Kalubio

Kalubio is a democratic semi-socialist region on the northeast continent. It is where the majority of the events in Ramfut take place. The majority of its citizens are

## Government

### Municipalities

Calubiu (Capital), Dinotopia, Equalwi (City-state). Herbiv, Pokitam, Simtin, Unifijž, Wourvilla

either Kalu-bloods (both native and Gacawys) or Goldblut. The main series of Ramfut centers around Kalubio. Reinder Stuhy, Joseph Rodenski, Connor and Katherine Felidow, Ballaiy Luvvar, Facorin Meiawkif, Michael Prower, Adam Lindbroh, and Tay Makawecas are all Kalubians.

## Structure

With the exception of the Equalwi Royal State, Kalubio is a single governing federation of several city-states, also known as districts. These districts are major cities, with suburbs and villages in their vicinity. Smaller villages exist outside of districts, but still fall under the jurisdiction of one.

There are seven districts in Kalubio; Herbiv, Wouwvíw'wa, Simtin, Pokitam, Unifijž, Dinotopia, and the capital Calubiu. Following the decimation of Unifijž in the wake of the Kalubian Civil War, a nearby Nea-Unifijž (New Unifijzh) was established in 2000 GHC (Gregorian Human Calendar). There is also the aforementioned Equalwi Royal State, which operates independently from the other districts as a city-state but still ultimately under the same federal government. For some, the Civil War was an attempt at secession from federal Kalubio. Although it did serve as a factor in recruitment for the BBA and ERAF, historians do not generally consider secession as one of the major political causes for the war.

## Environment

Kalubio is located on the Northeastern continent. To its far north are colder forests and icy tundra, but it becomes more temperate and comfortable further south. It is similar to Atlantic Canada or the New England region of the United States.

## History

### Ancient History

Kalubio’s original inhabitants were scattered city-states and tribes by indigenous Kalu-bloods. It is believed they crossed over through the present-day Schremoqueil Unional before natural factors left them isolated from the western continents.

While some tribes did interact with others in modern-day Schremn, there was no direct interaction with the eastern Kalu and the “mainland” of the northwest. The East Kalu, or Yówo-kawu never traded with the empires of Belastrana, Famaselle or Gacawy before the expedition of Reinder Klaus I and Steibov Luvvar in the mid-16th century.

### Contact with Gacawys Explorers

The expedition of Steibov Luvvar and Klaus I was the first time that powers from the western mainland contacted a northeastern civilization. Though there had been trading with the Schrema tribes of Kajin and Kalu to the north, who in turn had dealings with some of the tribes in Unifižj and Dinotopia, none of them had dealt with the peoples directly. This was also the first time Goldblut colonists had been to the northeast of the planet. The Luvvar expedition stayed with the northwest tribes, eventually co-founding the Gacawys colonial state of Equalwi. Klaus, however, continued further south, settling closer to what is modern-day Pokitam, though his party’s influence spread even into Bathole.

Peaceful relations with the Yówo-Kawu were off and on. A region-wide territorial conflict erupted in the mid-17th century, pitting Gacawy Loyalists against much of the native Kalu population. The conflict ended in a stalemate, and negotiations were undertaken. The sub-region of Kalubio-Gacawy was officially founded on July 1st, 1688.

### Luvvar Regime (1710 - 1975)

In the early 18th century, a violent uprising by Goldblut extremists in Equalwi, headed by Geniva Luvvar, overthrew and slaughtered the provisional government and emancipated themselves from Gacawy control. A military intervention was attempted by Gacawy, but ultimately failed due to a combination of unpreparedness, poor weather conditions, and the sheer brutality faced by its soldiers at the hands of the Luvvar forces. Thus, the Independent Republic of Golden Kalubio (Unabhängigerepublik Goldene Kalubio in Germanic Ba'it) was established on the ashes of Kalubio-Gacawy in 1710, ushering in over two and a half centuries of Luvvar rule. The Equalwi State was annexed by Kalubio, however it was allowed to retain indirect Gacawys influence over its own matters within Kalubian politics as per the Gold North Treaty between Kalubio and Gacawy.

