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_ TAUEMPIRE —
—=<4§ 5=—
~ FOR THE GREATER 6000
PD ice
THE TAU EMPIRE
Like a new sun rising in the Eastern Hinge, the ‘I’ Empire
spreads its light itn the darkness of the void. As they conquer
world aller world, systemn aller systern, this dyrmunie young race
push back the boundarics of ignorance with the promise of bettcr
way.’ I'he L'auare assured of the supremacy of their ever-advancing
technology, and recognise that it is their manifest. destiny ta bring
enlightenment to a barbaric and disordered galaxy.
‘Vhe star-spanning society of the ‘I'au is entirely devoted to a
single ideal known as the Tan'va, or Greater Good. This is the
belief that all must sacrifice individual gain fer the betterment
of the Empire as a whole. So utterly committed to this ideal are
the ‘Lau that it has propelled their culture across the gulfs of
space with astamding speed.
Where once the Tau looked up to scc the distant pinpricks of
unexplored stars, now they see theshimmering lights of their own
interstellar empire. Their silver tongned diplomats continue to
talk newly discovered alien nices into commilting fhemselves to
the Greater Good — and those who refuse arc either persuaded
otherwise, or else eradicated by the overwhelming firepower of
the Tan military.
‘Vhe Lau military tight upon myriad galactic battle-fronts, for
their mighty hattlesits and courageous warriors possess the
strength required to enforce the Greater Good upon all who
would sce it fail, Strategically brilliant, totally devoted and
possessed of incredible technology, the ‘lau war machine is
ever eqnal ta its task
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THE CASTES
So completely have the Tau absorbed the concept of the Greater Good that it bas come (o shape nol only heir
purpose, but also their very society
— the ‘lau have been divided into ri
almighty whole.
ce the coming of the Ethereals and the end of the Mont’au — or ‘death age’
id castes, each fulfilling specific functions within society for the benefit of the
‘The Ethereal caste are the undisputed leaders of the united
castes that make up the ‘Tau Empire. Lheir unique role is a
combination of spiritual and political command), and their
declarations shape and steer every Eiet of Tau civilisation,
Furthermore, the Ethereals possess such absolute authority
over the Lau that other races have come to question its origins
were an Fthereal to order a Tau to kill himself, he would be
met wilh instal and unquestioning obedience,
The Fire caste provides the warriors of the lau military. It is the
chity of these soldiers to protect the other castes and 10 eliminate
aT
casie originated from the hunter tribes that roamed the plains
aunty [oes foolish enou: areject the Greater Good, The Fire
of” Pau, long ago. liven then they were the strongest and most
aggressive ofall the Tau, Through the years, the Tire easte’s
strengtit and physical size have contizuied lo increase, and any
weak strains are quickly we
c
out, They are guided by the
ile of Fire, which also translates as “the ways of the warrior
trine that stresses martial arts, loyalty and merciless war
tempered by wisdora, Metubers of the Fire caste spend dieir
entire lifetimes in battle or preparing for it, honing their tactics
and relentlessly working to improve their battle skills.
The Earth caste contains the artisans, builders and workers
of the ‘Lau, and is by tar the most numerous of the castes. Its
members construct the machines, erect the cwellings and
provide the food for the rest of the Tau Empire, Without tie
Earth caste, the farms would net produce and the faetories
would sit idle. The menial levels of the Karth caste comprise
sturdy labourers who toil ceaselessly, "The foremost minds of
wertors beyoucl
1 machine
dhe caste become engineers aid scientists,
and
alent
compare, It is they who build the sophisticat
create the many technological imovations that are s0
throughout all levels of s:
ty in the Tau Empire
Water is the element that can be found in alll living things.
flowing continuously to allow life to function. So it is that
Water caste members are bureanerats, politicians, negotiators
we the civil servants
and administrators, In essence, they
that make sure Tau society runs smoothly, The Water easte
make up the merchants, traders and diplomats, moving Huidly
dinto
among the other castes and the alien races ineorp
dhe Tau Empire, cotiations
are handled with great clficiency, This subset of the 1
has always displayed a sift for linguistics that has become even
firther developed over time, The Water caste are able to learn
oy assuage fears and ensure all ne
‘au race
alien Languages with ease aud show a remuraible ability to pick
up and emulate even the subtlest of communication nuances,
In ancient times, the Tau of the Air easte were messengers,
but now they fill the role of pilots and spaceship crews,
transporting goods and warriors to where they are needed!
