clearstream
(He, Him)
I was thinking of their forays to other places through portals, to take resources. They feel to me a bit like British and other European nations privateer forays into Africa and Asia. In some ways it's an exciting period, until one takes the point of view of the inhabitants of those other places.Victorian imperialism was achieved as a consequence of getting a technological step up on the rest of the planet. War of the Worlds is an allegory for this. This, and many of the other original "Steampunk" novels are actively anti-imperialist. For another example 20000 Leagues under the Sea is also strongly anti-imperialist.
Lantan stands in direct contrast. They could have used their advanced technology to carve out an empire, and they chose not to. This makes them culturally very different to the British (Romans/Americans/humans).
I suppose reflecting on my concerns, I have seen gamers several times recently responding to efforts for diversity with "what about" this digression into something closer to our mainstream or Western culture. I feel like gaming has an opportunity to amplify diversification and should be wary of detracting from it, which is subtle yet constant... an erosion. Hence I advocate responding to a thread about drawing inspiration from other cultures with simply direct celebration of that.
I'm not trying to say anyone is acting badly here. I don't think that's true. More thinking "should we stay aware of possible implicit biases"?