Kroot

[Stubber]

The Kroot originated on the world of Pech, a world located in the Ultima Segmentum, in the north-west of the Tau Empire. Hardy evergreen forests of jagga trees cover the prime continent. Those few areas of land not forested are rocky and inhospitable. The Kroot live in family groups known as kindreds and most dwell in arboreal homes in the trees constructed from hides bound together with regurgitated dead wood.

Kroot are tall and their bodies have a wiriness to them that appears deceptively fragile. In actuality, the kroot musculature is extremely powerful and composed of dense fibre spindles with a greater power to mass ratio than is found in humans. Swift muscle contractions create a whiplash effect, allowing the kroot to deliver powerful blows with great rapidity. On the ground, the kroot tend to move with a bounding, hopping gait, but when in dense forests, can spring from tree to tree at great speed. The kroot favour primitive garb, harnesses worked from the hides of animals and adorned with bones, handcrafted amulets and circlets. By far the most obvious habit of the kroot is their practice of eating the flesh of the dead. In battle, this leads them to ritually devour the corpses of those they have killed and almost nothing is beyond their tastes.

The Kroot have evolved from Avians and they still retain beaks and a light bone structure, although whether this original form was similar to the Kroothawk is speculation.

The oldest stable form of Kroot is a reclusive winged species about half the weight of a normal Kroot. This variety of Kroothawk lives in remote nests at the top of the tallest Jagga trees and live independent of the Kroot proper. The Kroothawk is considered sacred among other Kroot.

Kroot Hounds are undeniably descended from the same root as the Kroot themselves. They are perhaps the remains of a previous kindreds attempt to emulate a successful pack hunter but they became entirely locked into this one form.

Krootox are different again. They wander the forest floor in large clans feeding off the moulds that cover the lower trunks of the jagga trees. They are huge creatures and are short-tempered but essentially harmless. Just as the Kroot Hounds are trapped in their feral form, the Krootox are trapped as grazing beasts. They have a degree of intelligence and are extremely loyal to their Kroot masters and would die to protect them. Krootox are used as beasts of burden and are the most reliable of animals.

The kroot digestive system is extremely efficient, capable of breaking down almost any organic material into an energy form that can be stored in specialised glands scattered throughout their bodies called nymunes. Virtually nothing they consume is wasted although some indigestible materials are regurgitated, and chemicals synthesised from their food are released as a thick viscous sweat.

The strangest quirk about kroot digestion is their ability to extract useful strands of their foods DNA. It is known that much of the double helix structure of their DNA is in fact blank, used to separate those areas that do contain genetic information. The kroot have somehow inherited the ability to incorporate useful DNA codes into their own genetic make-up. Larger kroot, called Shapers, who have an instinctive understanding of this process, can direct their Kindred to consume certain prey in order that, in successive generations, they may take on elements of those genes. The overall effect was a rapidly accelerated evolutionary program which left Kroot the dominant species on Pech long before such a situation should have been possible.

The Kroot brain is unusual insofar that it is a combination of cerebral hemispheres and clusters of ganglia. The ganglia run the length of their crests and are very efficient at interpreting sensory information, a feature which, combined with their superb senses, makes the Kroot very difficult to hide from.
Kroot have two cerebral hemispheres, one behind the other. The front hemisphere controls logic and memory and is considerably more developed than the other hemisphere, which governs imagination and creativity. Kroot interpret what the see and act accordingly, with little emotional clutter.
The rear hemisphere is another mutation; it controls their inventiveness and imagination and has a very limited capacity. Whilst it is more pronounced in some kindreds, this limits the Kroot’s creativity considerably, with the consequence that they have gone about as far technologically as they are likely to go without the help of a more sophisticated race.

The Kroot language consists of a mixture of clicks, squawks and hoots. However, they are excellent mimics and are able to link sounds to a particular piece of body language very quickly. A Kroot can make himself understood after just a few hours practice in a particular language.

Pech is entirely integrated into the Tau empire, but not all kroot fight for the Tau…It is not unknown for mercenary forces to be found fighting alongside Eldar, Human renegades, the dread legions of Chaos and even Orks. The Kroot have no deeply held prejudices against any particular alien races and give little or no thought to who they fight, only that they are paid. This practice is entirely at odds with the Greater Good, and so the Kroot keep knowledge of it from the Tau, itinerant Mercenary Kindreds avoiding contact with Tau forces.

Kroot Carnivore squads are the most common auxiliaries serving alongside Tau forces. The kroot worlds have long been part of the empire, ever since a Tau expeditionary force helped liberate several Kroot enclaves from Ork domination.
The Kroot have a strict code of honour and, in return for the support of the Tau Empire, supply large numbers of warriors as exclusive mercenaries. Their self-sufficiency and unparalleled fieldcraft are a major asset to the Tau and a useful contrast to their more technologically dependent allies.

Kroot squads also contain the lumbering Krootox and agile Kroot Hounds. While the Tau find the Kroot’s predilection for eating the flesh of their vanquished foes barbaric, it is hoped that prolonged exposure to the Tau’s sensibilities and culture will eventually purge them of this distasteful habit. Despite this, the Kroot are afforded virtually the same level as a Tau, since their skill at arms is much valued by the less physically able Tau. The Kroot are honoured for their martial prowess and are rewarded for their efforts as befits loyal citizens of the Tau Empire.

The Kroot are fearsome opponents in close combat. Their fighting ability in without a doubt greater than that of most humans and is a factor of their corded muscle structure and superior vision. Kroot are stronger than humans although have comparable tolerances to injury. However, unlike Imperial soldiers who fight secure in the knowledge of the Emperors benevolence, the kroot fight solely for reward and this is reflected in the unpredictable level of their battlefield discipline.

Kroot fight with a rifle, which, while relatively primitive, is capable of delivering a charged round more powerful than a standard issue lasgun. These weapons are generally adorned with a collection of deadly close combat attachments that enable the skilled and long limbed Kroot to fight without specialised assault weaponry. More powerful armament comes in the form of the Kroot gun, mounted on the backs of Krootox beasts. These guns fire a larger, more powerfully charged round, capable of smashing lightly armoured vehicles and killing even the most powerful individual with a single shot.

Unlike the Tau, the Kroot are capable of true warp travel but the exact method has been kept secret from their employers. To the Kroot, warp travel is almost migratory and they seem incapable of navigating anywhere other than systems with habitable worlds. It appears they are drawn to functioning eco-systems.
The famous Kroot Warspheres are self-contained towns wherein is kept the retained knowledge of Kroot technology and the choicest items they have received as payment for their services. As such they do not risk them in battle willingly and try to avoid direct action against warships unless the need is great or they are being exceptionally well rewarded.
Warspheres have a single drive running through their core from north to south pole and manoeuvring thrusters along their equator. These engines are reliable but very basic making Warspheres very slow. They are powerful enough to allow the Warsphere to land and take-off from a planet although the process is not elegant. When plenetside the manoeuvring thrusters will normally be used to bury the Warsphere.


Source: Codex Tau, Codex Tau Empire, Battle Fleet Gothic Armada