SearchKnown World
The Known World is a realm which at one time composed the central region of the Old Empire of Man. While it is understood that during the time of the Empire there were lands outside of the Known World which were entirely habitable, it is not now known whether those lands were destroyed by the Dragon during its stay.
Though vast in its own right, the Known World probably makes up no more than a small fraction of the surface area of Zalanthas (q.v.). All modern scholars agree, however, that there is only a very small probability that habitable realms exist in other places, and there are for certain no verdant regions aside from the scrub plain and the Grey Forest (q.v.). This must be true, for if a verdant realm existed we should have had visitors by now--their civilisation would have to be far more advanced than our own.
The Known World, the realm of our existence, extends from the northern shore of the Sea of Eternal Dust (q.v.) to the Grey Forest, and from the barren plains and Salt Flats to the Great Canyon and the tablelands. Explorers have attempted to find evidences of life beyond these bounds but have either failed or never returned.
There are many names which our ancestors have given to the various lands in the Known World, such as Gol Krathu, Gothkaul, Vrun Driath, Ptar Ken, Gaur Pandu, and Isen Ken. The names are descended from the old Tatlum speech of the Empire, and make little sense to modern ears, but there is a strange power in them.
Documents have been written about the landscape of the Known World, and they can be found elsewhere: Grey Forest, Red Desert, Salt Flats, and so on, as well as with the city-states of Allanak, New Tuluk, and lost Steinal, and the innumerable small villages which rise and fall from year to year.