The latest Star Wars novel finally explains why Lor San Tekka had maps of the galaxy in Star Wars: The Force Awakens. The sequel trilogy kicked off on the junkyard planet of Jakku, with Poe Dameron sent there to meet with a man named Lor San Tekka. He was seeking a fragment of a map that could help him chart the Unknown Regions and locate long-missing Jedi Master Luke Skywalker, considered to be the galaxy's only hope against the First Order.
Lor San Tekka was originally something of an enigma, but tie-ins have shone some considerable light upon him. Although he's not Force-sensitive, San Tekka became sympathetic towards the Jedi Order during the Clone Wars, and joined an underground sect known as the Church of the Force that flourished during the age of the Empire. San Tekka became a key ally of Luke Skywalker after the events of Return of the Jedi, helping the Jedi Master track down long-lost Jedi Temples on the Outer Rim that dated back to the High Republic Era. But where did San Tekka's knowledge actually come from? And just why did he have a map to Ahch-To, site of the first Jedi Temple?
An answer is finally provided in Charles Soule's novel Light of the Jedi, which is set during the High Republic Era - some 200 years before Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace. This reveals the San Tekka clan began as hyperspace prospectors, "rough-edged people finding routes through the wild spaces of the galaxy, like planetary explorers searching for passes through deadly mountain ranges." The San Tekkas discovered many of the fastest, shortest hyperspace routes to traverse the galaxy, and they sold them to traders, governments, and entrepreneurs, in some cases even setting up the hyperspace equivalent of toll lanes. They kept many of their most prized routes to themselves, ensuring they could remain competitive as traders as well.
But the San Tekkas had a deeper secret than any mere hyperspace lane. Mari San Tekka had been a hyperspace trader since she was just six years old, and the experience of flying through the interstellar wilderness with her family had somehow transformed her. "Changed her mind. Opened her up so she could see things no one else could - the Paths." Mari San Tekka appears to have been a Force-sensitive, and her mind seems to have been able to chart hyperspace in a way no other Force-sensitive has demonstrated. The skill may be related to that of Skywalking, a technique shown in Timothy Zahn's Thrawn novels, by which someone attuned to the Force guides a spaceship through hyperspace. Mari's ability is the real source of the San Tekka clan's prosperity, and assuming this is indeed a gift of the Force, it is easy to understand why Force vergences such as Ahch-To would appear in her maps.
This, then, is the reason Lor San Tekka was able to be of such use to Luke Skywalker in his quest to discover the lost history of the Jedi Order. It is because he had inherited these ancient Paths from his family, and they presumably included a number of worlds rich in the Force. This is also the origin of the map he passed on to Poe Dameron in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, helping the Resistance locate Ahch-To and Luke Skywalker at last.
