Commander Farsight

Shas’O Vior’la Shovah Kais Mont’yr was born on Vior’la and distinguished himself within the Fire Caste from an early age. He mastered the Code of Fire and repeatedly surpassed older warriors during his training. After surviving the Arachen War and proving himself through the Trial by Fire he was selected to study beneath the legendary Commander Puretide alongside Shas’O Shaserra and Shas’O Kais. Farsight became especially skilled in Mont’ka and developed an unusual appreciation for close combat. His victories against Orks during the Arkunasha War earned him the name O’Shovah. He later fought against the Imperium during the Damocles Crusade before being given command of a vast expedition intended to reclaim lost T’au worlds beyond the Damocles Gulf.

The expedition eventually pursued Orks to Arthas Moloch. There Farsight encountered creatures from the Warp and watched every Ethereal accompanying his forces perish. He discovered the ancient Dawn Blade among the ruins and used it while fighting the entities emerging through a mysterious portal. The experience revealed threats that T’au doctrine had never prepared him to understand. Farsight also became convinced that the Ethereals had deliberately concealed truths about the galaxy and exercised an influence over the other castes that went beyond ordinary leadership. When Aun’Va demanded his return Farsight refused. He fortified the worlds under his command and severed their dependence upon the Ethereal Caste. These territories became the Farsight Enclaves. He later withdrew into self-imposed exile before returning when the Enclaves faced destruction by the Tyranids.

Farsight resumed leadership beside the warriors who became known as the Eight and continued defending the Enclaves against enemies from across the galaxy. He even fought beside Commander Shadowsun during the Second Agrellan Campaign despite remaining an outlaw in the eyes of the Ethereal Council. Much later his war against the Ork warlord Nazdreg drove him back toward Arthas Moloch as forces of Chaos descended upon the same world. The fighting brought Farsight dangerously close to surrendering himself to rage. When that fury made him regard the lives of his own warriors as worthless he recognized what he was becoming and rejected the influence pressing upon him. He ordered a retreat and placed the survival of his forces above vengeance. Farsight continues to lead an independent T’au civilization while remaining one of the Ethereals’ most dangerous living enemies.

Appearance: Commander Farsight has muted blue skin and a lean athletic build. His head is enclosed by a dark metallic hood like part of his armor, that leaves his face visible. He wears red armor

His XV8 Crisis Battlesuit is massive and heavily armored with a broad mechanical torso and long jointed limbs. The armor is predominantly deep red with darker maroon sections and black mechanical joints. Thick shoulder housings rise high on either side of the upper body. Angular chest plating covers the front with recessed vents and small glowing blue details. The head unit is compact with a narrow blue sensor slit beneath a white upper plate.

Large red armor panels cover the thighs and lower legs while exposed black pistons and articulated joints connect the limbs. The feet are wide and mechanical with segmented toe sections. Twin vertical housings rise behind the shoulders from the backpack assembly.

One arm carries a large circular shield-like assembly with a thick dark rim and a long cylindrical weapon projecting from its center.

Personality: Farsight is aggressive and highly independent but his defiance is rooted in conviction rather than simple rebellion. He believes warriors must understand why they fight instead of surrendering their judgment to distant authority. His experiences with the Imperium and Orks and the powers of the Warp destroyed his earlier certainty that every enemy could be understood through the teachings of the Empire. He remains committed to protecting his people and retains much of the Greater Good as an ideal while rejecting the Ethereals’ claim to absolute authority. Farsight is proud and can become consumed by anger when his warriors suffer. His experience on Arthas Moloch has made him especially wary of allowing that anger to govern him.

Puretide was Farsight’s greatest teacher and shaped the commander he eventually became. Shadowsun and Kais trained beside him under Puretide and formed a close bond with him before their paths separated. Farsight and Shadowsun later became political enemies because she remained within the T’au Empire but their personal respect survived the division. She once secretly warned him when the Ethereal Council ordered his capture. The Eight are Farsight’s closest companions within the Enclaves and serve as both an elite battlesuit unit and his war council. O’Vesa is particularly important as a longtime adviser and engineer while Torchstar earned Farsight’s trust after helping save him during the Tyranid invasion.

Farsight is one of the greatest military commanders produced by the Fire Caste and a master of Mont’ka. He specializes in identifying a decisive weakness before committing overwhelming force against it. His long wars against Orks gave him exceptional knowledge of their psychology and battlefield behavior which he recorded in the Book of the Beast. Unlike most T’au commanders he considers close combat an essential part of warfare and has spent centuries developing the ability to fight personally at short range. He is an expert battlesuit pilot with extensive experience commanding forces through mobile warfare and rapid assaults.

Farsight now pilots the custom XV-86 Supernova Battlesuit created for him by O’Vesa. Its advanced command systems are supported by an onboard intelligence known as Supernova and its armament includes a plasma rifle. His signature weapon is the Dawn Blade which can cut through heavily armored targets with extraordinary ease. Unknown to Farsight the weapon is constructed from chronophagic material that transfers the unspent lifespan of those it kills to its wielder. This has allowed him to survive for centuries beyond the normal lifespan of a T’au.