The local name for the planet is "Erde." Continental drift did not occur the same way it happened for modern Earth, leaving Erde's continents to settle in the Jurassic age of Pangea.
The majority of the world is a large connected landmass spanning north to south. There are very few empires which are more isolated from the other cultures and no one culture that has dominated vast expanses of land and been able to spread its influence; the empires on Erde are isolationist, focusing on controlling what they already have rather than spreading further. It is true that nature is to expand one's borders, but kingdoms, "empires" and civilizations are incapable of spreading their influences far and wide due to magical distribution.
Magical Distribution
Erde has a magical landscape similar to elevation variances and anything else in nature. Magic itself is a purely natural element, and so like most natural elements the density of its presence varies. Think of how water is distributed across the planet; some areas are barren and some areas are actual water. Magic is the same way. This means that across the globe exists high magic areas and magical dead zones - and everything in between.
The middling-veering-towards dead zones will allow more technological advancement, and therefore be the most scientifically developed areas, up to and including steam power. The dead zones would therefore be the most technologically advanced. Sciences would be driven predominantly by need, which limits us to steam engines (trains etc.) for transport but can make it so that medicine has progressed further. After all, if you can't have a healer, you need a doctor. Because of this need, dead zones may have extremely advanced medicine.
The middling-veering-towards high magic areas will be the most magically advanced, making charms, spells, rituals, etc. completely functional. Tech, however, ceases to function at all or reacts in totally bizarre, unpredictable ways. Magical saturation means that everything in nature has its own opinion; the forest wants to be wooded, the desert wants to be barren, the ocean wants to be salty. Trying to force these elements to become something they're not would be impossible with tech; using magic, you might make some progress because you are essentially speaking their own language. Fae would be common and varied.
Verre Zon is a magical middle-ground veering towards dead zone. Technology is functional when modified to account for the magic that exists.
Technology and magic do not cancel each other out just because. Technology is dependent upon physics and reactions happening exactly the way they're supposed to. For instance, elements combine and produce the same reaction every time. Magic, on the other hand, is naturally unpredictable. It allows the user or elements themselves to modify a reaction. Where technology relies on consistency, magic relies on *in*consistency.
This does mean that magic will always have an element of unpredictability. The high magic areas are not able to use certain tools; building a chair, for instance, would best be done by communicating with the wood you wish to use and coaxing it into the shape you want. Communication would be done using a conduit such as a charm or one of the fae.
People with inherent magical abilities are considered extremely powerful and are also rare, with healers being the rarest. They are essentially walking high-magic conduits with total control over the magic they have. They also maintain these abilities across the landscape except in the dead zones - they are almost entirely consistent. This is *very* powerful within the setting, so people with magical abilities will be limited in the power itself.
For an example of rarity, take Verre Zon and its surrounding villages: rough population 40,000 for the city and surrounding settlements/villages. Out of those 40,000 roughly 50-100 can have inherent magical abilities ranging in strength and type. Of those gifted, maybe 2-3 would have any healing ability at all.
(Note to players: PCs are already considered rarities, so this doesn't mean people are limited in what you play, it just means you need to play the character as a rarity!)
Global Inequalities
Anything that's held together by or has magic woven into its DNA will be affected by the magical distribution. As the character crosses through areas of higher or lower magical density, the potency of their power will fluctuate as well. They will retain the same abilities with varying degrees of strength for the ability.
Someone like Julen who simply has an inherent ability maintains his ability in the same way wherever he goes except a dead zone. He's not a magical being by nature, he's a human with a magical gift.
A magical being would die inside a dead zone.
The high magic areas are chaotic. If magic gives everything an opinion (the desert wants to be barren), then opinions can change. Likely it would be only or predominantly fae in those areas. Dead zones are stable areas where physics works just the way it's supposed to. So where magic is unpredictable at its core, dead zones are based on consistency and predictability.
A magical being (such as a fae or vampire) cannot survive inside a dead zone.
On the other end, there are people who are essentially walking dead zones. These people are even rarer than healers, and no magic can be used on them (however they can be affected by the results of magic, such as a lightning strike or fire ball). If they touch a magical implement the magic will not work while they are in contact with it; contact with a magical being would cause physical harm. A walking dead zone can enter a high magic area without dying because they will "kill" any magic they come in contact with. The limitation is that while that person can be inside those areas, they cannot bring any functioning tech with them nor can they use any local resources.
Dimensions and Planes of Existence
Although these still exist within the setting, Erde was designed to make these unnecessary for the origination of a species or character and are thus highly discouraged for use in character creation. The world is diverse and players are very much so encouraged to grab a section of land and create a culture/species for their own origination story. Therefore, you may be from another dimension/plane if you can explain to staff in a satisfactory manner why this is integral to your character's story.
