The World
The World is the commonly-used name for the giant elliptical galaxy that encompasses the bulk of the Known Worlds. It is approximately four hundred million light years across, with the region of known space occupying about one quarter along the edge. The galaxy is itself orbited by numerous smaller galaxies with a few nearby that have been reached through the use of inter-galactic FTL. The Kamian Succession Wars, as well as the bulk of the inter-planetary portions of the Mage Wars, took place here.
The World is chiefly taken up by Joint Space, with a significant portion also controlled by various Alliance member worlds, and even more belonging directly to the Gudersnipe Foundation, which holds more territory in other dimensions. Only about a quarter of the total area has been fully explored, though deep-space missions have gone far into other regions.
The Foundation is thought to have colonized the far edge by sending ships into the inter-galactic void where the distance could be covered in only a few years. This is thought to have happened sometime during the Succession Wars, as a last-ditch defense in case the war was lost.
