OOC: Well, this T'au update has gotten much longer than it should have been, so hopefully it'll be worth it. The idea here is a return to form. I'm pretty proud of this update, and the dialogue gives us new perspectives that I think should be really fun. It's definitely jokier, but I feel as though that breaks up the "Everything is propaganda" lens from Ynathe in previous updates.
IC: Well, Sister Vandire spanked me a few times in a manner she assures me was entirely platonic, so hopefully this time I won't make so many errors in reporting the facts. I do not think she realizes that spanking is a
reward rather than a punishment for me—if a pedestrian one. I will have to tell her. I'm sure her response will be most amusing. Oh, and this is the Ninth Edition Codex for the T'au Empire.
Bright burns the light of the T'au Empire. Relentless is its advance. They come first with words of friendship, promising enlightenment and strength through unity. Denied, they come again in a sudden storm of fire. Selfless and swift are their warriors. Mighty are their weapons of war. Yet it is their unwavering dedication to the T'au'va, the Greater Good, that is their deadliest weapon of all.
Where have you been all my life? After the absolutely defamatory Drukhari codex and the codswallop about the Custodes (I think it's
possible that the Sisters of Silence are just mutated T'au), such a sensitive and culturally respectful opening was not at all what I expected.
Welcome, noble Shas'o. Within the pages of this primer you will find much to aid you in spreading the enlightenment of the T'au'va to a divided and barbaric galaxy: the history of the T'au Empire; its spheres of expansion and ever advancing technologies; its greatest heroes and most dire foes. Read on, for the Ethereals have much to teach you.
...Why are the Imperium so respectful to the T'au in this book? I am frankly jealous. Why should my noble and ancient people be called "arrogant" and "cruel" when the (admittedly seemingly-respectable) T'au get such flattery? Am I not important? Does my blade not strike as true as the suns are bright?
The T'au Empire is young and dynamic compared to the elder powers of the 41st Millennium. Relative newcomers to the galactic stage, this xenos race might appear perilously naive. They are idealists, certainly, believing it is their destiny to bring enlightenment and unity to all. They are strangely compassionate conquerers, achieving peace through diplomacy where possible and showing true sorrow when forced to violent action.
If one really wants to know my opinion on the T'au, it's that they're...
fine. They're a well-organized nation based on mostly good principles that is both well-run and lacking in a history of unnecessary brutality. I can't say I truly adore them, as I find their society regimented and conformist. I also find their self-righteousness to be infuriating, and truthfully in my eyes the Imperium and the T'au are two sides of the same coin. I also could stand to know more about them.
(From the Pen of Sister Vandire: What are you talking about? The Tau are materialist, while the Imperium is spiritualist. The Tau are small and centralized, while the Imperium is massive and decentralized. The Tau focus on cutting-edge technology, while the Imperium prefers old and reliable technology. How are the Tau and the Imperium in any way alike? Is this some stupid dig at His empire?)
You're both
boring.
Those who refuse the Greater Good are shown the error of their ways through swift and punishing military conquest, while those deemed unable ever to grasp its wonders are sentenced to annihilation. The T'au do not revel in such butchery. Yet they never turn from it either, and their might is so great that their foes stand little help.
My, I wonder why the Imperium would be trying to invent a new enemy to fight now that Chaos has proven itself to be manageable at worst and potentially beneficial for many at best.
(Sister Vandire: It might be that there are genuine tensions between the two states over things like ideology and resources. The Imperium's recognization of civilian humans living under the Tau as "hostages" is also a point of contention. I'd say that "hostages" is more or less accurate, though.)
Why must you be so
obedient?
(Sister Vandire: Isn't that what you're for?)
My dear, I am a stone dominant.
(Sister Vandire: I do recall, unfortunately, you moaning something like "Oh, by the Emperor!")
Where more barbarous races favour bludgeoning their enemies at close quarters, T'au Hunter Cadres emphasize overwhelming firepower coupled with the manoeuvrability to swiftly relocate should any given position become untenable. Even the most low-ranking T'au soldies wear advanced protective armor and wield guns that put the specialist wargear of other factions to shame.
Oh, damnations, Unnamed Author, please just kiss a Fire Warrior already!
