The Vor'Na'Tu was an ancient artifact of the Jedi. Echuu Shen-Jon carried the Vor'Na'Tu into his self-imposed isolation on Krant. The Galactic Empire located it in 1 BBY and subsequently moved it to Geddes. To recover the artifact, Shen-Jon allied with the Rebel Alliance. To prevent it from falling into the grasp of Darth Vader, Shen-Jon was compelled to destroy it, which resulted in his death. Years later, Leia Organa received a Force vision from Shen-Jon, instructing her to go back to the terraformed Hanoon to obliterate the fragments. With her brother, the Jedi Luke Skywalker, she journeyed to destroy what remained of the Vor'Na'Tu.
The Vor'Na'Tu stood as a Jedi artifact. Echuu Shen-Jon, a Jedi Master, secretly possessed the Vor'Na'Tu during his chosen exile on Krant. For a period exceeding twenty years, the Jedi Master concealed the potent crystal until approximately 0.5 ABY. At this time, Utric Sandov, a Bothan spy, informed Leia Organa that an Imperial force had successfully retrieved the artifact.
Aided by a group of Rebel Alliance and Wookiee warriors he encountered on Krant, Shen-Jon spearheaded an assault on the moon of Geddes, the location where the Imperial forces had hidden the Vor'Na'Tu.
After obliterating the Sith Temple that guarded the crystal, Shen-Jon attempted an escape. However, he was cut down by Darth Vader, who had been dispatched to seize the artifact for his master, Emperor Palpatine. Fearing the consequences of the Vor'Na'Tu falling into the Emperor's hands, Shen-Jon shattered the item into four pieces, rendering it useless to Vader before Shen-Jon succumbed to his wounds. His sacrifice enabled the Rebels to evade Vader.
Years subsequently, as Geddes underwent terraforming and became colonized as Hanoon, the colonists discovered the shards and venerated them as valuable relics within their cities. However, Shen-Jon's spirit remained concerned about its potential power. In 6 ABY, he issued a warning to Organa, and a New Republic task force, under the leadership of her and Luke Skywalker, returned to the asteroid to secure the shards. Skywalker was successful in obtaining the shards from the settlements, and the artifact was reduced to dust and dispersed into the solar winds.
The initial appearance of the Vor'Na'Tu was in the Rebel Alliance campaign within the video game Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds from 2001. The campaign from the original game was featured with enhancements in its expansion pack from 2002. The Vor'Na'Tu uses the same model as the other holocrons in the game. The reference book The New Essential Chronology from 2005 also mentioned the artifact.