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T'au Empire Icon

The icon of the T'au Empire and its home T'au Sept.

The T'au Empire (pronounced "TOW" as in "WOW"), also spelled Tau Empire in older Imperial records, is a rapidly expanding, multispecies xenos stellar empire situated within the Imperium of Man's Ultima Segmentum, near the Eastern Fringes of the Milky Way Galaxy. It lies within the reach of the Astronomican.

The T'au Empire was founded by the T'au caste called the Ethereals, who lead the T'au Empire in the name of and in accordance with the utilitarian philosophy they have named the "Greater Good" (Tau'va in the T'au Lexicon). Several intelligent alien races have allied themselves with the T'au within the empire.

The empire has suffered many raids from the Orks, and also seems to lie in the path of several Tyranid splinter fleets of Hive Fleet Kraken.

The T'au (Imperial binomial classification: Tau tau), also spelled "Tau" in older Imperial records, are a young, humanoid and technologically-advanced intelligent species native to the Eastern Fringes of the Milky Way Galaxy. They are fighting to expand their small, but rapidly growing, interstellar empire and extend a philosophical concept they call the "Greater Good" to all the intelligent species of the galaxy.

The T'au claim to be a peaceful species when possible, asking if others will join their cause voluntarily instead of fighting against them. However, if their peaceful overtures are refused, the T'au may well decide to conquer a planet and add it to their growing stellar empire for the Greater Good, searing the flesh from the bones of anyone who stands against their benign intentions.

T'au society is divided into a number of castes, each responsible for managing a specific aspect of their civilisation. The T'au's central motivating ideal is that everyone in their empire, regardless of their species or culture of origin, will work for the collective betterment of everyone else, an almost mystical philosophy that is embodied in the Greater Good.

The T'au are the dominant species of the T'au Empire, an interstellar polity which is also composed of several other different intelligent species, primarily the Kroot of Pech, the insectoid Vespids of the world of Vespid, the nomadic psykers of the Nicassar and many others.

However, there are now several Human T'au Septs derived from conquered Imperial Humans or Humans who voluntarily joined the T'au Empire because they were impressed by the concept of the Greater Good. These people are known as Gue'vesa in the T'au Lexicon and they are considered amongst the most vile of Traitors and Heretics within the Imperium of Man.

The T'au are a relatively young species (it has been only 6,000 Terran years since Imperial Inquisitors first noted that the T'au had only just mastered fire and the wheel), and they have evolved rapidly over the past few standard millennia. Unlike other intelligent, starfaring species, the T'au have made remarkable leaps in technology and now represent a real threat to Imperial domination in their region of the galaxy.

T'au Important Links
Castes EtherealAir CasteEarth CasteFire CasteWater Caste
History and Culture SeptGreater GoodT'au LexiconFarsight EnclavesMont'auWar of the Place of UnionFirst Sphere ExpansionSecond Sphere ExpansionThird Sphere ExpansionFourth Sphere ExpansionFifth Sphere ExpansionDamocles Gulf CrusadeNimbosa CrusadeGreat War of ConfederationFarsight ExpeditionHive Fleet GorgonBattle of Mu'gulath BayPrefectia CampaignSecond Agrellan CampaignBattle of the Startide Nexus
Allied Species AnthrazodBoaburiBrachyuraCharpactinDemiurg (Kin)DomatiFormosianG'noshGalgsGreetHumans (Gue'vesa) • HrenianJagordianJi'atrixKrootMorralianM'uh'jaNagiNicassarOstense CouncilPhosiabPohu-AggRanghonTarelliansThraxiansVespidVorghYabi-Yabi
Military Fire WarriorsT'au BattlesuitT'au DroneCadreT'au Protection Fleet (Kor'vattra) • T'au Merchant FleetT'au AuxiliariesT'au Wargear
T'au Grav Vehicles DevilfishDrone HarbingerHammerheadSky RaySwordfishTX-4 PiranhaTX-42 PiranhaTetra
T'au Aircraft BarracudaMantaOrcaRazorsharkDX-6 Remora Drone Stealth FighterSun SharkTiger SharkTiger Shark AX-1-0
Notable T'au Aun'VaAun'ShiCommander FarsightCommander PuretideCommander KaisCommander ShadowsunSub-Commander DarkstriderShas'el LushaShas'la T'au KaisShas'la LongstrikeCommander Arra'konCommander BravestormCommander BrightswordCommander Sha'vastosSub-Commander TorchstarHonour-Shas'Vre O'VesaShas'vre Ob'lotai 9-0
T'au Empire Forces
Command EtherealT'au CommanderCadre Fireblade
Troops Fire Warrior (Fire Warrior Strike TeamFire Warrior Breacher Team) • PathfinderDrone Squadron
Battlesuits XV02 Pilot BattlesuitXV8 Crisis Battlesuit (XV8-02 Crisis Iridium BattlesuitXV81 Crisis BattlesuitXV84 Crisis BattlesuitXV85 Enforcer BattlesuitXV86 Coldstar BattlesuitXV89 Crisis BattlesuitXV88 Broadside Battlesuit) • Stealthsuits (XV15 StealthsuitXV22 StealthsuitXV25 StealthsuitXV95 Ghostkeel Battlesuit) • XV46 Vanguard Void BattlesuitXV9 Hazard Battlesuit • Class 10 Battlesuits (XV104 Riptide BattlesuitXV107 R'varna BattlesuitXV109 Y'vahra Battlesuit) • KV128 StormsurgeKX139 Ta'unar Supremacy Armour
Grav-Vehicles DevilfishDrone HarbingerHammerheadSky RaySwordfishTX-4 PiranhaTX-42 PiranhaTetra
Aircraft BarracudaMantaOrcaRazorsharkDX-6 Remora Drone Stealth FighterSun SharkTiger SharkTiger Shark AX-1-0
T'au Auxiliaries Kroot ShaperKroot Carnivore SquadKroot HoundKrootoxKnarlocGreat KnarlocVespid StingwingsGue'vesa
Notable T'au Aun'VaAun'ShiCommander FarsightCommander PuretideCommander KaisCommander ShadowsunSub-Commander DarkstriderShas'el LushaShas'la T'au KaisShas'la LongstrikeCommander Arra'konCommander BravestormCommander BrightswordCommander Sha'vastosSub-Commander TorchstarHonour-Shas'Vre O'VesaShas'vre Ob'lotai 9-0


Faction Portals
Imperium of Man Space Marines Adeptus Mechanicus Chaos Craftworld AeldariDrukhari Orks Tyranids Necrons T'au InquisitionAstra Militarum (Imperial Guard) Leagues of Votann

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