Editing Xenology (section)

=== Dissection 7 - Q'Orl ===
The [[Q'Orl]] is a species of [[Awesome|giant space ants]] with a relatively large empire in the ''(pointedly)'' galactic west. They have a caste system of workers and queens, and are an advanced race with technology and starships, but they have no psykers so the only way they can travel long distances is to capture and implant [[Navigator]]s and [[Psyker]]s drawn from other species.
*The dissection shows that they ALSO have a crystalline organ, the same as the Tau, built into their pheromone systems, which then leads the Magos to start ranting about proof of genetic tampering between the races, since the Tau and the Q'Orl could not be further apart galactically.
*One story indicates that in late M37, the [[Eldar]] stole a queen from the Q'Orl with the intention of creating an "uncorroded swarm".
**''It is therefore tempting to think that the [[Eldar]] had a hand in the evolution of the [[Tau]] Ethereals. The timeline matches roughly according to the 4E Codex, but the Eldar have never made any suggestion of crafting the Tau race nor have ever been hinted at directing galactic evolution in the past.''
** The dates and identification of the aliens involved as Eldar is somewhat dubious in-universe, since it involves quite a bit of speculation on the meanings of mythic descriptions. All it really says about the race involved is that they are looking superficially like humans to an alien insect, except taller and thinner. It is a common description of Eldar, but there are plenty of races in the Galaxy, not to mention holographic tech.
*** That the Eldar assisted the Tau in finding and reverse-engineering Imperial technology from "crashed" colony ships ("helping" as in "doing it for them because you can't reverse-engineer something more advanced than you), and later abandoning the Tau for their "crippling lack of creativity" suggest that the Eldar were involved with the Tau. It does not mean that the Eldar were the ones who created the Ethereals, however, and they might have simply seen a species that looked sane and had the means to unify minor aliens. Perhaps the Cabal isn't so dead after all.