Gaiaterra: Elysea's Conflict/The Caste System

The T'au, and the Syndicate as a whole upon annexing them, employ a caste-based social system that places the good of the many over the good of the few or the individual. In T'au society, every person is viewed as an essential part of the whole society. Social standing is judged primarily by a being's standing within a caste of the T'au, with 'La being the lowest (Shas'la: Fire Warrior, Fio'la: Earth Worker, Por'la: Water Bureaucrat) and 'O being the highest (Shas'O: Fire Commander, Fio'O: Earth Planner, Por'O: Water Ambassador), though the Syndicate are far looser on the system and had forcibly turned every caste into use for war. The castes are as follows:


 * Fire (Shas) -- The Fire Caste composes the bulk of the Syndicates PMC, and as such are the force most often faced in battle. Tau's of this caste 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 Tau's nation, where they survived as hunters and warriors. And outside of battle forms the "police" and "security" of Syndicate forces.
 * Earth (Fio) -- The Earth Caste is composed not only of laborers and technicians, but also artisans, scientists and engineers. They are usually credited with the significant leaps in technology that the T'au Empire, and now the Syndicate, has enjoyed. The members of the Earth Caste form the foundations upon which the Syndicate is built. The Tau's of this caste are generally short and stout of build. And with the Syndicate taking over the caste are now strongarmed with the tasks of operating the Syndicate's siege equipment, building headquarters, and demolishing enemy buildings and terrain as sappers whenever they go to war.
 * Water (Por) -- The Water Caste is primarily composed of Syndicate merchants and diplomats. They are tasked with seeking and maintaining diplomatic relations, and therefore revenue, with the other nations, as well as maintaining the ease of communication and cooperation between the other castes. The Water Caste Tau 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 races than most other T'au. But with the Syndicate taking over many Tau of this caste, and Sprawl dwellers recruited into the caste, are now also trained as assassins and spies, tasked with not only using their diplomatic skills to extract classified information and blackmail but to also assassinate business rivals, politicians, and enemy leaders in war.
 * Air (Kor) -- The Air Caste of the Syndicate function not only as messengers, but also as the bulk of the Syndicate airforce and navy, funnily enough. The Tau of the Air Caste are even taller and more slender than the Water Caste, with long, skinny appendages and hollow bones. In the past, before the time of the Mont'au (the Age Of Dawn), the Air Caste had membranes stretching between their limbs, which allowed them to glide on air currents.
 * Ethereal (Aun) -- The Ethereals are the political and religious leaders of the Syndicate. Tau's of this caste resemble the Fire and Water Castes physically, but are marked by a diamond-shaped ridge of raised bone in the center of their foreheads. Their origins are unknown, and most Tau will never refuse a request by an Ethereal, which the Syndicate has used to exploit the Tau for their gains. They are also found on the battlefield, to act as morale officers and tacticians thanks to the Syndicate.

Fire
The Fire Caste is the military caste of the Syndicate. The T'au of this caste are tall and have relatively stronger and more muscular frames than their counterparts in the other T'au castes. This distinction was formed by the Fire Caste's origin on the plains of T'au, the Tau home, where they were originally hunters, predators, and warriors.

The Fire Caste are professional soldiers. In some ways, their training regimen begins moments after their birth, for the great communes are fully given over to raising the best soldiers and nothing else. Though with the Syndicate reforms said soldiers are now mercenaries with varying morals and competence, much to the Tau's ire.

Discipline, fitness, hard work, and following orders are drilled into the growing warriors, at least for the Tau themselves. It is customary for teams to be raised and trained together, allowing the troops to form strong connections -- a comradeship-in-arms that will serve them well no matter where in the Syndicate they are sent off to fight, though with the Tau's forceful integration into the Syndicate this practise is slowly fading.

To be named a shas'la -- a full-fledged warrior of the Fire Caste -- is to have completed the rigorous training and to have passed the final rite of passage signifying that one has proven successful at this crucial stage; those not healthy or bright enough to pass these tests would become bums in the Sprawl, likely pressganged into a turf war, if they're lucky, or are taken by Syndicate research companies.

The Fire Caste never stops readying for war -- their academies are purpose-built to refine training and to educate their warriors in the ways of war, while at the same time giving out contract works since they must also pay for their boarding. To the Fire Caste, war is an art form -- a discipline to be studied and applied.

