Milky Way
| Milky Way | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Astrographical Information | |
| Total Stars/Systems | 100–500 billion |
| Size | 105,700 light-years across |
| Satellite Galaxies |
|
| Societal Information | |
| Regions | Rims
Quadrants
|
| Major Societies | |
| Sentient Species | Countless |
The Milky Way galaxy is a barred spiral galaxy within the Virgo Supercluster notable for housing the Alpha Sol System. It is one of the larger galaxies within the Local Group, with only Andromeda being larger. The Milky Way has 7 documented satellite galaxies, two of which are close enough to be accessible to most of the natives of the galaxy, these being the Dagda Galaxy and Odin Galaxy.
Astrography
Astrography refers to both in-universe and out-of-universe mapping of the Milky Way Galaxy and beyond, describing various methods of categorising the regions of the galaxy.
Galactic Rims
The Galaxy has been divided into several 'rims' by various interstellar institutions such as the Galactic Federation based on each region's distance from the core of the galaxy, with each of these regions typically having several similarities in development. Rims are then further divided into smaller, more vaguely defined local regions and starclusters.
Deep Core
The Deep Core is the first galactic rim, located in the very center of the galaxy. The Deep Core is home to many of the Milky Way's oldest stars and strangest worlds, with a supermassive blackhole in its center surrounded by dense star clusters[1].
Due to the gravitational pull of the vast number of stars, blackholes, and other phenomena, alongside the prominence of dark matter in the region, navigating or even passing through the Deep Core may vary from difficult at best to completely impossible via FTL Methods, alongside being highly difficult and dangerous even via realspace navigation.
Interestingly, this dangerous environment has made it the perfect hiding spot for some of the more powerful civilisations in the Milky Way who also tend to practice some kind of isolationism, such as the Elder Overseers, Thronus-Regni, the Diadem Society and HAWK.
Inner Core
The Inner Core is the second galactic rim, housing several of the most populated and well-developed planets in the galaxy. The Inner Core is a hub of galactic culture, finance and technology due to the presence of the Galactic Federation, one of the Galaxy's largest civilisations, alongside the Terzan-2 Starcluster, a very active and populated region of space.
Outer Core
The Outer Core is the third galactic rim, housing several significant worlds. The Outer Core is generally a wealthy region home to various industrial worlds, tradecenters, and much more.
Many planets in the Outer Core are major population centers, while many others are industrial and export powerhouses, producing raw materials, food, metals, robotics, ships, and machinery to the civilisations in the region.
Inner Rim
The Inner Rim is the fourth galactic rim, from which several major civilisations originate from. The Inner Rim is located in the middle of the galaxy, surrounding the densely populated core regions, though the Inner Rim itself is also highly significant, being home to the homeworlds and most notable population centers of the Protoss and the Kings, alongside several other civilisations.
Center Rim
The Center Rim is the fifth galactic rim, notably being the home of the Sol System. The Center Rim is notable for being the section of the galaxy where the influence of the large and vast nations of the core region fade away, and countless local species-based civilisations begin to appear. Lore-wise, the Center Rim is very significant, as it is home to the Alpha Sol System, and therefore Humanity. Other notable civilisations in the region include the likes of the Blargs, Yeqwiquans, Altairans, Ilyenans, and Ugandan Knuckles.
Mid Rim
The Mid Rim is the sixth galactic rim, acting as a transitionary area between the countless small civilisations of the Center Rim and the open unclaimed space in the Outer Rim. The Mid Rim is arguably the least populated major rim, as a majority of the documented worlds within it are colonies of those further corewards. These colonies include the likes of the further outwards holdings of the Yatan-Theian Accord, the outer reaches of the Kintu Empire, and the vast expanse of worlds under the Imperium of Kings whom hold control over about a third of the rim. Outside of these colonial regions, there are still are a few documented civilisations that originated in the Mid Rim such as the Yelnik Hivemind and Sangheli Covenant.
The more fringe regions of the Mid Rim is where piracy starts to take hold, as much of its worlds fall under the control of criminal syndicates.
