[ajardoor]

World Building Sketch - this is a rough less than first draft, expect spelling errors and cruddy formatting, sorry.

The Imperium was TL 5 (industrial revolution, old west) or 6 (pulp era, WW2) when it collapsed. Today, the most advanced cities are late TL 8 (modern day, almost cyberpunk), but some remote or war-torn areas of the region are stuck at TL 7 (Cold War). Alchemy and Book Rituals (Effect Shaping, Magery optional, Magery adds to Rituals) are the magic systems of this setting, not counting supernatural creatures and spirits (which magicians can exploit). People are human, more or less, not counting the Strangers (who are humanoid). The region's terrain is mostly temperate woodland, grassland plains, freshwater rivers and hills - exceptions include a swamp to the north, some mountains, a jungle to the south, an ocean coastline and occasional dryer steppes. The region's size is about as big as Western Europe.

When the Imperium fell 250 years ago, its territory and subjects were left to either pick up the pieces and form smaller nations or else become No-Man's Land. Leftover regime personelle became warlords, petty rulers, crime lords and mercenaries bosses.
The worst fallout came when a great alchemist of the Imperium, The Strange Journeyman, created the Strangers (custom bioengineered alchemical lifeforms) with his magi-tek cloning labs, as part of his many intricate plans to conquer life. Sometimes, the creator magically body surfs into a Stranger, using it as a custom-built physical shell. Unfortunately, the Strangers who have been left to their own devices are sentient. They became their own people, their own "race" of sorts. And they had decidedly mixed opinions on the creator, life and everything. The Strangers quickly multiplied and got out of hand when the Strangers began to question the Journeyman or take sides on various political issues. Strangers have Unusual Biochemistry and Social Stigma (Second Class Citizen).
A civil war between two factions of these custom bioengineered creations has devolved into a quagmire of warlord-ism, looting, raiding, mercenary work, petty rivalries, grudges, and power plays. The two Factions are The Sacred Profane and The Dream Storm. The Journeyman is nowhere to be found.

Racism between "normal" people is not an issue in this setting; people do not really have a social construct for race. Skin tone, hair colour, facial features and so on - these things are not given special cultural weight. From our point of view, the people of the region are "very mixed race" - thanks to alchemical tampering, they even have phenotypes not natural in our world (for example, a person with dark skin AND red or blonde hair AND blue eyes AND thick lips is not unusual). (The Black and White cultures have nothing to do with African/dark skinned or Caucasian people.)
Sexism and hetronormality is less of a systemic problem in the setting. Prejudices between people are more along the line of cultural baggage and stereotyping ("They CREMATE their dead rather than giving them the proper sky burial! Savages!") or classism.
Strangers, alchemically bio-engineered artifical people, are discriminated against as dangerous renegades [Social Stigma (Second Class Citizen) - a sort of racial Bad Reputation] by "normal" people thanks to the bloody and destructive "civil war" they have tainted the region with.

Contact with other continents or regions has been cut off for over 300 years, nothing is known of their current status or existence. People of the region refer to a hypothetical culture outside the region that they have not encountered as "Grey" or "the Greys". Going beyond the borders of the region means travelling through the northern ice glacier, the wild rough ocean, or the southern deep jungle - all of those options are very risky, so much so that most people write it off as currently not worth it. Maybe in another century or two, when the wild mana storms have calmed down.

Black
culture of the five northern swamps,The Great Chaos Swamp is the largest
communal swamping culture, hates and fears the giant misquito
Most to the south are riverfolk, working and living on barges
Northern from swamps is mountainous and rocky plains where few live, even more northern is an ice glacier
Stereotypes: hardboiled and communal (positive), creepy and accursed (negative)
Typical Rituals: necromancy, curses, spirits

White
culture of the Theocratic City-State "The Holy Kingdom"
Kinda like the Byzantines or Papalcy? Ruled by priest heirarchy
Consider themselves the successor to the Imperium (inspiriting jokes similiar to ones about The Holy Roman Empire)
located at center of the temperate plains and grasslands
Stereotypes: just honest and determined (positive), paranoid religious fanatic (negative)
Typical Rituals: protection, spiritual warfare, medical, anti-magic

Red
culture of tip of southern jungle and plains/steppes, was not part of the Imperium
venerates fire and lightning, strong warrior culture, like Mogols or Headhunters?
No full nation of their own but villages and towns in southern light jungle and clans/tribes on the plains
Stereotypes: brave strong and deadly (positive), violent uncultured berserker or mad bomber/arsonist (negative)
Typical Rituals: fire, thunderbolt, war/hostile, wounding/painful/deadly curses

Orange
culture of people in large cities of center plains, used to be numerous Imperium citizens
happy-go-lucky, optimistic, urban, popular, cosmopolitian urban, superstitious
No full nation, just city folk with roots in the temperate forests and grasslands
Stereotypes: lucky witty and friendly (positive), overconfident lazy streetrats and degenerate gamblers (negative)
Typical Rituals: luck - blessings, scrying/knowledge, gambling

Yellow
culture of ruling class of old Imperium, live in most big cities
old money and aristocratic, descending from Imperium nobles, like Victoran era English upper class or French kingdom before Revolution or Roman Empire nobles?
the high status citizens of biggest city-state and remanent of Imperium capital, ruling biggest nation
Stereotypes: sissy fey snob bully and elitist (negative), educated and cultured natural leader (positive)
Typical Rituals: mastery over forces and nature, time freeze, omnitongues

Green
culture of southern light jungle villages and nomadic horseclans on the plains and grasslands, most live at edges of old Imperium territory, was only sometimes a part of the Imperium
Like Mogols or Vietnamese? Experts on wilderness survival and travelling
no full nations but plenty of villages and travellers around the grasslands and other countryside
Stereotypes: ultra tough outdoorsman and spirit wrangler (positive), glutton addict/drunk and uneducated nature/spirit weirdo
Typical Rituals: enhanced health, hasten mounts, animalism, spirit fetishes, endure elements, enhanced senses, simulacrum

Blue
culture of riverfolk and seaside people
curious, sailors, dreamers and psychics, venerate water. Like the Polynesians or Age of Sail caribeanan or liberal Scandavania?
no full nation, culture people found all around the rivers and along the coast
Stereotypes: hippie space cadet (negative), compassionate thoughtful accepting (positive)
Typical Rituals: water and mist, dreaming, empathy/mentalism, spirits

Indigo
culture of heavily industralised city folk
materialistic and atheistic people who pioneered Imperium industry, computers, modern weapons, vehicles, material sciences. Like Germans or Soviet Russians?
some nations taht are big technologically advanced city-states, found in all other cities
Stereotypes: neoliberal technocrats and souless urbanites (negative), brilliant progressive scientist-engineers (positive)
Typical Rituals: machines, metal melee weapons, unlimited ammo

Violet
culture of tricksters, mentalists, urban types, entertainers, con artists
distrusted and hated by most of old Imperium, considered an "enemy within" or as secret police, no nation, spread out disliked minority
Stereotypes: scummy lusty fey liars and thieves (negative), social butterflies and cool glamourous rebels (positive)
Typical Rituals: mind control, mind reading, cunning illusions/disguise, shapeshifting, esctasy afflictation, animalism, spirit binding, deception

Each of the nine cultures above has its own Language. Multilingualism and multiple CFs is common for people in this setting.