RIFT

Today, a new competition started up on DeviantArt, in which the challenge is to create a new type of monster to act as a colossus in the popular MMORPG RIFT.
(As I've just learn how to, here's a link to buy the game!)

The contest will be up for a while longer, more details can be found [here].

The idea is to choose one of the 6 planars to base the colossus on, which is a creature who controls hoards of lesser beings, all of whom originate from a rift.
As I hope you would of been able to guess, this creature originates from the water plane.
And, in my effervescent wisdom, it's a sea horse.

The general shape of the body is, of course, that of a mix between a seahorse and a horse, though with the fore-leg joints being much higher than usual. I believe this gives it a more fantastic, unnatural feel. It's a very thin creature with it's rib cage, facial structure and muscles protruding.
While subtle, gold is a theme throughout the image, linking the golden eyes with the jewels on the fins, through to the shining effect of the skin.
The glassy, rainbow-esque hooves are a link back to the rainbow-tree I drew a while ago.
The general look of the entire piece is that of the concept art I saw from RIFT before creating it, which can be found [here]. With 2 perspective views showing important views of the creature, defining the concept well for potential 3D creation.

As a small additional note, the idea of the kelpie, a mythical bog creature which would occasionally take the form of a horse (also commonly a form of a woman) who would drag any who tried to catch it into the swamp to be devoured, was a strong inspiration for this piece.