Outer Rim
The Outer Rim is the seventh galactic rim, alongside being the outermost edges of the documented areas of the galaxy. A vast majority of the outer rim is sparsely populated despite being the largest region of the galaxy. Some areas of it still manage to maintain large and populated civilisations though, such as the Zerg, United Rim, Koprulu Sector, and the outermost holdings of the Kings.
Unknown Space
Unknown Space is the eighth and farthermost galactic rim[2], being located across much of the delta quadrant's[3] outer edge of the Galaxy. It is notable for its lack of in-depth exploration, partly due to just circumstance or lack of interest, but also partly due to its undocumented and unclear FTL travel routes, making any travellers to the region have to act with care and precision.
Unknown Space generally lacks major institutions or nations, as a majority of the civilisations within it inhabit only a handful of star systems. The only exception to this rule is the Varinn Confederacy, which holds control over a a large portion of the Gamma Quadrant's section of Unknown Space. Due to this lack of major civilisations, many of the mysterious worlds in the region remain governed or fall under the control of unknowable horrors.
Galactic Quadrants
Unlike the distance-related Rims which often have issues of distant regions being part of the same region and close regions being separated, Quadrants are a method of categorising the galaxy that divides it into 4 quadrants, with the "Alpha" Quadrant being located to the galactic 'south', the "Beta" Quadrant being located to the galactic 'east', the "Gamma" Quadrant being located to the galactic 'north', and the "Delta" Quadrant being located to the galactic 'west.
Grid Coordinates
Grid Coordinates take a much different approach than the other 2 major regional categorisation systems, as instead of making a small number of larger regions it defines various smaller number of 'local' regions defined by a 26x26 grid spanning the galaxy with each individual location being named with a letter from A-Z and a number from 1-26.
Local Regions
Local regions are much more vaguely defined, simply consisting of local regions with internal similarities.
Antares Starcluster
The Antares Starcluster is a significant starcluster located in the Outer Core's Gamma Quadrant, being home to several culturally connected and highly populated star systems from which the Empire of Twelve Suns and its successors originate from.
Local Bubble
The Local Bubble is the general region of space surrounding the Sol System, thus being a point of interest for Humanity. The Local Bubble's size has various definitions, ranging from being a defined 50-100 light-year radius from Yata itself, to being an alternative term for the area within and surrounding Accord Space. Historically speaking the Local Bubble has been fairly quiet before modern times, with little to no major empires arising within it, or conquering it. This was fairly lucky for Humanity, as it was not wiped out by any kind of stellar conflict in its early history.
Taros Cluster
Terzan-2 Starcluster
The Terzan-2 Starcluster is a dense star cluster orbiting the galactic centre within the Inner Core, currently being located in its Beta Quadrant. Historically speaking Terzan-2 has been among the most active regions in the Galaxy for interstellar travel due to the short distances between star systems allowing local civilisations to quickly and easily travel from one system to another. Additionally the Terzan-2 Starcluster is the centre for commerce and faith for the Milky Way's Hyacinthan Community.
Wei'vir Starcluster
The Wei'vir Starcluster is a group of systems separated from the galactic disc, orbiting between two of the galactic arms located in Unknown Space. The Starcluster is named after the Wei'virs, an enigmatic sentient species which inhabits the starcluster.
Extragalactic Space
Extragalactic space is unknown, and unexplored. While the civilisations of the Milky Way have been able to explore it with ease, no FTL Drive to be achieved by said civilisations is capable of crossing the vast gap between galaxies, as it would either run out of fuel on the way or not function long enough to ever arrive.
There are some signs of what exists out there, from information trickling in from the few known extragalactic beings, to sensors and telescopes spotting impossibilities in the night sky, and to communicators detecting faint signals from distant points. Despite the curiosity of what may exist in the vast unexplored universe, there is no active need for thorough investigation. A majority of the horrors out there are too distant to leave an active impact, alongside investment in FTL Generation Ships being highly cost ineffective being impractical.
Until a large scale FTL generation ship program is initiated, or extragalactic events reach the Milky Way once more, no interaction will occur.
