[Skyblazer]

I just noticed that under the Shadowsun preview the description of her makes reference to a "third sphere crusade" that she has been placed in command of. Does anyone know what the "third sphere crusade" is? Maybe it pertains to the rumor that the tau are about to conquer a whole stretch of new territory?

[mace]

Further Expansion I guess, of the Tau Empire. It might possibly have something to do with the upcoming City of the Dead codex, but that's just my guess..

[Nerroth]

The Third Sphere Expansion was the growth of the Tau Empire during the Eye of Terror Campaign.

A number of Imperial-held systems were conquered by the Tau, as well as new Sept colonies establshed.


And it wasn't a crusade, at least they better not use that term in the new Codex...


(and by the way, if Shadowsun is meant to have been taught by the same chap who taught O'shovah, then it seems the current life expectancy of the Tau is about to go out the window - since O'shovah was around 250 years before the 3SE...)


Gary

[compubrains]

O'Shova is believed to get his super-longetivity from his evil sword.

[Nerroth]

But that would still mean that both Shadowsun and her mentor would have been long dead between the end of the Lithesh War and the onset of the Third Sphere Expansion...


Gary

[calmsword]

check and mate- i wonder if the "time jump" that they did concerning the initial 'nid invasion with ultramar will happen.
by the by- "evil sword" just one of many theories, you know that right?- i hate to continue pointing this out, but lots of newer poster's see this and go and spread it to other sites.
~good hunting

[Sephiroth]

I too have heard that O'Shaserra (Shadowsun) was the student of a Commander 'Puretide', the same mentor to O'Shovah (Farsight) and one of the key individuals behind the Second Phase Expansion (which ended with the Imperium abortive Damocles Crusade). Recently, he has disappeared.

I don't know how that works personally. I can only imagine Puretide was her mentor up until he vanished very early in her career... still, there's about three hundred years difference between O'Shovah's disappearance and the Third Phase Expansion which Shadowsun is leading...

[compubrains]

Originally Posted by calmsword

check and mate- i wonder if the "time jump" that they did concerning the initial 'nid invasion with ultramar will happen.
by the by- "evil sword" just one of many theories, you know that right?- i hate to continue pointing this out, but lots of newer poster's see this and go and spread it to other sites.
~good hunting

That was just a compilation of one of the many O'Shova theories. It's already pretty widespread.

[Nerroth]

We'll see just what we should make of the whole thing soon enough, I'm sure...


Gary

[orion549]

Perhaps Puretide was an Aun, and it's never been stated that the Aun have the same, or for that matter a different, life span than regular Tau. The Space Pope looks real old, maybe Aun can live several centuries, so Puretide mentored Farsight, Farsight left, Puretide continued for several centuries, mentored Shadowsun and died shortly after. It's a possible work around that GW could do, Aun being all "mysterious" and whatnot.