Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

So, I was doing some forum RP for my Dark Heresy campaign, which has come to involve a Radical member of the retinue and her new Slaaneshi lore-Familiar dealing with a Tau Cadre that has, so far, kept itself rather well-hidden on this Imperial world, allied with the mutant members of a small village on the shores of a radioactive sea. The player of the Radical, not knowing much in-game or above-game about the Tau, turned to her familiar and plumbed her for all the lore she could get.

This lead me to doing some internet research on the Tau, so that I could have some data to give to the player, when the thought struck me that a Daemon would not really be able to rely on the whispers in the Warp for information on the Tau. Their natural "bluntness", with regards to psychic powers and creatures of the Warp, might prevent a lot of divinatory psychic abilities from affecting them, either individually or as a whole. This research also lead me to discover that, though common consensus is that the Tau evolved from a plains-dwelling herbivore, some sort of xeno-gazelle or antelope-like creature, it is noted that the Fire Caste is descended from the hunter castes of the Mont'au cultures. This can only mean that Tau were not ever herbivores, unless the Tau homeworld has some *really* dangerous vegetables wandering around on it. This makes me wonder where the idea in the 40K community that the Tau were once/currently are herbivores originates from. I know that I (until this very idea hit me) thought that this was the case, but now I cannot find a source that suggests it. I don't, unfortunately, possess a copy of Codex: Tau Empire anymore (unfortunate incident involving a six pack of Guinness in tall cans and an over-enthusiastic game of darts. Don't ask.) and so cannot refer to any of the "canon" sources for confirmation. Anyone know where this originates from?

Given that some fundamentals of the Tau seem to be erroneous on the part of the community, I found myself having to make a few judgement calls (basically, I made it up) to provide the player with some information. Since her Daemonic Familiar is both a Slaaneshi daemon and not exceptionally bright (though it is very, very devious), I decided that its racial lores first and foremost center around those things that the race in question find pleasurable, either in the physical sense (brown chicken, brown cow...) or various games, hobbies, past-times, diversions such as drugs or alcohol and foods, and that sort of thing. So, since the Tau appear to be mammalian (they have hooves, after all, and "plains-dweller" seems to suggest a mammal) it was determined that Tau females do, indeed, have what humans would call breasts, but, as the Daemon put it, "no human anywhere ever would be impressed by them... and I've been talking to humans for tens of thousands of your years.". It was also decided that the Etherals do not have any sort of pheromone control over the Tau (I, personally, think that's a stupid explanation, I prefer something more... sinister, but also more practical... after all, people went along with the greatest tyrants of human history of their own free will.). I also decided that, other than the Y-shaped ridge on their faces, the Daemon recommended her Mistress treat all Tau the same (the planet they are on has, in some regions, clearly-defined gender roles, which the character might mistake the Tau for having, as most of the Tau encountered so far have been male). It makes sense that the Tau would have a gender-equal society, apart from certain obvious biological requirements.

So, any other thoughts on the Tau floating around out there? Hit me up with all the weirdness you can, I might use it (even if I think it's wrong, it might be fun to have this little Daemon-encyclopedia have misinformation being fed to her through the Warp, since the Warp can't figure out the Tau, either.)

I think the herbivore thing comes from the fact that the terran animals they most resemble are camels, and the fact that in Kill Team (the 13th legion book), none of the 'food' served at the Tau banquet was identifiable.

Other than that, I can't think of anything. I do, however, have the most recent Tau book!

OK, apparently, T'au has a single, large continent that is composed of game-rich savannahs and sweeping plains, broken up by patches of rocky desert. Long before the Tau took to the stars, they began as hunters on these plains, and as their tribes grew, they spread across the lands following migrating game, avoiding natural disasters, and seeking to escape growing rivalries.

Tau must be omnivores, because the Earth caste of the pre-Mon'tau era who migrated to "river valleys began establishing well-constructed farming communities, developing their metallurgical, tool-making and mining skills".

The Mon'tau began because the Air Tau were basically bandits and raiders, who allied themselves with exiled Fire Tau to create bandit armies.

