Veed, they/it/he
I do natural science illustration, speculative biology, and invertebrate husbandry. I also love video games. Here ye shall find art, critters, and worldbuilding.
Hello and welcome! My name is Veed (they/it/he please). I am an artist + volunteer naturalist.
This is a place for my art and creatures. I post a lot of pet bugs and Pacific Northwest nearshore wildlife, so be careful if you don't like creepy crawlies! I also occasionally post artistic nudity.
I'm currently mostly working on art for Sea of Spires, a sci-fantasy setting with speculative biology elements.
I also have the planet Attis, an older hard scifi leaning project that I'm in the process of dusting off.
PLEASE feel free to send me questions! I love answering stuff about my worldbuilding!
Here is an image of my character Yarlu styling her integument in a gender affirming fashion. She occupies a transfeminine/transmodor gender space within her culture, with short "feathers" being considered somewhere between feminine and gender neutral.
She is a Lower vitvit who has joined a nearby monastic order for a variety of reasons. Members of her monastic order tend to wear gender neutral clothing and "hair" styles which is what initially attracted Yarlu to the order.
The mirror she is viewing herself in has a stylized vitvit eye at each corner, which serve a religious/ apotropaic purpose. The bottle on the shelf in front of her is stylized with "kee plant" imagery and contains oil used to stylize and maintain the scale-like integument common to both vitvit and kee.
Wightia declivirostris with speculative display features heavily inspired by @nineslugs Kee species. Also featuring a large scar on the flesh covered crest and a slightly broken beak.
Sunbeam has some mental health issues which are very much exacerbated by grief + a bad "breakup". Kee psychology isn't 100% like that of a human, but there is some overlap in certain areas. Social loss however impacts kee much more deeply, often being felt as a fundamental change to self and identity.
Sunbeam has preexisting psychiatric issues similar to human anxiety and depressive psychosis which compound with the blow to selfhood they take upon experiencing clique dissolution. They have healing to do.
An image of Viola during the last military action it took along with its cliquemates. This is one of the earliest military events during which kee got exposed to firearms. The technology for such was adapted from Terran sophonts (like alver) which adapted to the technology more quickly than their kee and vitvit counterparts.
Kee and vitvit from the area were not aware of the technology, especially birdshot and buckshot which was used to take down vulnerable kee squadrons.
You can also see here one of the ways kee express emotions. Their eye discs have chromatophores that can change between white and red. There is always a small white ring around the lens, which expands to cover more of the eye disc with fear or discomfort.
This design is slightly our of date. Viola is missing its clique tattoo and current Viola doesn't have the black markings on its wings. I kept forgetting to draw them so removed them from its design.
A reference sheet for great alver I made last year and forgot to upload. This is still pretty accurate!
Alver are diprotodont marsupial sophonts native to the Terran biotope. They have moderate sexual dimorphism, with males being slightly larger and in possession of mobile display fangs. Female coat patterns tend to be less patchy and with fewer colors, tending towards solid coats, but there is a lot of variety in color and pattern so this doesn't always hold true.
Their society tends to be divided into two different family units. Females often form family troops consisting of related females, offspring, and current seasonal mates. Males either join troops (typically in a temporary seasonal fashion) or join bachelor groups consisting of unmated males who live together and share resources. Bachelor groups are often ephemeral, but some individuals regularly rejoin with the same group outside of mating season.
An up to date reference for my marsupial guy. He's a great alv, a species of sophont marsupial in Sea of Spires. He is transmasculine, though this identity isn't viewed in his society exactly the same way as it is in contemporary western culture.
Alver in general tend to enjoy high contrast, often black and white, patterns in their clothing and tattoos. Bainan is no different, and his usual style of dress reads as pretty basic or maybe even a little tacky. He likes gold a lot, which can be seen in his accessories.
An up to date reference for Viola. It's clothes here are for cooler weather than what I drew Sunbeam in. Since kee don't speak through their mouths or emote much with their faces a pretty common thing to wear for warmth is a hood that covers the whole head (minus the eyes and tympana).
Up to date reference of Sunbeam! Plus some kee clothing. Their clothing tends to be pretty minimal if they can get away with it so that flight isn't impeded (kee clothing in general tends towards being lightweight).
A more photorealistic illustration of Viola (the larger kee) and Sunbeam (the smaller kee) comforting one another.
This illustration gives a better indication of what kee integument is like. They are covered in feathery, insect-like scales, which tend to stop growing on areas with scarring. They also have a naked patch surrounding their mouth and eyes. Their eyes are highly mobile and chameleon-like, but are not capable of independent movement. Like terran animals kee use hemoglobin in their blood, giving their exposed flesh a pinkish hue.
