Now THIS is the final design of Drifter.

The design isn't much different regarding the body type (I was determined to keep the head, neck and tail) but the new spacesuit design fits them better

Now concerning Drifter's story, well I won't say much as I have HUGE projects for them :p

All I can explain is that they live in a sci-fi world, and as their name state they travel from one planet to another a lot.
One more thing is that their mask is not a prop, it is a part of their body (and the same goes for their featers).
Think about it like a shell, that they can repair if it is damaged though they will try to avoid any unnecessary injuries as much as possible.