By the time the hunter cadres of the T'au Empire surge into battle, their commanders already know the surest path to victory. Feral Kroot, cunning Pathfinders, and the eagle-eyed pilots of the Air Caste have mapped every inch of the engagement area. The Foe's every weakness is already exposed.
From the first shot fired, the T'au demonstrate strategic coordination and unity of purpose so powerful that they are weapons in their own right. TY7 Devilfish transports deliver heavily equipped and highly trained warriors precisely where they are needed. Devastating artillery walkers like the KV128 Stormsurge hammer the enemy lines. Nimble combat aircraft fill the skies while alien auxilaries unleash their own unique talents of battlecraft.
(Sister Vandire: ...The effusive praise for the Tau is beginning to get way too grating. This sounds like they're trying to sell war materiel. Or, I suppose, they're trying to sell
models.)
By Ynnead, if they were trying to sell models, what was the reason for the clear bigotry towards the Drukhari?
(Sister Vandire: I don't think most Imperials like Drukhari as a general rule.)
Yes, and that is surely to their great detriment!
So have countless worlds fallen to the expansionist armies of the T'au Empire, who do not hesitate to secure ideological acquiescence beneath the muzzle of a gun. Now, in the wake of the Great Rift's opening, more worlds in their path than ever stand cut off and poorly defended. The T'au will gladly see them all brought - willing or otherwise - into their burgeoning empire.
Very true. This author speaks well of their warmongering and imperial ambitions!
(Sister Vandire: This is propaganda. The Tau make a point of working through soft power first. It's why there are many "mixed" planets where Imperial citizens and human citizens of the Tau mingle in relative peace. They're under the notice of the Administratum, of course, but the idea that the Tau are obsessed with spreading their ideals by the sword is an oversimplification. They are in some ways less belligerent than the blessed Imperium.)
That is not particularly hard to be, given that the Imperium of Man is a brutal, xenophobic, autocratic war-state bent on complete galactic conquest.
(Sister Vandire: Many Imperial worlds are the most tolerant places you'll ever find They pay their tithes and the Militarum keeps them safe. I was born on Justinia, raised to defend Mankind by the other nuns. I was not raised to extinguish the Xeno. There are other worlds that taught other things, but the Imperium is vast and it resists being simplified.)
Explain why your primary weapon is for setting people on fire.
(Sister Vandire: Baptismal water cleanses most sins, and flamers burn the most stubborn remainder away.)
The first contact the Imperium had with the Tau is believed to have occurred shortly before the Age of Apostasy. Records of such antiquity are, of course, subject to much degradation. Moreover, becasue this contact was made by the Adeptus Mechanicus, those datalogs that endure are guarded with acquisitive jealousy. For all this, there are those amongst the Ordo Xenos and the Deathwatch who have accessed the blessed records and pieced together disturbing revelations from them. It appears that the world of T'au was surveyed from the void by the Adeptus Mechanicus Explorator ship Land's Vision, and its xenos denizens discovered. At this time, however, the T'au were little more than primitive savages. Their world was marked for purgation and Human resettlement. Before this sentence could be carried out, however, warp storm activity cut T'au off from the imperium. Millennia passed before Humanity and T'au met again, yet not nearly so long as to explain the burgeoning stellar empire into which the aliens had flourised in the intervening time. Such explosive technological and cultural advancement has disquieted Imperial observers deeply. While the T'au might register as little more than an irritant to the Imperium at the moment, if their expansion and development continues at such a rapid pace there is no telling what manner of galactic threat their empire will become.
(Sister Vandire: What absolute crap. The Tau
are an irritant. They fight well, and I respect their conduct and their arms, but they're not a galactic threat and they never will be.)
...Well, they're innovating, and innovating faster than anyone. The history of war is innovation leading to success, is it not?
(Sister Vandire: Nothing can beat the Emperor.)
What about superior firepower?
(Sister Vandire: They worship a secular, false god. We worship the Most Holy. Through our faith, we will triumph should they make the mistake of facing us.)
Like you tried to squash them in the cradle?
(Sister Vandire: That wouldn't have been what I'd've preferred.)
