u/Shaskais

GW established that Vashtorr is a timeless being who witnessed and was empowered by technological progress and atrocities such as the Necron Biotransference, the rise of the DAoT, etc.

But GW is dropping hints that he wasn't merely a passive observer. Here is text from WD issue 495, a report from a Grey Knight marine, from one of the two articles expanding Vashtorr's background:

>My Lord, the oldest of the data-crystals and neo-parchment within the Sanctum Sanctorum portray legends that support the suspicion that the daemon Vashtorr was responsible for aeons-old disasters. There are patterns of rapid technological advancement, every one followed by falls into darkness and silence. Entire ages of Humanity have vanished. The Moire Schism, the Age of Strife and whatever whispers still echo of Old Night are surely a sequence into which I cannot help but suspect we have been locked.

>I fear we are now upon the precipice of such an abyss. I know the Chapter Council have dispatched a number of strike forces on the advice of the Augurium against incursions believed to represent manifestations of Vashtorr or those in his servitude, but I believe more is required. We have not turned away in the past when action has had to be taken to petrify the Imperium's progress, and I believe now is a time to consider such a response again.

Currently, it's just hints. But if it were confirmed that Vashtorr was behind the collapse of the DAoT, what would be your opinions on it?

The novel has a ton of comedic and wholesome moments between Trazyn and Orikan (they really love each other), plenty of easter eggs, and world-building for the Necrons. But I will focus on specfic parts relating to the Warp.

-The Maelstrom has existed since the Necrontyr were beings of flesh

-Inquisitor Valeria explained how the Warp works to an incredulous Orikan. She said that events that happen in the present of Real Space might affect something in the past in the Warp. Time in the Warp doesn't move linearly. From the side of the Warp, Warpstorms, such as the Great Rift, might have always existed.

-The first expedition to the world of Amenthis happened during the War in Heaven, as the Necrons turned on the C'tan. The Necrons were attacked by Nurglite and Khornate daemons. The Necron leader, Sothka, the Arcane, noticed how the daemons gradually began to look more similar to their enemies.

-On Amenthis, the servants of Vashtorr were experimenting for aeons on the captured Necrons to find a way to corrupt them. They sent a distress message to bait Trazyn to launch a second expedition.

-The leader of Vashtorr's servants is called Pustamutadis the Observer. It's classified in the novel as a Greater Daemon and a godhead. The daemon claimed that it was kin to the Necrons in the sense that it was created by them in the Warp. The War in Heaven's bloodshed, desire, plague, and change echoed in the Warp. The torment and deaths of the Necrons' victims spawned it. And from the moment of its first existence, it has always existed. Whenever Trazyn imprisons or experiments on mortals, the daemon feeds and grows powerful.

-Pustamutadis is a mutating mass of organs and limbs from various animals mixed with cybernetics. It can assimilate knowledge by literally eating it.

-Via warp sorcery, the Daemon had deceived Sothka, Trazyn's mentor, into believing that it had restored his soul, turning him into its deluded servant. In its experiments to corrupt Necrons, it managed to turn Necrons into mindless puppets to its will, induce the Flayer and Destroyer transformations, and cause severed Necrons to have their forms colonized by Nurglite corruption, making them look similar to Plaguebearers.

-Pustamutadis wanted to turn Trazyn into its puppet, claim his command cartouche, and gain access to Solemnace. It would have turned it into its laboratory to create armies of Warp mutant cyborgs that would have conquered the galaxy.

-During the finale, Pustamutadis and the powerful amalgamated Deceiver Shard from the previous novel clash. The daemon attempted to devour it. The Deceiver pushed the daemon into the portal, causing both of them to merge briefly in a mix of cosmic and Warp energy before the portal spread them across timelines across the galaxy.

Plot hooks for a sequel novel:

-There was a sword in Trazyn's gallery which was among his prized possessions. The daemons invading the Solemnace feared the sword and steered clear of it.

-Trazyn lets go of Inquistor Valeria for her service, but the vengeful Corsairs she allied with to escape betrayed her and took her hostage. When the seer read her mind, they saw the sword and recognised it as a Crone sword. They intend to drag her with them back later to Solemnace to claim the Crone sword.

-A message from the Silent King to Trazyn. Orikan has sided with Imotekh in the "misunderstanding" between them (the Sautekh rebellion). The Silent King demands that Trazyn capture Orikan and bring the traitor to him for trial.

>‘I would have hunted you,’ Ake growled pugnaciously.

>‘Aye, maybe you would have.’ Lukas looked away, back towards the steading. He watched a knot of black figures hurry back to the safety of their hearths. ‘Have you pups ever wondered why we let them live like this? Why we let them suffer hardship and cruelty?’

>‘To make them strong,’ Ake said, as if on cue.

>Lukas laughed. ‘Pride,’ he said. ‘We have convinced ourselves that suffering builds character. Suffering builds nothing but walls. We settle for beasts when we could have men. All for pride.’ He looked around. ‘And that’s the biggest joke of all, pups. Best you remember that.’

>Ake frowned. ‘I don’t think it’s funny.’

>‘No.’ Lukas spread his arms. ‘Pride eats at us, every one. Like a maggot in a wound. Russ was proud, and so too must we be proud, whatever the consequences.’

>‘We must endure, we must persevere, we must be worthy,’ Ake said stubbornly. ‘That is the way of it, Trickster. Else why were any of us chosen?’ He struck a tree with the side of his fist. ‘Because we survived. We were worthy.’

>‘Survival is a test of nothing more than endurance. If it were anything else, I would never have been chosen, and yet I was. Luck.’ Lukas smiled as he spoke. This wasn’t the first time they’d had this argument since they were cast out of the Aett. Nor would it be the last. But at least they were listening. Maybe they had even learned something.

>‘It has ever been thus,’ Halvar began.

>Lukas laughed again, louder this time. ‘Maybe. But why?’ He brought his palms together in a loud crack. ‘Pride. Down here, mortals suffer for our pride. On other worlds, controlled by other Chapters, they live in peace. They don’t suffer as we suffer, and yet they produce warriors of equal skill.’ He noted the frustration in their faces. The lack of comprehension.

>‘None are greater than the Rout,’ Dag said. Not angrily, but as if it were no more than simple fact. ‘We are the Allfather’s chosen warriors.’

>‘Oh, we like to pretend that we are better – that our savagery makes us strong. But it’s a lie, told by old men who were themselves lied to by those who came before. Worst of all, we all know the lie for what it is. But we accept it, because to do otherwise is to admit that somewhere along the way we made a mistake.’ Lukas grinned. ‘More than one.’

>Ake bared his teeth. ‘And your answer to this revelation is… What? Mockery?’

>Lukas shrugged. ‘Can you think of a better response? We are nothing more than the largest, strongest pack of wolves on this frozen mud ball. And that is all we will ever be.’

>‘A poor life,’ Halvar said. ‘Muddying the glories of others.’

>‘Glory is for the dead,’ Lukas said. ‘The living must be reminded of that, so that they don’t lose themselves in sagas.’ He thumped his chest. ‘So that we don’t become that which we fear most – beasts, and worse than beasts, following a false scent to our doom.’ He pointed to the steading. ‘That is why I feed them. They are my pack, pups, as you are. Do you see?’

>Looking at their faces, he knew they did not. Not really. Not yet. But they might, in time. He shrugged, and smiled. ‘Or maybe this is all a lie, a ruse to make my pranks seem more than they are. Maybe I am simply the spiteful Jackalwolf, content to rip at the guts of my own pack for my own amusement.’

>‘The other one makes for a better saga,’ Dag said after a moment.

>Lukas clapped him companionably on the shoulder. ‘That’s what I tell myself, brother.’ He smiled. ‘Now, I don’t know about you, but I’m hungry again. Let’s go find another elk.’ He grinned at Ake. ‘Maybe I’ll even let Ake make the kill this time.’

-"Lukas the Trickster" novel by Josh Reynolds

Tl;dr:

In the passage, Lukas is calling out the Space Wolves for allowing their people to suffer in the belief that it would make them stronger and, in turn, make the Space Wolves stronger.
He points out that chapters that recruit from peaceful worlds produce warriors equal to the Wolves.

So what's the point of the suffering? There is no point.
It's a neat small display of how the unnecessary suffering in the Imperium is justified by foolish pride, dogma, and tradition.

Roboute also seems to agree with the sentiment expressed by Lukas:

>‘Look at that,’ said Guilliman. ‘The arrogance of the Neverborn remains as great as it ever was. But it is we who remain, and it is we who shall prevail. Dante, there is a lesser task I will set you.’ He lifted his hand up to encompass three worlds. ‘These planets were hells. For generations we have recruited the strong over the weak, in the belief it makes our warriors better. I do not think this is so. Cruel men make cruel warriors make cruel lords. We need to be better. We need to rise over the need for violence and recognise other human qualities in our recruits. Your Chapter has ever understood this. If we do not, then we will fall prey to our worst excesses, the kind of thing that that represents.’ He pointed at Ka’Bandha’s name. ‘It has long been in your capability to transform these worlds. Baal Primus is dead, but you need not let your remaining people suffer unnecessarily. Will they fight any better for dwelling on a world that kills them? By sacrificing their children to the Emperor’s service, they have earned a better life. Once you have torn that blasphemy down, raise up the population of Baal Secundus. Teach them what we are fighting for. A line must be drawn between what is good and what is evil, for if the Great Enemy comes with offers of power to a wretch, what reason does he have to refuse hell if he dwells in it already?’ Guilliman was tense. Dante had not expected that in the Lord of Ultramar. Guilliman was impatient to change things. He was angered by what he had found upon his rebirth, and he was not hiding it.

