Xenobiologis: T'au (Warhammer 40K Lore)

optimism is poison or so the ecclesiarchy profess it is an insipid infection promising you all that reality cannot and will not deliver should you simply submit to the cloying tendrils of hope no the priests say better to simply face facts except one's life in place submit to the truth of the universe that is why build when one can maintain why attempt to change when the perfect emperor created society has already been rendered better to become of the static to preserve to submit to be consumed and then you will know no pain merely the wonderful beauty of devotion and servitude certainly this galaxy of ours has given us precious little to find hope in their history has generally speaking lurched on from catastrophe to another threats from without rise more and more with each passing year while threats from within continue to propagate like cancerous cells swarming through the bloodstream of our species we have no alternative because all options have been exhausted setting us on the one final path we have or so most will claim unwilling unable to dream or hope for a better future we are not alone in this doom the eldari those perfidious and hated beings have resigned themselves to a doom millennia made the greenskins as blind idiot things though they may be have their own blunt acceptance of the state of all things however recently by imperial reckoning the galaxy has seen the rise of a new zeno species that seeks to challenge the future to hold it to a higher standard to seek better days and better years for itself they build they claim they seek to discover to learn to adapt and develop and change the antithesis to tradition and stability a chaotic dive headlong into the unknown lest they create something better curiosity these things we may consider them naive unlearned in the true scope of the universe's hostility unaware of the fecklessness of the confident dream and how utterly dangerous such things are still they have made quite a name for themselves and their relevance to discourse academic military and scientific can unfortunately not be denied know that that this is a record of yet another cavalcade of xenoform blasphemies the sacrilegious dreamers of the galaxy's easternmost fringe the tao the tau are a relatively newly contacted xenospecies currently largely restricted to a volume of space far in the galaxy's eastern fringe nominally located in a nexus of wild space situated between the hedex anomaly and the ultramarine sub-realm of ultramar the volume is notably dense with habitable planets but is quite isolated in stellar terms its proximity to the aforementioned warp storm notwithstanding but also lying upon the rimward side of the dam atleast gulf the gulf a vast interstellar region completely devoid of star systems or planets beyond rogue stellar bodies severed the region from the majority of the galaxy and prevented imperial exploratory teams from conducting surveillance of the worlds lying on the far side until quite late into imperial history when resources could be allocated for such surveys in 789 m35 upon one such world towards the center of the volume mechanical biologist teams observed from orbit a primitive population of presumably sapient xenos it a rudimentary lithic stratum of technological development notably it appeared that four separate form strains of the same root xenos ancestor had evolved with distinct populations of planes dwelling grassland dwelling aerial and oceanic xenoforms per standard discovery practices the explorators logged to the presence of aliens in their records for later extermination noting a standard expected population for the world of this size and no perceived extra planetary threat to the imperium before moving on unnoticed by the primitive xenos blow colonial cedar ships with attached military purgation elements were dispatched once word of the planet's habitability had reached the other side of the gulf but their progress was utterly scuppered by a sudden flare-up of massive warp storms spilling out from the hedex anomaly the ships of the fleet found their path utterly barred and as the storms dragged on for unexpectedly long amounts of time it was whispered that the planets beyond this veil were in fact cursed unsuitable for imperial colonization beyond the light of and thus redemption of the emperor ultimately this was going to become rapidly moot as the spiraling crisis that began with high lord gosh van dyer's seizure of both the sanatorium imperialist seats of high ecclesiarch and grand master of the administratum led to a period of civil war and strife known in history as the age of strife the conflicts that consumed the imperium as well as the eventual torturous rebuilding and reunification efforts diverted the bulk of resources made available for possible colonization initiatives not to mention imperial attention at all branches of its government and military in the darkness of the eastern fringe the warped storms still raged time passed records were buried in dusty archives the imperium forgot about the little pocket of planets that it had once been eager to purge and acquire and beyond the tides of the warp something was gestating various theories have been posited for the curious and worrying pace of evolution and development that the tao species displayed they will be elaborated upon further but none have been rendered any more than just that fruit for debate between the mechanicus and the ordo zenos but ultimately inconclusive all we know in this case is the facts largely thanks to the tao themselves who have been nothing if not enthusiastic in ensuring that any species they encounter is told the full tale of their species development in exhaustive detail as the centuries