Vanaad

Vanaad is a large spiral galaxy, located within the outer reaches of the Local Group (which also contains the Milky Way). It is the setting of Stellar Horizons, and is home to many thousands of different sapient species as well as various different kinds of anomalies. It is rather unique among the nearby galaxies, as it is has an unusually high concentration of sapient life.

It is approximately 180,000 light years in diameter, and it has a high concentration of star-forming gasses and enough 'in reserve' to last for billions of years to come.

History
Vanaad has a long and rich history, with the existence of sapient life going back hundreds of thousands of years. Most of this life eventually advanced to the point of achieving some form of space travel, often colonizing their home systems. Most of them then went on to develop faster-than-light travel, allowing them to spread to even the furthest reaches of Vanaad. The galaxy was thriving, teeming with life. It still is today.

However, at some point in their history, most of the ancient sapients, often called Precursors, died out. The exact reasons are not known why. Many think they killed eachother or simply faded into extinction via a series of disastrous events in their history. A far more outlandish theory is that something else killed them. This is a mystery that will likely never be solved, as even though the Precursors left many relics for younger races to find, none of those discovered detail their deaths beyond a few vague references. Few in the modern galaxy concern themselves with the Precursors beyond those in some fields of science, however.

Today, the entire galaxy is full of new life. Some are just now leaving their own planets, while others are taking the first steps out of their own solar system. Others still have already expanded across the stars, some even making names for themselves among the budding galactic community.