[The T'au] developed language, tools, and of course, weapons. What singles their tale out is the speed with which these advances came. The T'au are a short-lived species by Human standadrds, but strive with a dynamism that sees each generation achieve remarkable progress. During their early days, ancestors of the T'au rapidly outpaced their moral growth with their practical and martial development. Inevitable disaster followed...Tribal alliances formed. Wars erupted. So began the Mont'au, a dark time of conflict that looked destined to drive the Tau to extinction.
(Sister Vandire: Technology is a danger as much as it is a tool. We learned that in the Dark Age of Technology, it seems the Tau didn't learn it after their's.)
It is a shadow the modern T'au fear even now, for it speaks of a darkness within their collective psyche whose resurgence they will always dread.
According to T'au myth, the end of the Mont'au was marked by strange lights in the skies. These were first believed to portend the end of days, yet instead they seem to have announced the coming of the Ethereals. With them came destiny. The first documented sighting of this strange new breed of T'au was at Fio't'aun, a place where a mighty fortress lay beseiged. Ethereals walked calmly out of the night and compelled the leaders of both sides to sit down and agree a peace where none had been possible. Legend tells how the Ethereals spoke long with the assembled T'au who, until so recently, had sought one another's deaths. The Ethereals told of a shared destiny. They projected a sense of undeniable authority, and in the light of a new dawn they secured alliance and cooperation between the warring factions....the Ethereals ended the Mont'au and united their species in a single goal...the Tau'va, or Greater Good.
(Sister Vandire: Oh, the False Prophets.)
I...do not know what to think of the Ethereals. I hope to learn more as I read.
From that time onward the breakneck pace ofT'au advancement became one of their race's greatest strengths. Guided by the council of Ethereals, the T'au adopted a rigid caste system that saw the different tribes arranged and valued by their strengths. The Earth Caste were builders and craftsmen and, as ilieir technology base advanced, became engineers and scientists. The Air Caste continued to act as scouts and messengers, serving eventually as their race's pilots and spacefarers. Those tribes who had specialised in mercantile trade or diplomacy became the Water Caste, whose administrative influence flowed through their society and kept the wheels of progress turning. Stubborn and aggressive, the war-like plains dwellers took the longest to embrace the teachings of the Ethereals, yet even they eventually acceded and became the Fire Caste. In time they would graduate from being their race's huntsmen to being their standing military, and it was during these early centuries that they adopted the teachings of the Code of Fire that still regulate their conduct to this day.
I have always found the Greater Good and the Tau caste system to be...restrictive and conformist, uncomfortably so. It all reminds me of a hive more than a nation. I don't like it. I understand some in T'au space are happy, but it seems like a restrictive kind of happiness.
(Sister Vandire: It is the worship of a false, secular god figure.)
Natch.
This unified drive towards progress saw the T'au establish orbital void-cities, and then push outwards to claim new worlds and systems for their own. Such swift advancement also subjected theT'au race to unbelievable stresses and challenges: encountering alien species, many of which proved hostile and had to be fought for survival; the constant push towards progress and territorial expansion that required selfless dedication from every member of T'au society; the burning need for fresh resources to power the endless toil; the burden of believing in their peoples' destiny to save the galaxy from itself. Such stresses have proven too much for many burgeoning empires, even when spread out over far greater periods of time. Yet the T'au almost seem to relish each fresh hurdle. Though they may suffer and bleed, and pay dearly for every forwards step, still in the service of the Greater Good the T'au move ever forward, and they do so gladly.
Please just find a T'au partner and stop bothering us with your insipid simpering!
(Sister Vandire: No comment.)
Oh, you would be aroused by a well-muscled T'au embracing you with talk of the "Greater Good".
(Sister Vandire: No comment!)
The T'au'va can be summed up simply: it is the belief that the individual life of any given member of the T'au Empire is of less importance than the needs of the empire itself. Its adherents gladly expend incredible efforts, endure shocking hardships and lay down their lives without a second thought for the furtherance of this Greater Good.
I've done my research, and this is mere stereotyping. The Greater Good is not so simplistic, and this is largely a similar stereotype to ancient Terran ones of Asian Terrans. It's not a good idea to fetishize those one is attracted to.
