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{{TauPortal}}

[[Image:Ethereal Caste.jpg|thumb|right|Ethereal Caste symbol{{Fn|12}}]]

The '''Ethereals''' (or ''Aun'' in the [[T'au Lexicon]]) are members of the [[Caste System|Ethereal Caste]], the leaders of [[Tau]] society.

The power this caste holds over the Tau is such that an Ethereal could tell a Tau to die and that Tau would do so quickly and gladly. Though the obedience of the Tau to Ethereals is held as natural, other races, especially [[Mankind]], have long speculated about this uncommon loyalty. There are many theories, from prenatal indoctrination and pheromonal compulsion to the presence of some veiled psychic gift possessed by the Ethereals, but as yet no confirmed proof of any such power has been secured. Those few Ethereals that have been captured and subjected to interrogation have proven less than forthcoming.{{Fn|8}}

There is strong implication from the similarities between an organ possessed uniquely among Tau by the Ethereals, and an organ which [[Q'orl]] queens use in pheromonal communication, that this ability may be due to deliberate engineering in the Ethereals' past, likely by the [[Aeldari]].{{Fn|1}}