-"The Devastation of Baal" by Guy Haley

So, do you agree with Lukas and Roboute, or are they too soft-hearted?

There is a belief in the setting and within the fandom that the T'au, at some point, will suffer an AI rebellion.

Reading through the T'au books, it seems that the T'au are handling AI with more wisdom than DAoT humanity did.

Here are some examples of it.

T'au programming their AI to simulate/mimic their minds and emotions:

>The tau’s artificial intelligences were hard-wired to behave as much like their makers as possible in all social situations, and Oe-ken-yon was the most advanced of his kind. Regardless of size or duty, every drone strived to emulate its masters and fit in seamlessly with tau culture. It was a safety measure that covered most eventualities. When a purely objective viewpoint was necessary, personality protocols could be temporarily deactivated at a single blip.

>Such a course of action had proved problematic in the past – the disastrous Pech Incident was one example. In recent years, the earth caste had made it standard practice to build the tau empire’s artificial intelligences with a personality best suited to their role. Even so, Shadowsun often wondered if a machine that could simulate emotion wasn’t just as likely to affect operational efficiency as one without it.

-Damocles Anthology (Blood Oath)

Taboos against self-replicating machines and weaponizing nanomachines:

>‘The knowledge of their existence is valuable in its own right,’ said Farsight. ‘Can they self-replicate?’

>‘There is little beyond the medical capacities of Lub’grahl,’ said O’Vesa, looking at Farsight askance. ‘It is a world renowned for its ingenuity. I have made sure of it. But autonomous self-replication is taboo for a reason.’

-"Farsight: Blade of Truth"

>‘I realise there is a prohibition against the use of nanobots as a weapon, within your caste and without,’ said the high scientist, avoiding Farsight’s gaze. ‘Especially those so geared towards aggressive self-replication. It is taboo, and for good reason.’

-"Farsight: Blade of Truth"

The book is out, and I already bought the physical version. It should arrive in a few weeks. A digital sample ebook is available on some bookstore sites. The sample starts from the introduction section and ends at the Stormcast section.

Here are the cliffnotes:

-The Mortal Realms, or what's left of them, are on the brink of utter destruction. Nowhere is safe. The cities of Sigmar are like islands of light in a sea of darkness. The races of Order march shoulder to shoulder, taking with them the fires of hope into the hellish landscapes. Each day is a struggle for survival against countless foes. And even if they are victorious, each battle saps a little more of their souls.

-AoS is a fantastical counterpart to 40K. At its heart, it's a grimdark fantasy that's equal parts horror and splendour, vibrant colour and all-consuming darkness.

-40K is the fate of humanity's struggle against Chaos set at the tipping point of two mights to midnight. AoS is about what happens at two minutes after midnight. The Chaos Gods won, and the Mortal Realms have become hellish landscapes dominated by the forces of Chaos. AoS is a tale of the forces of Order fighting to reclaim the realms from Chaos (and the threats of Death and Destruction).

-After Chaos closed its grip on the Mortal Realms, they have become as grimy and horrendous as the World-That-Was.

-The appeal of AoS is that post-apocalyptic survival being juxtaposed with astonishing grandeur. Also, what's appealing about the setting is that it is very morally grey.

-The Mortal Realms are limitless, and the stories told in them are without number. They are stories of people fighting for the light while all around them is being consumed by darkness, creation vs entropy, hope vs despair, ingenuity vs senseless cruelty. The gathering storm clouds in AoS might herald salvation instead of doom.

-After the Destruction of the Old World, all that is left is the stuff of magic itself, the souls of the lost, and the molten core of the planet hurtling through the cosmos to undiscovered territory.

-The Mortal Realms formed from shattered earth, stardust, and the raw magic of the Old World's destruction.

-The narrative is based on a tale of two chronological settings. The protagonists of the first setting seized enough power to become literal gods, known as ascended gods. They are set against eldritch and timeless entities known as Elemental Gods. First among the Elemental Gods are the Ruinous Powers of Chaos.

-Archaon was once a devout mortal, but after finding out a damning truth about the nature of all gods, he became Sigmar's most terrible foe.

-Archaon won the favour of each of the Chaos Gods, yet he remains in control of his destiny.

-Ancient galactic forces shaped the Mortal Realms into living worlds where motes of magic crystallised in every stone and blade of grass.

-Dracothion breathed life into Sigmar and showed him the wonders of the Mortal Realms. The other Incarnates awoke in the realms they are attuned to.

-When Chaos invaded the Mortal Realms, Sigmar fought an unwinnable war against Chaos, for he cannot be everywhere. After losing his hammer, Sigmar withdrew to Azyr and sealed its gates. Sigmar left those who couldn't reach safety in time to their cruel fate. Chaos didn't just tear apart the cities and people of the realms; the very landscape was twisted and corrupted. Even united, the people of the realms could not stand before the onslaught of Chaos.

-To those who know the truths of existence, it is an act of incredible hubris for Sigmar and his kind to oppose the Chaos Gods. The Chaos Gods are not mere ascended gods, but endless and timeless entities that seek to devour reality itself. The Four are the most powerful of their number.

-Many of Tzeentch's plans contradict, but as long as reality suffers, Tzeentch is pleased.

-Similar to the cycle of light and darkness of Hysh and Ulgu, albeit far slower, the cycle of Ghyran and Shyish controls the seasons of the Mortal Realms. If Ghyran ascends, it is spring and then summer. If Shyish waxes, it's autumn and then winter.

The war between Chaos and Order isn't only waged in the Mortal Realms. Between the Mortal Realms exists the Aetheric Void, where the magic that formed the realms is vanishingly rare. Within the void, there also exist several strange sub-realms and dimensional breaches.

-Nurgle brews all the plagues of all worlds in his infinite cauldron.

-There might be a few motes of life magic in Shyish and vice versa in Ghyran; there are always some to draw upon. Life is birthed in Shyish and death exists in Ghyran, after all. Though the spells of the magic native to the realm are stronger, it's still possible to cast the magic of other realms, especially if the magic user is skilled and carries with them artifacts from the magic's realm.

-Faith is a two-way street. As the worshipers are empowered by their god, the god gains power from the acts of belief and devotion of those who worship them. The more people pay homage and commit themselves to the worship of the god, the more powerful they become. Just as the Realmgates allow persons to move between the realms, the souls of the faithful allow the god to move a measure of their power to the Mortal Realms. Shrines and sites of worship have similar effects to a lesser extent. The faithful can channel the miracles of their god, and in some cases the god can see through their eyes.

Hey. Just dropping cliffnotes of the interesting stuff said by Guy Haley in that interview from a year or so ago:

-Guy Haley's best-selling book is "Dark Imperium"

-When Guy left to work for White Dwarf/GW he was told by his mentor not to write tie-in fiction. The reason she told him this was because, at the time, there was a prejudice against tie-in fiction. Tie-in fiction wasn't taken as seriously by fans and the writing world. This snobby attitude persists nowadays, but it's nowhere as bad as it was. This bad reputation for tie-in fiction stems from it being seen as speculative work or spinoff material that often gets invalidated by the main franchise releases. (IE, franchise movies disregarding/ignoring what's in tie-in novels).

-What's cool about BL is that its content is not treated as tie-in fiction. Writers get to input their work directly into the Warhammer universes. A lot of what's written in the BL books becomes part of the core lore. BL is one of the engines that drives forward the lore of Warhammer.

-When Guy submitted his first BL novel "Baneblade" to BL, they sent him a large sheaf of notes on all the things he got wrong. It was something good because it was a learning experience.

-Guy Haley and Gav Thorpe are friends. Among the subjects they talk about is Dawi lore. Guy's Duadrin books are inspired by Gav's work on the dwarfs in the old WHFB rulebooks.

-Guy Haley believes that fantasy settings should have an element of realism. Once a setting has solid grounding, you can then add in stuff like giant daemons and dragons. This is how you make a believable setting.

-Writing inhuman characters like the Primarch Roboute presents a challenge. Despite the differences between Guy Haley and Roboute (one is just some guy and the other is a genius demigod), Guy has to pretend in his head that he is Roboute and then figure out a way to project that inhumanity from his human self. This has the benefit of adding a human element to the character, allowing the readers to connect with him.

-One of Gav Thorpe's methods of making the Aeldari seem inhuman in the Path series is having them speak in haikus. Guy Haley decided to do the same thing in his Aeldari novel "Valedor".