(Sister Vandire: Returning to the actual review, the quoted bit is more or less the standard Imperial narrative on the Tau, that they're sort of a mindless blob. It's not really the case, of course. The Greater Good is less about the needs of the empire and more about the needs of the Tau itself as a species as well as their maintaining of a privileged position meant to guide other sophonts. This overlaps heavily with the "T'au Empire", but it isn't exactly the same.)
Ever since the coming ofthe Ethereals, T'au societyhas been focused upon fulfillinga singular destiny. With very few exceptions, every T'au believes wholeheartedly in giving all that they have to the furtherance of the Greater Good. Moreover, they believe that it is their duty and privilege to carry this creed out into the stars and unify every sentient species beneath their secular faith. The T'au put great store in every achievement and personal sacrifice that advances this goal. Those who excel in the service of the Greater Good are lauded, while those rare few who allow personal hubris, vanity or selfishness to come first are vilified.
(Sister Vandire: The Tau are still best understood as individuals in a conformist society, rather than as some faceless horde.)
Hubris, vanity, and selfishness are the point of life, my dear! What's the point of anything if one isn't having fun? What dull, castrated lives the T'au must lead.
(Sister Vandire: It is, in some sense, admirable. Their faith is false, but it's strong.)
The T'au'va has many apparent benefits. Thanks to the instinting efforts of Earth Caste miners, engineers and architects the cities of the T'au septs are clean and orderly. They are technologically advanced places, well protected from hostile environments and enemies alike. Energy shields and vast habitation domes hold indigenous lifeforms and perilous weather systems at bay. Railguns, ion cannons, Fire Caste garrisons and hive-like droneports watch over the habitation zones, science complexes, cultural centres, military academies, Water Caste diplomatic embassies and trade hubs, Air caste spaceports and other bustling centres that fill the cities...Within their bounds, alien races of many sorts rub shoulders in peace, with the T'au moving through them as first amongst equals.
The more I read this, the more unsettlingly perfect it gets. Are the T'au really so...orderly?
(Sister Vandire: Yeah. That's about it.)
Where is the pain, the joy, the experimentation and the tragedy? Where is the beautiful horror? Where is the life?
(Sister Vandire: Probably dismissed as inefficient and a hindrance for the Greater Good by their government.)
What a profoundly artless society.
Of course, all who dwell in these cities have their places within T'au society predetermined by caste and by the orders of the Ethereals.
...By Ynnead, this is nightmarishly oppressive. What a sterile society.
They toil for the Greater Good while surrounded by carefully nuanced propaganda that extolls the glories and victories of their eminently superior empire. The T'au and their allies have very little say in their own personal destinies for, by the command of the Ethereals, these are subsumed into the single great destiny that all must serve...The word of the Ethereals is law, and no true T'au or ally of their empire would seek to contradict it.
...Felicity, the T'au are evil. They are profoundly evil. They are the death of individuality and art. Where the Imperium breaks bodies, the T'au break souls. This is a waking nightmare.
(Sister Vandire: Isn't there something sort of admirable about submitting to a higher calling?)
A righteous Drukhari's true loyalties are to herself, and she is good to others because she respects their selves as equals as precious as her own.
The Greater Good demands the tireless expansion of the T'au Empire. It is not enough to wait for the peoples of the galaxy to come in search of enlightenment. The T'au feel genuine compassion for those races unfortunate enough to still toil in darkness and ignorance. They believe the message of the Greater Good must be brought to all, and everycivilisation ushered into the wonder of its light.
(Sister Vandire: The right idea, sure, but the wrong message.)
There is no one Light, no one Truth! There is only perception and the relationships between ideas and people! Reality is a prism, not a spotlight!
(Sister Vandire: What are you talking about?)
The T'au Empire is wrong. Something is very wrong here.
The warriors of the Fire Caste are many but even still their numbers are stretched thin about the borders of the empire. Moreover, the T'au know their own strengths and weaknesses well, accepting without ego that many aliens possess physical or mental abilities that allow them to serve the Greater Good in ways the T'au themselves cannot.
...Don't you see? The T'au would force the entire galaxy to serve them and their masters! They are a threat to freedom and autonomy themselves, as bad as the Imperium but more unsettling. At least the Imperium simply kills you!
(Sister Vandire: ...Is...Is this how you normally respond to a functioning, organized society? Are you so obsessed with Drukhari superiority that a society that isn't full of scheming and politics is somehow a threat to...free will?)
