"Cortosis Confusion"  

Blog No.67
 

I was a participant in a most odd conversation last week. I don't pretend to always have brilliant chats with people, but usually, we're at least on the same page, or trying to get there.

 

But I was visiting the orphanage I sponsor on my home planet of Tanaab. I don't get there very often, but I try to make regular visits there to see for myself how they are getting on and what needs to be fixed, changed, altered, etc.

 

The orphanage is located on my old home, a farm. It's not the most lush area of the planet, in fact, it gets quite dusty in certain seasons and so there is a real skill to coaxing live plants to emerge from the earth there. But the orphans are all trained in it and so the farm provides for itself.

 

I was walking through the market in the small village nearby. It was both nostalgic and disorienting. I had now seen so many different kinds of markets and wares, that my home market seemed much - smaller, than I remembered. But I still enjoyed it.

 

One woman was selling Meiloor fruit. Imported, of course, and smaller than I'm used to on Alderaan III, but I bought one because . .well, I suppose I was missing the Emperor in a strange way.

It's his favorite fruit.

 

I asked the woman how she was faring and she said the oddest thing. She said that her family was well, but she had a hard time working because she suffered from Cortosis.

I thought I mis-heard her and asked her to repeat herself. "COR-TO-SIS" she emphasized. I was puzzled.

I had heard of Cortosis, of course, but as far as I knew it had nothing to do with a physical ailment.

 

"Um - so you ingested metal?" I asked, knowing that Cortosis was a rare metal that inhibited the energies of lightsabers and blasters. Useful for armor.

She looked at me as though I was crazy!

"No, Cortosis of the back." was her response.

 

I mulled over this for a moment and finally asked 'You're certain you don't mean the Cortosis metal?"

She sighed and launched into a list of her pains and it certainly sounded dreadful, but I still think she was confused in her terms.
Either that or we must all be wary about a new back ailment. Cortosis.

 

Since I have not been accosted by a troop of medical droids, all trying to vaccinate me or perform some other unpleasant procedure 'for the good of my health' then I expect we have nothing to worry about. But I do wonder.

If Cortosis wasn't what she meant, than what on the planets WAS she speaking about? If anyone has any ideas, please let me know so that I can stop wondering about this. I'd like to send her some assistance ,but I'm not even sure what to send, at this point.

 

If you come across any actual Cortosis, please don't attempt to ingest it! You might consider making something useful out of it or selling it, as it would come at a high price.