Tau

Tau
(Tow)

Province of origin : Aspana.
(A-Spaw-Na)

The Tau are an amphibious race of people that live in the province of Aspana, tau have a soft smooth almost rubberlike gray blue skin with colorful markings on various parts of their body usually stripes and spots on the forearms, legs, tail, for head and ears. Tau usually stand 5 to 6 feet tall with average size arms and legs along with a large Delphinidae-like tails. Their eyes are a solid shade of color most typically purple, blue, pink, green, orange or yellow. Upon their heads instead of hair there are shoulder length long tendrils that they have little to no feeling in, these tendrils can be cut but they will regrow within a few months. Tau have large fin like ears on either side of their head with a flattened tendril like a lobe beneath it, they also have actual fins on their arms and legs as well as near the base of their tail and end of the tail, also along the sides of their upper torso the tau have openings for their gills.
The Tau live in the province of Aspana, Aspana is primarily covered in wide grasslands and Hills with fruit tree groves and sparse forest lands and Rocky Cliffside shores in the South, towards the far north there are swamplands and jungles and sandy beaches. The whole province of Aspana is rich with freshwater lakes, rivers, and some of the worlds most stunning waterfalls.
The Tau are omnivorous however mostly they prefer the diet of a herbivore, the various kinds of fruits and vegetables native to Aspana among them being mostly berries such as grapes and blackberries, leafy greens, rice, many kinds of beans, citrus fruits, many kinds of herbs and a large assortment of peppers and spices, as well as many types of saltwater plants such as seaweed and kelp. There meat diet primarily consists of fresh and saltwater fish, mollusks and clams, various fish roe crustaceans, cuttlefish as well as some smaller game such as puffins, rabbits, and Quail, Tau cuisine is most notably known for their open-air grills and hot spicy foods, one item in particular called "Chimmin" which is a spicy rice and bean dish is renowned the world over for its intense heat.

The Tau are cool and collected kind of people, they prefer to use logic and reasoning for every situation, a typical tau will likely try to negotiate and reason is way out of the situation rather than come to violence. Tau are rather peaceful and sociable beings, however when it comes down to it they can fight with the best of them.
Tau are rather active and serious people usually the only thing that a tau would find "recreational" is learning, studying, and honing one's skills, that being said tau do enjoy games such as chess or any other such strategic and thought-provoking games. Generally speaking however an average Tau enjoys working their craft to the best of their abilities, whether it be an officer, farmer, merchant, Weaver, or even politician they take great pride and delight in the perfection of their work.

The Tau are rather resistant to disease although they do contract the disease from time to time though it is not common, tau medicine and surgical procedures are renowned the world over for their skill in potency. Along with their doctors the tau are known for their historians, scholars, professors, archaeologists and men/women of science.


The Tau do not have a creation myth, in fact they do not have any real standing religion, however they do acknowledge the presence of powerful beings they just refuse to refer to them as gods. You could say the chief religion of the Tau is the pursuit of knowledge, understanding, and advancement.
The exact origin of the tau is unknown even to them, no records nor texts before the foundation of the great houses of Laquen for written text did not exist up until that point, The only thing the tau people have to go on is stories.
From what few stories there are the ancient tau first appeared in the bowels of a massive Primon pyramid or it is known by today as Lyros high seat of the great houses. It is unknown why the tau were inside Lyros possibly seeking refuge, or perhaps they were marooned on the island whatever be the case Lyros is now synonymous with being the central hub of the tau people.
Despite the tau not having any real religion they do revere ancient primon technology and the either itself, they believe that in some way the either is the source of all life in Territh and for that they study either constantly seeking the meaning of life and for a better understanding of the world around them.
Typically when a tau dies instead of cremation or burial their dead are taken to a higher place of learning which depending on the deceased's wishes is either used for teaching as a cadaver or their entire body is converted into eitheren mist to become "One with life" as a Tau would say.

The tau as a species are very sociable and crave conversation, it's highly unlikely that you would ever meet a tau that wouldn't wish to talk to you. That being said the Tau are synonymous with being particularly "nosy" individuals, a simple question and or proposal in tau culture may be highly offensive gesture in another culture.

Tau culture is split up into five groups, each group represents one of the five Great houses. Each house embodies an aspect of the tau government, first and foremost is house Laquen "the founding house" it was the first of the great houses and the political center and a place where all rules and legislations are made in all of tau culture.
Next is house Lilinwyn. "the house of knowledge" they are renowned the world over for their universities and places of learning as well as the study halls for weavers and other eitheren powers, almost all tau weavers come from house Lilinwyn.

then there is house Chayth. "the house of commerce" every trade agreement, bargain, business deal or any other profitable dealings goes through house Chayth and their merchant guilds for as they say "gold and silver flows from Chayth fingertips" one would be wise not to cross house Chayth for you would soon find yourself without a coin to your name.

Then there's house Zaythel "the house of justice" they are the peacekeepers and protectors of the tau people, as house Lilinwyn may train great weavers house Zaythel hones a weavers abilities for combat. House Zaythel serves as a place of law and order is one of the more common houses that you'll come across as you see their guardians patrolling streets and countrysides all across Aspana.

Finally comes house Arayni "the house of agriculture" although house Araynieven the most politically powerful or influential it is by far the largest of all of the great houses having many many members. House Arayni is the house of settlers, farmers, commoners, and herdsmen. They are chiefly responsible for growing in cultivating the food for all the tau people as well as the expansion of their territories.

Even though each Greathouse has its own way of doing things each one is very closely intertwined with each other coexisting symbiotically, one house simply cannot exist without the others.
As a tau you are born into a Greathouse carrying the name of your house in your own name, that being said tau can easily intermarry with the other houses, however that requires one to abandon their house name that they were born with and change it to the other if they wish to marry.

The Tau are a monogamous people forming lifelong bonds with their counterparts. Tau "courtship" more closely resembles a business or trade agreement rather than an actual marriage, that being said the Tau are very passionate.
After conception a female tau carries her offspring inside upper body for about six months after which she will lay up to 1-4 spherical semi translucent eggs in shallow freshwaters in a specially crafted nursery/hatchery, typically these "hatcheries" are located in a hotel like building, these buildings have dozens of rooms separate from each other, each room is like a small home containing the bare minimum living conditions the focus is in the center of the room which is a pool of shallow freshwater in which the eggs are laid. Typically both parents will stay in these rooms for an additional six months tending to the eggs until they are ready to hatch. Once they are hatched tau young was resemble a smaller less-developed version of their parents, usually both parents will take care of their young equally as "maternal instincts" are strong in both genders. Tau young learn how to talk before they can walk, they learn speech in under a year and they learn how to walk on their own at around two years, however tau infants are able to swim rather well as soon as they are born.
Among the things that the tau enjoy there are two primordial basic instinctual things that no Tau can easily resist, the first of which are puzzles, typically riddles, a puzzle box game or even a mystery of some sort is almost irresistible to the Tau, because of that fact tau literature and story writing is renowned the world over for its over complexity.
As for the other quite simply the Tau love to swim, salt or freshwater does not matter the tau are able to swim and breathe in it. That being said even though the Tau are amphibious technically they can go their whole lives without ever entering the water. (Although that is impossible.)