According to the codex, Tau society is completely gender equal - raising children is performed in creches, and 'motherhood' ends with birthing. On the other hand, 'The Last of Kiru's Line' implies that family lines are important to the Tau, and that Shadowsun would have to retire to have children (which goes against the rest of the lore).

I imagine that the Tau's taste in games would vary by caste. I see Fire and Earth caste as liking strategy games, Air caste preferring games of chance, and Water caste having a thing for Visual Novels.

Ethereals, of course, only play games with mundane Tau lives.

I think that the Ethereals have some kind of domination type effect over other Tau, or at least the original Ethereal of Fio'taun did - he walked into a war camp of a besieging army and politely asked them to stop making war, and they did. Then again, I think the original Ethereal was the Silent King in disguise, so...

Haven't seen the herbivore rumour myself, but I assume it is just a hooves=herbivore prejudice.

It might come from the Imperial Guardsman's Uplifting Primer. IIRC, Taus are referred to as descended from cows in there. As a joke, really (along with other wondrous gems of wisdom like "Tau name their vehicles after fish for some reason.")

....needless to say, I wouldn't assume it to be true in that case.

Although it's possible that it comes from Xenology, although that book's kinda questionable in accuracy too.

 Kroothawk wrote:
Haven't seen the herbivore rumour myself, but I assume it is just a hooves=herbivore prejudice.

It must be. The primary Tau modus operandi in combat are regularly referenced as being descended from their traditional hunting techniques. Don't really need much technique to hunt salad leaves (except on deathworlds)

Makes sense. Seems to me like it was one of those things that got passed around "back in the day" and took on a life of its own.


... unless the salads on the Tau Homeworld are particularly vicious.

 Psienesis wrote:
This research also lead me to discover that, though common consensus is that the Tau evolved from a plains-dwelling herbivore, some sort of xeno-gazelle or antelope-like creature, it is noted that the Fire Caste is descended from the hunter castes of the Mont'au cultures. This can only mean that Tau were not ever herbivores, unless the Tau homeworld has some *really* dangerous vegetables wandering around on it.

You don't have to be a predator to hunt other animals. You can hunt them for their skin/fur (for clothing), bones (for tools) or even their flesh (to use it as a fertilizer in your farms).

Or maybe the Tau is bad with domesticating animals, so their only way to get beasts of burden was to hunt down wild animals, capture them alive and then break/tame them.

 Psienesis wrote:
Makes sense. Seems to me like it was one of those things that got passed around "back in the day" and took on a life of its own.


... unless the salads on the Tau Homeworld are particularly vicious.

Well, there's also the fact that the Tau physiology - all the things that make them poor melee combatants - also make them atrocious hunters.

Then again, supposedly not having scaling irises means they have poor depth perception, which is flat-out not how eyes work, so...

I don't know about descended from cows but I have come to the recent thought pattern that the Tau themselves could be descended from evolution but I believe the Ethereal's are demonic in their creation and their ability for control...(and yes I know of the theory of the elder giving certain tau a hormone to help with general control of the populace)...The fact a Warp storm engulfed the planet and stayed for the Tau's entire evolution is shady to me. Also in the Enclave book Farsights mind is described as seeing clearer once his Ethereals were dead and he learnt the truth about the warp.

I believe that the Tau are destined for a fall towards something evil and that the Farsight Enclave and the Tau are so different that by next edition they could bring in a SM/CSM type fall with them.

Anyway demonic origins if you ask me!!!

(And no I'm not taking the P!5S)

I like Brother Lem's theory much more interesting than the eldar theory.

It is kind of interesting, excepting that we know, from other fluff throughout the entire history of the game, that Daemons can't work like that. They cannot just manifest when and wherever they want and remain their for as long as they like.

There's also the possibility of them being Daemonhosts, but those also have some very obvious "tells" (like not being killed by standard gunfire).

