1) There wasn't an "Eastern" race before. The Greeks were there – for example, the Dungeon had about 50% of its units from Greek mythology. Well, the developers realized that it would be good to use Eastern mythology (within reasonable limits, remember the "Chinese" dragon king from Heroes 4, the Whirlwind of War?), and they did a great job!
2) There will be snow. Where else would you put the Barbarians? In the steppes too? They wouldn't get along with the mages there. But snow is the perfect place for them; it could be styled in a Scandinavian way, and there were similar suggestions on the forum.
3) About the lion Boniface – EXCELLENT! Very accurately observed. The hairstyle is exactly the same. And the angle of refraction of the lower limbs.
In general, love the academy as it is =) Seeing it in the snow again would be... well, perhaps just boring...