Keir is from a joint world that Joe and I build, occupied by both humans and mythical creatures. I tend to call it Mythica.

As a species, Harpies are pretty rare, in part because of a massive plague that ravaged the population for a couple of decades. It was especially lethal to males, which weren't all that common to begin with. Nowadays, male harpies are so rare that their genetics are considered incredibly valuable, and most male harpies can make a living entirely via reproductive effort subsidies. Seems pretty plush, right?

Well, it depends.

Hatching a male chick is a rare and special thing, but not every mother is exactly thrilled. In Keir's case, his mother was NOT excited to hatch a boy, and in fact was extremely UNHAPPY with his existence in general--and the responsibilities that came with it. She was not a terribly great mother; she was very rough about dragging him around and poor at tolerating his mistakes as he grew up.

As an adult, Keir is vaguely ill-tempered and kind of a snot. He doesn't want to be breeding fodder, and there's a war down in Ca (a tundra-like southern continent), but male harpies are not accepted for military service, mostly due to their scarcity. So instead, he serves as an underground informant, using his position to move messages and supply vital information to a couple of rebel groups.

This won't end badly at all, right?

Trivia:

• You can't see it very well in this picture, but Keir's entire butt is white. Glorious.
• Also, his eyes are vibrant purple.
• Keir's loft apartment is filled with rich, dark blues. He accepts gifts of objects in this colour--slices of blue stone, blue glass vases and paperweights, paintings and pottery in azure--but will pretty much reject anything else. Female harpies interested in his attentions generally bring him something as a gesture of good will, almost like a backwards bowerbird situation.
• Harpies do not actually fly very well. Their flight ability is not dissimilar to that of an athletic chicken--with effort they can make it up into the top of a tree, where their ancestors used to build their houses, but they won't be soaring across the skies anytime soon. Archeological records indicate this was not always the case, and modern harpies still prefer to live in high places, but they usually rent lofts or high apartments. Some parks also have tree houses, occupied by harpies.
• Their wrists do not rotate. This makes it extremely inconvenient for them to use telephones or be chefs.

Art by Itsubun