Lastly, we know that Daemons are, basically, Change Incarnate, being the primal forces of the Warp given a... well, not really human form, but a form all the same. The static nature of physical reality is alien to them, so the first thing they do when they show up here is try to change things in any way they can. Tau society seems too structured and Orderly to be a design of Chaos.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 AtoMaki wrote:

 Psienesis wrote:
This research also lead me to discover that, though common consensus is that the Tau evolved from a plains-dwelling herbivore, some sort of xeno-gazelle or antelope-like creature, it is noted that the Fire Caste is descended from the hunter castes of the Mont'au cultures. This can only mean that Tau were not ever herbivores, unless the Tau homeworld has some *really* dangerous vegetables wandering around on it.

You don't have to be a predator to hunt other animals. You can hunt them for their skin/fur (for clothing), bones (for tools) or even their flesh (to use it as a fertilizer in your farms).

Or maybe the Tau is bad with domesticating animals, so their only way to get beasts of burden was to hunt down wild animals, capture them alive and then break/tame them.

... taming and breaking animals is the very definition of domestication.

 Psienesis wrote:
It is kind of interesting, excepting that we know, from other fluff throughout the entire history of the game, that Daemons can't work like that. They cannot just manifest when and wherever they want and remain their for as long as they like.

There's also the possibility of them being Daemonhosts, but those also have some very obvious "tells" (like not being killed by standard gunfire).

Lastly, we know that Daemons are, basically, Change Incarnate, being the primal forces of the Warp given a... well, not really human form, but a form all the same. The static nature of physical reality is alien to them, so the first thing they do when they show up here is try to change things in any way they can. Tau society seems too structured and Orderly to be a design of Chaos.

in the Enclaves book the reports made it sound like the Ethereals were targeted by the demons....So perhaps a new demon force is arriving something not unlike the Necrons being that it could be a daemon returning from the time of the old ones that has been dormant or was suppressed by Old One tech and has been slowly breaking free. Say it was a king of daemons and was smarter then your average warp fiend haha either way The Greater Good will become and a much larger eviler plan!!!

Well, there weren't any daemons at the time of the Old Ones. It wasn't until the War in Heaven that the Warp got its jimmies rustled and started coming up with those things... but, again, this brings us back to the problem of having Daemon-possessed Etherals. If they are, they are unlike any kind of possession we've ever seen in the fluff thus far, since they can apparently pass for normal members of their society, and don't look particularly different from one another (as daemons, and daemon-hosts, are wont to do).

A "King of Daemons" is a Warp God, like, Khorne or Tzeentch or other Great Four type Warp God. They simply cannot exist in physical space. It's just not possible for them to do so. If they do cross over, physical reality fails and boils away into madness.

 Psienesis wrote:
Well, there weren't any daemons at the time of the Old Ones. It wasn't until the War in Heaven that the Warp got its jimmies rustled and started coming up with those things...

Have an exalt my good sir (or possibly ma`am as this is the internet and I can't tell)! This is one of the best phrases I have read all day. If my signature wasn't reserved for a shameless plug I would be tempted to quote it there.

 AtoMaki wrote:
You don't have to be a predator to hunt other animals. You can hunt them for their skin/fur (for clothing), bones (for tools) or even their flesh (to use it as a fertilizer in your farms).

Most animals who are robbed of their skin, flesh and bones would feel like prey though

So yeah, hunting is inspiration for their military tactics. Also the flat face with 3D sight is something, that only (full or part-time) predators have on earth. Keep in mind that the asociation of Tau with cows and their vehicles with fish (Tau is a desert planet!) is Imperial, earth-centric fantasy only.

 Psienesis wrote:
Well, there weren't any daemons at the time of the Old Ones. It wasn't until the War in Heaven that the Warp got its jimmies rustled and started coming up with those things... but, again, this brings us back to the problem of having Daemon-possessed Etherals. If they are, they are unlike any kind of possession we've ever seen in the fluff thus far, since they can apparently pass for normal members of their society, and don't look particularly different from one another (as daemons, and daemon-hosts, are wont to do).

