I'm kind of bored of basic Medieval-Europe-ish fantasy settings, so I've tried to come up with something a little different.
My inspirations were, primarily, Indian Mythology, concepts of "cyberspace" or "the matrix" adapted to a fantasy setting, the Exalted and Wahammer RPGs, as well as the Kara-Tur setting from D&D.
Of course, if nobody likes it, I'll just write stories in it
***
Despite the magnitude of the grandeur and power of the Great Houses of Ennakkam in this world, one must look to farspace-- the astral plane-- to appreciate their true power, for it is through the art of astrogation, controlled entry to and travel in the astral plane, that they have achieved their current level of power. No longer were they bound by the limited communication and transit means of this world-- instead, their astrogators could meet in farspace at the speed of thought. With practice, it was found that a thought could be made to linger in farspace for days, months, even years. Huge astral libraries were established by the Great Houses, containing vast repositories of information. What were once disjoint feudal territories became, in the blink of an eye, tightly linked mercantile monoliths.
The Great Houses maintain their own private armies, of course, conscripted from the peasants put to work on their vast tracts of land. The point of the spear are the elite Centurions, formidable warriors and commanders whose power has been augmented by the finest-- and strangest-- of magic. From the Ka'Thin who serve Countess Mahliniya, cool, calculating tacticians who wield weapons that could not be lifted by ten normal men, to the Variayzho, the hideously deformed agents of Baron Vengkal who shrug off wounds that would kill an elephant, to the Ejaldi of the North who create razor-sharp weapons of ice out of thin air, each faction has its own unique origins and advantages, bringing glory to their House and terror to their enemies.
Still, farspace is not by any means a safe place, either. Just as in this world, beasts and horrors lurk in dark spaces and around suspicious corners. The Great Houses have filled their private astral libraries with their own unique variety of horrors, jealously guarding them against prying eyes. Astogators have become not merely conduits of information but a full-fledged astral force-- some loyally dedicated to ensuring the security of a Great House, others independent operators who spy on meetings and raid astral libraries for the highest bidder.
There are some who see it as more than just a tool of commerce. The Rising Sun is a religion, some would say a cult, dedicated to achieving enlightenment by achieving a pure astral existence. Their inner circle consist of some of the most capable mages in existence, wielding great power and influence in both this world and the other. Though many may see them as esoteric, those of the Rising Sun are genuinely striving to be pure of heart and mind. The same could not be said for the Setting Sun, a far less common order. Their symbol is a curious perversion of the Rising Sun's, their focus a similar twisting. They have achieved a mostly-astral existence, to the point that their bodies no longer sustain the processes of life. However, they must still periodically return to their decaying flesh. For their greed and their impatience-- true enlightement comes only from complete freedom from the mortal world, after all-- these necromancers are loathed by the Rising Sun.
Obviously, some want a more immediate escape from the power and everpresent eyes of the Great Houses than the belief in a mystical "enlightenment." Many flee to the Forest of Thorns, an untamed, overgrown land named for its everpresent brambles and creeping, thorny vines. In this place on the edge of Ennakkam, the power of the Great Houses does not extend, and the benevolent Sylph protect all who come with good intentions, casting out even the mighty Centurions. They form a community based on preserving life and the sanctity of the forest. They are vegetarian, and tend to worship nature spirits rather than divine entities.
There are places for the less idealistic-- or perhaps those who are just more independent in spirit-- to go, as well. The Republic of Athisayal attempts to create openness and freedom by teaching even common folk basic astral seeing techniques. It is believed that by making farspace free and independent, the grip of the Great Houses will be lessened. In practice, though, the voyages of most of the citizens of Athisayal are as limited in the other world as here, for the average peasant is no match for even a simple mind-worm in psionic combat. In the vast Horakkaqua Desert, on the other hand, rogues prefer to ignore the other world altogether, and make their living the old-fashioned way: robbing merchant caravans and attacking the vulnerable periphery of the Great Houses' lands.
***
Character creation notes:
I see most people in this world as being mundane and uninteresting, uninitiated in the arcane ways. These people are boring! Feel free to create a fairly powerful character-- "leveling up" is not suited to this game, really, and these people have to have something that would set them apart to begin with. Good archetypes might be a Centurion, a Templar or Priest of the Rising Sun, an independent mercenary, a wandering sage, a Sylph, a particularly skilled Athisayalan, a reformed (or not!) Horakkaquan rogue, or just a general "adventurer" type who happened to have a natural knack for getting into and out of trouble (which is far different and far more interesting than avoiding it altogether!)
. I'll read the description over again later and get a better feel for the setting since I just kinda quickly read through it just now.
. In fact, I started doing something like that for a story I was writing with a friend - I wrote out profiles of all the main characters and also a kind of glossary thing with names of all people, places, etc, together with a brief(ish) description of each.