Saulapran

Description

When visiting Saulapran, tourists agencies will offer the traveler a choice: “Stay in the helicities for the extravagance, or go down to the flats for the smell”. Sitting in the Mid Rim, along the Corellian Trade Spine by Kaal, Saulapran offers a fine dichotomy of society. On the planet surface, most of the population is gathered along the coasts, with a few people venturing inland to farm and hunt. But along with these groundside towns, there are floating cities that sit on repulsorlift platforms and drift gracefully along set flight paths that keep them out of the weather and in temperate zones. While the coastal towns were planned in areas of gentle climate, the fishermen of Saulapran brave the deep waters and occasional hurricane for their prized game: the sheer variety of fish.

Saulapran did not develop a sentient native species before it was found and colonized, but its oceans offer a great and diverse number of fish that are edible for multiple species. This, and multiple artificial fish farms, makes the planet a prime source for fish in dishes found throughout the galaxy. The planet even supports fish from other worlds, if introduced via a fish farm and carefully watched over.

History

Saulapran was discovered when the Old Republic was going through its scouting expeditions along the Trade Spine, but it wasn’t until it was colonized that the world began to make its mark upon the galaxy. Like its neighbor Kaal, it supported a rich biodiversity when it came to the water, but Saulapran was first settled by a set of families who named themselves ‘noble’ and worked hard to keep themselves separate from the rest of the society developing on the planet. When repulsorlift technology became widespread, the families proposed a strange idea: take the cities to the skies and keep everyone else groundside. For a wonder, this idea worked. As a result, thirty helicities float over the surface of the planet and carry the wealthiest of the population, while the rest of the planet struggles with overcrowded coastal towns and the constant smell of fish markets.

People

While most of the population is Human, Saulapran has never shied away from accepting immigrants from any world, provided they stay groundside. Non-humans congregate on the planet surface, while the original ‘noble’ families stay in their helicities. Groundside, the people are hardworking, pragmatic, and practical. They welcome anyone willing to use their services or resources, even smugglers when the Governor isn’t looking. In the helicities, the seedier parts of society stay out of the public view, for all that the nobles still use them to get around the law.

Locations

Saulapran is divided into two kinds of areas: “groundside”, where the fish farms and lower social groups congregate in smalls towns, and “skyside”, concentrating the upper-class and nobles on the helicities that float on repulsorlifts. A few interesting locations are detailed below

Cove Town

When travelers arrive at Saulapran, and if the nobles don’t want them wandering around their floating cities, they usually end up in Cove Town. Built in the valley of two mountain ranges that meet along the coast of the largest northern continent, Cove Town was never given the ‘joys of modernization’, resulting in a city that resembles Mos Eisley on Tatooine, only mud instead of sand.

            The docks of Cove Town are constantly busy with fishing ships, both modern and old-tech based, coming into or leaving port. The markets of the town are scattered throughout as merchants attempt to hawk their wares to the milling foot traffic amid the scattered rains. Just beyond the docks are the scattered landing bays for spaceworthy ships, which can be large enough to park a Corellian Corvette and leave it there for a standard year, though many caution that if one does not leave the spaceports soon, their ship could become part of the town itself as people try to buy the ‘planted’ ship and turn it into another market area.
Last Chance Cantina: A block away from the primary landing platforms, just around the corner of Cove Town’s Main Street, sits the Last Chance Cantina. Whether the business name was meant to be a joke for new arrivals or departures, the locals were never certain. But it’s earned a reputation as a decent drinking establishment, and the Weequay owner, Yartim, is praised for his locally-grown shrimp recipes.

The Blue
South of Cove Town, there is a pleasant lagoon that the skyside nobles have reserved for outings at the beach, with manufactured scenery and settings designed to be aesthetically pleasing to most species, but mainly humans. Set against the tourist town of Archiplan, this lagoon caters to those nobles and any travelers willing to be tourists on the world, while ignoring the lower-class areas hidden behind the glossy paint and presentable shops.

A consequence to the manufactured beaches was that the ocean floor just beyond the lagoons’ inlet was shallowed with moved sand and silt for several kilometers, forming a clear but barren stretch that the locals have taken to calling “The Blue”. While it has had the effect of making an attractive area for boaters to enjoy the day out on the water, it had an economic effect on the fishermen of Archiplan, as well as changing the local wildlife.

The raised sea floor attracted several species of imported Mon Calamari fish who stripped the area of what little plant life survived the upheaval, which prompted the fishing companies to look to Mon Calamari for a solution: an imported predator that would reduce the invasive prey. Unfortunately, the Mon Calamari predator brought to Saulapran, a Krakana, claimed the Blue as its territory and cleared the entire area of possible food. With no competition in the area, the Blur Krakana grew to an astonishing size and earned a reputation for harassing smaller ships that venture into its area. There have been debates on what to do about the Blue Krakana, but efforts so far have proven fruitless.

Helicity #22 “Rainbow Chaser”
Floating at just below the cloud layer one four oversized repulsorlift units, this platform stretches out over three quarters of a kilometer and provides housing for over two-thousand beings. From six landing platforms flits dozens of shuttles to and from the helicity, bringing tradesmen, goods, and whatever supplies the nobles desire. The few buildings on the platform are no higher than five stories, while the underside of the platform is riddled with tunnels and basements used by the workers needed to keep the helicity afloat. Rainbow Chaser is one of the helicities that boasts an upgraded repulsorlifts system, capable of minute adjustments to altitude and speed; it’s known for following after storms as they progress across the world, keeping the helicity perpetually in view of the prismatic effect of sunlight seen through the haze of rain.