Ah, the Back-and-Beyond! Not so much a single spot on the map as an all-encompassing term for anywhere that lacks the reassuring embrace of good, solid Splendidium walls. And that, old bean, is rather a lot of places. Out there, beyond civilisation’s comforting glow, one finds rolling countryside of the wilder sort, punctuated by the crumbling remains of some long-fallen, terribly clever people whose downfall, one suspects, had something to do with that frightful menace, Horridium. The precise details of their tragic misstep have been lost in the mists of time, but the general impression one gathers is that it was all rather ghastly.
The Back-and-Beyond is not merely empty wilderness, oh dear me, no. It teems with persons and other entities, all of whom have been touched—if not outright walloped—by the corrupting influence of Horridium. This, naturally, makes it a place most sensible fellows prefer to avoid. And yet, there exist certain rare souls, known far and wide as Splendid Bounders, who actually venture forth into this madness, and what’s more, do so with a certain insouciant flair. Their incentive? Scattered within the treacherous reaches of the Back-and-Beyond lie caches of Splendidium, waiting for some dashing sort to unearth them. Without these invaluable treasures, the walls of civilisation would come a-tumbling down, leaving everything at the mercy of Horridium’s creeping grasp. And when that happens, my dear old thing, all the world becomes the Back-and-Beyond. Which, as you will agree, simply wouldn’t do.