Rantok

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"It's a difficult weapon to use (the shape and weight make it unwieldy for those of my stature) but, with practice, it is a formidable and beautiful piece of weaponry."
Credman[1]

The rantok was a traditional one- or two-handed blade used by the Ka'hren people.[2]

It was a meter-and-a-half sword where the thick straight blade covered four fifths of the length, and the wooden hilt is the rest. An up-thrust crossguard was placed to each side of the hilt. On the flat side of the blade, there was a small quillion used to catch enemy blades.[2]

The Unfyr warriors used rantoks as both military and ceremonial people. Other Ka'hrens also preferred rantoks to ranged weapons. However, the introduction of blasters led to obsolescence of rantoks (except among the Unfyrs, who were devoted to their rantoks).[2]

The rantoks were resurrected during the Rebellion era when history scholar Kaltor Naklian rediscovered the Unfyr traditions and culture. Particularly Naklian found a well-preserved rantok next to the writings of prophets of Unfyr god Ni'Shaw, which he considered a sign to create the Ni'Shaw-Dak religion. Ni'Shaw-Dak followers often learned to wield rantoks.[2]

Behind the scenes

Rantoks appeared in the video game Star Wars Galaxies, a massively multiplayer online-role playing game developed by Sony and published by LucasArts, prior to its closure on December 15, 2011.

Appearances

Sources

Notes and references