I shall read the RG at once.
As for 'orientalizing' the game world, I think it works fine if my character is from a far off/exotic locale. Perhaps there's something like a Silk Road in the world, where trade between the distant Empire and this land can flow.
My character's quest then took her here, partly in search of knowledge outside the realm, and partly to help her avoid 'Imperial Entanglements.' At least for much of her adventures. More recently, the faction that she was up against was outmanuevered, allowing her more free access to her homeland. Of course, by then she liked it here too.
Okay, assuming we go with Binder's framework, which seems very good to me, then I'd install a natural barrier to Rauland opposite the border with Dorminth; a mountain range spanning the eastern side of the country. On the other side of those mountains is a desert...and through that desert, if one knows the ways, one can eventually arrive at a place who's name comes roughly to Eternal Empire of the Jade Throne, or sometimes by an older name
Under the Five Pillars of Heaven. The 'pillars' are a ring of tall, unusually narrow mountains that surround the Empire's outer perimeter, creating a barrier of sorts that helps keep it moist and temperate despite the nearby arid area...as well as forming a natural defense against intruders.
Trade with the Eternal Empire comes via merchants who pay desert tribes to convey them along routes that use the few oases in carefully planned legs that allow them to cross the barren white sands without, quite, dehydrating. The goods that come from this are luxury goods, in fashion with the wealthy who are always in search of something new that their peers don't have or can't get...and can pay the exorbitant sums that would entice a man to take the monumental risk of making that journey.
When Mei Ying made the crossing, it was in disgrace; one of the few survivors of a monastic tradition that was found to be heretical in its teachings. In disguise she went with the caravan through the desert and across the treacherous mountain pass until she took refuge in the trading city on the other side. During a raid on that city by monstrous creatures, she revealed herself...and later that evening had to fend off an assassin that had also waited in the caravan, hoping to find his quarry among the workers. Having helped the other members of the group during the attack, they now helped her against her assailant. She elected to go with them after that, and had many adventures at their side.
Eventually, when she grew strong enough, she returned to the shadow of the Five Pillars of Heaven, and confronted the faction that had persecuted the order she'd belonged to...calling for their conflicting beliefs to be put to the test in a sanctioned trial of combat.
After a difficult, grueling battle that tested her to her limits, Mei Ying restored the honor of her tradition and exposed the crimes of her enemies. However, after doing what she could to set her order back on its path, she found that the monastic life no longer appealed to her. The world was so much bigger than the cradle of the Pillars, and she could not help but feel it was now a cage.
It was time to move on again, to bigger things, and higher places.
