Overview
The T’au Empire approaches a frontier with offers as well as weapons. Diplomacy and new technology can achieve things an invasion would have to destroy, and Imperial authorities have reason to fear subjects who begin considering the terms. Those authorities do not generally regard such consideration as a private matter.
The empire is small beside the Imperium, but it can direct its resources with a coherence its larger neighbour often struggles to match. Expansion places that advantage under increasing strain. Along the frontier, communities may pass from negotiation to blockade and open fighting while distant governments continue to speak of their allegiance as settled.
M41 and M42 status
Expanding xenos empire on the eastern fringe.
Eastern fringe empire exploiting fractured Imperial attention.
Timeline
Damocles-adjacent reports warn of continued xenos expansion.
Imperial governors debate containment against other urgent wars.
The Rift diverts attention and complicates eastern response patterns.
T'au diplomacy and pressure probe gaps left by Imperial fracture.
Explore the surrounding galaxy
Cartographic positions and several administrative details are intentionally approximate where published Warhammer sources conflict or provide no canonical coordinate system.