It is for these reasons, among others, that the T'au make widespread use of alien species to supplement their armies, as well as many other arms of their civilisation. Most ubiquitous amongst all these alien auxiliaries are the mercenary Kroot and to a lesser extent the insectile Vespid, each of which bring their own talents to support the Fire Caste. Yet these are but the tip of a considerable iceberg: there are the Nicassar, possessed of potent psychic abilities that T'au little understand, and a mastery of voidfaring;the Anthrazods, who are put to work mining asteroids for the Greater Good; the Nagi, small, wormlike beings whose talent for mental compulsion has greatly aided more than one difficult Water Caste negotiation; the Vorgh, peaceful until roused and yet so massive and resilient that they can wrestle a super-heavy combat walker and previal; the Phosiab, whose ability to view reality in nine dimensions and slip through the void unharmed is a boon to T'au extra-orbital construction. Even humans have been integrated into the T'au empire, abandoning their oppressive Imperial masters in favour of a new life in the light of the Greater Good.
What kind of slave willingly finds a new master?
(Sister Vandire: Gue'vesa are often fed, clothed, and armed better than their counterparts in the Imperial Guard. Unfortunately, for the desperate, treason is commonplace.)
Drones lead the way out into the void, tinylights streaking through the immensity of space as they broadcast messages of hope and unity. Whenever a drone detects signals from a sentient species it alerts the T'au and beckons their colonisation fleets hence. From this point the T'au observe a specific series of protocols. First contact is always made by ambassadors of the Water Caste, who entreat peaceful negotiations with the newly discovered aliens. Silver tongued and fervently committed to spreading the message ofthe Greater Good, the ambassadors do all they can to convince their hosts of the benefits of becoming part of the T'au Empire. Should the world's inhabitants accept this invitation - even should such acceptance take generations to arrive at - then all is well; T'au colonisation begins at once and often the indigenous peoples are peacefully relocated deeper into the T'au Empire, where they can be educated in the glory of the T'au'va.
Is the author mad? "Peaceful relocation"? "Not cruel"? "Educated in the glory"? This is colonialism, vicious colonialism, and even by the author's own implication we are told that the T'au intend to do this to every civilization they meet! "Colonization begins at once", as well, is obvious doublespeak. I know not whether the T'au are victims of the Ethereals or mad conquerers in their own right, but they are scoundrels either way!
(Sister Vandire: Colonialism, forced relocation, and reeducation are just how societies work. There's nothing inherently wrong with them. That said, reeducation in the name of a false divinity is a problem.)
You're a coward.
(Sister Vandire: Somehow, I'm not that offended by you saying it.)
Regrettably, - from the T'au standpoint, anyway - many races reject these diplomatic advances. Such beings cannot be left to threaten the empire in their ignorance...When the T'au attack, they come suddenly from the firmament with overwhelming speed and firepower...Yet even in victory the T'au are not cruel. They seek to preserve what they can of both the enemy's world and the enemy themselves, for both will be valuable assets to the empire once conquered. As the Ethereals say, it is not the fault of those who are blind that they cannot yet see.
Fight them to the last! Burn their "perfect" cities to cinders, reveal the evil of their Greater Good in exquisite agony! Let their cruel soldiers be charred and displayed as the abominable creatures they are!
(Sister Vandire: ...You sound like your own stereotype of a Space Marine.)
What else am I supposed to say? The T'au are utterly intent on making life boring and the individual worthless. That is the greatest set of sins I can imagine!
(Sister Vandire: I guess I just expected better of you.)
Well, I expected better of the T'au, too, but if this Codex is accurate they are utter scum!
(Sister Vandire: Is the Codex accurate? Did you check?)
Let me check my sources.
(Sister Vandire: Sure.)
...Alright, I've looked into it, and it seems as though this Codex is vastly exaggerating the T'au jackboot. In reality, while they've engaged in several repressive "police actions", they are willing to seek the Greater Good without necessarily subjugating other species and evidence that the Ethereals have created a maniacally expansionist caste dictatorship seem to be exaggerated. I apologize to the T'au for my cultural insensitivity.
(Sister Vandire: They would likely find your gladiatrix career to be wasteful and harmful, though.)