-Aeldari morality is different than humans. They do care, but, understandably, they don't care for humans.

-One of the great things about writing characters in Warhammer is that they exist in a shared universe. This means a character in a novel is the writer's interpretation of what many and many other writers worked on. A Warhammer character has many influences on them, and in trying to honour these influences, the character becomes more rounded and realistic than they would have been if they were the creation of a single author. This applies entirely to the Warhammer settings.

-Cawl and Skarsnik have a similarity with each other in that they are Guy Haley's worst characteristics massively amplified and exaggerated. Cawl is Guy Haley's tendency to not follow the rules and do his own thing, which explains why he doesn't have a normal job.

-Cawl's ego must be staggeringly immense to defy the crushing edicts and traditions of the Admech for millennia

-Occasionally, disconnects in the lore happen, especially when writers are working on the same thing. One example of this is Guy Haley having Cawl being a young man in the HH series book "Wolfsbane" while studio material said that he was old before the Emperor ascended to the Golden Throne. Guy's method of fixing contradictions is making both sides true. In his novel "The Great Work", Guy made Cawl into a gestalt being who can choose a blend of personalities.

-Contradictions are opportunities to practice creative writing rather than being strictly obstacles

-Guy Haley apologises for making Cawl a version of himself

-Cawl is a scientist, whereas the Admech members are not scientists at all. They don't create. They don't develop. An accurate term to describe the Admech is archaeologists.

-At one point in Guy Haley's career with BL, he became their fixer-man. Whenever an author drops out, they would get him to complete the commissioned work since he was reliable and quick.

-A main theme in the Dark Imperium series is Roboute's reaction to witnessing the ruination of the Emperor's dreams and realizing that it is mostly his own fault. Basically, Roboute is now effectively the Emperor of Mankind, and it's his duty to fix what he broke.

-Another main theme is Roboute's reaction to humanity worshipping the Emperor as a god when, back in the days of the Great Crusade, he saw religion as nonsense.

-It was the Emperor's wish that humans rule the Imperium, not the Space Marines.

-The Dawn of Fire series is open-ended. Guy and his team chose some plot threads to pursue, and some other plot threads were set up for authors years later to pick up and develop.

-Guy Haley puts links in his books to his other works and also the works of other authors. For example, Captain Messinius was created by Guy as a link to the "Lords of Silence" novel by Chris Wraight. Partly because Guy Haley is greedy and wants people to buy more of his books, and partly, it encourages the readers to explore the other writers' books and the Warhammer hobby in general.

I know they are a popular subject, so I decided to flip through the sources and display some of the related lore.

Here is what was said about the Gue'vesa in the Tau auxiliaries and Allies loremaster episode on Warhammer+:

>"One of the fastest-growing species within the T'au Empire is all too familiar to the Imperium: humanity. For the isolated worlds of the Eastern Fringe, the Imperium often seems a distant authority draining their resources, conscripting their children, and giving them nothing in return. By comparison, the T'au'va's promises of peace, prosperity, and purpose have proven difficult to ignore. By diplomacy or force, entire planets accepted a place within the commonwealth, their people becoming human citizens or Gue'vesa in the T'au language.

>The T'au endeavour to make these transitions as smooth as possible. Even worship of the Emperor remains entirely permitted among Gue'vesa, albeit with certain amendments to explain away the Imperial cult's misguided rejection of aliens. More fervent Gue'ves reject any trace of Imperial culture, taking T'au-style names or even applying blue facial tattoos.

>Other Gue'vesa include former Imperial soldiers abandoned after campaigns like the Damocles Crusade and offered a place among the T'au. Their experience is a valuable asset to the Fire Caste, who use their intimate understanding of Imperial doctrine and dogma to prepare for future conflicts. T'au training domes include miles-long replicas of Imperial hives, ships, and manufactorums constructed with input from loyal Gue'vesa.

>Imperial deserters also provide insight into stranger foes. While the T'au rely on Kroot to literally sniff out signs of Tyrannic infestation, they cannot catch every trace. And Genestealers are a threat that the Navis Imperialis and the Astra Militarum have more experience in rooting out than any T'au forces, thanks to the Imperium's dense population centers and rampant corruption.

>Many Gue'ves have never known life in the Imperium. Born and raised on Sept Worlds, these humans live and labor as a natural part of the commonwealth. They serve in integrated security forces, join enlightenment cells smuggled on Imperial worlds, and even fight alongside hunter cadres as auxiliary troops.
To the Imperium, they are deviants and traitors of the worst kind, to be reviled and destroyed wherever possible.

--------------------------

Will focus on lore bits that describe the growth of the Gue'vesa in the T'au Empire:

>"Even the Humans integrated into the T'au Empire. Known as Gue'vesa to the T'au. Human auxiliaries are continually growing, and are as useful to their new allies as they are hated by those they have abandoned."

-T'au Empire 10th ED Codex (Page 10)

>"Unbeknownst to the Imperial battlegroup, years had slipped by during their time in the Warp. The Agrellan campaign was long done, and the once open space lanes between the galactic west and the T’au Empire had been closed by celestial fire and roiling warp storms. In the intervening years, the T’au had greatly expanded their dominance of Taros. Without the fear of Imperium reprisals, its people had multiplied under the administration of their xenos lords, while the T’au had introduced advanced mining equipment to fully exploit the mineral wealth of the planet.

-Aeronautica Imperialis - Taros Air War (page 35)

THE UNION OF IRON:

>"In the wake of the T’au annexation of Taros, its human inhabitants adopted the philosophies of the Greater Good. Where once Imperium officials and mine bosses had governed every aspect of their citizens’ lives, now an age of equality came to the planet. Of course, it was an equality dictated by the T’au, who were, as always, first among equals. For the locals though, the chance to guide their own destiny for the first time in their lives drove them to work harder for the T’au than they ever had for their Imperium masters. These worker conclaves soon established themselves as the principal human power on Taros. Dubbed the Union of Iron, they formed a strong alliance of mining outposts across the world, their fortress-mines delving deep into the caverns beneath the world’s sprawling deserts. Working closely with the T’au, the Union enjoyed a standard of living far beyond that of their forefathers, as well as the sense of having a real stake in their future. It was therefore unsurprising that when, years later, the Imperium returned to reclaim Taros for the Emperor, the Union of Iron fought hard to keep the freedoms they had won.

Aeronautica Imperialis - Taros Air War (page 42)

>"I don’t expect you to love me, now. I have been through too much. I had the spawn of one evil power within me, and now wear the slave-mark of another. I am broken beyond repair, a plaything of entities so far beyond me that I cannot hope to refute them. To return to the Inquisition now would be to die. Only in t’au society can I hope to hide from the hangman’s noose, the hunter’s pyre. Here, I shall become gue’vesa, one of countless billions, and live a new life."

-Farsight: Empire of Lies (chapter 26, New Heresies)

>"There's enough psychic energy out there to do it. There are hundreds of billions of gue'vesa across the galaxy by this point in the T'au Empire's story, and far more in the way of psychically gifted races such as the charpactin, nicassar, and even the kroot. These are the souls that allowed the T'au'va Entity to form, whether subconsciously or through deliberate worship."

-Afterword of "Shadowsun: The Patient Hunter" (available only in the Limited Edition version)

>"The grubby earth caste supervisor’s thin lips curled into a smile – a human expression, an element of that species’ facio-gestural language that had deviously infiltrated t’au gestural. Though the Empire warred with the Imperium, many humans had prospered – some might say festered – across the Empire at large. In these minor ways, their customs and quirks had warped t’au culture."

-Elemental Council (chapter one)

I found more statements and lore bits while researching describing the peaceful life and prosperity of the Gue'vesa, but being the dumbass that I am, I forgot to bookmark them, and now they are lost in the pile! If you guys know of statements or sources describing the growth of the Gue'vesa populations or any interesting lore about them, feel free to contribute in the comments. Knowledge is power!

I know they are a popular subject, so I decided to flip through the sources and display some of their lore.

Here is what was said about the Gue'vesa in the Tau Auxiliaries and Allies loremaster episode on Warhammer+:

>"One of the fastest-growing species within the T'au Empire is all too familiar to the Imperium: humanity. For the isolated worlds of the Eastern Fringe, the Imperium often seems a distant authority draining their resources, conscripting their children, and giving them nothing in return. By comparison, the T'au'va's promises of peace, prosperity, and purpose have proven difficult to ignore. By diplomacy or force, entire planets accepted a place within the commonwealth, their people becoming human citizens or Gue'vesa in the T'au language.

>The T'au endeavour to make these transitions as smooth as possible. Even worship of the Emperor remains entirely permitted among Gue'vesa, albeit with certain amendments to explain away the Imperial cult's misguided rejection of aliens. More fervent Gue'vesa reject any trace of Imperial culture, taking T'au-style names or even applying blue facial tattoos.

