Kroot Carnivores

Descended from the avian predators of the forest world of Pech, the Kroot are a species defined by a singular gift: when they consume the flesh of the slain, they absorb fragments of its genetic legacy into their own. Across generations this reshapes the entire bloodline, and so the Kroot choose their prey with care, hunting mighty foes in the hope of grafting new strengths onto their kind. To devour the dead is no mere savagery to them but a sacred rite that preserves the spirit and prowess of the fallen.

Carnivores form the backbone of any Kroot kindred that marches with the T'au. Lean and ferociously swift, they lope ahead of the ordered Fire Caste lines, thriving in dense terrain where disciplined gunfire falters. Each warrior carries a Kroot rifle, a long weapon tipped with blades at either end so that it serves equally as firearm and spear, letting the Carnivore blast a foe at range and then fall upon it in a whirl of talon and steel.

The Kroot fight for the Empire under a compact sealed long ago, when T'au intervention saved their enclaves from a rampaging Ork Waaagh. They are the most common xenos auxiliaries in the Empire's service, yet the pact preserves their freedom to roam as mercenaries beyond it, for to bind every kindred to the Hunter Cadres would starve their bloodline of the fresh prey their strange evolution demands.