turned to millennia the tower developed into four distinct cultural strands nominally aligned to their four subspecies in some cases the roles of which were reflected in their biological expressions such as the aerial strain of the mainline species which developed thin membranous wings that allowed them to traverse the high peaks of the world or the plains held aloft by warm rising air from the arid climate xenos of those self-same deserts too grew larger and stronger developing distinctly bellicose biology to match their culture of internisa and conflict not all however became so polarized a plentiful number of the initial population developed advanced agricultural mining and construction techniques while trade between all four subspecies was conducted by tau of a distinctly mercantile bent the oceanic dwellers that had not biologically adapted to their environment but certainly learned a lot about plying the waterways of the dry world should the evolution of say wings upon the aerial tau have been fast it was nothing compared to the speed at which their society advanced technology that would have typically taken most commonly developing sapient aliens millennia to craft were developed by the tao in centuries sometimes decades the first cities of the planet became templated by the agricultural societies and spread rapidly allowing for a population boom fueled by ever more improving crop yields and domestication of native fauna the same culture developed crude black powder weapons not two centuries after raising the first city's walls utilizing them for defense against the plane's dwellers or selling them to compliant tribes in exchange for protection against more aggressive ones this however would prove to be catastrophic the pace of technological advancement appeared to completely eclipse the general maturation of a society and akin to giving a child a last rifle violence became inevitable competition between the plains dwellers only lasted long enough for them to realize that united they would be a serious threat to all other tau they shared the planet with and the resulting wars were nothing short of apocalyptic other tao found themselves impressed into the service of the various factions that arose or simply butchered for trying to prevent their rampages society fragile as a newborn that it was collapsed crops lay burnt in the fields or trampled by xeno armies disease was spreading rampantly amongst the population and everywhere there was famine startlingly it would appear that the xenoforms would in fact do the imperium's righteous work for us at the pace their species was killing itself off total extinction would merely take years an impressive feat given their age as many of the self-annihilated species that the emperor's expeditions have encountered were far more mature one must if nothing else admire this dedication to self-destruction using as it did the most rudimentary of weapons alas however history took an altogether different turn the wars were reaching their climax at the conclusion of the 37th millennium barely a thousand years since the imperium had first logged the species as of a stone age level of development per water cast retellings likely aggrandized by the tower's relentless embellishment of their own histories a pivotal moment was reached upon a mountainous plateau wherein lay the mighty fastness of the builder culture an alliance of plains dwellers an aerial tau besieged it and had done so for five planetary seasons it was so the tau claim the epitome of the worst days of this darkest of times great slaughter was meted out upon both sides the savagery of the plains folk matching the technology and stoicism of the builders and while both sides ward their civilians clung to life as famine and disease stalked their ranks but these metaphorical specters were joined seemingly by all together different and altogether more literal figures strange folk were abroad half glimpsed observing battles or moving amongst crowds tau like no other tao had seen before most of the primitive and superstitious rates thought them harbingers of extinction god beings come to observe the death of the world that all were contributing to yet none seem to have the ability to stop one night just such a figure presented themselves to the procedures requesting politely but firmly to speak with their warlord quite how such a stranger was admitted to the presence of the hot-blooded plains dwellers is unknown the myth speaks of them possessing a quiet authority that could not be gainsaid with authority being a difficult word to translate here from the tau language but i am assured by sisters of the ordo's dialogues that it is the most accurate the centuries of the camp found themselves compelled another word that serves for the best gothic transliteration from the ordo's dialogue we must make of that what will within the walls a similar situation was playing out with another stranger presenting themselves and requesting an audience with the citadel's commander within scant hours the gates of the fortress of theo town were opened and both sides met in an unprecedented parlay the robed strangers revealed their visages they were tau of that there was no doubt but unlike any other the xenos had ever encountered before they paid both sides listen and listen both sides did for the strangers brought with them a new form of thinking a new path an alteration of cognition the future they claimed lay within a world where all tau existed in parity acting in a grand concordance for the good of all their tauva a punchy term transliterated to gothic as the greater good but with specific inflections towards unity of species and purpose intelligently linked would not only save the race from the extinction