The species currently known as the Children of the Sun were encountered after the subjugation of humanity by the Outsiders, and the subsequent rebellion of the alliances.
They are eight to ten feet tall therapodians with varying dark shades of scaled skin. They also possess a series of thick translucent crystalline plating on their torso, arms and thighs that is usually a brighter colour.
They appear similar to bipedal dinosaurs such as tyrannosaurids or dromaeosauridae, but with significant differences. They possess three clawed toes and an elongated and serrated dew claw on each foot, with two fingers and an opposable thumb on each forelimb, again clawed. Their eyes are capable of independent movement and possess W-shaped pupils.
The location and size of their space is unknown, but humanity has learned that their homeworld is called 'Place of Rest', and they have constructed a battle station named 'Tooth and Claw' somewhere close to human space.
TIMELINE
During the early days of the post-subjugation rebellion, humanity seemed to have caught the Outsiders off-guard. They eventually responded however, with both Outsider forces and warships from an unknown species that quickly became known only as Outsider Battle Thralls.
After the assault and capture of the Outsider Mothership 'Zmnyi Myaz', several pilots began to attempt to communicate with these Battle Thralls, hoping to cease the conflict with what they supposed was another subjugated species.
With several false starts, not helped by human computer systems being unable to interpret even the most basic transmission from this new species, a Children of the Sun ship expelled two identical devices before retreating, and this was taken to the Accord and the Pact to attempt to reverse engineer it and decipher its purpose.
This technology remained a mystery until the rescue of the famous scientist Peter Fienstein, who was able to grasp the technology behind the device, revealing it to be a form of Outsider translation unit, capable of learning. He quickly began work on developing a method to interpret Thrall transmissions based on information within the devices, with the intent of eventually creating a fully fledged human-thrall translator.
Eventually a basic conversation was held via ship-to-ship transmissions between human pilots and a Children of the Sun vessel, and after several such 'meetings', the Child of the Sun pilot was willing to land and meet the humans in person.
Diplomatic efforts are currently on hold as factions within the Children of the Sun have begun a civil war due to interaction with humanity.
FACTS
The chitinous crystalline plating that covers a Child of the Sun's body appears to have grown as some form of natural armor, as opposed to merely being worn.
They can produce a range of tones from below human capability to far beyond our capacity to hear, but cannot vocalise in a manner to form sounds that could allow them to speak Esperanto or another human language.
The Children of the Sun are split into several castes: Tongue, Eye, Fang, Scale, Claw, Tail. While they are not perfect matches, the castes can be considered thusly:
TONGUE: Leadership caste, the diplomats, politicians and rulers. They have apparently been exterminated by the Outsiders, with the sole exception being Flight Over Hill.
EYE: Dreamer caste, this caste is apparently akin to both artists and scientists.
FANG: Provider caste, this caste has something to do with food, but the Children of the Sun seem reluctant to discuss anything that involves eating with us.
SCALE: Healer caste, this caste contains the doctors and hatchery nurses.
CLAW: Worker caste, this caste seems to contain builders, engineers, craftsmen.
TAIL: Warrior caste, these appear to be the soldiers, pilots and scouts.
Their language and culture is heavily image-based, making translation difficult due to the minor but important distinctions they appear to have for various forms of imagery. True understanding of the various meanings for 'image' is still some time away, but it is clear that they consider the caste marking on their chest plating more than simply a drawing, and that to have no image is very, very bad.
They are currently at Stage Two Subjugation, where the species has significant autonomy as long as any Outsider edict is immediately followed, and significant portions of their production capacity is used to fuel Outsider needs.
They have recently begun a civil war, dividing the species between those who feel that humanity's influence is positive and those who feel that humanity's influence is negative. More detailed information is lacking, including the scale of the conflict.
RUMOURS
Children of the Sun appear to attach some cultural significance to eating, and refuse to do so or allow it in their presence. They also wear a thin mesh-like mask over their snouts to hide their mouths, for reasons unknown.
While all Children of the Sun that have been spoken to have considered themselves 'Good Battle Thralls', many do not seem to enjoy the Outsiders being their de facto 'Tongues'.
