The world has long since moved on from the petty distinctions of a world where loyalties are based on something as arbitrary as the patch of soil where an individual happened to be born. Now, all of humanity is united under the single banner of a world government, known as the Commonwealth, carefully shaped to provide only minimal guidance to provide the greatest freedom for all the world's inhabitants. Governance on a lower level tends to be provided by the various professional groups that have formed to protect the interests of different sectors of society. The majority of the world's population live in cities or large towns, in which major guilds and factions tend to be represented.

The Commonwealth is a term given both to the 'nation' that all people of the world are a part of, and specifically to the governing apparatus that manage it. Generally, the 'nation' of the world is known as the Greater Commonwealth, and the governing appartus simply the Commonwealth. The functions of the Commonwealth are limited to settling disputes where an agreement could not be reached by two organisations and ensuring that minimal law enforcement is provided in all parts of the world - though this function is contracted out to the military guilds. They also serve to protect and update the Terms of Trade, a set of laws that were laid down at the formation of the Greater Commonwealth.

The Commonwealth is funded by the Guilds by longstanding agreement. In return for funding the administrative functions of the government, the guilds are able to send representatives to the Administrative Assembly that meets to discuss the contracting

Aside from the Assembly, the Commonwealth has a number of permanent staff, known as the Ministry of Governance, who work to carry out the directives of the Assembly. The Ministry has a guild-like structure to it, but is not technically itself a guild, due to the special function that it plays in resolving disputes between other interest groups.

The Terms of Trade outline the rules by which different groups should deal with each other. They set out a system for classifying different organisational groups, as well as a set of laws designed to maintain the integrity of dealings between groups and provide guidance for what a party should do if they feel that they have been wronged by another group and that the wrong has not been dealt with. Typically, this resolution involves appealing to the courts of the Commonwealth.

Rather than a geographical or historical basis, the world is divided up on the basis of a wide variety of interest groups. Primarily, these are professional interests: the majority of people will be a member of a professional guild, such as the Union of Shipwrights and Starcraft Builders. However, there are other institutions which claim to represent others. The other major interest groups consist of the Churches, and the universities.

A person's association, in general, consists not only of their employment, but also their culture and society. Although it is perfectly possible to shift around, the majority of people will marry within their own institution, and raise their children to take on the same role they themselves played. These institutions provide their members with professional training, legal protection and a security net for old age, death and sickness. While most will provide their members with a stipend, some go further and provide such amenities as housing and food.

The political make-up of these associations varies, both between the notably different categories of churches, universities and guilds and within these groups themselves. Most will have an administrative body, many will have some sort of enforcers. Those at the top of the internal hierarchy, however, generally are able to exert a lot of control over those members lower down, and live in great wealth and comfort - and are often accused of getting rich off the sweat of others' labour.

There are some who, for various reasons, do not belong to a major interest group. This is a very risky position to be in: without belonging to an official interest group, the individual is afforded very little protection from the ill intent of others. In theory, the law will protect them from major and violent crimes but, with no guild backing to promise escalation, the individual remains an easy target.

Generally, those who choose to forsake Guild or other interest group membership are criminals of some form or another. The majority of criminals form some kind of organisation for protection: even if one cannot appeal to the law for protection, the presence of armed thugs can be a very good deterrent. For more information, see the counterculture page.

Under the Commonwealth, culture has become increasingly homogenised. Some regional variation still exists - for example, certain areas will have traditional foods or superstitions - but for the most part the larger cultural differences are based on the organisation you are a member of, rather than where you were born.

The gods are known to exist, and those who they speak to rarely disagree on how they should be worshipped, so there are few religious differences within each church (though the different churches do not always see eye to eye). Public holidays are universal - mostly feast days for the gods (treated as holy days by the devout, and holidays by those who pay less attention to the gods).

Pretty much everyone in the world is literate and numerate: all interest groups are required to provide a rounded education (or to contract other groups to provide it for them) up to the age of 11, at which point most will enter into an apprenticeship in their chosen craft, or enter into the universities to pursue academic fortunes.

As the world has become more connected in both a political and a technological sense, a host of new methods of entertainment have become popular. With the development of sound broadcasting, the majority of homes and workplaces now have radios that are used to play shows covering such diverse areas as news, music, comedy and drama. The ability to record moving pictures has led, in some larger cities, to the growth of picture houses where people go to watch stories on film.

Of course, this doesn't mean that old forms of communication have been abandoned. Live music, theatre and print media are still incredibly popular: the ease of transmitting new sheet music or news stories has only increased this, enabling people to read news the day after the events have happened rather than waiting for the physical news to be brought across.