cuddles the Kirin*