Kalur

Kalur, also spelled in some Earth Republic documents as "Kalure," is the Skelow homeworld and a center of STF political activity. It is a largely settled world similar to Earth, with advanced cities and surrounded by space architecture, and is considered to be a hub of fashion, culture, and technology in the Skelow Trade Federation. Its largest city Belvar is the seat of the Federation Senate and therefore functions as the capitol city of the STF, though Belvar is not the capitol city of Kalur. Its capitol city is Kavarahet, an ancient settlement and cultural touchstone for the Skelow people.

While much of its sentient population has been provided with advanced urban architecture and technology, a great deal of Kalur's ground and oceanic area has been either utilized for highly technologized agriculture or restored to a wild state, given over to some recreational use or conserved for Kalur's larger biodiversity. While the entire planet is viewed as a treasure of Skelow cultural heritage and a venue of great natural beauty, making it a sort of pilgrimage site for many Skelow, it--and especially its largest cities--has a reputation among spacefaring Skelow as soft, decadent, and in some cases obsessive and degenerate. Kalur is a place where nearly anything one desires is acquirable, particularly if one has enough Belgrim.

Kalur is the fourth planet in the Sekam system, around the star Sekam in the Skelow Sector. The name "Kalur" is much like the planetary name "Earth," an ancient name for the planet and for the ground itself from a cluster of dominant old Skelow planetary cultures, and has no particular meaning in STF Standard Skelow. The Standard word "kalurmos" is equivalent to the English word "cosmopolitan" or "fashionable," signifying Kalur's status as a taste-maker in the STF.

## Notable Cities

Belvar: Capital of the Skelow Trade Federation and jewel of Skelow Space, as well as the seat of the Federation Senate.

Kavarahet: An ancient city and traditional capital of Kalur.

Sohlanahet: The Las Vegas of Kalur, nearly a Pleasure Center unto itself, full of cutting-edge pleasures and dangerous technologies.

Nisimvanya: Not otherwise a famous town, this village has become a pilgrimage site, as it holds the film studio where the Valkyrie and Reginleif TV shows are filmed. A number of attractions have popped up as a result, including food trucks selling "Ehrt" cuisine such as curry and chocolate ice cream, merchandise shops selling little replicas of items from the TV shows and actor-associated relics, and guided tours of the town and studio.

## Clandestine Guilds

Kalurian society is dominated by guilds like most of the Skelow Trade Federation; in addition, much of Kalurian society is also affected by semi-secret political organizations called Clandestine Guilds. It is a convention that one may belong to both a professional and clandestine guild, although the practice of joining such is often viewed as risky and likely to complicate ones life. The longest established, best known clandestine guilds are:

* The Firehearts, who are committed to a more militarized and better armed Skelow Trade Federation.
* The Displaced, who are committed to truth and honesty and believe that there are existential threats that society needs to know about but which are concealed by powerful interests.
* The Lightblade, who are committed to helping maintain public order by ensuring that dangerous rumors are suppressed and that baseless panics don't spread.
* The Starseekers, who are starship fanatics and extremely interested in modifying and racing starships (and less politically motivated than others).
* The Rockface, who are urban explorers and advocates for planetary infrastructure spending.