The original order maintained by Geniva Luvvar while brutal, was less established in racial tension and more on maintaining secure control on an unstable population. Districts that co-operated were often treated relatively well (albeit at the expense of more rebellious ones), enticing more to submit to Luvvar rule. Geniva’s ambition was to begin expansion into Bathole territory to reduce Gacawy influence on Kalubio. However, he died before he could fulfill this. His daughter Bridgett Luvvar became his successor, and instead focused her efforts on strengthening unity and output in Kalubio rather than going after Bathole directly.

It was under Bridgett that Kalubio began to emerge as an independent military superpower. Factories were quickly built to mass produce military supplies and munitions, and institutes citizen conscription. Combined with the warrior culture of the Kalu and the strict discipline and rigid command of the Kalubian Goldbluts, they quickly formed a sizable and impressive armed force. One of her plans to reduce Gacawy influence was to sell supplies and bodies for enforcement and defense to neighbouring regions, warming relations with them and providing a superior alternative to the distant Gacawy. While risky, since a region could potentially weaken Kalubio this way and subsequently invade, this did not come to pass (though allegedly, Gacawy did try to exploit this option). Her overseeing of the operation made the Luvvar monarchy one of the wealthiest families of the continent, which helped kickstart a slow but growing economy. In many ways, while Geniva is the one credited for separating Kalubio from Gacawy, Bridgett Luvvar is considered the one to have properly founded the nation.

Bridgett would mother twins Moris and Aghétha Luvvar later than normal, after her 50th year, in 1763. Bridgett would die in 1785, leaving the throne open to her next of kin. Eventually, it was decided that her son Moris Luvvar would become the official head of the Kalubian monarchy, with his twin sister Aghétha to serve as his main advisor.

Moris was already expecting a son when he became the Führer of Kalubio. Aghétha, to her part, had already birthed a daughter, Gavelin. Due to his appointment as Führer, Roderik was next in line to the throne. Envious of this position, stating her daughter had been cheated, and finding Moris to be an undesirable leader to begin with, Aghétha and Gavelin began conspiring in the late 1700s, unbeknownst to Moris.

In 1801, Gavelin enacted her plan, resulting in Roderik Luvvar being killed. An agent of Moris Luvvar betrayed the Luvvar matriarchs following the event, resulting in the subsequent coup being halted. Following the detainment of Aghétha and Gavelin, Moris ordered his niece’s execution. In 1802, Gavelin Luvvar was shot by firing squad along with several co-conspirators. Aghétha was forced to witness her daughter's execution. Afterwards, she was branded and permanently banished from Kalubio.

The assassination of Roderik Luvvar caused a significant turmoil in Kalubio known as “Kadívwus” (roughly translated as “divide of the peoples”) where a power scramble ensued. A seize of power was attempted by a northern Kalu tribe, led by the controversial figure Üw’wyed’d, which failed and resulted in their brutal extermination (a genocide not recognized until 2009, almost two centuries later). This was the beginning of racial unrest in Kalubio. Once a semblance of stability was achieved, Moris focused on readying his next of kin, Calus Luvvar, for his rule, fearing Aghétha’s return.

Meanwhile, Aghétha Luvvar had settled in Parusiya, a neighbouring region to Gacawy. Parusiya was an authoritarian Goldblut-dominant exporter of nuclear-compatible materials, with a power aristocracy with whom Aghétha had several contacts. In exchange for kickbacks and under-the-table trade agreements, she began plotting her return to Kalubio. She also solicited a partner to conceive a child with; her son Pox Luvvar.

With Moris’ health deteriorating, Calus took up the mantle of Führer in 1843. Shortly after his appointment, in 1844, Aghétha followed through on her promise and smuggled a private army into Kalubio to assault the imperial fortress. Calus narrowly escaped, but Moris was captured. Before the spring of 1844, Pox Luvvar was Führer, with Aghétha as his viceroy. Moris was publicly humiliated and maimed, ultimately being executed by evisceration. Less than a year later, Aghétha died as well, though not before ensuring her son was equipped to handle the debts owed to the Parusiyan backers.

