Bokavordur's page

I haven't read everything, so unsure if it's been said (it almost certainly has haha), I REALLY want and hope for an Eldest/Archfey path. Whether or not becoming fey or just kind of channeling the power and becoming the embodiment of fey nature.

According to her creator, Desna is neither an Outer God nor a Great Old One.

Oooh thanks for that link and clarification. That makes sense and is fair. I can settle for "she is an alien entity" at least haha

I am literally so hyped for all of this!

The tanuki ability makes me laugh, and the region of Wanshou has me so intrigued and terrified.

I'm also absolutely thrilled that Arazni is joining the Core 20. I'm not convinced that Urgathoa is biting the dust, but I'm stoked to see the ambiguity of Arazni gaining prominence.

I definitely won't be able to play this character during the playtest, but I put together an exemplar character from the Land of the Linnorm Kings, a big ol brute of a viking. His name is Hafthor Halfhand, and is definitely based on the positive side of Karsa Orlong from the Malazan Book of the Fallen. Basically, he believes he is is destined to kill a linnorm, but also unite the entire region under his rule. He is not smart.

I will second the wiki for most things.

I have said before that I am a newbie to this world, but I dive into lore as it is my favourite part about a fantasy game. I have really found a lot of use from reading the wiki on different regions and such, and when those are only stubs (ie fetchlings, one of my favourite ancestries), I turn to the blurbs on Archives of Nethys and the books that have a bit more. Not perfect, but it helps.

There are definitely sections that I personally would love more info and details.

As to your example characters:

1 - Belkzen is really cool and excellent, and with the recent push to change their scattered ways, it is possible that group of orcs would be more willing to accommodate one of their own using assistive technology which would likely be brought over from Ustalav. But that said, orcs are all over the place in the Inner Sea (yay common now!), so it might make more sense, culturally, for this character to hail from Alkenstar, Ustalav, Numeria, Absalom, or another region that is more prone to tech and adjustments. That said, orcs in Golarion will likely see a shift in their religion, I foresee, with the fact that the orc gods have all been evil (at least the ones named and mentioned), but they also worship the main 20 gods as well.

2 - Elves are also all over the world, so it depends on how invested into their elven-ness you want this character to be. Are they from the elf capital of the Inner Sea? Kyonin is the bet there, which is really fascinating and leans into the alienness of elves on Golarion. But if you want more of "academic student" there is the big school in the Mwangi Expanse, The Magaambya, which is kind of like a huge university in Sub-Saharan Africa, and there are local elves in Mwangi as well if they are from the area (Lost Omens Mwangi Expanse and the player's guide for Strength of Thousands would be excellent tools). But there are other universities as well, I think Nethys has a university in The Golden Road, and there is a formal university (less magic more regular uni) in Ustalav (I think in the Palatinates). That said though, it would make sense for that kind of character to find a home in Absalom, as a huge mega city with opportunity, as well as the nation of Andoran (from a free spirit perspective), but also might find a place on the High Seas. I could see a Laughing Shadow magus fitting right in up in the River Kingdoms as well!

Aroden went Outside because he needs Dou-Bral's knowledge to repair Rovagug's Cage before it breaks.

I think this is my favourite option if you are going with "He is still alive" since it creates a reason why his connection to Golarion is either faulty or non-existent.

Plus it brings in Zon-Kuthon which is such a unique part of Pathfinder lore (even if I rarely consider using him in a campaign due to my current table's and the trauma involved in Zon-Kuthon).

I am a newcomer to Pathfinder and Golarion, having joined just a bit earlier than the larger 5e exodus, but I am a huge fan of world lore and I try to read just about anything (but I miss a lot since I am playing catch-up).

There are a lot of deities that I absolutely love and adore because they are fresh and are not just reimagining old tropes (others in this thread mentioned how it is so nice to have "death god who is not omnicidal" and "sun god who is not just wise old man who is law and order"), but there are also cool twists and changes too that keeps others feeling unique.

Last disclaimer, I have a lot of trouble connecting with the most popular deities. I still think they are cool and appreciate them, but I have a hard time planning characters with ties to like Cayden Cailean, Pharasma, Iomedae, etc. I love them and will fully use them in my DMing, but I don't like going the expected route for my characters. So I love them, but they are not my favourites.

People keep talking about Thuvia in a way that clearly tells anyone that has read the Enmity Cycle they haven't actually bothered to pick up the book. It's kinda sad.

I'll be honest, that is definitely the case for me. I have read the Lost Omens books, and several of the rulebooks, but basically only two Adventure Paths, none of the standalone adventures. I had not even looked at The Enmity Cycle until you mentioned it. It looks really interesting from the blurb! If I wasn't about to move across the world I would try to run it! But unfortunately, I won't have the time for awhile to GM... Maybe I can con someone to run it for me to play haha

As a huge fan of Vietnamese history (it is so hard to find history in English! haha) I am VERY excited to see Xa Hoi! So many cool possibilities for the way the history is represented with their dragon emperors, the surviving against Lung Wa, their proximity to Nagajor. I am very excited to see the lore.

I would especially like to see the internal politics of the region, and their reaction to the Successor States, will Xa Hoi try to fill the vaccuum themselves? Or remain fairly oblivious to the others?

As a lot of those have already said, I like the feel of the region, but feel they are mainly 2 dimensional. I am not gonna rehash what has been said, here is just my quick thoughts.

I love the aesthetic of Osirion, or at least its start. I have no problem with the use of the Egyptian pantheon, but I feel like it either needs to be explored, or ignored entirely. As it is now, its basically just a "yeah, it's Egypt so here are some Egyptian gods" when it could be so much cooler. What I would love to see is the return of these gods, maybe in different styling than before, as they seek to reclaim dominion over their land. Maybe as a way to show the locals are rekindling their connection to their past and seek to ignore and expel the foreign gods. This could be interesting with their current pharaoh being a cleric of Abadar. I would also like to see more about Nethys and his connection to the region. That is just ripe for a local university or something.

I like city states, so obviously I like the idea of Thuvia, but again feel it falls flat. I want to see the intrigue and politics that comes from a nation built on the sale of one export. I want to see how these city states cooperate with eachother. I would personally like to see an exploration of the different cities having ties to foreign powers, like being in the pockets of Absalom, Cheliax, Rahadoum, etc to highlight that the alliance is kind of hanging by a thread.

For Rahadoum, I feel like the topic is so cool and interesting. By far my favourite. I would be interested in if they have had a flood of immigrants since the Age of Lost Omens, as I would assume many of the small folk might have a lack of respect in the gods now and seek new alternatives. With a flood of new people, Rahadoum might start looking to expand its borders.

Katapesh. So much potential that just gets relegated to "drugs and slaves" which is not great. I think there is some cool alternatives of an uprising, or internal coup attempt against the Pactmasters. An Andoran funded rebellion would be interesting. But yeah, ultimately its just "bazaar the country" currently.

Qadira is really fascinating as a concept, but I just want to see it done justice from writers who are sensitive to the topic. Too much potential for problematic writing. Please just be respectful is all I ask.

Beyond those, I mainly just want cultures for existing ancestries, not that I am opposed to NEW ancestries and heritages I welcome them, but I want to read about desert elves, halflings that live in oases, desert goblins, etc.

Mainly, I just want good respectful lore. I am also a huge fan of internal political struggle. We don't have a lot of "this country is at war with this country" type of thing. I really like those as backdrops for campaigns and I would love to see it in the setting as a guide.