A "King of Daemons" is a Warp God, like, Khorne or Tzeentch or other Great Four type Warp God. They simply cannot exist in physical space. It's just not possible for them to do so. If they do cross over, physical reality fails and boils away into madness.

Causality ignoring Chaos laughs at your view of linear time. There's always been daemons. Daemons have also never existed.

I never liked the Eldar theory, either.

My personal theory is Necrons. The Tau are just too well designed as an anti-warp army to think otherwise. Their development has been forced down non-warp-using paths, they have no psykers, they don't use telepathy to communicate.

They were either designed to fight the Tyranids (the crippling Shadow of the Warp has no effect on them!) or to believe the Warp out of existence.

Psienesis wrote:... taming and breaking animals is the very definition of domestication.

Kroothawk wrote:Most animals who are robbed of their skin, flesh and bones would feel like prey though

Gimme a break guys, it was late in the night when I wrote this . I meant domestication of a whole species (like wolf->dog) and they don't have to be carnivores (not predators) in order to hunt animals.

Actually I never consider the option of trying to believe the warp out of existence!
The Greater Good would be such a focal point for expansion that the Tau would never learn of the warps existence if they rule the galaxy and even if they did discover it, the ideals of The Greater Good would be a more powerful thought then that of the Warp....Perhaps The Greater Good has something to do with either believing the Warp out of existence or believing something so positive and powerfully good into the warp like a defender of good type god...

I for one hope the Defender of Good type god resembles a COW!!!

As I've always understood it, there is a strict segregation between the castes so a Slaanesh character might find that information useful. After all it seems unlikely that, say, a Fire Caste would not ever find an Earth Caste attractive, but my understanding is that Fire Caste may only ever breed with Fire Caste et cetera so there definitely seems to be an area for manipulation and perversion there.

The strict Caste definitions seem to be quite contrary to the apparently equal society of the Tau. We know that all the Castes can fight, and that when the Earth Caste were building fortresses and the like to defend against the Fire Caste they weren't doing too badly so it isn't as if the Fire Caste have the monopoly on being able or good at fighting. However, that being said, under the guidance of the Ethereals, only the Fire Caste fight, the Earth Caste are the only ones who get to build et cetera.

I've always viewed the Caste situation as describing the Tau as almost distinct species (in a similar way to the various Kroot species). Each of the Castes, physically and culturally are very different to each other even if they are all 'Tau', it isn't just that the Earth Caste are short and squat, the Air Caste tall and willowy these traits breed true, are seemingly unique to each specific Caste and there doesn't seem to be any inter-Caste relationships going on.

Plenty of interesting things for any Slaaneshi character to be thinking about.

In terms of breeding, I don't know if you ever watched the TV programme Farscape, but I would liken the Tau, or at least, the Fire Caste, as having relationships with each other in the same the Peacekeepers do in the Farscape universe. They were allowed to freely form sexual partnerships without censure from officers and any children would be raised in a crèche with no contact with their parents at all (one episode of Farscape dealt with the issue by having the mother sneak in at night to tell her daughter she was conceived in love, which seemed to be an exception to how it usually went). Another Peacekeeper character, a high level officer, also became pregnant and carried out her duties at the same time and I seem to recall her having to fight too. In 40K terms, officers and generals of any species spend far too much time getting stuck in with the boys when realistically for the Tau, I would argue, they would be at the back leading armies as happens in the real world. Even so, using Farscape as the example I see potential even for ordinary Fire Caste to have children (the Peacekeepers it should be noted had a relatively quick pregnancy and simple births so I can easily see the Fire Caste being the same with a pregnancy not really being a huge problem as it would be for a human soldier.

 Furyou Miko wrote:
I think the herbivore thing comes from the fact that the terran animals they most resemble are camels, and the fact that in Kill Team (the 13th legion book), none of the 'food' served at the Tau banquet was identifiable.

Other than that, I can't think of anything. I do, however, have the most recent Tau book!