Both Sunbeam and Viola have some amount of facial scarring but Viola's is more extensive. Viola's left tympanum (the crescent shaped structure behind it's eye, used for hearing) has damage which makes it hard of hearing on that side and predisposes it to infections.
Here's a couple of in-progress pics showing my original sketch and preliminary shading. Also some marginalia. I did this whole piece in Procreate on the ipad.
I really love your kee! Thank you for writing and creating and drawing!
Minor question: Is Sunbeam a hybrid of different groups of kee?
Thank you!
Yes, Sunbeam is a hybrid. They’re mostly a mix of Sinestral and Little Island kee, so are almost certainly sterile. This isn’t much of an issue for them though since they’re not personally interested in laying eggs.
Sunbeam and the rest of their clique are alive during a time of ecological upheaval. Crops are failing, livestock aren’t doing well, and conflict is on the rise.
This is somewhat less of an immediate problem for kee since they are small, can easily travel, and aren’t that reliant on animal food sources (they are technically omnivores but have a preference for frugivory). Vitvit, however, rely a lot on animal protein and are under more immediate threat. This has led to increased conflict between polities with large vitvit populations.
While kee aren’t typically that violent amongst themselves for a variety of reasons, they tend to be more open to fighting with other species. This lends itself to kee being hired on by vitvit to provide air support and reconnaissance during wartime.
Sunbeam’s clique were originally itinerant mercenaries but ended up taking on an extended contract with a hybrid kee-vitvit city. This location has historically relied primarily on cropland, fisheries, and trade for it’s food resources. Their trade and fishing industries had been less heavily impacted by ecological change, making the location a tempting target for nearby peoples more reliant on nomadic pastoralism and more greatly impacted. Eventually this culminates in an extended siege, with Sunbeam's people being on the losing side.
This is the last conflict Sunbeam’s clique serves a combat role in. After recovering, Sunbeam and their cliquemate Viola do some minor reconnaissance work before changing careers and getting involved in translation and interpretation.
Here they are wearing some traditional battle gear (left) and naked to show off their anatomy (right).
You can see that the claws on their right t-type wing are naturally longer than their left. The scales lining the edge of the wing are naturally longer on that side as well, but Sunbeam keeps them clipped to match their other wing so that flight isn’t impacted. On the propatagium of their right wing Sunbeam has a tattoo representing their four cliquemates, which is common and expected in their culture for kee that have officially joined a clique.
The outfit Sunbeam is wearing is pretty standard armor worn by kee light infantry and mercenary forces. Because of their extensive patagium kee usually wear clothes that cover only the head and chest, along with a small cap that covers the genitalia Their armor tends to be very lightweight and made of many layers of cloth, and those with more resources wear armor that incorporates lightweight advanced ceramics. When needing more extensive armor, kee use temporary adhesives to affix cloth or ceramic plates over their back and chest.
Sunbeam is wearing the cloth version including small metal studs on their jacket for extra protection. They are also wearing metal claw covers and a beak cap intended for close quarters fighting. Their wing claws are decoratively enameled, but the colorful coating also strengthens them without adding too much weight. Other decorative elements of their outfit include the dyed plant stalk on the headdress and the logo on their left shoulder. The logo is their clique’s battle emblem.
Note: I’m slowly going through uploading my back load of art since I’m not a fast writer. This piece is from late in 2024.
Kee are incredibly varied sophonts. As a whole they represent not a species, but a species complex. Not all kee can successfully reproduce with one another depending on how distantly related they are, but all types of kee can interbreed with at least one other group. This can lead to gene transfer even between groups that cannot successfully hybridize.
Even within a single kee group there can be a lot of variety in coloration and markings (melanism, piebaldism, dilute color, etc.), which I will cover later.
Six distinct groups of kee currently exist, all descended from an extinct ancestor that began to diversify about 2mya. These groups are as follows:
Dextral/Narrow Wing
Average Wingspan and Weight
N-type: 36in, 1.0lbs
T-type: 25.5in, 0.7lbs
Dexral kee are closest related to the ancestral ur-kee from which all other kee descended, existing nearly unchanged for longer than any other group. They are also the most common kee group found outside of their biotope. They can reproduce successfully with all groups of kee but don’t hybridize as easily with Little Island and Proximal kee.
Their n-types are very similar in appearance to Sinestral and Middle Island kee but their t-types have a characteristic dark cap and long, straight beak spike.
