>>37481046Cirrus Wisp's name references the sky and, from my limited reading, the sky is incredibly important to Turkic and Mongolic shaman
also why I've started writing about it so I'll propose a similar name for the elder mare in your excellent drawing: Borean Æther (or Ether, if people would rather avoid special characters/ligatures/etc.).
The ancient Greeks personified the north wind as 'Boreas' and called those who lived to the far north, 'hyperboreans', since they were seen to live beyond that wind. As the shaman lie at the centre of snowpone religious belief, you could say they personify or represent the wind and sky and serve to tie the tribes to them.
Aether/Ether is both the ancient Greek personification of the sky and the substance that was believed to fill it The derived adjective 'ethereal' has connotations of spirituality or, you might say, detachment from the world and a stronger connection to the sky or that which isn't of the world.
On the subject of cutie marks, what ones we've seen for the snowpones so far look more abstract than Equestrian pones which tend more towards literal. What if there are entirely different mechanics surrounding how a snowpone attains one? They carry on traditions from an entirely different age and so there might have been, at one time, different magic regarding cutie marks. Depending on the flavour of the culture you want to pant them with, you could even put your own take on it.
Are they the results of great deeds? Painted on by the shaman of the tribe in a ceremony, afterwards, that sees them become part of the snowpone themselves. Maybe there are elaborate rituals surrounding tests for what aptitudes a foal possesses with those who don't have a cutie mark after them being said to be selected for a more unusual destiny in life. Snowpones are entirely the creation of the board so why not come up with something entirely new? They're a true blank canvas, after all.