they were barreling towards but uplift them joined together there was nothing the tao could not achieve or so they claimed all the warring cultures had to do was lay down their arms look around at the destruction they had wrought and resolved to learn mature and cooperate against all odds and precedent it succeeded a truce was called one that rapidly spread planet wide as more of these strangers appeared before more war groups bearing the exact same message they called themselves the ethereals or celestials to use an old defunct inquisition term their message was identical across the globe they would not say where they had come from only that their talva the destiny of all tau was all that mattered they were a servant to it and it was the only path that was possible their words carried an undeniable weight giving the tau they encountered something that had seemingly been entirely absent from their lives hope and purpose a genuine alternative that breathtakingly seemed possible in tandem with these ethereals came the word spread by merchants and error messengers of more ceasefires of more battles averted of more genocides halted possibility abounded and the tau drank deep of its well within a planetary year the wars had ended the rebuilding was accelerating at breakneck speed the tauva was on the lips of all and it was undeniably effective the builder tau now named under the greater good as the earth cast constructed well-formatted hygienic and prosperous towns at focal points around the globe all of which rapidly swelled into cities as the population recovered its numbers with stunning briskness commerce was re-established between these metropolis and by the merchant tau now known as the water cast who ever more frequently took the role of ambassadors envoys and cultural attendance spreading the word of the ethereals faster and maybe even more efficiently than the mysterious strangers had been able to on their own the aerial tao coaxed finally out of their lofty crags became the air cast the messengers of the world establishing a solid global communication network despite the species technology level being barely above an imperial feudal world this new air cast likewise were pivotal in the spread of technologies and knowledge all of which was now freely and eagerly shared between all members of the race contributing to a deep acceleration in the pace of global development each new act of cooperation compounded with the other the pace was exponential even the plains dweller tau the most reticent to change were coaxed in upon seeing the works of the other castes given new form in civilization as the warrior race of the fire cast the armed forces of the new tau race that the four sub-species of the tau race were now rendered into four species affirming distinct castes is one of the mysteries of the tower themselves most notably the speed at which it was accomplished it has been done elsewhere by other xenos less voluntarily maybe but with efficacy one may bring up the aspect paths of the ildari specifically the craft-worlding asaryani but such practices were adopted post the species downfall millennia ago a reaction to the apocalypse not in an attempt to avert it it was at the end of millions of years of societal development not just after the species had stopped bashing stone tools together to unify the feuding collection of disparate cultures into a global community before even the discovery of electricity it is curious curious and worrying unsurprisingly the seemingly voluntary planetary unity allowed for a period of explosive development and progress the tauva was both achievement and goal simultaneously it was a state that the race had gained through struggle and hardship and by conquering the demons of their own worst natures but it was also a lofty utopia that must constantly be striven for lest the gains of the past be lost to the darkness that waited in the eaves for strife and discord to return the tau were a perfect society yet must constantly seek to embody that perfection a permanent revolution so to speak it served quite effectively to motivate the society the results broke no argument because they literally spoke for themselves utopia was here and it was being iterated upon with every passing day the minds of the tao were expanding to new possibilities just as soon as perfection had been achieved new realms new paths opened up to make it better within scant centuries the first crewed rockets were lifted off from the surface of the xeno homeworld robust earth cast technology wedded to pioneering aircast pilotry from there it was only a short hop to the first orbital communes the colonizations of the planet's nearest moons orbital dockyards were next constructed from minerals mined from nearby asteroids leading to larger space-built colony ships that established tau outposts on every nearby planetoid astro navigation was made possible by spaceborne telescopes revealing to the aliens their place within the galaxy and their good fortune in lying in the middle of a super dense cluster of stars prominent earth-cast scientists raised the issue of supernovae and coronal mass ejections as posing severe dangers to the species with so many stars in so small a volume the danger was there anyone could go nova and obliterate all of the work that the tauva had achieved this was seized upon necessarily as the reasoning for the massive colonial drive that followed plunging into nearby star systems barely a thousand years since the species had first unified the tau were now establishing colony after colony in different solar systems the first faster than light drive technologies were created to boost this effort utilizing a strange side long dimension of unfathomable energy only recently