OK, apparently, T'au has a single, large continent that is composed of game-rich savannahs and sweeping plains, broken up by patches of rocky desert. Long before the Tau took to the stars, they began as hunters on these plains, and as their tribes grew, they spread across the lands following migrating game, avoiding natural disasters, and seeking to escape growing rivalries.

Tau must be omnivores, because the Earth caste of the pre-Mon'tau era who migrated to "river valleys began establishing well-constructed farming communities, developing their metallurgical, tool-making and mining skills".

The Mon'tau began because the Air Tau were basically bandits and raiders, who allied themselves with exiled Fire Tau to create bandit armies.

According to the codex, Tau society is completely gender equal - raising children is performed in creches, and 'motherhood' ends with birthing. On the other hand, 'The Last of Kiru's Line' implies that family lines are important to the Tau, and that Shadowsun would have to retire to have children (which goes against the rest of the lore).

I imagine that the Tau's taste in games would vary by caste. I see Fire and Earth caste as liking strategy games, Air caste preferring games of chance, and Water caste having a thing for Visual Novels.

Ethereals, of course, only play games with mundane Tau lives.

I think that the Ethereals have some kind of domination type effect over other Tau, or at least the original Ethereal of Fio'taun did - he walked into a war camp of a besieging army and politely asked them to stop making war, and they did. Then again, I think the original Ethereal was the Silent King in disguise, so...

Actually it isn't to surprising to have her forced into motherhood. You could take two different approaches:

1. Service allows for breeding. That is, you must serve if you want to bear children (ala Starship Troopers, the film, or as in Ender's Game, excess breeding rites depends on the state needs).
2. If all castes are predetermined for their place in life (and they are for the Tau), and all must serve, then you would have to have something requiring a fighting caste to have mandated breeding time. A Firewarrior's life is to fight for the empire. If they are permanently under arms, how would the Tau get more Firewarriors? It would not be against the fluff, or even that hard of a stretch for successful Fire Caste females to be required to birth children as part of their duty to the greater good (similar concepts have abounded in terran societies). That would also fit into the fact the Tau are different caste to caste in ways analogous to a very selective breeding program.

I also prefer the Ethereals to not require mind control. Plenty of human dictatorships/societies with blind obedience to the state that didn't require mind control. The Tau could just be wired different (even in the Farsight Enclaves they still align in a similar fashion, with set leaders and heads that the rest seem to just go along with).

 Wyzilla wrote:

 Psienesis wrote:
Well, there weren't any daemons at the time of the Old Ones. It wasn't until the War in Heaven that the Warp got its jimmies rustled and started coming up with those things... but, again, this brings us back to the problem of having Daemon-possessed Etherals. If they are, they are unlike any kind of possession we've ever seen in the fluff thus far, since they can apparently pass for normal members of their society, and don't look particularly different from one another (as daemons, and daemon-hosts, are wont to do).

A "King of Daemons" is a Warp God, like, Khorne or Tzeentch or other Great Four type Warp God. They simply cannot exist in physical space. It's just not possible for them to do so. If they do cross over, physical reality fails and boils away into madness.

Causality ignoring Chaos laughs at your view of linear time. There's always been daemons. Daemons have also never existed.

While I do like that aspect of Chaos, it's really inconsistently applied in the setting. Given that the Old Ones were, themselves, Warp-capable beings (moving in to, out of and through it at will), they apparently didn't have any problems with Daemons, and weren't having any problems with the Necrontyr until the C'Tan got involved... if we are to believe the words of the Deceiver, a risky bet at best, the Old Ones also had no troubles handing the C'Tan their asses, either.

So while it's possible that there could have been Daemons around, it is also possible that the at-the-time calm nature of the Immaterium prevented them from arriving in numbers, or at all, as it would have been too-Orderly an environment to sustain them.

Let's put it another way, all Spartan males were required to take a wife and produce male children for the state. Yet they were not allowed to live at home and instead lived in the barracks.

Infirm young were then cast off to die so that they could not dilute the line.

An early form of selective breeding and breeding by decree.