>Other Gue'vesa include former Imperial soldiers abandoned after campaigns like the Damocles Crusade and offered a place among the T'au. Their experience is a valuable asset to the Fire Caste, who use their intimate understanding of Imperial doctrine and dogma to prepare for future conflicts. T'au training domes include miles-long replicas of Imperial hives, ships, and manufactorums constructed with input from loyal Gue'vesa.

>Imperial deserters also provide insight into stranger foes. While the T'au rely on Kroot to literally sniff out signs of Tyrannic infestation, they cannot catch every trace. And Genestealers are a threat that the Navis Imperialis and the Astra Militarum have far more experience in rooting out than any T'au forces, thanks to the Imperium's dense population centers and rampant corruption.

>Many Gue'ves have never known life in the Imperium. Born and raised on Sept Worlds, these humans live and labor as a natural part of the commonwealth. They serve in integrated security forces, join enlightenment cells smuggled on Imperial worlds, and even fight alongside hunter cadres as auxiliary troops.

>To the Imperium, they are deviants and traitors of the worst kind, to be reviled and destroyed wherever possible.

--------------------------

Will focus on lore bits that describe the growth of the Gue'vesa in the T'au Empire:

>"Even Humans integrated into the T'au Empire. Known as Gue'vesa to the T'au. Human auxiliaries are continually growing, and are as useful to their new allies as they are hated by those they have abandoned."

-T'au Empire 10th ED Codex (Page 10)

>"Unbeknownst to the Imperial battlegroup, years had slipped by during their time in the Warp. The Agrellan campaign was long done, and the once open space lanes between the galactic west and the T’au Empire had been closed by celestial fire and roiling warp storms. In the intervening years, the T’au had greatly expanded their dominance of Taros. Without the fear of Imperium reprisals, its people had multiplied under the administration of their xenos lords, while the T’au had introduced advanced mining equipment to fully exploit the mineral wealth of the planet.

-Aeronautica Imperialis - Taros Air War (page 35)

THE UNION OF IRON:

>"In the wake of the T’au annexation of Taros, its human inhabitants adopted the philosophies of the Greater Good. Where once Imperium officials and mine bosses had governed every aspect of their citizens’ lives, now an age of equality came to the planet. Of course, it was an equality dictated by the T’au, who were, as always, first among equals. For the locals though, the chance to guide their own destiny for the first time in their lives drove them to work harder for the T’au than they ever had for their Imperium masters. These worker conclaves soon established themselves as the principal human power on Taros. Dubbed the Union of Iron, they formed a strong alliance of mining outposts across the world, their fortress-mines delving deep into the caverns beneath the world’s sprawling deserts. Working closely with the T’au, the Union enjoyed a standard of living far beyond that of their forefathers, as well as the sense of having a real stake in their future. It was therefore unsurprising that when, years later, the Imperium returned to reclaim Taros for the Emperor, the Union of Iron fought hard to keep the freedoms they had won.

Aeronautica Imperialis - Taros Air War (page 42)

>"I don’t expect you to love me, now. I have been through too much. I had the spawn of one evil power within me, and now wear the slave-mark of another. I am broken beyond repair, a plaything of entities so far beyond me that I cannot hope to refute them. To return to the Inquisition now would be to die. Only in t’au society can I hope to hide from the hangman’s noose, the hunter’s pyre. Here, I shall become gue’vesa, one of countless billions, and live a new life."

-Farsight: Empire of Lies (chapter 26, New Heresies)

>"There's enough psychic energy out there to do it. There are hundreds of billions of gue'vesa across the galaxy by this point in the T'au Empire's story, and far more in the way of psychically gifted races such as the charpactin, nicassar, and even the kroot. These are the souls that allowed the T'au'va Entity to form, whether subconsciously or through deliberate worship."

-Afterword of "Shadowsun: The Patient Hunter" (available only in the Limited Edition version)

>"The grubby earth caste supervisor’s thin lips curled into a smile – a human expression, an element of that species’ facio-gestural language that had deviously infiltrated t’au gestural. Though the Empire warred with the Imperium, many humans had prospered – some might say festered – across the Empire at large. In these minor ways, their customs and quirks had warped t’au culture."

-Elemental Council (chapter one)

I found more statements and lore bits while researching describing the peaceful life and prosperity of the Gue'vesa, but being the dumbass that I am, I forgot to bookmark them, and now they are lost in the pile! If you guys know of more statements or sources describing the growth of the Gue'vesa populations or any interesting lore about them, feel free to contribute in the comments. Knowledge is power!

I was sorting through my collected quotes from 40K devs and writers, and I found this bit of commentary by author ADB:

>I won't speak to specific plot things, but on a meta-note as to why the Tau rock and have great relevant narrative tread, thematically:

>Forgetting the nonsense memes about "lolol communists" and whatever else, this is a race embarking on its own Great Crusade. They call it an expansion, implying they have the right to do it. All about "crossing the gulf" and sending ambassadors to races. At first.

>It's filling out their maps, in the classic explorer sense. Meeting new cultures that can be educated into their vision of "Empire". And when unity fails, when the Greater Good is resisted... No. Sorry. That's not allowed. For their own good, these cultures must be brought into the fold - or silenced. Their existence is - or could later become - opposition.

>Humanity looks upon this attitude and marshals in defiance. Another edge of the Imperium falling to alien predation. "Ignorant upstarts". It's the basest hypocrisy. Because when has the galaxy seen this *exact* expansionism before? This militant crusading for a greater good?

>As humanity expanded through the bones of the dead eldar empire, righteous in their rise, now another species begins to do the same to them. The galaxy has seen this shit before. That's a beautiful theme.

>And, as with the best of 40K, humanity has fallen too far to recognise its own hypocrisy. It's too ignorant. Too much lore has been lost.

>That's the core of what I find so interesting about them. Weaving that into any Tau stuff offers a lot of ground for characterisation.

What do you think, guys? Do you agree with him?

Source:

https://x.com/adembskibowden/status/850259054798659584

I was sorting through my collected quotes from 40K devs and writers, and I found this bit of commentary by author ADB:

>

>I won't speak to specific plot things, but on a meta-note as to why the Tau rock and have great relevant narrative tread, thematically:

>Forgetting the nonsense memes about "lolol communists" and whatever else, this is a race embarking on its own Great Crusade. They call it an expansion, implying they have the right to do it. All about "crossing the gulf" and sending ambassadors to races. At first.

>It's filling out their maps, in the classic explorer sense. Meeting new cultures that can be educated into their vision of "Empire". And when unity fails, when the Greater Good is resisted... No. Sorry. That's not allowed. For their own good, these cultures must be brought into the fold - or silenced. Their existence is - or could later become - opposition.

>Humanity looks upon this attitude and marshals in defiance. Another edge of the Imperium falling to alien predation. "Ignorant upstarts". It's the basest hypocrisy. Because when has the galaxy seen this *exact* expansionism before? This militant crusading for a greater good?

>As humanity expanded through the bones of the dead eldar empire, righteous in their rise, now another species begins to do the same to them. The galaxy has seen this shit before. That's a beautiful theme.

>And, as with the best of 40K, humanity has fallen too far to recognise its own hypocrisy. It's too ignorant. Too much lore has been lost.

>That's the core of what I find so interesting about them. Weaving that into any Tau stuff offers a lot of ground for characterisation.

What do you think, guys? Do you agree with him?

Source:

https://x.com/adembskibowden/status/850259054798659584

Context: The Great Star Dais on Arthas Molech gives Farsight a vision of the future, showing him how the Chaos Gods will corrupt his race and usher in the end of the galaxy/universe.

The sight of the T'au being made the playthings of the Chaos Gods is horrifically surreal, but it's pages long. I want to focus on the last bit of this vision.

The text:

>The galaxy screamed, and ripped along its length. The works of those long-fallen empires that had held back the dimension beyond reality had been purposefully shattered, hunted down and cast into the dust. The fabric of real space had weakened, thinned, and – like a dam broken apart by ceaseless impacts across its length – finally burst.

>The terrifying truth of the hellish dimension was writ large, scarring the heavens with a lurid weal of purple, pink and blue. The disc-portal of Arthas Moloch was a single drop of poison in comparison to this ocean of toxic damnation, a rising tide of anarchy that would turn the history of the galaxy on its head.

>A dread certainty slithered within Farsight’s mind, a serpent slick with blood wrapping itself around his frontal lobe. This was no threat, no awful spectre of that which might come to pass should the evils of the galaxy be allowed to triumph.

>This was the truth, and it was inevitable.

>The visions sped up, battering at his mind, becoming a blur of motion that never ended. He saw every star in the night sky going supernova in quick succession. The tiny suns winked out one after another until the inevitable heat death of the universe stole the skies entire. In their wake there was only a burning god and his hateful brothers in darkness, their insane laughter echoing across the lifeless void as they sought new realities to corrupt and despoil.

Note the bold text. My pals and I were debating the identity of the Burning God in the vision. Is it Tzeentch? The Dark King? Vashtorr? We can't seem to agree.

Do you have any guesses, guys?

