Creating a new fantasy world.

[FuelDrop]

Greetings to one and all.

Today, I'm trying to fabricate a fantasy world for my GURPS fantasy campaign. Here's what I've got so far.

1) The campaign is going to be centered around a single Empire called 'The Empire' (Patent pending). This Empire is composed of a large area of land and several islands off the coast. Exact details are as yet undefined, but the plan at the moment is that it includes most types of classic questing/adventuring terrain (EG: Desert, temperate forests, plains, mountains, possibly arctic holdings at an extreme edge). Other civilizations are going to be largely out of reach, at least at the start of the game.

2) The Empire (Patent pending) is ruled by 'Immortal Elves'. Immortal Elves are ageless and invulnerable... or so they say. The actual nature and source of their 'immortality' is so far undefined, but they can be killed by conventional means. Exact details are so far sketchy, with options including body swapping from host to host then using magic to reconstruct the new host to the owner's taste; Magical clones; a pact with eldrich powers man was not meant to know for eternal youth and regeneration... I'm still new to GURPS so I'm not certain of all the options, but if someone can suggest something fun for the players to discover and thwart that'd be great.
Immortal Elves have held power for generations (Generations of normal people, anyway. See point 3) and many of them are extremely powerful mages with other interests besides that make them very dangerous opponents, without even factoring in their personal bodyguards and other implements of their will. As you have probably worked out, these guys are the BBEG for this campaign. Any ideas to make them more interesting for the players to thwart are welcome.

3) The Empire (PP) has been around for longer than living memory. How much longer? Well, considering that all forms of higher learning are forbidden, books are illegal, and all technological advancement beyond TL 3 are ruthlessly crushed and erased... yeah, establishing an exact age is somewhat beyond the abilities of our PCs. It could be scant centuries or long millennium, no-one knows for sure and bardic songs give conflicting dates (What with the government slipping out false information occasionally to keep things obscure). One thing a brave and canny explorer will quickly work out is that if you go off the beaten track you can find ruins from the civilizations that came before, some of which hold valuable and undoubtedly illegal treasures.

4) Since book learning is illegal, I doubt anyone will be surprised that all forms of magic are as well. This includes magical items... though fortunately, most magic items aren't instantly distinguishable as such and those that are can generally be kept under wraps by all but the most unlucky.

5) Most of the classic 'Monster races' now form the manual labor slave class, while everyone else who isn't either an Immortal Elf or a toady to them should be considered a second class citizen. Since this includes most of the population, this only really comes up when someone finds themselves in contact with their 'betters'.
There are non-immortal elves as well, in order to give the players who want to play an elf the option to do so.

6) Now being oppressive all the time is really more trouble it's worth, particularly when being just oppressive enough. The economy is good and fairly stable, with most trade happening between the domains of various IE lords. Famine is fairly rare and usually dealt with fairly swiftly and efficiently, plagues are usually quarantined fast enough to limit damage with experienced herbalists brought in to find a practical cure to distribute, main roads are well patrolled to limit banditry, ect. The IEs may rule with an iron fist, but for the most part they care about not running the country into the ground. Oh, and they have gladiatorial death matches in large Colosseums, both to entertain the people and reduce prison upkeep, and institutional slavery to boost the economy.

7) There are savage tribes, hidden elf villages, concealed dwarven mines ect in the unexplored reaches of the empire, usually sheltered by natural terrain such as forests or mountains. Whether these are discovered by the players is entirely up to them.

8) There are some people who have taken umbridge to being second-class citizens in their own homeland and have formed various resistance groups over the years. They tend to be destroyed fairly quickly when an IE or one of their pet wizards discern the rebellion's presence through magic, use more magic to find either a base of operations or a group of ringleaders, and then finish them off by teleporting a large force of elite guards past their defenses or having the ringleaders rounded up and turned into modern art (EG flaying + flesh to stone) as a warning to anyone who's considering following in their footsteps. Magic in this world can be learned by just about anyone given the right training (All rules as normal except that Magery can be learned in play provided you can find a book of magic or a mentor to teach you). Most survivors of such round-ups can look forwards to a future as either slaves or gladiators.

So, does anyone have any ideas on what I can add to that or change to make a better setting?