In terms of our own military, we do have instances of women being sent (very few mind you, but it has happened) on deployment who then try to get pregnant in an effort to be sent home. Not having some sort of defined structure around it would be strange for the Fire Caste. Largely due to the detrimental effect it could have (not saying it has to, it could be something pretty easy and routine for the Tau, but most complex life as we know it that carries it's young internally doesn't just pop kids out with no issue and go on it's merry way).

Another interesting take would be if the Tau are egg layers. The red men and green men of mars (Edgar Rice Burroughs) are egg layers, who after impregnation lay their eggs somewhere and the new member of society is then hatched at a later date. The green men in particular would offer a similar conceptual idea to what we know of Tau youth. They lay their eggs in secret areas and then gather them at the day of hatching. These are then distributed amongst the tribe so that no warrior knows who their real father or mother are. Rather they are raised in an almost communal nature so that they view the tribe as a whole as their family.

We know the Tau do something similar. Their kids do not grow up with mommy and daddy. They are raised in a similar fashion and then indoctrinated into their castes way of life and thought. Individualism is, to some extent, bred out of them at all levels. Firewarrior youths all go to Battle School (straight out of Ender's Game meets Halo's Spartan program)

Any of the models I've suggested would not necessarily be visible through scrying, but I'm sure would be at least of passing interest to anything slaaneshi.

It is noted that it is very hard to psychically scry on the Tau, appearing as will-o-wisps in the Warp, or some similar description, meaning that they "blend in" to the background noise of the Immaterium.

 Maniac_nmt wrote:

Actually it isn't to surprising to have her forced into motherhood. You could take two different approaches:

1. Service allows for breeding. That is, you must serve if you want to bear children (ala Starship Troopers, the film, or as in Ender's Game, excess breeding rites depends on the state needs).
2. If all castes are predetermined for their place in life (and they are for the Tau), and all must serve, then you would have to have something requiring a fighting caste to have mandated breeding time. A Firewarrior's life is to fight for the empire. If they are permanently under arms, how would the Tau get more Firewarriors? It would not be against the fluff, or even that hard of a stretch for successful Fire Caste females to be required to birth children as part of their duty to the greater good (similar concepts have abounded in terran societies). That would also fit into the fact the Tau are different caste to caste in ways analogous to a very selective breeding program.

I also prefer the Ethereals to not require mind control. Plenty of human dictatorships/societies with blind obedience to the state that didn't require mind control. The Tau could just be wired different (even in the Farsight Enclaves they still align in a similar fashion, with set leaders and heads that the rest seem to just go along with).

She isn't forced into motherhood, she has to choose.

The reason it's a problem is that becoming a mother to a Fire Warrior shouldn't involve more than a furlough the length of the pregnancy. Because Tau mothers don't raise their own children, there is absolutely no reason for any Fire Warrior female to retire to have a family - she just has to take six months leave then hand the sprog off to the creches!

 Furyou Miko wrote:

 Maniac_nmt wrote:

Actually it isn't to surprising to have her forced into motherhood. You could take two different approaches:

1. Service allows for breeding. That is, you must serve if you want to bear children (ala Starship Troopers, the film, or as in Ender's Game, excess breeding rites depends on the state needs).
2. If all castes are predetermined for their place in life (and they are for the Tau), and all must serve, then you would have to have something requiring a fighting caste to have mandated breeding time. A Firewarrior's life is to fight for the empire. If they are permanently under arms, how would the Tau get more Firewarriors? It would not be against the fluff, or even that hard of a stretch for successful Fire Caste females to be required to birth children as part of their duty to the greater good (similar concepts have abounded in terran societies). That would also fit into the fact the Tau are different caste to caste in ways analogous to a very selective breeding program.

I also prefer the Ethereals to not require mind control. Plenty of human dictatorships/societies with blind obedience to the state that didn't require mind control. The Tau could just be wired different (even in the Farsight Enclaves they still align in a similar fashion, with set leaders and heads that the rest seem to just go along with).

She isn't forced into motherhood, she has to choose.