discovered we of the enlightened imperium of man will of course understand that this is the immaterium the warp the world behind the world and that we have been utilizing it for transportation since before most records upon it were penned the tau limited in both their knowledge of the realm and lacking entirely a psychic gene were constrained to small-scale warp dives their scientists believing that sustained attempts to travel long distance would lead to the destruction and loss of too many ships to a species that prioritized the lives of its members above expediency the decision was an easy one not to mention the nearness of their neighboring systems allowed for such warp dives to still render colonial efforts quite successful such exploration naturally brought the tau into contact with other zenos in keeping with their spirit of parity and comity such encounters were welcomed by the tao as opportunities to forge new compacts not reacting to the discovery of alien life with horror or existential dread but with joy and there being other sentient life in the universe to bring word of their utopia to their optimism was often not shared several of these encounters led to massive losses of life and material with the initial expeditions when newly encountered xenos as humanity learned tens of millennia ago reacted with violent hostility to these intruders the greenskins were apparently a particularly hard lesson in the nature of this galaxy of ours as numerous attempts to bring them into some form of proper communication resulted in hilariously a predictable disaster oddly this was not always the case as most any imperial servant who has undertaken research or worse has had actual contact with the tao will know that be aware despite initial setbacks diplomatic channels were indeed opened with numerous alien races found within the taos local cluster which led to the establishment of accords and disgustingly integration of these species as client races of the tao themselves through granting of technology medicine or simply offering protection minor xeno species were in vehicles into the assimilation of the burgeoning tau empire imperial xenobiologists have since contact catalogued a dizzying array of alien filth fighting trading exploring or simply existing alongside the tao the croot the vespit the nicosar the greet the rang hon the paktroon the nagi the galc the demiurg the moralians the geatrix the char paktin the list of infamy stretches even longer than this whatever threat the tower posed to the imperium themselves the danger of this horrid xenos union where all the skills and qualities of each species are utilized for the betterment of the tau empire an undeniably effective to boot is quite staggering not all values displayed by these client species are loved by their new partners the cannibalistic tendencies of the croot for instance an integral part of their twisted biology is apparently actively suppressed knowledge within tao borders at least if the reactions of water cast diplomats when questioned about it are anything to go by concerning biology a large degree of imperial knowledge of the tao species specifically the ethereal caste comes from the work of majos biologist charles darvis seconded from the mechanicus to the service of the now disavowed radical ordo xenos inquisitor raleigh since both darvis and raleigh were lost in the destruction of their research outpost during an ordo xenos investigation into their activities there the findings remained within sequestered autosinos archives that your humble servant has since been granted access to please bear in mind that while these are some of the most up-to-date biological reports one has access to they do remain several centuries old the subject of the dissection in question was a deceased female ethereal who died of asphyxiation from cyanide intake the death happened during the subject's sleep cycle allowing for the body to be examined free of any obvious trauma compared to a lot of human form aping xenos species the tau bare a notably disturbing resemblance to the human baseline the endoskeletal system is human analogous in its robustness notably more so in firecast specimens notably less so in air cast ones the lack of a bone marrow equivalent does suggest any immune system functions are conducted subdermally but the autopsy was not able to fully support this the subject's skull is formed of a growth plate that knits together with age encasing the brain within a fluidic membrane the skull's olfactory region revealed a highly complex set of receptors and neural connectors indicating an extremely sensitive sense of smell in the case of the ethereal this cavity also contained an odd diamond-shaped organ that expresses itself through the dermis around the skull to become visible on the body itself more on that later as no other form of tao possesses this and its exact purpose is while unknown to imperial science deeply speculated upon the ocular organs of this particular subject are shared across all studied tau specimens with a forward-facing field of vision of approximately 185 degrees indicating a mammal analog common predatory ancestor the amount of rods per eye are however notably fewer than humans leading to the conclusion that the taos ancestor species up to their present evolutionary state have relied upon scent as more important for survival than sight something that the towered present lightly utilized technology to overcome the cavity of the body shows a fairly xenotypical arrangement of analog organs fulfilling similar purposes to the human baseline ones with indications of a vestigial secondary stomach of a much more complex variety than humanity's most pronounced evolutionary throwback the appendix the dermis of