[calmsword]

Thank you Timjim- photoshop master and guy i owe a drink.

This is Article 4: Tau lexicon

let me know what you think:

Project Tau - SaveFile.com project

if that doesn't work let me know.

fixed the tab - Wargamer

[calmsword]

work?

[Dezart Fox]

Seems to be working for me :P

[Doombringer]

It's 'fann, not 'faan.

Excellent as always Calmsword. Eagerly awaiting more. ;D

[calmsword]

thanks Doombringer- i'll make the change. I was hoping this would be the most used tool by fluff writers as it is a whole compilation of almost every Lexicon out there.

[Doombringer]

Yeah, there are a couple more that can be included in there, but overall it's pretty good.

I noticed you forgot the Tau'kon'seh festival - the every kai'rotaa-held festival at the end of the 'month' where Tau of all Castes show up to the battledome to watch up-and-coming Shas'ui hunt clonebeasts.

Afterwards, there is a great feast and the clonebeasts are butchered in the abattoir districts, prepared, and served to the Tau. There might be a little more description in Fire Warrior, but I'm not positive at the moment.

I also noticed the absence of 'Shas'ken'to' in the Lexicon/Culture section (wherever it is applicable). The Shas'ken'to "Principles of Combat" are basically every Fire Warrior's "Uplifting Primer" - tenets of combat that all Tau must adhere to and filled to the brim with Sio't meditations regarding combat situations.

There are a few more, but I won't bore you with relatively unimportant nit-picks.

[Dezart Fox]

Can I have a milkshake instead of that drink?

[Kaffl]

As far as the small section on the Lissera rituals go, there is an example in the codex stating that other castes perform the Ta'Lissera as well, including Earth Caste Build Teams as an example. You stated that as far as you knew, the Shas were the only who engaged in the Ta'Lissera.

Just thought I'd let you know.

[calmsword]

really? I don't recall that- are you sure it wasn't the part where i mention they are the only ones known to commit ritual scarification during the ritual? I'll go back but i'm sure that's what i meant (otherwise the blunder is a huge one and i'll fix it right away)

Thanks Doombringer- i read the Firewarrior book and, you know, I've never seen a reference to the eating of the clonebeast- but i don't have a copy here, could you look that up?

I'll add both the 'primer' and the festival as well as fix the grammar of Faan.

[Doombringer]

Sure thing.

Here's a post where we had this discussion before, Calmsword.

While Fire Warrior doesn't make any explicit statements regarding the Tau actually eating the clonebeast itself, it does mention that the hunted animals are sent to the Fio'toros'tai to be butchered for meat and that following the Tau'kon'seh is an inter-caste feast (where I'd assume the clonebeasts are consumed).

To reiterate, the Fio'toros'tai is an Abattoir District on T'au.

Originally Posted by Dictionary.com - Abattoir

1 A slaughterhouse.
2 Something likened to a slaughterhous

That is to say, there is an entire district of slaughterhouses on a primarily Tau-inhabited planet. Given that we know Tau do eat meat (Tau fisheries were destroying on some planet during the Damocles Gulf Crusade), it isn't a huge leap of logic to assume clonebeasts are simply genetically-altered preybeasts with additional nutritional content bred into them.

I would not be surprised if or opposed to a Tau's meat intake being severely reduced compared to other races like humans, but I'd just like to add that it seems unlikely that they (especially the Hunter Caste) are strict vegetarians. Besides, it seems very un-Tauish, from a highly wasteful point of view, for the hunted clonebeast not to be utilized in some way, and why wouldn't a traditional hunter want to eat his prey?

---

Regarding the Ta'lissera rituals, I agree with Calmsword that ritual scarification is likely a Shas-only tradition, while the Ta'lissera as a whole can be celebrated by Tau of any Caste.

That and the ritual duels that sometimes take place between Shas of opposing Septs/Academies that sometimes end in death (ref. Kill Team) are likely a Fire-Caste-only tradition.