Ystervark

The ystervark was a giant creature with defensive plating and toxic spines. It was viewed as a worthy foe and a revered delicacy by the sentient Thisspiasians of the planet Thisspias. By the time of the Galactic Civil War, the creatures were extinct and considered ancient, but their brutality left a lasting impact on Thisspias and for centuries engineers sought to replicate their plating and quills. Xenoarchaeologists even theorized that the planet's Blood Monarchy grew from ritual ystervark hunts.

Ancient Thisspiasian warrior-sages created weapons in the beasts' image and for 250 years poisoned ystervark spears were the Thisspiasian Royal Guard's most iconic weapon. As the public influence of the Blood Monarch fell among the population, so to did that of the ystervark, although they were still well respected. The call for ystervark weapons diminished, and before the rise of the Galactic Empire, the only one to retain its mass appeal was the quillbomb, an explosive using synthetic venom based on the ystervark's toxic quills which was capable of impairing motor function with a single quill and causing excruciating pain with any further. During the Galactic Civil War, Thisspiasian royalists loyal to the monarchy wore ystervark quills both as a sign of their loyalty and as makeshift weapons, with the use of the quillbombs also becoming a symbol of resistance against the Empire.

Text and facts from the “Ystervark” article on Wookieepedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0. Modified for this site.