So they are judgmental?
(Sister Vandire: Yeah.)
I have no idea what to think about the T'au. It is deeply infuriating. I find it utterly perplexing how they are regarded either as monstrous tyrants or unblemishe saviors. See here:
As each new Sphere of Expansion has pressed outwards into the darkness, so the boundaries of the T'au Empire have stretched wider and that which was once veiled in shadow has been illuminated by the radiance of the T'au'va. Yet always the unknown and the unenlightened call out to the T'au, drawing them ever further into the shadows beyond.
How accurate
is this Codex?
(Sister Vandire: Why should I know? I've never dealt much with the Tau.)
Blast it. I know a T'au Earth Caste member, one who works as a doctor. She wouldn't say anything about the inner workings of the T'au military, but I suppose I can call in a favor or two.
(Vior Or'es: Hi! Ynathe is my friend! Who's this?)
(Sister Vandire: Are you...more enthusiastic than most Earth Caste members?)
(Vior Or'es: Very much so! However, like those of my caste I tend to speak very literally, so please do not use any complex metaphors or analogies. They will not translate well!)
You're very...direct, hm?
(Vior Or'es: Of course! Directness is the most efficient form of communication!)
(Sister Vandire: Well, how do you know this xenos?)
(Vior Or'es: I am Succubus Ynathe's personal doctor!)
(Sister Vandire: "She owes me a favor"?)
Fine, maybe I wanted to pretend that I had a more prestigious personal doctor I could brag about, but out on a raid she sort of clung to me. So, well, now she's here.
(Sister Vandire: Just...clung to you?)
(Vior Or'es: Yes, I am very busy! I was in need of work to do, and Succubus Ynathe gave me work!)
(Sister Vandire: And the Greater Good?)
(Vior Or'es: I am certain that Succubus Ynathe will come to it!)
Please do not expect that to happen.
(Vior Or'es: It'll happen eventually!)
It will not.
(Vior Or'es: I must warn you, it will be very busy for a while, so I may not be able to commentate on subsequent documents after this hateful and bigoted Codex!)
You've read it, then?
(Vior Or'es: Yes, it is deeply hateful in its implication that the T'au Empire is anything but a perfectly ideal society with no problems or questionable implications whatsoever!)
Well, fantastic, I suppose none of us know anything about the Tau?
(Sister Vandire: I think if we read this Codex and put all of our perspectives together, we may get an accurate view of the Tau.)
...Alternatively, none of us will understand anything about them and we'll all be incorrect in different ways.
(Sister Vandire: Pretty much. I'll pray that that doesn't happen.)
So completely have the T'au absorbed the concept of the Greater Good that it has come to shape their entire society, and even their physical and mental makeup. Long now have they been divided into castes, each with its own strictly delineated responsibilities to the empire and the other castes. The T'au caste system transform their society from countless individuals to a coherent whole, comprising four hard-working component elements directed in all things by a fifth. T'au are born into their castes, live their lives by the tenets of that caste, and all hope to eventually pass away having furthered its contribution to the Greater Good. The Ethereals permit no interbreeding between T'au of different castes. They further monitor the development of each as a careful gardener tends to their plants, pairing away weak or recessive shoots while ensuring the healthy limbs are given all they need to thrive.
Well, that sounds entirely healthy. Is this all true?
(Vior Or'es: Yes, this is completely authentic!)
What a nightmarish abomination against individuality.
(Vior Or'es: ...No T'au starves. No T'au bleeds without good cause. No T'au has to worry about being abandoned, or afraid, or unloved. The Ethereals love us, they genuinely love us.)
They love you as objects.
(Vior Or'es: Being a person is hard. A Drukhari or Terran has to worry about dying unloved, about organizing themself, about finding meaning in life. We don't have to worry about any of that! From our creation to our annihilation, we're given love, direction, and meaning! That's what the Greater Good means, the Greater Good of everyone, a society based on worship of beings incapable of doing unjustified harm, beings that genuinely know what's best for everyone and can find a place for anyone! Why would anyone want a flawed, miserable individual life when someone can map out for you a fulfilling one?)
This is the most unsettling thing I've ever heard.
(Sister Vandire: No, she makes a good point. I can see how someone could find that comforting.)
