The Alchemists’ society is probably most akin to a University. The population is a mixture of many races. Only a few of them are full-time scholars. Most of them are there to learn, and gather ingredients from the surrounding lands, which are rich in necessary resources. They are on the largest of the islands, living in the remnants of what was once a center of learning — like the librarians of Trantor, almost. They generally trade potions for the things they can’t produce themselves. There is room for them to be somewhat agrarian, raising large quantities of crops and livestock for things they commonly use as potion ingredients — say, chicken gizzards or corn husks — and eating the rest. They have gone on with their studies as obliviously as possible despite the long-ago fall of the official University structure. Their neighbors protect them because they are more valuable alive, replenishing potion supplies, than dead.
The Pirates have a loose hierarchical structure. They know the value of teamwork, of obeying commands, of coordinating attacks between vessels, and they have a certain honor. They’re just not keen on obeying the laws of others, especially at sea. There is a Pirate King, of sorts, who holds command as long as the various captains support him, but his hold is unstable and subject to change. Most of what they need they steal from Union ships, or trade with the land-dwelling members of the alliance.
The Golem-Makers live underground or in secret well-protected cities. They’re probably Dwarves. They get what they need using golems as laborers (for mining, food-gathering, and building) or in trading ores for food. They have a formal government and a rigorous code of laws.
The Amazons have a militaristic and matriarchal society, consisting of a variety of mostly autonomous tribes who answer to a ruling council. I’m leaning toward some magical effect that causes there not to even be any men in their society. They are disciplined, organized, and cooperative, but they live with nature and eschew road-building and vast permanent cities. They are hunter-gatherers on the verge of agriculture, with food-producing “gardens” that they tend periodically.
The Weres have a crude imitation of government, which changes often. As a whole they are committed to rejoining civilization, but individually are unreliable as they are susceptible to involuntary transformations. The were who today is king may be a wolf tomorrow, and others lead for a week in his place. They try to farm, badly; they try to raise livestock; they try to build but they don’t often finish. They have a low population and are scattered widely, mostly on the fringes of other societies. As a whole, they are committed to the idea of being human, but from week to week, their focuses and tactics shift.
The Diviners are probably some underground race, possibly dark elves, who were forced to live above ground when the shifting jungle rivers flooded their caverns. The catastrophe was seen as a failure to properly appreciate the dangers of the future, so their society formed around the concept of rigidly anticipating and adhering to any coming trials. Not all of them are diviners; the lower classes adopt the role they are told, whether to farm or hunt or fish or build or fight. The diviners are the ruling class over a vast obedient peasantry.
The Avians… I haven’t really got sussed yet. They’re highly mobile, so they are the first to defend the Alcazar, but also the first to retreat. Since they can escape most threats they have the least to lose by alliance. They like to live in high places, of which there are many scattered around, so they’re probably migratory and tribal.
The War Children are best described as tyrannically egalitarian. They are a race of multi-ethnics, part elf, part troll, part orc, part human, part gnome, part doppleganger, etc. They interbreed as a sign of brotherhood and fellowship, deliberately homogenizing their gene pool. They take pride in having lost their individual racial characteristics. Some are deformed, and most are ugly. They are trying to revitalize the ancient battlefield in atonement for the sins of their ancestors. As part of their efforts to wipe clean the past, they have studied the history of the area thoroughly and know their own lineages by heart, to more properly absolve themselves. They farm, restore the natural beauty, bury the dead, honor the soldiers who fought, and so on. I don’t have any idea what kind of government they have.
