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From Warhammer 40k - Lexicanum
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== History ==
Their arrival started the unification process between the various Tau tribes and coincided with the implementation of the concept of the [[Greater Good]]. They first appeared during a siege between the Tau of the plains (later known as the [[Fire Caste]]) and the Tau of the city of [[Fio'taun]] (later known as the [[Earth Caste]]). The Ethereals brought the two sides together to negotiate and convinced them to follow the [[Greater Good]]. Their power over the Tau is such that an Ethereal could tell a Tau to die and that Tau would do so quickly and gladly.{{Fn|8a}} The [[Adeptus Mechanicus]] would give much to learn the secret of the Ethereal's power. There is strong implication from the similarities between an organ possessed uniquely among Tau by the Ethereals, and an organ which [[Q'orl]] use in pheromonal communication that this ability may be due to deliberate engineering in the Ethereals' past.{{Fn|1}}
The Ethereal sometimes lead the fire caste into battle to provide inspirational leadership, so the warriors can achieve more. However if the Ethereal falls in combat, the remaining Tau are struck with grief that causes them to lose battles or they get extremely enraged and charge forward, either way after a Ethereal falls the Fire Warriors lose all discipline and efficiency.{{Fn|4}}
As the leaders of the Tau, the Ethereals are enigmatic and studious, yet unfaltering in their authority and their drive to further the Greater Good. They are mystics and philosophers, possessed of knowledge and wisdom not shared by their more practical subjects. As such they had some part to play in the Tau rapid development, and to this day guide their species in its dynamic expansion, or the castes revert to the savagery that once threatened to destroy them.{{Fn|4}}
The authority of Ethereal is so absolute that if he order a Tau to kill humself, that Tau would be met with instant and unquestioning obedience.{{Fn|8a}}
==Notable Ethereals==
