Structure

"Blue Milk" is the first part of a longer-form T'au story centering about the creation and the exploitation of a new product: yes, you guessed it, Blue Milk (more to come about this in the story).

So far the structure looks like below:

• Part 1: Blue Milk
• Part 2: Imperial Milk
• Part 3: The Blue Business

These will each be a minimum of around 10,000 words - give or take. Hopefully I can flesh them out a bit more over time and make them longer, but expect 10,000 as a base.

As I complete the individual parts, I will conglomerate them into a single blog post each for brevity.

Basic Vocabulary

Below is a list of some basic terms used by the T'au.

• Gue'la - The Human Species.
• Gue'vesa - Human Friend.
• The Greater Good - The commmon creed of the T'au denoting an adherence to a larger purpose (often referred to as the T'au'va).

T'au Castes

Below is a table as well as a short caste description taken from the very useful site Warhammer 40K Fandom.

Fire Caste (Shas) -- The Fire Caste composes the bulk of the ground military of the T'au Empire, and as such are the T'au most often encountered by the Imperium. They average as tall as or slightly shorter than an average Human, and are generally muscular. This comes from the Fire Caste's origin on the plains of T'au, the T'au homeworld, where they survived as hunters and warriors. T'au from the world of Vior'la tend to have slightly greater muscle mass than is common among their species because of the increased gravity of Vior'la.

Earth Caste (Fio) -- The Earth Caste is composed not only of the T'au's labourers and technicians, but also artisans, scientists and engineers. They are usually credited with the significant leaps in technology that the T'au Empire has enjoyed. The members of the Earth Caste form the foundations upon which the T'au Empire is built. The inhabitants of this caste are generally short and stout of build.

Water Caste (Por) -- The Water Caste is primarily composed of T'au merchants and diplomats. They are tasked with seeking and maintaining diplomatic relations with the other member species of the T'au Empire, as well as maintaining the ease of communication and cooperation between the other castes. The Water Caste are generally taller and slimmer than other T'au, and favor diplomatic training and social grace over confrontation or combat. They are more capable in communicating in the languages of other intelligent species than most other T'au. From the time when the T'au discovered the existence of the Imperium, there are several accounts where Water Caste ambassadors were dispatched to Imperial worlds, and those worlds accepted the Greater Good without a fight to become new T'au septs.

Air Caste (Kor) -- The Air Caste of the T'au function not only as messengers, but also as the bulk of the T'au Protection Fleet and the T'au Merchant Fleet. The T'au of the Air Caste are even taller and more slender than the Water Caste, with long, skinny appendages and hollow bones. These traits are attributed to their lives lived mostly in low to zero-gravity voidships and void stations. This is exacerbated by Air Caste reluctance, if not outright refusal, to land on planets, as their skeletons have atrophied to the point where injury and broken bones are commonplace when they spend time in a gravity well. In the past, during the time of the Mont'au before the unification of the T'au tribes, the Air Caste had membranes stretching between their limbs, which allowed them to glide on air currents. T'au Air Caste pilots are recognised as generally superior to Human pilots due to their better fighter craft, though they lack a normal Imperial pilot's level of combat experience.

Ethereal Caste (Aun) -- The Ethereals are the political and religious leaders of the T'au. They resemble the Fire and Water Castes physically, but are marked by a diamond-shaped ridge of raised bone in the centre of their foreheads. Their origins are unknown, and most T'au will never refuse a request made by an Ethereal. They are sometimes also found on the battlefield, but whether as leaders or observers remains to be seen. The leader of the Ethereal Caste is a T'au named Aun'Va, the Ethereal Supreme and Master of the Undying Spirit who chaired the Ethereal High Council and served as the head of state or Aun'o of the T'au Empire.

Other T'au Metrics:

Below is a useful reference for T'au time units, taken from the Lexicanum.

I hope this quick reference helps with understanding the fan fiction I've created.

Again, all credit for the information comes from the following two websites: Warhammer 40K Fandom Lexicanum

Please visit them for more information - and I hope you enjoy the short story Blue Milk.