The Discontinuum

The discontinuum is the name given for the entire set of evolutions, archetypes and other kinds of realm which are now known to exist in parallel with one another, separated by the barriers, natural configurations in a high dimensional energy landscape which normally prevent transits between them.
The individual realms are sometimes loosely called worlds, simply because in practice, access to them is usually chanelled through one specific world but in reality each is an entire universe. Each universe is subject to unique physical rules known as the Laws of Form held in place with Binding Contracts. It is possible, although difficult, for the Laws of Form to be changed within a realm.
Dr. Emerald Rydene, on the world now known as Earth Stable, identifed the symmetries of the so called Monster Group as the limiting factor that determined how many realms could exist. 196,882 dimensions are required to express this group and it has an order of about 8x10⁵³
This is the true size of the full discontinuum, but in practice only a much, much smaller subset of them is open to travel from Earth Stable and of this subset, only a tiny fraction have been explored. In a political context, when the Stability Council talks about the discontinuum it means this tiny fraction only; the realms where it tries to defend the local evolutions.