What I like about the excerpt is that it points out how the Chaos Gods will move on to other realities once the galaxy/universe is destroyed rather than the prevalent belief in the fandom that they would starve and die.

According to the Elemental Council novel, the T'au have ambitions to invade Ultramar:

>"I have tried to do what is right on this world and in every aspect of my life,’ the commander said. ‘I have tried to live in complete submission to the T’au’va. This world’s annexation was supposed to be routine, a stepping stone to Ultramar. We should already be planning the long-term incursion into that realm. Yet we suffer delay. Because of me. Now the opportunity falls into my hands to present something greater to the Empire than failure. A Space Marine, captured alive, to offer our researchers for study. You would deny me this."

The Wardens of Ultramar consider the T'au among the high-level threats in the Archmagos novel:

>"I have xenos of eight different strains to contend with, including magna-grade threats from the necrons, the t’au, tyranid remnants, and the orks. Chaos assails the northern reaches. The Plague Wars devastated swathes of the realm, and I am obliged to send aid that would otherwise go to redeveloping the eastern quarter. Most of my territory, that once ruled by the Sotharan League, is a waste. It is lawless, bedevilled by pirates. I sometimes question the wisdom of reclaiming it."

the Ultramarines have been fortifying their borders against possible T'au attacks for more than a century

>799.M41 A New Power Rises

>The Ultramarines begin to fortify the eastern bounds of their realm against the emergent forces of the upstart Tau Empire.

It's reported in the 9th ED codex that the T'au have made modifications to the Slipstream drives, making them safer and more stable for mass use. With the upgraded drives, the T'au are planning for what seems to be the Sixth Expansion Sphere. A suggested location for the expansion sphere is westward, resuming the expansion past the Damocles Gulf.

With the upgraded Slipdream warp drives, Ultramar should be within reach.

If the Sixth Sphere Expansion invades the 500 Worlds, how much success do you think the T'au will achieve?

Remember that Ultramar is still recovering from the Plague Wars and is currently beset from within and without.

According to the Elemental Council novel, the T'au have ambitions to invade Ultramar:

>‘I have tried to do what is right on this world and in every aspect of my life,’ the commander said. ‘I have tried to live in complete submission to the T’au’va. This world’s annexation was supposed to be routine, a stepping stone to Ultramar. We should already be planning the long-term incursion into that realm. Yet we suffer delay. Because of me. Now the opportunity falls into my hands to present something greater to the Empire than failure. A Space Marine, captured alive, to offer our researchers for study. You would deny me this.’

The Wardens of Ultramar consider the T'au among the high-level threats in the Archmagos novel:

>"I have xenos of eight different strains to contend with, including magna-grade threats from the necrons, the t’au, tyranid remnants, and the orks. Chaos assails the northern reaches. The Plague Wars devastated swathes of the realm, and I am obliged to send aid that would otherwise go to redeveloping the eastern quarter. Most of my territory, that once ruled by the Sotharan League, is a waste. It is lawless, bedevilled by pirates. I sometimes question the wisdom of reclaiming it."

The Ultramarines have been fortifying their borders against possible T'au attacks for more than a century

>799.M41 A New Power Rises

>The Ultramarines begin to fortify the eastern bounds of their realm against the emergent forces of the upstart Tau Empire.

It's reported in the 9th ED codex that the T'au have made modifications to the Slipstream drives, making them safer and more stable for mass use. With the upgraded drives, the T'au are planning for what seems to be the Sixth Expansion Sphere. A suggested location for the expansion sphere is westward, resuming the expansion past the Damocles Gulf.

With the upgraded Slipdream warp drives, Ultramar should be within reach.

If the Sixth Sphere Expansion invades the 500 Worlds, can Titus and the Wardens of Ultramar beat the T'au back, or are they screwed?

Remember that Ultramar is still recovering from the Plague Wars and is currently beset from within and without.

I know people are confused about the size of the T'au Empire. So I decided to flip between the sources and look it up.

Back in the 3rd edition, when the T'au were introduced, an Index Xenos article in White Dwarf issue 262 said this:

"The Tau Empire encompasses over seventy-five worlds, an area some three hundred light years in diameter, deep in the Ultima Segmentum in the galactic east."

WD issue 263 has an article titled "A World of Warriors" about the sept of Vior'la. It says the following:

"The T'au Empire is situated far in the galactic east to the northeast of Ultramar, and encompasses nearly a hundred settled systems, or septs".

The article goes on to say that the Vior'la is comprised of a dozen worlds, and each is heavily populated by the Fire Caste.

"Imperial Armour Vol 3 2nd Ed: The Taros Campaign" has an Ordo Xenos report that says the following:

"The Imperium sees the Tau Empire as a threat (all be it not its greatest threat), and its commanders will not stand by and let a foul xenos race take over the Emperor’s worlds or see its citizens forced to submit to its domination. The Imperium has therefore vowed to combat all Tau expansion, and no doubt, in time, the twelve High Lords of Terra would like to see this minor annoyance quashed altogether. A genocidal crusade to exterminate the Tau would therefore be welcomed in some Imperial circles. Indeed, the Ecclesiarch of the Adeptus Ministorum has already drafted several sermons on this very subject. Currently such a crusade is just not possible. Also the Tau Empire, although small by the Imperium’s standards, still consists of some hundred worlds and the forces required to conquer them all would be immense. The Tau military have already proven themselves a match for the Imperial Guard, and there are too many other more pressing matters, not least the threat of the Tyranid hive fleets, which are a huge drain on the Imperium’s manpower. Lately, there is also the threat of Abaddon’s 13th Black Crusade.

--------------------------------

The 6th ED T'au codex says the following:

"In addition to the settled systems, or septs, the Tau realm is rife with all manner of space phenomenon,Tau-made structures and important alien homeworlds."

And gives two examples of the T'au-made structures floating around in T'au space:

1-Fortress Stations (Ta'shrio):

Positioned in the deep space between septs are ta'shiro bases - fortress stations capable of enough thrust to resist drift and maintain permanent interstellar positions. Several patterns of development have been followed in the construction of these enormous floating fortresses - with the largest comparable in population to a continent-sized city.

2-Orbital Cities of the Kor'vattra:

"Incorporated imo every sept are dozens of major docks for the Tau navy (Kor'vattra), but in addition to these immense stations, many septs have also developed vast orbital cities (kor'shuto). These can be moved to provide stable 'jumping off' points for large research endeavors, military campaigns, or major colonization efforts."

------------------------------------

The previous numbers were before or during the start of the Third Sphere Expansion. 6th and 7th cover the Third Sphere Expansion but also mark the end of GW giving specific and detailed numbers for anything. It was the start of vaguehammer!

Shadowsun led the TSE and launched a masterful campaign of misdirection and hit-and-run strategies that the Imperial forces couldn't counter. According to the 7th ED codex (page 8), the Third Sphere forces captured dozens of systems.

However, the T'au space maps show only three Third Sphere Septs. Ksi'm'yen, Fi'rios, and Mu'gulath Bay.

So, the space maps of the T'au Empire only show notable septs and landmarks rather than a comprehensive look at the T'au Empire's holdings.

After facing defeat after defeat, the Imperials, in a desperate stopgap measure, set Mu'gulath Bay aflame using some sort of arcane weapon. The Sept of Mu'gulath Bay survived the fires, but the gases in the Damocles Gulf (an empty part of space) ignited, creating a firewall that isolated the T'au Empire mainland from its Third Sphere conquests. Eventually, the Great Rift would extinguish the firewall, reconnecting the T'au Empire with its Third Sphere septs and colonies and allowing the T'au to resume expanding westward.

----------------------------------------

With the creation of the Startide Nexus, the T'au gained access to the galactic north, and they launched the Fifth Sphere Expansion.

They established three thriving septs. Fe'saan, Kor'taal, and Yo'vai. But they didn't stop there. They captured more systems and worlds and created a "mighty adjunct" to their empire. The expansion is still underway, but it is facing difficulties ranging from manpower and material shortages to increasing opposition from a variety of foes old and new.

According to the 9th ED codex, though tiny compared to the Imperium, the T'au control an enormous space empire.

------------

Final note:

Septs are autonomous realms that comprise anything from a single star system to whole swathes of space, each controlled by a sept world or prime planet (WD 491 page, 99)

I know people are confused about the size of the T'au Empire. So I decided to flip between the sources and look it up.

Back in the 3rd edition, when the T'au were introduced, an Index Xenos article in White Dwarf issue 262 said this:

>"The Tau Empire encompasses over seventy-five worlds, an area some three hundred light years in diameter, deep in the Ultima Segmentum in the galactic east."

WD issue 263 has an article titled "A World of Warriors" about the sept of Vior'la. It says the following:

>"The T'au Empire is situated far in the galactic east to the northeast of Ultramar, and encompasses nearly a hundred settled systems, or septs".

The article goes on to say that the Vior'la is comprised of a dozen worlds, and each is heavily populated by the Fire Caste.