Pox, having been raised in an ethnically pure region, had little but contempt for the Kalu. Finding their culture brutal and uneducated, savage and weak for failing to do what his mother had achieved with the deposing of Moris Luvvar, he began attempting to phase out their way of life. The attemped uprising of Üw’wyed’d in the north also smeared his view of the race. He also enacted a “Direct Lineage Decree,” prohibiting monarchs from having “litter” births (twins, triplets, etc.) with any newborns after the first to be killed. While doing this, he also softened his secessionist radicalism in Equalwi, allowing more trade and immigration from Gacawy and Parusiya. While Kalu were further suppressed, citizens in Equalwi (predominantly Goldbluts, either Kalubio-native or immigrants) were given more leeway.

Pox ruled for about two and a half decades before his death in 1869. While he managed to impose rigid order in his territory, he was also reviled by his Kalu subjects. The phrase "poxy-boxy" as a Kalu pejorative for unliked politicians (especially Goldblut ones) was coined at his expense, and remains frequently used in present-day Kalubio. Pox sought to increase resource production, in order to make Kalubian military output more independent from imports. As such, he set up systems of labour camps around the region, where dissinters and political rivals would be sent. Much of the work done was mining or lumbering, or other tasks that generally required low technical skill but high physical ability. These camps were especially prominent in the Kalu-dominant north, and notably sparse in the area of present-day Equalwi (where he was trying to improve relations with Gacawy and other powers by treating well). Conditions were unfavourable, with limited food rations and long working hours. Guards were notoriously corruptable, being able to be bribed out of punishing workers or even instilling punishments onto others for the right price. While outlawed, camp gangs were formed for protection and unity and often allowed to continue by guards provided that bribes were maintained and members kept a low profile regarding their affiliation.

Pox's heir, daughter Maxille, doubled down on her father's regime, trying to purge Kalu culture from the region in the 1870s and 1880s. Kohl was not only phased out of the education system, but all realms of public life. It became seen as an “archaic” language, and families could even face repercussions for using it to raise their children. Unifijž was renamed "Unfisch," to great uproar from the population (this renaming would be undone following the Kalubian Revolution in 1975). The use of Kohl was banned in labour camps (though this was rarely enforced in practice). Tensions began to boil over, with violent suppression, especially in the Kalu-dominant north and west (roughly, from Unifižj to Herbiv). Maxille was also the Kalubian Führer to open economic trade with the Kajin Federation, including powers such as Kikikoa.

Maxille’s son Johann becomes Führer in 1916, attempted to ease tensions while maintaining superiority. He reinstantiated Kohl into the education system (but not at a federal level), and reduced the amount of camps operating in the region. Much of his efforts were complicated when Kalubio provided personnel at the behest of RUAC to interfere with the Jalfxian Liberty War. Kalubio was in the midst of an economic recession, and while the war effort would alleviate some of the financial setback, many families were furious to have their kin conscripted and deployed to Jalfxia.

The end of the Liberty War was one of the last things Johann Luvvar lived to see. He appointed Officer Darrel “Dämmerrung” Müller as the Kalubian ambassador to Jalfxia in 1951, just before his death at the age of 91. Kamaru Luvvar subsequently took over, and while he was unfavourable of Müller, kept him in his position to keep on good terms with the victorious Jalfxian Kalu-bloods and his local population. Over time, Darrel proved to be so effective that Kamaru selected him as the Kalubian ambassador to the Gamian territorial negotiations, before the skirmish that caused the Gamian War broke out. Upon Darrel Rodenski’s death, Kamaru appointed a Goldblut in his place.

Kamaru’s reckless and corrupt leadership caused another financial depression. Families had already been split up to deal with stabilization efforts in Jalfxia, causing emigration and local unrest. The breaking point of the unpleasant rule was the notorious Defensive Qualification Act (DQA) imposed in 1971 to deal with the Gamian invasion. While the DQA conscripted children across the entire region to fight in the Gamian War, Kalu-blood children were the ones used most in combat. While part of this was due to Kalu resistance to Gamian vaporizer fire, it was also seen as racial subjugation to the Kalu. Following the Colanexian victory, the Luvvar monarchy was exiled in the Kalubian Revolution of 1975, bringing and end to the Luvvar rule. Most of Kamaru’s former cabinet was lynched or similarly exiled, and much of the policy imposed by him in his 24-year tenure was repealed.