The Air caste are a largely unseen force indeed. they are
sornctimes ealled the invisible caste — for they rarely, if ever, sct
foot upon planets. Most Air caste members spend the majc
of their lives in space transit or decked upon space stations
Their bodies have evolved Lo their ney cizcunistances, no
longer bearing wings as they once did, but instead exhibiting
to their low gravity
longer and lighter frames in respon
existence, TTollow bones allow the pilots of the Air caste to
withstand greal acceleration, although dey ace conversely weak
and ungainly when on worlds with even moderate gravity. In
battle, the Air caste rain death from the skies while crewing
skyhome attack fighters or bomber evaft in support of the Tau
warriors below
A BURGEONING EMPIRE
The growth of the Tau Empire can be charted in three distinct stages. Galled the First, Second and Third
Sphere Expansions, each of these vast outward surges has seen massive military forces and wave upon wave of
Lau colonists set ou
Tn their earliest days, the Tau alaiost tare thenselves pant as
their technological innovation far outstripped their cultural
development. [twas only the coming of the Kthereals that
rescued them from this clark period, These mysterious newcomers
uniled the entire race, directing their elloris in a surge of
incredible advancement and mutual benefit that culminated in
the Hirst Sphere Expansion. ‘This was a heady time for the Tau
from the caves ont into the stars with breathtaking
ss were high among early colonists who pushed
ap they took,
ccidents claimed
hiy Fire caste
who step;
speed. Li
the boundaries of the
Hostile flora and fauna as well as catastrophic 2
many lives, but under the }
the Tau estab
sssible with every new
stection of the mis
As they stretched
‘au, lay amid
shed one colony alter anotle
outwards, they discovered that their home world, T
a dense cluster of viable exoplanets, and one by one, frontier
colonies became settled and worlds civilised. As es
h star system
blossorned, il yeas designated a sf and naned alter ils prime, or
sept world, cach a tecming hub of culture and military strength
that formed the heart of a whole settled system.
The nuillennialong First Sphere Expansion saw the Tau
assimilate their first alien cultures, the Ethereals guiding the
to the stars. Lach has seized new worlds and assimilated new races for the Greater Good.
absorplion of ie Thraxiaus. the Nicassar, the Kroot and niuy
others, It also saw their first conflicts with the omnipresent
menace of the Orks, a foe with whom no reasoned diplomacy
could ever succeed
om enough, the Tau learned te hate the
greenskins lor Uh idl resolved Lo avoid or
ir tindless savagery
jestroy on sight every Ork they found,
thad secured
ight gle he Second
Sphere Expansion would achiove, From the Empire’ spiritual
home of’ I’au, the orders of the Ethereal High Council raced
} Sphere Fixpansion, the T:
nd of the
ious septs, but this was x faction of wl
our along relays to its furthest corners, pushing always for
greater advancer
With the invention of the ZER Horizon Accelerator Engine, the
Lau fleets were able to push mueh fisrther into space, and with
f
history, the Fire caste seer:
distant stars held in store, Neither Ork Waaagh! nor Tyranid
als, new innovaions and mightier weapons
a military force more impressive than any seen before in Tau
realy to fice whatever threats the
splinter fleet could arrest the impetus of the Second Sphere
Expansion, and it-was net until the Tau crossed the treacherous
Daroocles Gulf uhat th
advance in its tracks,
ncountered a oe Ut stopped eis
‘THE DAMOCLES CRUSADE AND ‘THE ‘THIRD SPHERE EXPANSION
rect)
Beyond the Damoacles Gulf, the'Tanenesint
Imperium
of Man, Initially Wie Tau Empire annexed dozens of worlds
on the ragged edge of the Emperor's realm, not realising the
scale of the threat they faced. he Imperium’s sledzehammer
de. "The
Tau had never faced nuilitary strength in such concentrations,
or wielded with such uncompromising belligerenec, and their
holdings beyond the Damocles Gulf were swilily crushed
Worse, the Imperial forces used strange, reality splitting sp
engines o pursue Uheir quarry as diey retreated back w the
‘Tau Empire, The Imperial armics fell upon the sept world of
Dal’yth, and were only driven back at great and terrible cost
The Tan were shaken by the shack of de
High Council knew dial, should dieir people’s confidence
not be swiftly restored, cracks would form in their carefully
orchestrated beliefs. Rather than let this come to pass, the
ouneil placed the legendary Gammander Varsight ar the
head of a tighty coalition fleet and sent hin back across the
gulf to reclaim those colony worlds that had becn lost, ‘The
tale of his initial successes, and of his sub:
disappearance, has heen afficiall
yet ils marks remain wo this dy
ame in the form of the Damocles Orv
response
1 at, and the Tithereal
equent mysterious
pinged from Tau history,
Regardless of his eventual fate, O'Shoyah served his purpose.
Th ree,
yptnring the worlds lost te the Imperium, he restored! the
contidenc
of the ‘Tan in their destiny, So began prep
hird Sphere Expansion, which would be the greatest
or the 1
colonisation that the Tau had ever attempted, Almost three
nturies after the Damocles . this new expansion set
ont At its head stood not only the Pihereal Supreme Aun’Va
himself, but the renowned O'Shaserra, better known throughout
the Empire as Commander Shadowsun, Having earned her
fame battling the greenskin menace during the Great War
at s much more than just a
figurehead, In her, the Tau Eupire had its greatest strategist
since the revered Commander Puretide, and she was backed
by the single greatest coalition ever amassed. ‘Lhe fleets of the
‘Thirel Sphere Fixpansion surged out from the Empire's bounds
inall directions, capturing dozens of star systems as they went
Shadowsun led a force once more across the Damocles Gulf,
straight into Imperial space. Many of the Imperium’s defenders
> hac been pulled away to face alien
threats ebewhere, and with cunning. diplomacy and rilitary
might Shadowstn’s forces scized world after world, Yet it was
on the hive world of Agrellan, gateway to the Dovar System,
thar O'Sh
audacious and brilliant plan, she took te entire fortified world
ina single day, paving the way for the Tau to strike still deeper
into Imperial space. With every vietory the Tau Empire gained
momentum, and the Imperium seemed powerless to stop them
af Conte m. Shai
wstn
on the Pastem Prin
rra knew her greatest victory to date, Pxecuting an
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