Even within their caste, most T'au have their place marked out for them as need dictates. That said, the T'au Empire is - broadly speaking - a meritocracy in which excellence is recognised with progress.
(Vior Or'es: We have a saying in the T'au Empire: 'The river is great, for it is guided by the banks and the slope. Meanwhile, the pond is stagnant, for it has no reason to move.' We know what we need to accomplish, and we know where our life will begin and end. So we rush forward, faster and faster.)
I thought you Earth Caste members were bad with metaphor.
(Vior Or'es: That is a well-known idiom, and it was explained to me by a Water Caste member.)
...A skilled Earth Caste T'au might be plucked from a more menial role and propelled into a lifetime of scientific or technological experimentation, or the architectural design of grand structures. One might be forgiven for thinking that T'au society would frown upon individuals taking pride in their achievements, but it is not so. Rather, each individual is encouraged to derive the greatest satisfaction from their works, military conquest, new discoveries, or the like, with two crucial caveats. The first is that all such labours are equally as important to the empire and that a humble labourer who finishes raising a wall should be praised just as highly by her fellows as should an ace pilot who shoots down many enemy fighter craft, or a Fire Caste shas'o who conquers a world for the empire. The second is that all such personal glories are won for the empire, not for the individual. This subtle but crucial emphasis ensures that the vast majority of T'au strive their whole lives with willing enthusiasm to achieve all they can for the T'au'va, and goes some way to preventing factionalism or damaging rivalries between the castes.
And you are sure that this extreme collectivism isn't exaggeration or propaganda?
(Vior Or'es: No, this is a remarkably accurate document so far!)
What a bewildering Weltanschauung.
(Vior Or'es: Do you use long words to exert your superiority?)
"Exert"? That's a pretentious word.
(Vior Or'es: I use long words because my thoughts are very specific. Why do you use long words?)
I was educated by some of the finest tutors in the Dark City.
(Sister Vandire: Wait, are you trying to sound smarter than us?)
Not smarter, simply more aristocratic.
(Vior Or'es: "Aristocratic" means 'fancier'?)
(Sister Vandire: Yeah.)
(Vior Or'es: Well, it's never good to look down on others. Everyone is important.)
The T'au have a tendency towards short lives when compared to the average Human. Coupled with their lightning fast evolutionary advances and the rigidity of the caste system, this has led them - over countless brief but bright-burning generations - to diverge into something closer to four interdependent subspecies. All are still recognizably T'au; they are humanoid in form, with hoof-like feet and blue skin whose shade depends on their world's proximity to its nearest star. However, no T'au could ever mistake a member of another caste for their own and indeed even their physiology differs quite markedly. Those who have fought the T'au Empire and become used to the comparatively burly and aggressive Fire Caste would be surprised at the sight of a squat, broad Earth Caste T'au, an elegant and swift-witted trader of the Water Caste or - strangest of all - one of the willowy Air Caste with their etiolated build and gangling limbs.
Perhaps I should get an "elegant" and "swift-witted" Water Caste member in my household.
(Vior Or'es: Oh, no, I would not recommend that!)
How come?
(Vior Or'es: Water Caste T'au are highly intelligent and good at persuasion! You are somewhat dumb, and as such would be vulnerable to manipulation for the T'au'v—Actually, no, you should find one! They would be very helpful and not at all able to persuade you to embrace the T'au'va!)
...You're describing me as "dumb", with that awful attempt at misdirection?
(Vior Or'es: I am bad at persuasion. You are unable to distinguish a Drukhari noble from an Adeptus Custodes. This is a very important difference!)
Bleh.
(Sister Vandire: You know what? I like this xenos.)
Don't you start.
One of the few apparent racial constants that unites all the castes is an absolute lack of sensitivity to the empyrean. There are, seemingly, no psykers amongst the T'au, nor any tendency towards the uncontrolled mutation that the warp's touch brings. It is unclear to what degree the Ethereals know of or comprehend the hellish dimension that roils beneath the skin of realspace, but it is readily apparent that the race they rule understand nothing of it. In many ways, of course, this is a blessing, for the touch of the warp is wholly corrupting. Yet, in others, for a people pushing even further into a dark and violent galaxy where the power of Chaos is on the rise, it is a perilous blind spot.
