Balosar/Legends

Balosar was a planet in the Core Worlds, and home to the Balosar species. It was a polluted, poverty-stricken world of grimy factories and downtrodden people, and a place where tourism was discouraged. Such an environment encouraged many of the native Balosars to become criminals.
==Description==
A highly industrialized world, the towers of Balosar rose so high that light could not penetrate deep enough to reach the surface. The suffocating amount of air pollution was so dense that the air was barely breathable, forcing the native Balosars to adapt to filter out poisonous substances from their bloodstream. Under the surface of the planet, the crust was pocked with cave systems which protected the balo mushrooms from the polluted surface.
==History==
Located in the Core Worlds, the industrialized planet Balosar was discovered by the Galactic Republic during the Great Manifest Period and joined the Corellian Hegemony during the Alsakan Conflicts, as the star systems declared not to get involved in the fighting. As the conflict passed, Balosar managed to avoid much of the affairs of the greater galaxy, as their home government became more and more corrupt.The Essential Guide to Warfare As the planet's industry grew larger, Balosar's regulations on pollution were whittled down to nothing as corporate interests gained greater control. As more and more interstellar corporations opened factories on the planet and employed the natives for low wages, the planet attracted the attention of many relief groups from across the Republic. Despite the interests of these groups, they had little luck gaining traction on the world due to the corruption of the government.
The economy on Balosar eventually came to a standstill, resulting in the government cuts to education. Many families who are offered scholarships quickly send their children offworld to help them become more successful then they could ever be on their homeworld. As education crumbled, the natives of Balosar quickly devolved into criminal activity. The government began to harvest the balo mushrooms which grew in underground caves protected from the air pollution on the surface. Using the Ixetal cilona extracted from the mushrooms, government factories produced death sticks en masse and export them throughout the galaxy. Becoming highly competitive with the narcotic ryll on the spice market, the Balosars earned the enduring dislike from their drug rivals, the Twi'leks of Ryloth.
In the wake of the Great Galactic War, Balosar was the site of a space battle towards the end of the Cold War. The Sith Empire, in their effort to destroy the Republic, constructed an illegal outpost over the planet as a staging ground for assaults on the Republic. Upon its discovery, it was the site of a massive battle.
During the conflict with the Eternal Empire, an abandoned smuggling vessel was rediscovered near Balosar filled with priceless cargo.
When the Clone Wars erupted between the Republic and the Confederacy of Independent Systems, Balosar remained in the Republic's control as the 20th Sector Army of the Grand Army of the Republic protected the world from invasion. When the Republic fell to the Galactic Empire, Balosar had no choice but to declare allegiance to Emperor Palpatine and managed to avoid involvement in the Galactic Civil War. When the Empire began to fracture with the rise of the New Republic, Balosar refused to align with either side, preferring to remain neutral as war ravaged other planets in the Core. Around that time, Balosar suffered a major setback as air pollution reached such a height that it managed to infiltrate the underground balo farms, poisoning the crops and the stored spores. As a result of this devastation, ryll was able to take over the drug market, gaining a monopoly in the narcotic industry. Joining with Twi'lek dealers to support their economy, the planet avoided the tide of war brought by the Yuuzhan Vong through pure virtue of the fact that the Yuuzhan Vong were drawn elsewhere to defend themselves from the Galactic Alliance before they could attack the planet.
As of 137 ABY, Balosar was located within the Core Worlds Security Zone of the Empire of Darth Krayt.
==Appearances==
*Star Wars: The Old Republic 
*Star Wars: The Old Republic: Knights of the Eternal Throne 
==Sources==
*Star Wars Gamer 10
*Ultimate Alien Anthology
*Star Wars Insider 70
*The New Essential Guide to Alien Species
*The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia
*The Essential Atlas
*
*Star Wars: Edge of the Empire Core Rulebook
*
*Star Wars: Age of Rebellion Core Rulebook
==Notes and references==
Category:Core Worlds planets
Category:Galactic Empire planets
Category:Galactic Republic planets
Category:Terrestrial planets