"Imperial Armour Vol 3 2nd Ed: The Taros Campaign" has an Ordo Xenos report that says the following:

"The Imperium sees the Tau Empire as a threat (all be it not its greatest threat), and its commanders will not stand by and let a foul xenos race take over the Emperor’s worlds or see its citizens forced to submit to its domination. The Imperium has therefore vowed to combat all Tau expansion, and no doubt, in time, the twelve High Lords of Terra would like to see this minor annoyance quashed altogether. A genocidal crusade to exterminate the Tau would therefore be welcomed in some Imperial circles. Indeed, the Ecclesiarch of the Adeptus Ministorum has already drafted several sermons on this very subject. Currently such a crusade is just not possible. Also the Tau Empire, although small by the Imperium’s standards, still consists of some hundred worlds and the forces required to conquer them all would be immense. The Tau military have already proven themselves a match for the Imperial Guard, and there are too many other more pressing matters, not least the threat of the Tyranid hive fleets, which are a huge drain on the Imperium’s manpower. Lately, there is also the threat of Abaddon’s 13th Black Crusade."

--------------------------------

The 6th ED T'au codex says the following:

>"In addition to the settled systems, or septs, the Tau realm is rife with all manner of space phenomenon, Tau-made structures and important alien homeworlds."

And gives two examples of the T'au-made structures floating around in T'au space:

1-Fortress Stations (Ta'shrio):

>"Positioned in the deep space between septs are ta'shiro bases - fortress stations capable of enough thrust to resist drift and maintain permanent interstellar positions. Several patterns of development have been followed in the construction of these enormous floating fortresses - with the largest comparable in population to a continent-sized city."

2-Orbital Cities of the Kor'vattra

>"Incorporated imo every sept are dozens of major docks for the Tau navy (Kor'vattra), but in addition to these immense stations, many septs have also developed vast orbital cities (kor'shuto). These can be moved to provide stable 'jumping off' points for large research endeavors, military campaigns, or major colonization efforts."

------------------------------------

The previous numbers were before or during the start of the Third Sphere Expansion. 6th and 7th cover the Third Sphere Expansion but also mark the ending of GW giving specific and detailed numbers for anything. It was the start of vaguehammer!

Shadowsun led the TSE and launched a masterful campaign of misdirection and hit-and-run strategies that the Imperial forces couldn't counter. According to the 7th ED codex (page 8), the Third Sphere forces captured dozens of systems.

However, the T'au space maps show only three Third Sphere Septs. Ksi'm'yen, Fi'rios, and Mu'gulath Bay.

So, the space maps of the T'au Empire only show notable septs and landmarks rather than a comprehensive look at the T'au Empire's holdings.

After facing defeat after defeat, the Imperials, in a desperate stopgap measure, set Mu'gulath Bay aflame using some sort of arcane weapon. The Sept of Mu'gulath Bay survived the fires, but the gases in the Damocles Gulf (an empty part of space) ignited, creating a firewall that isolated the T'au Empire mainland from its Third Sphere conquests. Eventually, the Great Rift would extinguish the firewall, reconnecting the T'au Empire with its Third Sphere septs and colonies and allowing the T'au to resume expanding westward.

----------------------------------------

With the creation of the Startide Nexus, the T'au gained access to the galactic north, and they launched the Fifth Sphere Expansion.

They established three thriving septs. Fe'saan, Kor'taal, and Yo'vai. But they didn't stop there. They captured more systems and worlds and created a "mighty adjunct" to their empire. The expansion is still underway, but it is facing difficulties ranging from manpower and material shortages to increasing opposition from a variety of foes old and new.

According to the 9th ED codex, though tiny compared to the Imperium, the T'au control an enormous space empire.

------------

Final note:

Septs are autonomous realms that comprise anything from a single star system to whole swathes of space, each controlled by a sept world or prime planet (WD 491 page, 99)

On the Warhammer Community Podcast episode featuring Phil Kelly, Mr Kelly, at the 58:00 mark, talks about the Brightsword cloning program and says this: "The T'au tend to reproduce artificially more often than the old-fashioned way. It's faster and more predictable. You can optimise the results".

Link to the podcast: https://www.facebook.com/WarhammerOfficial/videos/the-warhammer-community-podcast-episode-13-phil-kelly-and-commander-farsight/747057312746631/

So I decided to search his books for references to T'au reproduction.

Here are my findings:

1-Lifedoners and Generation farms/Genetic farms:

"It was unheard of for one of the water caste to pursue the art of sculpture. Acts of material creation were the exclusive province of the earth caste. Aman’te, driven by something inside her, had created them nonetheless. Something in her mind’s eye had called them into being, and she had been inspired to give them form, much like tau lifedonors were sometimes inspired to seek out the generation farms in the labyrinthine earth caste complexes beyond."

-Blades of Damocles

"A quartet of wide pillars rose up to a cloud of ivory-hued vapour. Girdling them at six evenly-spaced heights were wide, splaying wheels with spokes that leant gently downwards, each turning slowly in contra-rotation to the one below. Upon each spoke was a curving, glass-fronted pod. Inside each was the barest flicker of movement. Something tiny was twitching inside each of the containers.

Incubator carousels, each with an infant tau lifeform inside.

Four pillars, four castes. Presumably the geometric markings adorning each pillar corresponded to the elements that made up the tau race. Their newborn were engineered, then, rather than raised from childbirth by natural parents. Just like these tau to pervert the miracle of life into an automated process, thought Numitor, no doubt as far removed from their own natural life cycle as they could possibly make it. To a warrior from the traditionalist arcologies of Calth, the notion was disgusting in the extreme."

-Blades of Damocles

"The gue’ron’sha strike force, bolstered by a unit of ground-borne elites they had joined forces with in the Plaza of Boundless Potential, had carved a direct path through Gel’bryn’s underground sprawl. They had barged their way through a water caste guest suite, a series of meditation chambers and a genetics farm to reach the earth caste laboratories beyond. The genetics farm had been compromised beyond recovery; O’Vesa mentally wrote it off without the slightest twinge of regret."

-Blades of Damocles

2-T'au birthed in batches?

"Furuja shot her a stabbing glare in return. ‘They shall call me Twinblade one day,’ she said archly. ‘And not because some naysayer teammate is lucky enough to call me batch-twin."

-The Battle of Blackthunder Mesa

"He and his ethereal ally had lost the advantage of fighting the same foe, but untrained as they were in each other’s combat styles, they were not working as one in any case. In contrast, their opponents were using their warrior bond far more effectively to fight in synchronised patterns. Lunge, parry, dodge, clash, twist – the ethereal guard were like siblings, batch-brothers, mirrored clones perhaps, but for the smallest differences.

-Farsight: Blade of Truth

3-Brightsword's cloning program:

"A rare moment of doubt came upon him as the Orca jolted once more, sending pain rippling through his abdomen. Since becoming a pilot, he had always cared more about his battlesuit than his own physical form. That had to stop, especially if he was to complete his contribution to the Tau’va Eugenics Programme. Genetic stock like his was not to be wasted; the ethereals had been very clear on that. But he had a duty to his mentor that could not be ignored, and the memory of his rescue outside Bio-dome 1-1 was still fresh.

-Legends of the Dark Millennium: Farsight"

"‘Honoured O’Vesa… was that Commander Brightsword in there?’

‘In a manner of speaking,’ said O’Vesa. ‘That particular donor has been voluntarily involved in our hypergenics program for many kai’rotaa now. Just as well, really. I need an individual to test a pair of counter-intuitive weapons I have devised, and he has precisely the right mindset.’

Farsight kept his peace, though he felt his blood grow hot at the implications. Unless the clone had been brought from inception to full maturity in the space of a few days, it had existed – and perhaps even had a sentient mind – whilst the original Commander Brightsword had still been alive. It was against all the rules of scientific reproduction, as far as Farsight understood, and it made him feel very uncomfortable. He would not put such unsanctioned experimentation past O’Vesa, though; not after what he did to Farsight’s mentor Ob’lotai, reborn as the artificial intelligence the fire caste called Warghost. Even now, many kai’rotaa later, that was not a matter he cared to think about for too long."

-Blades of Damocles

"Half of Farsight’s most trusted officers owed their continued existence to O’Vesa’s technologies. Bravestorm, forever bonded to his life support battlesuit. Ob’lotai 3-0, arguably the most advanced artificial intelligence ever devised. Brightsword’s second biological incarnation, too; the Stone Dragon’s controversial eugenics programme had seen a clone of the young commander released immediately after his martyr’s death at Gel’bryn."

-Farsight: Crisis of Faith

"Farsight felt a surge of warmth for his protégé’s support, a paternal pride flooding through his soul at the feeling of having the young warrior openly standing by his side. Brightsword’s words would cost him dearly, likely doing immeasurable damage to his career and possibly seeing him transferred out of the reproduction programmes. It was possible he would be cloned no more, and his legend would die before it had reached its peak. But in voicing a contrarian opinion, he had given his mentor an opening."

