Currency

In the Empire, they use gold and silver, as you might expect.

In Loretan, they use pearls.

• White pearls are the most common; a small handful buys a nice meal.
• Black pearls are less common; one or two can buy a night's stay in an inn.
• Golden pearls are quite rare; they're used mostly in banking transactions, as a small satchel of them could buy a fine home.
• Blue pearls are exquisitely rare, and likely only traded for goods by wealthy adventurers buying overpriced magic items.

Realms and Lands

As a rough guideline, there are a bunch of realms of typical size for a medieval fantasy setting (roughly half on the mainland and half on archipelagoes/subcontinents/icecaps/etc). But, in modern times, the Empire has conquered about 75% of all of that. The outer realms are under partial occupation (officially conquered but dealing with "partisan activity").

Names and ideas:

• Narga (Knaroth?): vikings!
• Engall / Engali: dunno
• Essali: sounds a lot like Engali, no?
• Verian: the Travelers, always at sea
• Dacians: they live high in the mountains like Swiss, surprisingly close to the Imperial core but still independent

Geography

The mainland is basically Asia. The Jeweled Coast is a bit like India, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia, separated from the mainland by impressive mountain ranges. Europe is compressed to near-nonexistence.

Ethnic Groups

Let's just not copy anyone from Earth at all.

• Rifters: obsessed with Earth, science, geometry, rationality, machines, etc.
• Nar/Knaroth: giants! Well, giant-kin anyway.
• Engali?: steppe landers, riders, robes/veils, fremenish