HOME | DD

Description
(Apologies for giant size!)

We interrupt this fancomic to bring you somewhat-unrelated fanart. For a while now I've had some ideas bouncing around in my head about possible steef subspecies in and around the Mongo valley, and this week I finally got off my lazy butt and fleshed them out. I love designing beasties, sue me. They all belong to the same genus, and I sort of see them like whitetail deer and mule deer: they can interbreed, but due to geographic and behavioral differences, they usually don't, and depending on parentage, the resulting cubs may not be comfortable in either habitat.

I did consider slapping a mature filter on this because tiddies, but hopefully downplayed featureless tiddies are okay, I dunno.

Flavor text/rambling below, read at own risk

Jungle Steef: Also called the spotted steef for their distinctive markings, this species occupied the swampy jungles south of the Mongo valley, where the river became slow and shallow. They were the smallest breed of steef, with a light build, large dexterous hands, and flexible toes, all intended to help them traverse in the tangled marshes they called home. They were naturally elusive, preferring to keep to cover and engage any potential danger with hit-and-run guerrilla tactics rather than relying on raw strength. Due to this tendency to hide rather than fight, as well as their lesser status as hunting trophies compared to their larger cousins upriver, they were able to maintain their territory on the river until wide-scale damming choked the water and dried out their jungles, forcing them out into the open.

Valley Steef: Widely-considered to be the oldest species of steef from which all others descended, they occupied the majority of the Mongo river, but were found most prominently, as their name suggests, in the valley proper. Valley steef were physically powerful and extremely agile, with a tendency to face any threat to themselves or their grubb allies head-on. Because of this, they were generally perceived by industrialists to be the most aggressive type of steef, and therefore the most valuable as a hunting trophy. Actively hunted more than any other species, they were likely the first breed of steef to go extinct, although rumors occasionally surface of lone survivors.

Plains Steef: The only steef species not found near the river itself (as well as the only species with one set of horns instead of two), plains steef instead occupied the wide-open prairies outside the river's watershed. Before the arrival of industrialist expansion, their main threat was packs of roaming meeches, and so they have evolved almost exclusively in favor of speed and endurance. Though plains steef stood taller than valley steef, they lacked the muscle mass of their cousin species and instead sported long legs, sharp eyes, and a highly-efficient circulatory system that allowed them to outpace and outlast virtually any other species, at least until the introduction of motor vehicles.

Tundra Steef: Though occasionally found on the frigid northern steppes outside the valley, this species also occupied the mountain range where the river began. The largest (and hairiest) species of steef, they were capable of withstanding bitterly-cold temperatures and navigating even the steepest mountain slopes. They were also common around Ma'Spa, where they protected both grubb and newly-hatched gabbiwogs. Though typically gentle in demeanor, they weren't afraid to bring their massive strength to bear when necessary, and any industrial incursion into their territory was fiercely contested until squadrons of mercenaries, sponsored by Sekto Springs, succeeded in decimating their numbers and evicting any survivors from their ancestral home.

Description
(Apologies for giant size!)

We interrupt this fancomic to bring you somewhat-unrelated fanart. For a while now I've had some ideas bouncing around in my head about possible steef subspecies in and around the Mongo valley, and this week I finally got off my lazy butt and fleshed them out. I love designing beasties, sue me. They all belong to the same genus, and I sort of see them like whitetail deer and mule deer: they can interbreed, but due to geographic and behavioral differences, they usually don't, and depending on parentage, the resulting cubs may not be comfortable in either habitat.

I did consider slapping a mature filter on this because tiddies, but hopefully downplayed featureless tiddies are okay, I dunno.

Flavor text/rambling below, read at own risk

Jungle Steef: Also called the spotted steef for their distinctive markings, this species occupied the swampy jungles south of the Mongo valley, where the river became slow and shallow. They were the smallest breed of steef, with a light build, large dexterous hands, and flexible toes, all intended to help them traverse in the tangled marshes they called home. They were naturally elusive, preferring to keep to cover and engage any potential danger with hit-and-run guerrilla tactics rather than relying on raw strength. Due to this tendency to hide rather than fight, as well as their lesser status as hunting trophies compared to their larger cousins upriver, they were able to maintain their territory on the river until wide-scale damming choked the water and dried out their jungles, forcing them out into the open.

Valley Steef: Widely-considered to be the oldest species of steef from which all others descended, they occupied the majority of the Mongo river, but were found most prominently, as their name suggests, in the valley proper. Valley steef were physically powerful and extremely agile, with a tendency to face any threat to themselves or their grubb allies head-on. Because of this, they were generally perceived by industrialists to be the most aggressive type of steef, and therefore the most valuable as a hunting trophy. Actively hunted more than any other species, they were likely the first breed of steef to go extinct, although rumors occasionally surface of lone survivors.

Plains Steef: The only steef species not found near the river itself (as well as the only species with one set of horns instead of two), plains steef instead occupied the wide-open prairies outside the river's watershed. Before the arrival of industrialist expansion, their main threat was packs of roaming meeches, and so they have evolved almost exclusively in favor of speed and endurance. Though plains steef stood taller than valley steef, they lacked the muscle mass of their cousin species and instead sported long legs, sharp eyes, and a highly-efficient circulatory system that allowed them to outpace and outlast virtually any other species, at least until the introduction of motor vehicles.

Tundra Steef: Though occasionally found on the frigid northern steppes outside the valley, this species also occupied the mountain range where the river began. The largest (and hairiest) species of steef, they were capable of withstanding bitterly-cold temperatures and navigating even the steepest mountain slopes. They were also common around Ma'Spa, where they protected both grubb and newly-hatched gabbiwogs. Though typically gentle in demeanor, they weren't afraid to bring their massive strength to bear when necessary, and any industrial incursion into their territory was fiercely contested until squadrons of mercenaries, sponsored by Sekto Springs, succeeded in decimating their numbers and evicting any survivors from their ancestral home.