-Farsight: Empire of Lies

"The failed, hideously mutated clones of Commander Brightsword, euthanised in their birth carousels, yet kept as datapoints to ensure the same genetic errors were used as stepping stones to a greater understanding. Lab-grown samples of flesh"

-Empire of Lies

 "Brightsword is arguably the most successful repeat clone we have ever produced"

-Empire of Lies (chapter 13)

"‘The arrogant certainty of youth,’ said the artificial intelligence. ‘You embody it so well, even after all this time.’

‘I am both young and very, very old. Cumulatively, I have existed nearly as long as you have.’

‘In a manner of speaking. You are still much the same little butterfly to me, no matter what fluids-slick clone I find myself talking to.’

Since his latest upgrade to version 8-0, it was hard to tell the old gun-master’s artificial consciousness from the mind of a true t’au. Ob’lotai’s cumulative and self-reinforcing algorithms, refined over long study with Farsight and O’Vesa countless years ago, had become extremely advanced. Perhaps as an element of that, his humour tended towards the dark.

Brightsword, a seventh-generation clone who had died in the name of the Greater Good over and over again, could relate more than ever. The futility of it all… One had to find amusement in it, or else weep."

-Farsight: Blade of Truth

---------------------

Going by what Mr Kelly said and what's in the text, the T'au's primary mode of reproduction is artificial and automated, with a heavy emphasis on eugenics. Weaker strains and failed individuals are culled.

However, he did not close the door to natural reproduction still being a thing for the T'au.

It should be noted that, according to the 7th ED T'au Empire codex (page 22), family allegiance is alien to the T'au. This contradicts previous lore from the Fire Warrior novel, lore about Shadowsun's parents and sisters, and lore about T'au family lines and clans (For example: Por’ui Vior’la Asharil, third-stream daughter of Clan Kherai, the protagonist of "A Sanctuary of Wyrms" by Peter Pehervari).

Do you guys have any opinions about the T'au being mostly a race of test-tube babies?

On the Warhammer Community Podcast episode featuring Phil Kelly, Mr Kelly, at the 58:00 mark, talks about the Brightsword cloning program and says this: "The T'au tend to reproduce artificially more often than the old-fashioned way. It's faster and more predictable. You can optimise the results".

Link to the podcast: https://www.facebook.com/WarhammerOfficial/videos/the-warhammer-community-podcast-episode-13-phil-kelly-and-commander-farsight/747057312746631/

So I decided to search his books for references to T'au reproduction.

Here are my findings:

1-Lifedoners and Generation farms/Genetic farms:

"It was unheard of for one of the water caste to pursue the art of sculpture. Acts of material creation were the exclusive province of the earth caste. Aman’te, driven by something inside her, had created them nonetheless. Something in her mind’s eye had called them into being, and she had been inspired to give them form, much like tau lifedonors were sometimes inspired to seek out the generation farms in the labyrinthine earth caste complexes beyond."

-Blades of Damocles

"A quartet of wide pillars rose up to a cloud of ivory-hued vapour. Girdling them at six evenly-spaced heights were wide, splaying wheels with spokes that leant gently downwards, each turning slowly in contra-rotation to the one below. Upon each spoke was a curving, glass-fronted pod. Inside each was the barest flicker of movement. Something tiny was twitching inside each of the containers.

Incubator carousels, each with an infant tau lifeform inside.

Four pillars, four castes. Presumably the geometric markings adorning each pillar corresponded to the elements that made up the tau race. Their newborn were engineered, then, rather than raised from childbirth by natural parents. Just like these tau to pervert the miracle of life into an automated process, thought Numitor, no doubt as far removed from their own natural life cycle as they could possibly make it. To a warrior from the traditionalist arcologies of Calth, the notion was disgusting in the extreme."

-Blades of Damocles

"The gue’ron’sha strike force, bolstered by a unit of ground-borne elites they had joined forces with in the Plaza of Boundless Potential, had carved a direct path through Gel’bryn’s underground sprawl. They had barged their way through a water caste guest suite, a series of meditation chambers and a genetics farm to reach the earth caste laboratories beyond. The genetics farm had been compromised beyond recovery; O’Vesa mentally wrote it off without the slightest twinge of regret."

-Blades of Damocles

2-T'au birthed in batches?

"Furuja shot her a stabbing glare in return. ‘They shall call me Twinblade one day,’ she said archly. ‘And not because some naysayer teammate is lucky enough to call me batch-twin."

-The Battle of Blackthunder Mesa

"He and his ethereal ally had lost the advantage of fighting the same foe, but untrained as they were in each other’s combat styles, they were not working as one in any case. In contrast, their opponents were using their warrior bond far more effectively to fight in synchronised patterns. Lunge, parry, dodge, clash, twist – the ethereal guard were like siblings, batch-brothers, mirrored clones perhaps, but for the smallest differences.

-Farsight: Blade of Truth

3-Brightsword's cloning program:

"A rare moment of doubt came upon him as the Orca jolted once more, sending pain rippling through his abdomen. Since becoming a pilot, he had always cared more about his battlesuit than his own physical form. That had to stop, especially if he was to complete his contribution to the Tau’va Eugenics Programme. Genetic stock like his was not to be wasted; the ethereals had been very clear on that. But he had a duty to his mentor that could not be ignored, and the memory of his rescue outside Bio-dome 1-1 was still fresh.

-Legends of the Dark Millennium: Farsight"

"‘Honoured O’Vesa… was that Commander Brightsword in there?’

‘In a manner of speaking,’ said O’Vesa. ‘That particular donor has been voluntarily involved in our hypergenics program for many kai’rotaa now. Just as well, really. I need an individual to test a pair of counter-intuitive weapons I have devised, and he has precisely the right mindset.’

Farsight kept his peace, though he felt his blood grow hot at the implications. Unless the clone had been brought from inception to full maturity in the space of a few days, it had existed – and perhaps even had a sentient mind – whilst the original Commander Brightsword had still been alive. It was against all the rules of scientific reproduction, as far as Farsight understood, and it made him feel very uncomfortable. He would not put such unsanctioned experimentation past O’Vesa, though; not after what he did to Farsight’s mentor Ob’lotai, reborn as the artificial intelligence the fire caste called Warghost. Even now, many kai’rotaa later, that was not a matter he cared to think about for too long."

-Blades of Damocles

"Half of Farsight’s most trusted officers owed their continued existence to O’Vesa’s technologies. Bravestorm, forever bonded to his life support battlesuit. Ob’lotai 3-0, arguably the most advanced artificial intelligence ever devised. Brightsword’s second biological incarnation, too; the Stone Dragon’s controversial eugenics programme had seen a clone of the young commander released immediately after his martyr’s death at Gel’bryn."

-Farsight: Crisis of Faith

"Farsight felt a surge of warmth for his protégé’s support, a paternal pride flooding through his soul at the feeling of having the young warrior openly standing by his side. Brightsword’s words would cost him dearly, likely doing immeasurable damage to his career and possibly seeing him transferred out of the reproduction programmes. It was possible he would be cloned no more, and his legend would die before it had reached its peak. But in voicing a contrarian opinion, he had given his mentor an opening."

-Farsight: Empire of Lies

"The failed, hideously mutated clones of Commander Brightsword, euthanised in their birth carousels, yet kept as datapoints to ensure the same genetic errors were used as stepping stones to a greater understanding. Lab-grown samples of flesh"

-Empire of Lies

 "Brightsword is arguably the most successful repeat clone we have ever produced"

-Empire of Lies (chapter 13)

"‘The arrogant certainty of youth,’ said the artificial intelligence. ‘You embody it so well, even after all this time.’

‘I am both young and very, very old. Cumulatively, I have existed nearly as long as you have.’

‘In a manner of speaking. You are still much the same little butterfly to me, no matter what fluids-slick clone I find myself talking to.’

Since his latest upgrade to version 8-0, it was hard to tell the old gun-master’s artificial consciousness from the mind of a true t’au. Ob’lotai’s cumulative and self-reinforcing algorithms, refined over long study with Farsight and O’Vesa countless years ago, had become extremely advanced. Perhaps as an element of that, his humour tended towards the dark.

Brightsword, a seventh-generation clone who had died in the name of the Greater Good over and over again, could relate more than ever. The futility of it all… One had to find amusement in it, or else weep."

-Farsight: Blade of Truth

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Going by what Mr Kelly said and what's in the text, the T'au's primary mode of reproduction is artificial and automated, with a heavy emphasis on eugenics. Weaker strains and failed individuals are culled.

However, he did not close the door to natural reproduction still being a thing for the T'au.

It should be noted that, according to the 7th ED T'au Empire codex (page 22), family allegiance is alien to the T'au. This contradicts previous lore from the Fire Warrior novel, lore about Shadowsun's parents and sisters, and lore about T'au family lines and clans (For example: Por’ui Vior’la Asharil, third-stream daughter of Clan Kherai, the protagonist of "A Sanctuary of Wyrms" by Peter Pehervari).

Do you guys have any opinions about the T'au being mostly a race of test-tube babies?

GW recently introduced a new Hive Fleet.

