You know, I really like that idea. There can be spiritually 'blighted' areas that screw around with the local nature and even people, especially if there were wars not too long ago. If I'm not using an Avatar character, then perhaps there needs to be a 'shaman' class or skill for characters to use, to be able to communicate and/or cleanse a place after the melee to avoid getting chewed on by its twisted critters.
Cultures- I'm not so strong on the cultures of most of the races yet, but I do know that the elves were once expansionist and are now isolationist after they screwed up royally and the gods said 'nuh-uh'. They live (the nobles and wealthy, anyway) on a warm-climate island to the north, while they hold territory on the archipelago of the main mini-continent to the south. A lot of their peasants fish and farm there, defended and occasionally hassled by royal soldiers. Bending tends to show up as a result of human ancestry now, so it's low-class- but it's still envied by the nobles.
Below that, there's a goodly expanse of farmland and forests that are mostly human-occupied but pretty cosmopolitan in the cities, with dwarves, halforcs and halflings and the like. To the south are the chillier mountains where the dwarves come from. In the middle, that used to all be orcish territory, even caught between the dwarves and the elves. They've been conquered, fought back, and reconquered as human and halfling settlers came in from across the surrounding seas, and mostly have hung on from sheer stubbornness. Orcs, goblins and ogres and such might take the position of oni in this setting- they're grumpy, tribal, and pushed to the fringes, and mostly stick to scuffles when encountered, but are still pretty dangerous.
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Cultures- I'm not so strong on the cultures of most of the races yet, but I do know that the elves were once expansionist and are now isolationist after they screwed up royally and the gods said 'nuh-uh'. They live (the nobles and wealthy, anyway) on a warm-climate island to the north, while they hold territory on the archipelago of the main mini-continent to the south. A lot of their peasants fish and farm there, defended and occasionally hassled by royal soldiers. Bending tends to show up as a result of human ancestry now, so it's low-class- but it's still envied by the nobles.
Below that, there's a goodly expanse of farmland and forests that are mostly human-occupied but pretty cosmopolitan in the cities, with dwarves, halforcs and halflings and the like. To the south are the chillier mountains where the dwarves come from. In the middle, that used to all be orcish territory, even caught between the dwarves and the elves. They've been conquered, fought back, and reconquered as human and halfling settlers came in from across the surrounding seas, and mostly have hung on from sheer stubbornness. Orcs, goblins and ogres and such might take the position of oni in this setting- they're grumpy, tribal, and pushed to the fringes, and mostly stick to scuffles when encountered, but are still pretty dangerous.