[LonePalm]

"Off stage" means that you can not have a character present while a discussion is taking place. This means that my characters can talk about the Kzinti but I can not have a Kzinti as an active character in the book.

In the play "Waiting for Godot" Godot is talked about but never shows up 'on stage'.

Garde la Foi, mes amis! Nous nous sommes les sauveurs de la République! Maintenant et Toujours!
(Keep the Faith, my friends! We are the saviors of the Republic! Now and Forever!)
LonePalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)

[Mad Dawgg]

Also, usually, your story can’t change cannon of the milieu...