With the exception of Ballaiy Luvvar in 1986, none of the other Luvvar lines attempted to return to Kalubio. The whereabouts of Calus Luvvar and his lineage are unknown, believed to have intermarried into other families or may have even returned to Vfeldnseim.

### Inter-Stability (1975-1998)

Kalubio was rife with political violence in the immediate aftermath of its revolution. It took roughly three years before a provisional council could be established and began to exert some sort of control over the region.

The Luvvar family nearly returned to power in the 1988 Kalubian election, after Ballaiy Luvvar returned from his exile in Skabb (circa 1986). He vowed to not repeat the mistakes of his ancestors, and was appearing much more favourably than both his father and the acting Kalubian provisional council. However, Ballaiy’s efforts were vanquished by the victory of the Reformist Alliance. Furious, Ballaiy attempted to destabilize the Alliance and seize control in a coup, that devolved into a ten-year civil war.

Ballaiy Luvvar was finally killed in 1998 during Operation Jericho, a bloody assault led by the Reformists alongside ERAF in retaliation for a devastating nuclear attack that left millions dead or displaced.

### Modern History and Condition

Following the election of Föcan Reinder Stuhy and the Kalubian Civil War, Kalubio began to undergo drastic economic and political reform. Finances were shifted away from relying on external regions to a more internalized economy, focused on innovating in place of supplying. Funding to educational institutions was greatly increased, affecting the job market but providing opportunities for higher education. Talks of negotiation and power balance were re-established with the Equalwi Throne, and more programs were made universalized, temporarily afflicting the quality of said services but making them more accessible to citizens. Military policies were reformed, in an attempt to move away from universal conscription and to reduce military presence in other regions (one of Kalubio’s primary exports).

## People and Culture

*See also: East Kalu Culture*

Kalubio was originally inhabited by ethnic Kalu, until Kalu-bloods and Goldblut from the Gacawy Empire made contact. While initial relations were uneasy, the groups eventually settled the violence and began a peaceful relationship spanning over two hundred years. The identities of the Gacawys Kalu and the Native Kalu became effectively intertwined, with the Goldblut from Gacawy similarly included. This was until Geniva Luvvar and his radicalized supports staged a coup to establish fascist control, doing their best to drive a wedge between the Kalu-bloods and Goldblut (while still oppressing both groups). A staunch racial divide emerged among the groups, only strengthened by the regime of Pox Luvvar after he seized power from his uncle Moris. He was such a reviled figure among Kalu circles that the epithet “Poxy-boxy” became used to describe something unpleasant or unlikable. Since the Kalubian Revolution and civil war, relations have begun to improve, though still remain tense in areas.

Much of social interaction in Kalubio is highly informal, brimming on (or sometimes being blatantly) vulgar. While off-putting to many visitors, this stems primarily from the Kalu’s culture of treating everyone as equals, and no superior or inferior, as well as a general lack of conventionally “taboo” subjects. That being said, there are matters that are generally discouraged from being discussed publicly, mostly trauma and emotional imbalance.

Their speech has many odd or profane expressions, but they are not generally rowdy or vocal about it. In fact, humility and kindness are other very abundant aspects of Kalubian life. Related to the region’s militaristic history, there is also a strong sense of comradery among many veterans, even those who have never fought alongside each other. This mutual military support was one of the driving factors to Reinder Klaus’ rise to popularity among the Kalubian public. He walked a line between the upper Gacawys aristocracy and the lower-class local Kalu, empathizing and connecting to both sides of the class divide, making it far less robust over the three decades of Reformist power.

### Languages

Kalubio has two official languages: Kohl (specifically, Yówokow, or Eastern Kohl) and Ba'ait. The State of Equalwi uses Ba'ait as its sole official language, but it recognizes and interacts with the Kalubian government using Kohl as needed. Arctikohl is a minor language to the north, as is Tryepko to the south.

### Ethnic Composition

Kalubio is mostly comprised of ethnic Kalu, Gacawys Kalu-bloods and Goldbluts. While technically distinct, various amounts of Gacawys Kalu and indigineous Kalu culture have become intertwined to form a unified cultural identity. Much of this was caused by the racial subjugation of Kalu by Pox Luvvar during his reign, with the Kalu being forced into taking up Equalwis life.