Acthorn trees were a type of tree that grew in the forests of the Outer Rim planet Valo. In 231 BBY, Jedi Padawan Ram Jomaram noticed some of the trees while traveling through the world's Farodin Woods. After Nihil marauders occupied Valo the following year, the commander Vark Tarpalin kept a desk made of acthorn wood in his office. In 229 BBY, the aspiring pirate Zyle Keem climbed an acthorn tree after crashing their shuttle on the planet.

Description[]

Acthorn trees were a type of large, tall tree found on the Outer Rim planet Valo. The trees featured crusty, swirled bark that carried a spicy scent. Acthorn trees often grew with several branches wound up its trunk that formed leafy canopies in areas where several of the trees were present. Its wood could be used to make furniture, and the patterns of its leaves could be used as clothing patterns.^[1]

History[]

During the High Republic Era, acthorn trees grew on Valo—including in the world's Farodin Woods forest.^[2] In 231 BBY,^[3] Jedi Padawan Ram Jomaram and a pair of Bonbrak garage workers rode the droid V-18—who had been upgraded with speeder parts to be able to fly—through Valo's Farodin Woods, noticing the world's acthorn trees as they traveled.^[2]

When Nihil marauders occupied Valo^[1] in 230 BBY,^[4] the Nihil commander Vark Tarpalin kept a desk of the tree's wood in his office in Lonisa City's city hall. By around that time, Valons living on the world used the patterns of acthorn trees' leaves on clothing. After crashing their shuttle on Valo^[1] in 229 BBY,^[4] the aspiring pirate Zyle Keem scaled an acthorn tree to gain a better vantage point of their surroundings. They felt climbing the tree was easier than ascending a comms tower in Coronet City^[1] on the Core Worlds planet Corellia,^[5] using its many branches and crusty bark as a staircase to go upward. At the top of the forest's canopy, Keem surveyed Lonisa City to search for where the Innovator research vessel had sunk—hoping to raid it for its bacta medicine—but could not discern which lake it had gone down in. Disappointed, they carefully descended the tree and traveled to Lonisa City, reflecting that the crisp air smelled faintly of acthorn bark.^[1]

Later, as part of the Scarlet Skulls crew, Keem and the Jedi youngling Gavi infiltrated Tarpalin's office and noticed a collection of knives stabbed deep into its acthorn desk. Not long afterward, the crew visited the Parse home and noticed Missus Parse wore a blue dress bearing a faint pattern of acthorn leaves. After the crew successfully expelled the Nihil from Valo, Gavi bid his friends goodbye as their group stood on the shore of Lake Lonisa, the breeze smelling of salt and acthorn leaves.^[1]

Behind the scenes[]

Acthorn trees first appeared in Race to Crashpoint Tower, a junior novel written by Daniel José Older as part of the Star Wars: The High Republic multimedia project's^[2] Phase I that was published on June 29, 2021.^[6] Prior to its release, the trees' appearance was included in a preview for the work printed in the junior novel A Test of Courage,^[7] published on January 5 of the same year.^[6]

Appearances[]

• The High Republic: Race to Crashpoint Tower (First appearance, simultaneous with audiobook)
• The High Republic: Race to Crashpoint Tower audiobook
• The High Republic: Escape from Valo
• The High Republic: Escape from Valo audiobook

Notes and references[]