I suppose that in a sense, we're all dumb. The T'au are too dumb to understand how the Warp works, and I am too dumb to find better sources.
(Vior Or'es: Yes, that is a completely accurate understanding! Truly, there is no end to the dumbness in the universe!)
(Sister Vandire: What do you think "dumbness" is?)
(Vior Or'es: Idiocy, ignorance, or stupidity? Oh, I believe I see the issue! 'Dumbness' does not have an insulting connotation among the T'au! To be accused of it is simply to be accused of being a flawed sophont, as we all are under the Ethereal Caste! There is no shame in a personality's imperfection.)
Through the years, the Fire Caste's desirable traits of strength and physical size have continued to increase, and any weak strains are quickly weeded out.
Weeded out?
(Vior Or'es: Yes. This is typically voluntary. A T'au whose genetics are detrimental to the caste would never willingly breed, and often will seek out sterilization. In rare cases, a rebellious T'au may be sentenced to sterilization, but this is extraordinarily uncommon! We all simply want to help the Empire.)
...This sounds like a cult.
(Sister Vandire: This seems fairly reasonable.)
Aren't you in a cult?
(Sister Vandire: The Sisters of Battle were the result of the fall of a cult, the Emperor's Brides.)
(Vior Or'es: Yes, and there were many cult-like structures among the primitive T'au before the Ethereals saved us from ourselves! It isn't a cult if the leader of the organization is entirely beneficial!)
...Think for yourselves!
(Sister Vandire: You might actually understand if the highest entity in your life wasn't Asdrubael Vect.)
Lord Vect is—Oh, why bother?
The Ethereal Caste stand apart from their people. They rule the T'au as a wise and patient adult might guide spirited, if occasionally wayward youths to realise their truest potential. Sometimes serene and benevolent, other times hard and stern as stone, it is the Ethereals who divine the needs of the Greater Good, and who decree the ways in which the T'au Empire may bring it about.
Wouldn't you rather be treated as adults? Besides, how is patching up my arena wounds serving the Greater Good?
(Vior Or'es: No. I do not want to live a life of terror and anarchy in the name of some abstract concept of freedom. Oh, and that is a good question! The answer is that I am providing an example of the Greater Good within Commorragh, one that other sophonts may follow!)
Great, secular missionaries. Absolutely irreplaceable.
To their own people, the Ethereals are infinitely wise rulers, ruthless when they must be but ultimately altruistic.To outside species they cultivate a more aloof appearance. They do nothing to dissuade more primitive alien races from deifying them, or more recalcitrant peoples from fearing them as all-knowing and perilous to anger.
(Vior Or'es: This is only somewhat true! The Ethereals are known for their kindness and wisdom, and they are only rarely ruthless! They are beings defined by their compassion, from leading great armies in the defense of the Tau'va to petting small household animals and giving great boons to whoever they come across!)
Lack of experimental subjects has not stopped Imperial biologians from speculating upon the mechanisms of Ethereal rule, of course. Discarding as facile the suggestion that theT'au simply believe unswervingly in their xenos creed, such magi have suggested everything from veiled psychic domination or pheromonal control to even more outlandish theories, like mass racial hypnosis or the deployment of invisible organic nanites.
My personal theory is pheromonal control.
(Sister Vandire: Can't they just believe in something?)
That or hypnosis.
I'm sorry, I just find this whole society unsettling!
[The highest Ethereal] Aun'Va has lived countless lifespans, even for an Ethereal. Yet his people accept this as simply yet another facet of his legend. He is to them an icon of longevity, stability and purpose whose mortality could never be countenanced. This is unfortunate, as the true Aun'Va is already dead, slain by an Imperial Assassin during the apocalyptic conclusion of the war beyond the Damocles Gulf. Knowing the cataclysmic impact his death would have upon T'au society, the Ethereals have since employed solid-light technology coupled with AI personality matrices to give the Ethereal Supreme a simulacra of life beyond death that has, thus far, fooled the worshipful masses. Of course, his Honour Guard may now never leave Aun'Va's side, and none may ever be permitted to touch him, for the labrynthine deception must never be revealed.
Bullshit.
(Sister Vandire: Horseshit.)
(Vior Or'es: Kev'atal manure.)