Irchtani

The Irchtani are a species of winged xenobites native to the planet Judecca in the Centaurus Arm. They are slightly smaller than humans, with great wings serving as their primary limbs — their arms — tipped with talons that can grip and wield weapons as tall as a human. They also have clawed feet. Their beaks are short, and they possess both a spoken language and a sign language. Their society is organized around chieftains and princes, with a strong religious orientation centered on the temple of Athten Var on Judecca's highest mountain — described as the holiest of holies in Irchtani culture. The Irchtani perceive color differently from humans; they do not distinguish between green and red in the way humans do.

The Irchtani first made contact with humanity during the early expansion of the Sollan Empire into the Centaurus Arm, when the scholiast Simeon the Red's Expeditionary Corps ship surveyed Judecca. Simeon learned their spoken and sign languages, and when a crew mutiny threatened to enslave Irchtani as exotic curiosities, the Irchtani princes allied with Simeon to defend Athten Var until the mutineers were defeated. By the time of the novel's present, Irchtani auxiliaries serve in the Imperial Legions fighting the Cielcin, and the Emperor is reportedly considering granting citizenship to those who complete a standard twenty-year term of service.

The xenologist Valka Onderra cites the Irchtani as a counter-example to Philemon of Neruda's linguistic hypothesis — the theory that grammar-capable species are uniquely positioned for civilizational growth and star travel. The Irchtani have language but have not achieved star travel independently, which Valka uses to argue that the sample size for Philemon's theory is too small to be conclusive.