Heart of Dathomir

"I wish you well in the next life, infidel. The Heart of Dathomir is merciless to the unclean!"

―A Dark Veil Order pilot, to a spacer^[5]

The Heart of Dathomir, fully known as the Heart of Dathomir Nebula,^[4] was a dense red-pulsating nebula located near Dathomir,^[6] in the Dathomir's Vitality quadrant of the Dathomir system.^[4] The Heart of Dathomir was revered by the sisters of the Dark Veil Order,^[6] who believed that the nebula had a mind of its own. Quick-killing assassins of the Order encircled the Heart of Dathomir, hoping to "sacrifice" unaware travelers to the nebula's powerful rage. Members of the Order believed the Heart of Dathomir nebula consumed the essence of those victims, fueling life into the palpitating mass and protecting the Dark Veil Order from infidels. The molten rocks and the red energy spilled from this dark cloud were thought to be infused with the rage of the souls lost in the nebula. Pilots traveling in the Dathomir system therefore avoided the infamous Heart of Dathomir.^[4]

Behind the scenes

The Heart of Dathomir appeared in the 2003 video game Star Wars Galaxies, a massively multiplayer online roleplaying game developed by Sony Online Entertainment and published by LucasArts,^[5] prior to its closure on December 15, 2011.^[7] The Heart of Dathomir was added to the game with the release of the expansion pack Jump to Lightspeed on October 27, 2004.^[5] The 2008 reference book The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia incorrectly stated that Dathomir's Vitality was a knot of rage located at the center of the Heart of Dathomir nebula.^[6] In the game, Dathomir's Vitality was just the name of the space quadrant containing the nebula.^[5]