Sinestral/Broad Wing
Average Wingspan and Weight
N-type: 36in, 1.0lbs
T-type: 31.5in, 0.8lbs
Sinestral kee are most closely related to Dextral kee but also readily hybridize with Proximal kee. Unions with all other groups often produce sterile hybrids.
Both n and t-type Sinestrals have a domed profile to their head thanks to thicker integument along the top. Their t-types have an upward curved beak spike and darkened integument around the upper beak. Their wings are slightly broader than those of Dextral kee but they have a largely identical flight pattern.
Central Islands/Long Wing
Average Wingspan and Weight
N-type: 51in, 2.8lbs
T-type: 43in, 1.8lbs
Central Islands kee are the physically largest of all kee. They also have much longer necks and wings, making them look even bigger still.
They are most closely related to Dextral kee and can form viable hybrids with them and Sinestral kee. Hybridization with Middle Island kee results in sterile offspring, and their greater genetic distance from Proximal and Little Islands kee leaves them incapable of reproduction.
Unlike other kee groups, who have shorter wings for bursts of speed and maneuverability, Central Islands kee have long wings better suited for soaring and longer distance flight. This aids their more migratory lifestyle, traveling between the larger keeland central islands and the many smaller islands surrounding them. Their coloration is naturally the most blue among all kee in order to better blend with the sea and sky. They tend to have more lightweight clothing and personal effects than other groups of kee since they spend more time in flight.
Proximal/Cold Weather
Average Wingspan and Weight
N-type: 26in, 0.8lbs
T-type: 26in, 0.8lbs
Proximal kee live closer to the biozone’s central ice sheet than any other group. Adapted for the colder climate they have much thicker, fluffier integument than other kee groups and smaller wings to prevent heat loss. They fly in short bursts and are very maneuverable, but can’t fly as long distance as most other kinds of kee.
Unlike other kee, who tend to have slightly smaller t-types than n-types, Proximal n and t-types are roughly the same size.
Due to their relative genetic isolation from other groups, Proximal kee cannot reproduce with either Central or Little Island kee. Crosses with Dextral or Middle Islands kee usually produce sterile hybrids. Proximal kee can only readily reproduce with Sinestral kee.
Out of all kee Proximals are the most likely to pierce their patagium for clothing use. Kee usually live in warmer climates and wear minimal clothing, most often around the head, arms, and neck. Since Proximal kee live live in a colder climate they need to affix clothing around more of their body and patagium piercings allow for clothing to be worn more tightly around their core, conserving heat and leaving the wings and patagia unobstructed.
Middle Island/Curl
Average Wingspan and Weight
N-type: 33in, 0.9lbs
T-type: 31.5in, 0.7lbs
Middle Islanders are most closely related to Dextral and Little Island kee, both of with which they can successfully reproduce. With all others they usually yield sterile hybrids.
While Middle Island n-types look very similar to n-type Dextrals and Sinestrals, their t-types are very distinctive. Their beak spike and flanges are elongate and downturned, and their integument forms dark “eyebrows” on their mask (these eyebrows are also present to a lesser extent in n-type Middle Islanders).
Along with their striking faces, t-type Middle Islanders have very elongated integument around the edge of their wings and hind leg fins. While this slightly hampers flight it is a good show of a Middle Islander t-type’s health and is considered the mark of a promising cliquemate in Middle Islander cultures.
Little Island/Crowned
Average Wingspan and Weight
N-type: 25.5in, 0.7lbs
T-type: 24in, 0.7lbs
Little Islands kee are physically the smallest of all kee, both by weight and wingspan; an example of island dwarfism. Ancestrally they come from the dextralmost island of the greater keeland landmass, where they inhabit it’s dense expanse of forest. They have small round wings that help them tightly maneuver in their cluttered habitat.
They can only reproduce easily with Middle Islanders, and have sterile hybrids with Dextrals and Sinestrals. With Proximal and Central kee they are incapable of reproduction.
Little Islanders have similarly sized n and t-types. Their flanges have a unique split appearance in both n and t-types, ending in multiple points. In t-types their darkened eyebrow integument connects to a dark cap on behind the top beak, and the elongate nature of the individual pieces gives them a “crowned” appearance. Their t-types also have elongate integument on the edge of their wings, much like their Middle Islander relatives.
Some quick thinking about what vitvit would wear. This is kind of a dress fitted over an undergarment that keeps it in place and leaves the spiracles free. Sometimes the cutouts for breathing are covered in a mesh or thin fabric depending on the climate and local fashion.