The reason it's a problem is that becoming a mother to a Fire Warrior shouldn't involve more than a furlough the length of the pregnancy. Because Tau mothers don't raise their own children, there is absolutely no reason for any Fire Warrior female to retire to have a family - she just has to take six months leave then hand the sprog off to the creches!

As per the Spartan ideology, if you have someone with obviously good genes nearing the end of their service career (and she doesn't have THAT many more years to go), it isn't inconceivable for the Tau to want as many as possible. Better genes back into a carefully pruned genetic line (I'm not saying it is right, but consider it from a Tau perspective. The self is supposed to be secondary to the greater good, and who knows what they would think in that circumstance).

Shadowsun's been around for awhile, she might be nearing the end of her fertile years, so there may be pressure from on high to have her retire and go make babies. I'm not sure we're provided with much data on that aspect of Tau biology to say for sure if this is a thing.

Fair enough, I hadn't thought about the fact they might want her to have more than one child!

It's entirely possible (even likely) that the Tau don't rely on the standard and barbaric methods of reproduction we filthy humans do. That is; a gamete from each parent fertilised in what some might erroneously call "a test tube" or "a petri dish". The embryo could then develop in a machine. This would require a female and male Fire Warrior maybe a day each (sitting in the waiting room, getting the a gamete - or if their technology is sufficient to create stem cells, then any cell from their body - extracted, leaving and going back to their duties). This would also allow a huge degree of ability to genetically screen and perhaps modify the DNA of the Tau-to-be, or even just create the ideal combinations of parents to benefit genetic diversity. It would be fitting for the Tau. Gene extraction could even be a duty in of itself.

On them evolving from herbivores; any xeno-gazelle would have to evolve quite significantly to become xeno-humanoids. It's entirely possible that they shifted to omnivorousness over the course of this evolution. That said, I just think they evolved from omnivores in the first place.

Also, as Kroothawk said, the association with cows and fish is Imperial - but it being a "desert world" doesn't mean there are no fish. There has to be water for them to drink on this single landmass.

Here's my 2 cents.

As far as the daemon knowing about Tau, that isn't too off base. While the race as a whole are generally psychic null, there is the possibility of variation among individuals. This would allow for a Tau to have a strong enough psychic presence to be picked up on. Additionally the homogeneous nature of the Tau Empire will include psychic races like humans and the Nicassar who the demons could spy through. If you go this route it would also make sense that the Daemon's knowledge would be inaccurate on some points, since the knowledge gained would be second hand.

As far as the herbivore ancestor, that may have been true at some point in their evolution. Apes, the creatures that share the closest common ancestor with humans, are all generally herbivores and so it is likely the ancestral apes were herbivores. At some point during their evolution the Tau would have had to start consuming meat, as the protean provided by including meat is necessary for higher brain functions. That assumes that Tau biochemistry is similar enough to human, but that seems to be a safe assumption.

Members of the Tau Empire do not have any prejudice against sex or race, as long as you do what your role is. There is no duty or role that is looked down on. Everyone dose what they can for the greater good. This dose not necessarily mean that Females are relegated to being brood mothers. Shadowsun is an example an accomplished female of the Fire caste, and the Farsight Codex mentions a few other female commanders. A female tau could produce children and still serve as a soldier or whatever by simply removing any developing embryo and placing it in an artificial womb. This artificial womb could also allow for Earth Cast scientist to make sure the developing Tau fetus has any genetic abnormality corrected so the child is born healthy, and fit to full their role in the Greater Good.

I think you did fine with the bit about the Tau "breasts". I personally never though of the female tau as having breasts, especially human ones. Additionally if you look at the wide range of mammary glands seen in mammals they can be pretty varied and diverse.

And in case it comes up, the Tau generally do not recognize daemons as what they are. Most tau see daemons as just another species of Aliens, just ones that seem to live in another dimension. Only a few Tau recognize what daemons and the powers of chaos actually are but most are of the Ethereal cast, and they seem content to let the other cast be ignorant of what daemons are. The notable exception is Farsight, who might be more willing to tell the Tau of his enclaves the truth about daemons.