After much back and forth, we’ve decided to set the RTS in Cairn. It’s pre-grim-dawn though, so no aetherials, although there may be some cthonic elements.
We wanted to give it more of an historical civilization feel but with fantasy elements, since I think straight history is kind of limiting in terms of what you can come up with for interesting units and abilities.
So in terms of setting it will be a bit more Age of Empires but with some magic and fantasy units, alongside more traditional army units. In terms of gameplay feel, it will be a bit more toward SC2.