I have updated the official Tau timeline with the following entry, taken from the new Codex: Necron.¹



Furthermore, we now know that Anrakyr the Traveller participated in the Harvest of Ka'mais, in 902.M41.


Given Anrakyr's fervent desire to awaken slumbering Necron worlds, and his expressed belief that the Tau have "trespassed", it's safe to conclude that Ka'mais was once a Necron world.

However, this raises a new question -- why did Aun'taniel behave so naively in the face of the Necron threat? Before the new Necron codex gave rise to different Necron factions, it had seemed that the Harvest of Ka'mais was the Tau's first encounter with the homogenous, omnicidal Necrons; how else to explain the Tau's complete naivety? Now, however, Aun'taniel's actions imply that Cano'var's destruction was either not attributed to the Necrons;² or that the Tau have come to realize that Necrons fight in disparate and often contradictory factions, and that Aun'taniel chose to interpret Anrakyr's intercession at Ka'mais as the benevolent action of a previously-unencountered Necron actor.


Two last pieces of information:
-- Rumors of Imotekh the Stormlord's growing might have reached the Tau, "though, as ever, their prevailing interpretation is one of opportunity, rather than threat." (p. 55)
-- Trazyn the Infinite uses mindshackled cat's-paws to make deals "on Ork-held planets, Tau Sept worlds, and human colonies." (p. 58)

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¹ I have gone through Codex: Grey Knights and Codex: Blood Angels, but found no mention at all of the Tau. If I missed anything, please alert me with a private message. I have yet to acquire Codex: Dark Eldar, and do not know if there is any mention of the Tau. Edit: many of you have noted that Codex: Dark Eldar does have several pages of Tau fluff. I'll look into it!
² Alternatively, information concerning Cano'var's destruction was suppressed to the point that a century later, Aun'taniel was not privy to information concerning the colony's fate.

Sunlight pierced the dark chamber in thick bands, photochromaic receptors struggling in futility to keep the bright twin suns of Vior'la from disturbing the deep sleep of the Tau within. A rapt knocking at the door put that notion to rest with crisp, punctuated finality.

Slowly coming to his senses, the middle-aged vior'lan warrior lumbered off his bed, and in one powerful motion rose to his full stature, popped the vertebrae of his aching spine, and with arms outstretched let out a mighty yawn. Activating an ocular chronograph, he realized he wasn't due for a visit for another two decs. A frown cracked his dark, igneous features.

Approaching the portal with purpose, the fire caste commander massaged out a knot in his shoulder and willed the entrance to iris open. 'I am getting old.'

"Shas'el Mont'va," a professional young warrior, standing at parade rest and clad in the desert ochre armor of T'au, spoke, "Your presence has been requested at a war council on T'au, there seems to have been an incident on the borders of your sept's boundaries." He held out an infinitesimally small data transmitter, which the increasingly impatient commander retrieved and passed across the base of his neck.

In an instant, El'Mont'va's eyes shut tight as his didactic implant flared to life, downloading an updated mental picture of all regional troop dispositions, logistics lines of communication, courses of action, and intelligence - no matter the security classification. He was searching. Searching for a name. That name...

'WHERE IS IT?'

"Shas'el?"

Mont'va opened his eyes. The shas'la before him looked puzzled, his helmeted head at a slightly crooked angle as if he were a pup clonebeast begging for a treat.

The larger, older tau squinted. the faint lines at the corners of his eyes brought further clarity to the inexorable advance of time.

"They don't need me, or the Y'aun'es'tau. The empire has faced necrons before. The ARC warriors of Sa'cea come with my highest recommendation and are well practiced in the arts; I would suggest looking there. You are dismissed, Shas'la."

"But, Shas'el? These orders come from O'Shaserra herself!"

"Then she can give me those orders personally. I'll have a glass of ky'husa waiting for her in my chambers. And tell her to wear something a little more fit for breeding this time, the XV-22 she clings to does not do her exquisite form justice." He hoped the venom on his tongue would not be lost on the messenger.

With a wry smile, Mont'va took a moment to study the horrified picture of the dumbstruck shas'la and turned from the already closing portal.

With another stretch, working out the aches and pains of a lifetime of war, Shas'el Vior'la Mont'va Kais'ka laid on his spartan, but comfortable bed, and reentered his slumber.

The Tau feature in the Dark Eldar book, in background about Urien Rakarth, though I've not got the book with me and can't give you a date or planet. It's in the background bit of the codex, rather than the unit entry.

He makes a bargain to assist the Tau against a Tyranid invasion in return for allowing some Tau to return with him as part of a cultural exchange. They get enough volenteers and agree, and together they drive off the Tyranids, though some of the Wracks and Grotestques look a disturbingly familar blue. Afterwards he demands a larger number of Tau - couple of hundred of each caste including an Ethereal. The Tau baulk at this and refuse.

When the relief ships arrive from the rest of the Empire, there's no sign of anyone at all left on the colony.


Roger that! I'll look it over and write up a report similar to the one I wrote above.

The entry about Cano'var seems like the normal fanboyism of noble sacrifice followed by a bad-ass escape from unimaginable odds, but I actually like the second entry. It gives the Necron commander some depth and poise, rather than the 80's villain style of mindless carnage. I really hope we get some decent punchup in the next codex and can only pray I never see pheromones in relation to Ethereals ever again.