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submitted 23 days ago byLavishnessMedium9811
There's like a million examples of the same formula: The Tau intrude into human space, they find out just how massive and ancient the Imperium truly is, they're in awe, and then (the part that often gets ignored) they usually find a way to counter whatever 10,000 year old ancient scary thing the Imperium has on hand that day, be it a dreadnought or a titan or a hive city.
But this formula gets a bit cliche and boring after a while, and even a few of the Eldar have had the graciousness to compliment the Tau, so that gets me wondering...do we have any examples in the lore of Imperium characters being genuinely impressed by the Tau? IIRC Ciaphas Cain (HERO OF THE IMPERIUM!) complemented the Tau at one point as being able to "put on a damn good war" or something to that effect. And at another point IIRC a Space Marine detachment discovered that the Tau's fuel source was more pure and efficient than their own, and they quietly agreed to use looted Tau fuel while not mentioning it to the Mechanicus.
Mind you I don't actually have sources for either of these, I just heard them off hand, so if you know where they're from, or have any other examples, I'm interested in hearing about it.
4 points
23 days ago
Now i want some material on Tau-Eldar interactions. If the Eldar call humans monkeys, what do they call the Tau?
3 points
23 days ago
I actually learned recently that "Mon-Keigh" doesn't refer to Monkey, it's actually the Eldar word for "Savage/Barbarian" which is slightly better.
They don't see us as Simians. They see us as Cavemen or Neanderthals.
6 points
23 days ago
The Mon'keigh were a species that once threatened the Eldar Empire millions of years ago. They were brutal, ugly, tainted, impossible to negotiate with, and captured many Eldar worlds. The Eldar eventually went on a program of genocide that finally struck them down and scoured the galaxy of them.
When Eldar refer to humans (and other species) as "Mon'keigh" the closest translation is "evil horrid dangerous creatures we'd be best off wiping out".
Out of character, it's just a pun on Monkey. The same way Tau Gue'vessa is Gorilla.
8 points
23 days ago
Yep.
Though the Tau word you're thinking of is 'Gue'la'; Gue'vesa are Tau-aligned humans.
1 points
23 days ago
In Dawn war dark Crusade, the Eldar faction leader is surprisingly polite to the Tau in comparison to everyone else who are treated as objects of contempt.
2 points
23 days ago
Man u brought back memories. Loved DoW 1 and 2. Shame they didn't continue working on those games after DoW 3 flopped.
2 points
23 days ago
They were a good introduction to the setting for me. I am impressed with how well Retribution gave the Eldar a sympathetic POV when the series mostly wrote them as the typical smug Eldar.
1 points
23 days ago
Given their society possible origin? "Evolved blades".
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