Sunlit Worlds

The Sunlit Worlds are the Covenant's very oldest worlds, often regarded as the astrographic nucleus of the Covenant Empire. Located at the heart of the Primeval Core, from which the Covenant's vast arterial network radiates in all directions, the Sunlit Worlds are conventionally defined as ones from which the Urs system can be seen with the naked eye (though not all of the systems regarded as being among their number strictly fulfill this criteria). Originally colonized roughly between 4000 and 3500 years ago, they also roughly correspond to the extent of Sangheili civilization at the time of the War of Beginnings.

Generally speaking, the Sunlit Worlds are wealthy and rich in political, cultural, and martial power. The hubs of the region are mighty sights to behold indeed; filled with great mega-engineering, worlds girdled by glittering orbital bands and sky-fortresses, vast mega-cities, floating towers and great city-towers and suspensor platforms stretching to low orbit. Most of these worlds maintain dozens of off-world holdings, and have combined populations in the tens of billions. A few dozen of the Sunlit Worlds are even capable of directly rivaling Sanghelios in economic and political power, though their relative strength has fluctuated greatly across the ages. However, it should be noted that not all of the Sunlit Worlds are quite as well-off; over the span of millennia, some worlds of former prestige and glory have faded into obscurity for various reasons, either due to the natural drift of slipspace lanes or the devastation of wars long past. There are places that are but a shadow of their former glory, as the focal points of civilization moved elsewhere or concentrated on other worlds, and once gleaming centers of civilization reduced to wastelands and ruins. Even so, several hundred of the old systems remain as thriving centers of civilization, even following the onset of the Great Schism.

Politically, the Sunlit Worlds are generally regarded as conservative and proud. Over a half of the worlds align themselves with the Crimson League, which ties them to Sanghelios' political and cultural sphere. Yet many others have historical feuds or splits with Sanghelios, and maintain regional empires of their own.