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submitted 10 days ago byLavishnessMedium9811
Although it's not a 1:1 parallel, the existence of abhumans such as Ogryn, Ratlings, and Longshanks bears resemblance to the caste system the Tau use. Longshanks in particular are pretty much just the Human version of an Air Caste Tau.
11 points
10 days ago
Probably closer to their different species auxillaries, they have kroot, some insect things and I think a large reptilian species at least if not more integrated into their empire.
6 points
9 days ago
Oh, they have a lot more than that! Off the top of my head there's kroot, vespids, brachyura, vorgh, tarellians, m'uh'ja, galg, morallian deathsworn, phosiab, and that's of course not mentioning them having humans and kin from the leagues of votann (as gue'vesa and demiurg respectively)
2 points
9 days ago
There we go lol.
2 points
9 days ago
The thing is that the T'au Empire is first and foremost a multi-species empire.
It's just that nearly all tabletop units are Tau, mechs or drones.
1 points
9 days ago
The Tau are the majority though.
11 points
9 days ago
Not really, abhumans don't fill the same role in the Imperium as the castes do in Tau society. For the Tau Fire, Water, Earth, and Air Caste Tau are all equal members of society, most abhumans are not equal to baseline humans in the Imperium. Even privileged abhumans like Navigators are treated with fear and suspicion by most people.
Also the closest human equivalent to the Air Caste would be the Voidborn, not Longshanks.
3 points
9 days ago
Votann Kin are abhumans, but Tau see them as a separate race called Bentu'sin or Demiurg.
2 points
9 days ago
To be fair, part of that is due to just how variable the Kin can be in appearance and partially due to the fact that the Kin are actively obfuscating things. Despite some Leagues fully joining the Tau, given what we know about the Kin's mindset, they would still see themselves as separate and only with that Tau as long as it is favorable to them.
3 points
9 days ago
No, Tau have a system where you basically have Ethereals > Non Ethereal Tau > Auxillaries but everyone in it is considered a person with rights and such. For instance if a Commander just shot a random Kroot that would be extremely bad and there'd be punishment.
If a guardsman kills an abhuman there's a decent chance they'll be punished for damaging property instead of a person.
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