Earth
The Earth Caste is primarily made up of farmers, laborers, and technicians responsible for building the machines, cultivating the food, and erecting the dwellings that allow the Sprawls to survive.

The Earth Caste also includes all of the Syndicate artisans, scientists, and engineers. And in times of war are forced to work in maintaining the Syndicates vehicles, operate siege engines, and, for those who have the skills, fight on the frontline with the task of blowing up bridges, structures, or even a wall.

The sophisticated machinery and technology that drive the Syndicate are created by the foremost minds of the Earth Caste, including the known XV8 Crisis Battlesuit and Gyrojet weapons.

The Tau of the Earth Caste are stouter of build than the normal Tau phenotype and tend to have calloused hands and a pragmatic outlook on life.

Their speech is very literal and matter-of-fact, often appearing to be quite monotonous to those not of their caste.

Before the coming of the Ethereals during the Mont'au, or Age of Dawn, the T'au lived in separate tribes, the foundations of today's castes.

Those destined to become the Earth Caste built cities and fortresses of stone to defend themselves against the neighboring tribes of the plains dwellers, who would become the Fire Caste.

Water
The Tau Water Caste is made up of merchants, diplomats, and administrators. They are responsible for maintaining effective interaction between the castes, as well as communicating with and supervising the deals with other nations.

The Water Caste are consummate diplomats, manipulators, and fences, able to procure a rare Plasma Weapon for a handful of Kroot toenail clippings or talk a drug-crazed mutant into quiet subservience before convincing it to savagely assault its former master.

Members of the Water Caste tend to be taller and more slender than other Tau, and their features are softer and more expressive. Water Caste Tau will frequently adopt the mannerisms and other cultural habits of the intelligent species they deal with, although this is often done to promote communication with these other species.

Water Caste members are bureaucrats, politicians, negotiators, and administrators. They are the merchants and diplomats of the Syndicate, moving in and around the other castes to ensure that T'au society functions smoothly, always in the service of the Greater Good. And, thanks to Syndicate strongarming, they are now the Syndicate's assassins and spies, using their skills to also swindle others, steal information, and find blackmail to force a company to join them. And in warfare are tasked with assassinating key leaders and officers.

Water Caste members often accompany Tau trading caravans to negotiate safe conduct through the territory and smooth the passage of Syndicate merchants and traders.

People should be aware that these Tau are exceptionally skilled at manipulating weak-willed individuals and every remark addressed to a member of the Water Caste must be carefully considered and phrased to prevent any sensitive information from being divulged.

Air
The Air Caste of the Tau traditionally functioned as messengers, but now fill the ranks of the Syndicate Protection Fleet, the Merchant Fleet, and air security, working as aircraft pilots and naval crews.

Prior to the unification of the Tau castes, during the time of the Mont'au, the Air Caste were said to possess membranous wings, allowing them to glide on warm air currents. They still possess vestigial remains of these membranes.

Ethereal
An Ethereal is a member of the fifth caste of the Tau species, forming a ruling elite above the Fire, Earth, Air, and Water Castes that make up the bulk of the T'au population. Which the Syndicate has followed suit.

Known as the Aun in the T'au Lexicon, their name translates variously as the "Celestial" or "Ethereal Caste." Though their numbers are small compared to the other castes, the Ethereals are the rulers of the Syndicate, only below the Board Of Directives, and command near total authority and loyalty from every other Sprawl dwellers.

Born to counsel, advise and steer their comrades towards the chosen path, the Ethereals embody the roles of royalty and the priesthood, and the deference paid to them is the closest thing to mysticism in Tau, and Syndicate, society.

For weighty decisions, a wise Ethereal will take counsel from the senior members of each caste, although ultimate sovereignty falls upon him and him alone. The Ethereals find themselves in a binding role -- guiding the other castes to work together for the Greater Good, or in the case of the Syndicate for greater profit, and they are headed by a council on Tau of the wisest Ethereals called the Ethereal High Council that is headed by a presiding officer with the rank of Ethereal Supreme.

Their unique role is a combination of spiritual and political command, and their declarations shape and steer every facet of the Tau in an indisputably complete way, which is one of the reasons why the Tau became corporate slaves to the Syndicate once the Lumeris managed to control the ethereals. An Ethereal must be a consummate leader and motivator in every way: pushing the Earth Caste for more practical innovations, setting firm negotiation goals for the Water Caste to strive for, giving perimeters to the great fleets of the Air Caste and directing the sometimes overzealous aggression of the Fire Caste.