T'au Empire Member Species

Each alien species within the T'au Empire has a unique and different culture which
contributes to the Greater Good in its own way.

However, all of the T'au Empire's races hold to their common belief in the Greater Good
that binds them all together despite their myriad cultural and physical differences.

T'au

A T'au Fire Warrior

T'au society is centred around the philosophical concept of the Greater Good, where
individual T'au sacrifice their personal gain in favour of benefiting the T'au Empire as a
whole. It is from this philosophy that the T'au's all-purpose motto, "For the Greater
Good!", is derived.

The T'au castes, although different in role and organisation, work together for the
benefit of all T'au: the Earth Caste provide and produce, the Water Caste communicate
and distribute, the Air Caste connect the worlds of the T'au Empire, and the Fire Caste
protects and defends all the others.

The external image the T'au project towards other species is that they are enlightened,
altruistic and idealistic, believing in the unification of all "for the Greater Good."

T'au society is divided into five castes:

 Fire Caste - The military ground forces of the T'au Empire

 Earth Caste - The engineers, laborers and scientists of T'au society
  Water Caste - The diplomats, storytellers, administrators and bureaucrats of
T'au society
 Air Caste - The pilots and officers of the T'au Navy
 Ethereal Caste - The political and reverent leaders of the T'au Empire

Kroot

A Kroot warrior

Kroot society is divided into tribes, known as kindreds. Each kindred is an extended
family group of Kroot and is led by a Shaper, one Kroot with an intuitive understanding
of the DNA absorption process all Kroot possess, and responsible for guiding the
evolution of their Kindred.

The Shaper, upon identifying a beneficial genetic trait, will instruct his kindred to hunt
and consume that animal, and then control the breeding of the kindred to ensure that the
offspring are born with the selected trait. Often, kindreds will band together and their
respective Shapers will form a council, of which the most influential kindred's Shaper
will be made leader of the entire group. On rare occasions, a chief will unite a large
number of kindreds underneath him.

Kroot dwell in warm, temperate conditions on the worlds they inhabit, and construct
large tree houses from animal hides, bound together by regurgitated dead wood. Some
kindreds prefer to reside in the ruins of the Imperium's hive cities on former Human
worlds conquered by the T'au Empire.

The consumption of flesh is one of the key tenets of Kroot spirituality, as it is believed
that the consumption of prey imparts the "spirit" of that prey to the Kroot, which is then
passed on to the Kroot's children. This is the average Kroot's understanding of their
species' biological ability to undergo rapid evolution, with the belief in "spirit" as a
substitute for "genetic absorption."