The Skylands Galaxy

The Skylands is currently the only known about inhabited galaxy. It is of type SAc (Spiral Galaxy). It contains approximately 300 billion stars, and measures around 200kly across with a dark matter halo extending to around 200Mly in diameter. It gets its name from the Arkentung word Axηнcbαlgραнi (Akhensvaldrani) which means "Places in the sky". It is sometimes also referred to as Dραckσcμσc (Draskosmos) which refers more accurately to "All of space" but since other galaxies are too remote to be accessed by any known means to use the two interchangably is not uncommon. It is centered on a supermassive black hole referred to as the Spine of Worlds.

## Navigation

The galaxy is divided into six equal segments roughly aligning with its spiral arms. Each sector is assigned one of the first six letters of the Kiπlαραю (Kiplarang). Galactic maps are normally orinteted with the Kipla sector at the top, curving toward the right, with the subsequent sectors being arranged in Kiplarangenik order moving clockwise around the map.

A star's full, official designation is often an approximate descriptor of its position in the galaxy. It begins with a letter that denotes the sector it lies in followed by a number between 1 and 16 denoting its distance from the Spine of Worlds with smaller numbers indicating smaller distances. In cases where stars fall outside the 1-16 range, they are given another letter instead, with A (for 'Andrassnik' meaning 'within') being for stars too close in to be assigned distance 1 and D (for 'Debrussnik' meaning 'remote') for stars too far out to be assigned distance 16.

Between 2-5 batches of letters and numbers then follow this, that denote its asimuth from the closest galactic portelans. Each portelan station has a unique designation, and there is no standard between portelans about how a star's relative position is reported.These portelan references are given in the order of distance, with the closest portelan being referenced first.

An approximate position can be described by relaying an angle from the "Kipla zero" (the line drawn tangential to the Kipla-Loire sector border, at the galactic center) and a radius from the galactic center. Due to the massive distances involved, however, this system of navigation is highly innacurate, and generally only used for rescue missions and other such missions into uncharted deep space. For more accurate measure, positions are described by measuring the distance from the nearest 4-7 portelans. As these portelans move periodically, in order to accurately gague a vessel's position on a map an appropriately tuned astrochronometer must be used to allow navigators to factor this effect into their calculations.\

## History

The oldest known civilization to have lived in the Skylands are the Jethro. They lived around 1.6 million years ago and little is known of their culture. They lived primarily around the outer Loire sector, and although colonies are found all around the galaxy, the vast majority are thought to have lived in this region. They are creators of the Protogen race, and had access to advanced, miniaturized electronics that modern electrolysts are unable to replicate. They also created the Jethro Spires which can be used to travel vast distances near-insantaneously via shortcuts through extradimensional space. Most of what is known from the Jethro is from the memories of Protogen elders and dormant Protogens that have since been repaired.

Following the collapse of the Jethro Era, there is a large swath of time during which no skyfaring civilizations are thought to have existed. This is referred to as the Quiet Era and it lasted from around 1.6million DTK to around 450,000 DTK.

The end of the Quiet Era is marked by the rise of the Utho civilization. They are thought to have originated around what is now the inner border between the Kiple and Rango sectors. Although their territory was less far reaching than the Jethro that preceded them, it is thought that the bulk of their population was more spread out. It is during this time that the first mentions of Liminal Space is found, leading scholars to beleive that its creation has to do with the end of the Jethro Era. By their end, they had access to advanced prismatic technology such as Ancient tapes which are still sought after due to their utility. Although more is known about the Utho than the Jethro, due to their comparative recentness leaving more surviving traces to study, it is still unknown why this civilization collapsed.

Following the end of the Utho Era, there was yet another Quiet Era referred to as the Second Quiet Era, or the Savage Era. It is defined as the area from the end of the Utho Era to 1876 DTK which is considered to be the beginning of the Kaldari Era.

The Kaldari Era is considered to have officially begun at 1876 DTK, as this is the date of the first crewed flight from the planet Draiyagrama (Now referred to as Kaldaria Prima) to its moon Drayasilwa. This feat marked the end of the First Great Sky War, with victory being decided in favour of the Basilica Kaldari's fledgeling skynavy. With new resources at their disposal and a constant orbital presence, they set about lincensing guilds to claim the remaining bodies in their home system which heavily shifted the balance of power in their favour.

By 1207 DTK, the Basilica Kaldari have colonized their home system. The first ever Boson Cannon is constructed on the rim of their system, using technology invented by the combined efforts of the Rubenskind Railway Guild and the Toimas Vaxensbexre Arcane Research Guild and assembled by the Opiccipetrixnik Construction Company to resemble the Kaldari symbolic gateway to heaven. It is named Tarkicciedramjamaxirya and paved the way for the Basilica to begin exploring surrounding systems.