Heartwood was the wood of a heartwood tree, which was native to the Colonies planet Tholoth. Tholothian Jedi typically crafted their lightsaber hilts from the timber of still living heartwood trees. The wood was then preserved in a specialized ritual involving the adding of resins—which would make the wood heavier—that was mainly used when a heartwood tree was dying. The process meant that the wood would not decay and could house the apparatus of the lightsaber. With the wood's increased weight, the user had to be more careful with the lightsaber.[1]
In the final days of the Clone Wars,[1] which ended in 19 BBY,[2] the Tholothians incorporated heartwood into the new Heartwood blaster as a solution to their problems with having to import necessary war materials. The wooden chassis was a call back to the Tholoth seedpod practice and the Tholothian community, reminding them of their home. After the Galactic Empire blockaded Tholoth and co-opted its weapons factories, traditional Tholothian weaponsmiths, the last feasible producers for the world, begun looking back at their peoples' heritage and made the Timber Cuirass, armor made from living heartwood. The armor was shaped and refined while still growing as part of the heartwood tree was still growing, the final product being stronger than durasteel while being a fraction of the weight.[1]
Behind the scenes
Heartwood was mentioned in the 2018 Fantasy Flight Games roleplaying sourcebook Unlimited Power.[1]
Sources
- Unlimited Power (First mentioned)