the subject is a monotonal blue gray and bears a highly efficient perspiration system typical of creatures evolving in average climates what is most noteworthy about this subject is perhaps the incongruous state of certain aspects of its biology in comparison with one another while most of the tower body is in line with what can be expected of an evolved sapient species certain aspects appear to lag behind the hoofed legs of the species quite distinct from other humanoids have extremely sensitive padded elements that are more in common with other hoofed ungulates of much less evolved states similarly while the human appendix has been retained in an entirely vestigial state the tau's secondary stomach is also much closer to an evolutionary primitive state than would be expected of such a creature ultimately this leads to speculation that the tau experienced evolutionary growth spurts of rapid and sustained development that was far from uniform causing certain aspects of their biology to fall behind but be simultaneously retained however superfluous they may have become [Music] such an asymmetrical biological development is mirrored in their social and cultural advancement as i stated earlier what species do we yet know that developed into a fully unified global society before the discovery of the motive force the rise from simple mammal analogues to fully fledged star faring sapiens took six thousand years six thousand the imperium is almost twice as old as their entire species alone and we have evidence to point to humanity's existence as intelligent life as being at least 200 000 years old i am fully aware of the imperium's issues with well up-to-date timely and accurate communication of information but we turn our backs for a few scant millennia and suddenly a major space-faring power has unified a dozen other zenos races under its banner the galaxy is a large place yes strange and terrible occurrences are common but the rise of these tau absolutely beggars belief no one suspects that something more is at play here i cannot imagine what what we do know is that the evidence of their uncanny development is writ large not only in their history but in their very forms genetic pliability is not unknown within the foulness of alien geno forms we need only cast our eye to the tyranids to see the hideous possibilities of controlled directed evolutionary development even our own imperial bioscience is unrivalled masterful are we at splicing and weaving the genetics of bioalchemy but with these tau this space of time allotted the nature of their evolution little makes much in the way of sense species adapt to environmental conditions that is the cornerstone of evolution but in the few millennia of time between the wars of the pre-tauva days to their establishment of off-world colonies the air cast began to completely lose their winged aspect and instead developed into tall brittle-boned thinned forms all the better to cope with life in zero to low gravity environs there does not seem to be anything in the way of a sustained deliberate effort to achieve this the tao have displayed no great skill or indeed interest in the progression of genetic sciences favoring said development of mechanical and technological devices to enhance their biology they merely adapted to the new environmental changes in the comparative blink of an eye while all tau began their genetic divergence millennia ago the caste system has seemingly caused this to become more pronounced the air cast are the most notable examples yes but even the disparity in form between fire cast and earth cast with the former having larger and more robust bodies while the latter slightly larger cranial membranes it's highly pronounced then indeed we have the ethereals in their curious vestigial diamond organ nitrous darvis was unable to ascertain its purpose noting that it did however contain ultra dense hormonal fluids within overpoweringly pungent scent the organ in place of the usual tau forehead cleft connected to the tissue of the brain via ganglia which darfus also noted contained certain polyp structures that are resonant with life forms known to communicate via pheromonal systems given the previously mentioned ultrasensitivity of the tau species across all caste forms to scent it is possible that some form of evolutionary method of scent communication is on display here but whether this takes place between within the ethereal cast alone or between all tau we do not yet know inquisitor rally darvis's patron within the ordos was enthusiastic in leaping to the conclusion that this organ represents the root of the town's ideological development their grand unification at a state of development when other species would still be caving each other's brain pans in with bones he proposed that the appearance of scent polyps and the guiding role the ethereals have played and continued to play within tower society all taken into consideration with the race's use of scent over sight leads to the inevitable conclusion that the ethereal caste unbeknownst to their fellow tau exert a pheromonal control over the race the unification of the greater good is a pleasant face concealing the dark truth that one small group of tau is puppeting the rest through biological manipulation should one remove the ethereals for a sustained amount of time social cohesion amongst the tao would fundamentally break down and they would return to a state of anarchy since before the ethereals had uplifted them the inquisitor's theory has gained stock amongst some order xenos members and i have heard certain wings of the mechanicus biologists i am no alien hunter nor alien dissector merely a chronicler of words and years but i cannot help but feel that this is too blunt or