Milky Way
The Known Galaxy
T'la'sopa, or as the Humans call it, the Milky Way. Our galaxy and our home. As a collective group, we - Dovolish, Human, Hydari, and Drakari alike - Have only discovered a small portion of this cluster of stars and planets. What mysteries lie beyond our borders? In the other quadrants? In the very core of T'la'sopa itself? Or even, beyond the outer edges of the galaxy into the nothingness between? These are questions many ask when the subject of our galaxy comes, but the answers are beyond the purpose of my work. Here, we focus on T'la'sopa - The Milky Way, and on the Humans that have had such a profound effect on our galaxy and our lives.
One of countless galaxies within the universe, the Milky Way encompasses the entirety of known space for all currently known sentient species. The Dovolish, Humans, Drakari, and Hydari all make their homes within systems in the Milky Way. To date, the galactic powers described within these pages have only uncovered a portion of the galaxy, and nobody has dared try venturing beyond the outer rim into the expansive void between galaxies.
Geography
The Milky Way is a spiral galaxy with two main arms extending from either end of and wrapping around the core in a spiral-like pattern. Smaller 'branch arms' containing clusters or strips of star systems break off from the main arms in various locations throughout the galaxy. Galactic maps are portrayed in most cultures in a 2D plane, typically as a flat 'disk' where star systems and points of interest are charted with a 3 coordinate system - The first two pinpointing the location on the 2D plane, and the third coordinate designating an 'elevation' above or below the 'galactic median'. From here, cultures vary widely in their segmentations of the galaxy.
The standard accepted by the Democratic Republic of Terra is a 4 quadrant system divided into 'North', 'South', 'East', and 'West' quadrants and placing the Sol System along the center line of the South quadrant. As a comparison, in the United Arshan Federation the map is divided into 4 quadrants with an upper-left (Alpha), upper right (Bravo), lower left (Charlie), and lower right (Delta) quadrant, placing the known sectors of the galaxy in the upper left section. This article will utilize the Terran standard for describing regions of space within the Milky Way.
North Quadrant
Very little is known about the North quadrant outside the the general layout of the Scutum-Centaurus Primary Arm and some of the more visible branch-arms. No known species have ventured into this part of the galaxy, and current technologies do not allow for more detailed observation of this quadrant.
West Quadrant
The West quadrant covers the first half of the Perseus Primary, Saggitarius, and Outer Arms and one border of known, explored space. The collective borders of the Varkesh member-states run along the lower portion of the west quadrant. The Hydari Corporate resides in the Outer Arm while the Dovolish Sect, Drakari Union, and Democratic Republic of Terra have territory and capitals in the Perseus Arm. Despite some territory reaching in the West quadrant, most claimed systems from Varkesh member-states are in the South quadrant.
East Quadrant
Another region of unexplored space, the East Quadrant is as much a mystery to the known nations as the North Quadrant. Some rumors hold that small Sion expeditions have attempted to venture into the East quadrant, and were lost to the void, never to be heard from again, but these are only rumors - The Republic of Sion holds no written records of such expeditions.
South Quadrant
Holding the populations and territories of all the known nations, the South Quadrant also includes the origin of Humanity: The Sol System. The beginning of the Scutum-Centaurus Primary Arm travels through the upper portion of this region and contains the majority of United Arshan Federation territory. The Sagittarius Arm and Orion Spur break off from the Scutum-Centaurus Arm below and are a point of contention between the UAF and Sol Empire. The Orion Spur merges back into the Perseus Arm, and contains the Sol System and the most densely populated human-controlled star systems. The Perseus Arm itself then covers the mid-lower portion of the quadrant and beneath that the remainder of the Outer Arm, both branches being populated by the Sol Empire. The right-hand portion of this quadrant, up to the line that separates the South Quadrant from the East Quadrant covers the Republic of Sion, whom has territory along the further reaches of the Sagittarius, Perseus, and Outer arms.
Extended
This article is part of the Extended Lore series. These articles exist to provide extra background information on various aspects of Galaxies End but are typically not the core focus of any RPG modules or writings, whether released or planned for the future.
Table of Contents
Maps
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Milky Way
A full map of the Milky Way galaxy and known points of interest.
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