Here is its lore from WD 507:

"Of all the Tyranid hive fleets to have entered the galactic plane, there are few stranger than Hive Fleet Typhon. Its organisms display opportunistic predatory behaviour, emerging to feed upon those worlds already weakened by war, famine, disease and other disasters. Hive Fleet Typhon also appears to produce large numbers of Genestealers prior to assaults in the knowledge that fleeing foes will spread the curse to worlds in the path of its inexorable advance. Hive Fleet Typhon displays one significant behaviour as yet unseen in other hive fleets. Both Imperial forces and Kin explorers within the Chalnath Expanse report witnessing Typhon cannibalising the bioforms of other hive fleets. Indeed, tendrils of Typhon almost appear to coil around those of others, sweeping down after planetary invasions to consume both the biomass of the destroyed world and the sister hive fleet's bioforms alike, all while expending as little of their own biomass as possible."

Note that bold text. Am I reading it wrong or did GW retcon previous sightings of Tyranid fleets cannibalizing each other? I recall previous lore of Hive Fleet Hydra being noted for consuming the remnants of other Hive Fleets.

Tyranid experts. Care to weigh in?

I noticed that many T'au fans are not caught up with the new version of the Damocles Crusade and its revelations

I went through the sources and pieced together the hidden truth behind the Damocles Crusade. Here is my summary and analysis:

The figure behind it all is Aun'Va, the Master of the Undying Spirit.

After the T'au made contact and assimilated the human outcasts and exiles, Aun'Va realised that they were lost remnants of a vast and mighty galactic empire. Using his Gue'vesa agents and spies, Aun'Va studied the Imperium and its rulers, the High Lords of Terra. He found out that while powerful enough to drown the T'au in blood, the Imperium was a realm in decline. After the Redemption Wars, the Imperium was exhausted and depleted. It was forced to avoid wars it could not afford whenever it could.

Aun'Va concocted a Kauyon plan to lure the Imperium's forces into Sept Space, where they would be overextended and then hit them hard. A controlled conflict to condition the Imperium into believing that wiping the T'au Empire would incur an incalculable cost.

As bait, Aun'Va masterminded a campaign of espionage and diplomacy on the Imperial worlds past the Damocles Gulf. In what would be termed the Silken Conquests, the Imperial worlds in the Timbra subsector were assimilated into the T'au Empire without a single shot being fired. As the tithes from the region dried up, word reached the High Lords of Terra of human worlds under the thrall of Xenos. Their response was slow, but it typified the Imperium's bellicosity and overwhelming power. The Damocles Crusade was launched.

The Crusade fell on T'au colonies in the Timbra subsector. Aun'Va engineered it so that these colonies would fall after giving token resistance. Made confident by their "stunning" victories, the Imperials pursued the fleeing T'au colonists into Sept Space.

The Imperials subjected the T'au left behind and the Gue'vesa citizens of the conquered colonies to obscene brutalities. The atrocities committed on Vior'los were especially horrendous. All these ruined and destroyed lives were sacrifices Aun'Va was willing to make for the Greater Good.

Using the Warp Drives, the Crusade fleet bypassed the outlying T'au defensive fleets on their side of the Damocles Gulf border and encountered Dal'yth Sept. The Crusade fleet charged forth and bulldozed its way through the outclassed defensive fleet of the sept. Though the Crusade fleet suffered enough significant damage in an ambush at Pra'yen for members of the crusade command to voice the idea of turning back, the prospect of conquering the core T'au world of Dal'yth Prime proved to be too tempting.

The Imperials fell into the trap. On Dal'yth Prime, the T'au, led by their brightest and most talented commanders, dug in their hooves and made their first true defensive action. Though the T'au were prepared for the invasion, the Imperials made considerable gains owing to the scale of their numbers and the fury of the Space Marines.

Farsight and Shadowsun combined their meta strategies against the Imperial invaders. Shadowsun's infiltration and misdirection tactics threw the Imperial forces into disarray. When the Space Marines responded to her attacks, her stealth teams would withdraw, and Farsight would fall on the Space Marines and slaughter them. The T'au counterattack smashed all Imperial beachheads and retook all the occupied territory save for the one defended by the Ultramarines. Had this zone fallen, the Imperials would have been swept clean from the surface of Dal'yth Prime. As it turned out, the Ultramarines had a trick up their sleeves. Identifying the T'au weakness to psychic powers, they convinced their allies to mass-deploy combat psykers against the T'au forces.

The T'au forces were wrong-footed by the Imperial "Mind Science", turning what would have been a crushing victory for the T'au into a grueling stalemate.

Eventually, the T'au would take full measure of the Imperials. Using EMP tactics, the T'au would cut the Imperial invading forces into chunks and begin dismantling the Imperial war machine piece by piece. Furthermore, Farsight cracked the Codex Astartes. Thanks to the Hammer of Dorn's rigid obedience to the Codex, Farsight managed to swiftly codify its core tenets from observing them. The Marines' dogmatic adherence to a set of tactics and strategies proved to be their undoing. Shadowsun and Farsight combined their efforts once again against the Space Marines, inflicting heavy casualties.

The Crusade's momentum was being bled out. The promised reinforcements from the wider Imperium did not arrive. A task force carrying a dozen regiments of the famed Cadian 18th sent to reinforce the Crusade was lost in the Warp. The T'au, on the other hand, bought enough time for fleets and forces from five septs to arrive at Dal'yth Sept, more than enough forces to crush the Damocles Crusade.

The Crusade fleet was getting encircled and its orbital control contested, allowing T'au supply lines to be established and to deploy the reinforcements to the world's surface. The Imperial forces were now outnumbered by a factor of 1:100 and increasing.

General Wendall Gauge, the commander of the Imperial Guard regiments, realised that the Crusade's chances of victory were virtually nonexistent. He had his forces secure a starport and ordered an evacuation off-world. Resistance to the evacuation order by the Space Marines and the Inquisition ended when news of Hive Fleet Behemoth reached the Crusade.

As Farsight prepared to encircle and finish off the retreating Imperial armies, orders came from the Ethereals to stand down and allow the Imperials to peacefully withdraw.

Bloodied and shaken, the T'au Empire triumphed in the final reckoning.

As Aun'Va predicted, the retreating crusaders brought word of the T'au's impressive technology and warmaking capabilities to the Imperial rulers. Rather than seeing the T'au as a minor Xenos empire to be crushed, the Imperial war strategists were made to believe that the T'au Empire was a powerful foe whose wiping out would require a massive expenditure of resources and manpower that the Imperium in its current state could not afford. And even should the Imperium commit to it, victory is not certain. The Imperium would adopt the policy of opposing T'au expansion, but for centuries, continuing to the present, the Imperium, outside of small raids and assassinations, never again attempted to invade the T'au mainland.

Aun'Va's gambit worked just as planned. For every life lost in the Damocles Crusade, thousands of future lives were secured. Aun'Va proved himself a grand and visionary statesman, albeit extremely callous in his approach to Utilitarianism. Convinced that his way is the only way forward for the Greater Good, Aun'Va would use the influence he gained in the conflict to cement his rule over the T'au Empire.

------------------

In addition to Aun'Va's Kauyon, the Damocles Crusade provided a necessary diagnostic for the T'au Empire to identify its weaknesses:

-To address their weakness against psychic powers, the T'au tripled their recruitment and induction of psychic races and individuals into their Empire. Now the T'au Empire has access to its own psychic powers wielded by loyal subjects of the T'au'va who will advise them on esoteric matters and defend them against the unknowable power of the Warp.

-Having been outclassed by the Imperial crusade fleet, the T'au navy underwent a period of revamping and reinnovation that saw it transition from a Trader fleet into a competent warfleet.

-The T'au seized the Warp Drives from Imperial wrecks. Reverse engineering this technology led to the breakthrough that is the invention of the Slipstream module, granting the T'au access to Warp travel and FTL.

-The T'au would use the knowledge they gleaned on the Imperium to great effect in their future conquests. In particular, Farsight's Mirrorcodex would be instrumental in the most devastating defeats the Space Marines suffered at the hands of the T'au.

-The Imperium of Man played its part in making the T'au Empire stronger and wiser.

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There is one unforeseen consequence that Aun'Va did not account for. A menace more threatening than all the Imperium's legions combined. A threat that could irreparably sunder the Greater Good.

The rising star of Commander Farsight!

The resentments and suspicions between the two would be stoked into an intense enmity that would span centuries and outlast death itself.

But that's a story for another time.

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Primary sources used:

-Farsight's Codex supplement (Damocles Crusade part + the timeline entry "The Revelation of Kauyon)

-Blades of Damocles (all of it!)

-Farsight: Crisis of Faith (Chapter One, Clash of Empires)

-Farsight: Blade of Truth (Chapter 28)

-Phil Kelly's Farsight podcast (9:30 to 13:10, Galactic Kauyon)

https://www.facebook.com/WarhammerOfficial/videos/the-warhammer-community-podcast-episode-13-phil-kelly-and-commander-farsight/747057312746631/