simple an explanation of the unique level of cohesion within tao society the means are clearly not psychic psychic control is something that we hideously know exists and have dealt with many many a time but the tau possess no psychic gene and despite the evolutionary rapidity are in no way seeming to begin to express one the renegade tau commander farsight o chauva is key amongst the pheromone blocks arguments for his breakaway enclaves from the greater empire are unique and seemingly precipitated by the death of his expedition's ethereal the block argues that with the death of the ethereal the chemical control over farsight's ideology was broken the horrid truth of the greater good was finally revealed and all this caused him to flee the empire with those still loyal to his manner when pressed upon the matter the water cast propagandists usually forthcoming about all aspects of the empire will grow completely silent farsight is persona non-grata as far as the tower concerned despite his continued existence and his continued support nominally speaking for the tao empire's endeavors while a curiosity in his own right and the subject of a record yet to be penned farsight is one instance in 6 000 years of tao history meaning one must stack the numerical odds of ethereal loss upon the battlefield or unexpected death simply speaking versus the sheer number of them in existence at any one time and come to the conclusion that the imperium simply lacks evidence to support this i am not precisely trying to argue against the theory as it is one that is certainly compelling for a number of reasons not least because it offers a substantial explanation for the rapidity and robustness of the town's unification i merely do not believe that jumping to such a satisfying conclusion is within the imperium's best interests we are an ideologically mono-creed people the same as they are and while yes they are alien filth peddling a hilariously naive view of the galaxy and its myriad of horrors their dedication to parity and equality liberty i believe the ancient term is possesses plenty of attraction in its own right leave the emperor to grant us our meaning in this world our purpose to be our shield our sword our god they have created this melange with an enthusiasm and optimism and however blasphemous it may be it has been effective one suspects an invisible hand at play here however one similar to that which hath wrought so many of the xeno forms that plague our galaxy with their perfidiousness if acolytes have browsed my previous xenobiologist records you will know that the hand of a deliberate creator lies prominent upon the frames of the eldari and the orc theories further backed up by evidence redelent in the tales of the ancient war in heaven between the progenitor species and the necron tier could the self-same hand be at play here dancing in the space between tau dna strands unlikely that progenitor race is long long and impossibly long dead vanished the tower the youngest race we yet know to slip the bounds of their own planet younger even than the emperor's internment in the throne of terror does something else work here something lurking out of sight its work barely visible maddening frustrating elusive we simply do not know the tao ultimately pose more questions than they answer how do they evolve so quickly how could such evolutionary rapidity be mirrored in their technological progression and ideological development why is it so fast you've simply not garnered enough in the way of experience evidence or time to grasp these issues the tao meanwhile simply accelerate barreling forwards into the unknown of the future possessed with such apparently ironclad optimism that if reports are to be believed they have finally breached the accordance of their naturally imposed empire sphere to establish outposts and seps in reaches of the galaxy once completely beyond their grasp some within imperial high command would consider them a minor threat compared to the rampaging foulness of the green skins or the high fleets or the necrons but one must caution these assured types we know so little of the tower that we underestimate them to our gravest peril in the blink of one of the imperial eagle's eyes they have gone from lithic to space faring they have inflicted grievous losses upon the imperium's armed forces time and time again and yes while they are contained the speed of their technological development rivals that of the tyranids with their biology their danger cannot be denied i am simply stating the obvious here i hate them as much as i hate any alien but we must not be so blinkered and complacent as to assume that their naivety will be their undoing in subsequent records primarily concerning the wars of the damocles gulf itself i will elaborate further upon such matters but for now i must rest there's only so much discourse upon the stain of the alien i can stomach until that time ave imperator gloria in excelsis terra this video and this channel were made possible thanks to the very kind donations and support from my patreon subscribers if you'd like to help support the channel head on over to patreon.com oculus imperia if you'd like to receive more updates about the channel and any future videos you can contact me or follow me on twitter at oculus imperia otherwise please like subscribe comment let me know your feedback and as ever thank you very much for watching [Music] you

Channel: Oculus Imperia

Views: 83,910

Keywords: Warhammer, Warhammer 40k, Warhammer Lore, Warhammer 40k Lore, Warhammer 30k, Horus Heresy, Horus Heresy Lore, Forge World, Games Workshop, Astartes, Primarchs, Space Marines, Adeptus Astartes

Id: TP66xRl8PWY

Length: 42min 25sec (2545 seconds)

Published: Fri Feb 12 2021