Biography:

Ancient, unassuming entities, the H'yendeir were little more than oddly behaved clouds before their introduction to dust; which infested their 'bodies', forming pathways which resemble neural networks, allowing the H'yendeir to retain memory and... think. Over time, the H'yendeir became more aware of their existence and that of those around them, growing ever more fascinated by the very idea of... well, an idea. Their thoughts were visable, streaks of energy firing throughout their being, intertwining with any other H'yendeir they may pass through resulting in co-optinoal thought. The firing of encoded lightning strikes between them, and resonating signals to reach farther groups allowed for near instant sharing of their thoughts and ideas. The eldest of the H'yendeir are known as 'Nimbei' and are exxessively large - spanning up to 20km in diameter; these never leave the homeworld and serve as a form of councelling leader.
Eventually one event paused all H'yendeir... a voice... a signal from a distant civilizations. Immediately they began to mobilize, to find, greet, and befriend these new entities. They longed for the stimulation of a new opinion, even if communication could not be achieved, they were ecstatic to even simply observe another sentient.

Gameplay: 

The H'yendeir are wonderlust entities; they thrive off of thought and contemplation, as well as cultural exchange. As a result, they've never known war, and are not interested in partaking should anyone insist. They consider all life to be absolutely amazing and (if possible) would even try to befriend Cravers and other Eternal War factions.

Considering their 'biology' the H'yendeir don't use food. Their reproducion consists of forming new dust-pathways and thoughts, so ideally they would use Dust and Science for population growth. Though it might only work for Dust (like Broken Lords) as no real way to increase population with Science comes to mind.

In terms of diplomacy, the H'yendeir would be able to force cease-fires, but not peace. Peace must come willingly. To insentify that, peace with the H'yendeir would grant both empires a boon: e.g. "Atmospheric Symbiote: +%Food on X-Empire, +%Dust / Science (either or) on H'yendeir." - something along those lines. Perhaps a greater boon for an alliance. The H'yendeir are very much pacifists, and are neutral-good, they'll do what they can to help their neighbours but will not be able to declare wars.

Their main victory type is Diplomatic, and the insentive (as mentioned above) for other empires to enter peace and such is mutual benefit.

Gameplay Mechanics

-       Intangible Perception: (Can see when a system has been colonized) The H'yendeir's ability to recieve information directly from signals allows them to 'see' colonies setup by other empires. {This ability would be akin to the Amoeba's affinity in ES1. However maybe only visable through the 'Scan View'? I'm unsure on how that works. This wouldn't reveal the map, it would simply show the location of colonized systems like 'blips'. If possible, these would dissappear should the colony become destroyed.}

-       Ageless: (Significant bonus to diplomatic pressure) Being giant clouds, the H'yendeir are immune to the effects of age, not a single one of them have 'died' since their introduction to Dust. The knowledge of this has the other races of the galaxy view them as beings of wisdom, a status which grants them significant sway over the other races.

-        Brainstorm: (Boost to planetary Defence, Malus to Invasion power) H'yendeir are barely tangible and as a result; almost anything can pass right through them. This would make invasion of H'yendeir worlds absurdly easy, if not for the fact that a H'yendeir's individual thought can range from a simple thunderstorm to a full blown electrical cascade. This understandably makes it near impossible to navigate a drop-ship through a H'yendeir unharmed. However, due to H'yendeir residing in the air, it makes it nearly impossible for them to carry out ground invasions.

-       Atmospheric Symbiote: (+%Food on X-Empire, +%Dust/Science on H'yendeir Empire) H'yendeir have learned to manipulate their surroundings using their natural energies. As a result, the presence of H'yendeir on a world can enrich the atmosphere based on the needs of the life below. A quality that can be most useful for corporate empires in need of a little less Greenhouse Gas, and a little more breathable air.

-       Creatures of Thought: (x0 Food - uses Dust for population Groth) The H'yendeir sustain themselves on the static energies of the upper atmospheres of worlds, and the solar radiation they collect; they have no need for aggriculture, only requiring an income of Dust to form new neural networks to bare new sentient H'yendeir.

Summary:

- Can't declare war.                 - Mutual Bonuses to Peace, etc.

- Use Dust for pop growth.    - Bonus to Diplomatic Pressure.

- Bonus to System Defence.  - Malus to System Invasion.

- Can see if a system has been colonized through FoW 

- ??Possible sharing of systems??

Afternote:

I wonder if it will be possible to have all H'yendere relations seperate? By this I mean could a H'yendeir Empire be in a sort of 'Peace+'? Like an alliance, but without being dragged into war. The idea being that they're observers, and not well suited to enter a conflict - opting to avoid it at all costs. This would also bypass eternal war - a sort of symbiotic relationship, as the H'yendeir don't gun for all the same resources, perhaps the Cravers wouldn't see them as much of a threat? Despite that, war can still be declared against the H'yendeir, but their own relations with other empires would be largely unaffected by the rest of the galaxy.

In terms of Ship design, The H'yendeir are capable of manipulating physical objects, so they could create shielding and technology for themselves.

P.S: Any feedback would be great - if there's anything you don't understand, please bring it to my attention - I'll be reviewing it all and rewriting anything that may be a bit vague.
Thanks for reading!

Oh my, I'm so sorry - I didn't even see your WeatherKin. It appears we have similar minds, EndlessCrashes!

The H'yendeir are based loosely off of my 'Tendara Sky Spirelings' which is a custom faction I use in ES1. Though altered from crystals to clouds, and granted... well, sentience.

Most disappointing that I was beaten to the 'sentient cloud' punch. Rather demoralizing that so many ideas are similar... Though with such tight parameters, it's difficult to be original, evidently people are bound to have similar - if not identical ideas.

I'll review the H'yendeir and make as many meaningful adjustments as I can - if not, I'll simply rebuild them from the ground up, in yet another, more physical form.
I feel so bad, I should've been more thorough than just skimming titles. Again, I'm sorry EndlessCrashes.

Yeah. There is nothing wrong with having 2 submissions based on cloud-form life. As long as they are different enough. I could image one version that stresses dust production and converts dust into influence, and another that psychedelically effects other factions, and another that blocks most light going to the surface and reduces food production, etc... It's a fun idea with lots of potential directions to take them.