1800s/industrial revolution not!Europe that was conquered by not!Genghis Khan, and since then splintered into four kingdoms. We're in the northwestern one, Kharas (not!France), which has a rivalry with the archipelagic naval power of Rlyat (not!England) (which is mainly populated by people who would be considered Inuit in our world). The ruler is a God-Emperor, by legend eldest son of the eldest son of the etc of not!Genghis Khan, identified with the Sun.
Horses are culturally very important, and there is a breed of divine horse that the Imperial stables maintain, as in legend, the great conqueror of the steppes rode a horse that was made of sunlight and conquered the whole world on the back of this mare. (Then they had divine children together, because this is a myth.) The divine horses are shiny like Akhal-Teke, but even shinier (you can also draw reference from Arabians, since they're also very aesthetic and famous war horses). The most valued coat color is a golden bay, so that the horse's mane and tail are black like the rider's, and the coat golden like the Sun and also the rider's skin.
Due to heavy trade, the setting is ethnically diverse: the prestige appearance is Mongolian/Central Asian (see above wrt not!Genghis Khan), and people of all skin colors can be found, even if the most common appearances are what we would call Western European or Mediterranean. (There's also a significant number of people we would consider Inuit on the coast, due to the aforementioned archipelago that reaches the arctic.)
Aesthetically, think waistcoats, shirtsleeves, Rational Dress movement. Long hair worn in a topknot is unisex and common, but not universal.
Kharas has just lost a war to Rlyat. The losses were a few islands that were gained in the previous war, and the Emperor, who was personally cut down by an opposing Admiral. (She now has the byname Sunslayer.) You read about the funeral in the newspaper; he was called Rayaya-sanul-nishele-shuye-re-korutak or some other archaic mouthful. (Why can't they admit defeat and write it as Rayala-sanul-nikhele-khuyere-korutak like the modern literati would?) There was some announcement of his successor taking the throne, so he had a brother or son or something. Your conversation on how the defeat will affect Kharas's standing grinds to a halt, however, when the doors of the tavern open and in walks Vakhas Tiria, asking you to steal the new Emperor. And she wants him alive.
The state of Rlyat lays claim on every island off the continental mainland. It is a fishing matriarchy, where women have always had decisionmaking power. Each village has its own quorum of matriarchs, who send someone to the quaterly quorum of the island. The capital is the city of Hlyuta on the largest island, Begspyung Taw, which has something of a political class: islands are supposed to send their own representatives, in proportion to their populace, but the representatives typically serve for life, especially for the more far-flung islands. Where the archipelago goes north and east into the arctic, the populace lives a Rlyati way of life and speaks Rlyati dialects, but does not participate in the state of Rlyat. The administration's ability to enforce censuses and taxation peters out around the northeastern shore of Zlas.
Of all the states mentioned herein, Rlyat is the only nation: with the exception of Begspyung Taw, it is homogenous in ethnicity and livelihood, with its inhabitants all in the same dialect continuum, with the same gods and myths.
Kharas is one of the four Samulian countries (named here for their original word for the Sun) that are traditionally ruled by an Emperor who claims descent from the First Emperor and Sanul, the Sun made flesh in the form of a divine mare.
2Kharas and Rlyat are often at war, due to the fact Rlyat's largest islands are closest to Kharas, of the continental countries, and the pair of wide rivers that flow through Kharas to its northwestern coast: Kavros and Sekves (of which Sekves additionally flows through the capitol of Venkhatkas). Kharas also often wars with Chuharah, to the south, as there is only a partial natural geographic boundary between them. Historically, the part of Kharas to the northeast of the Kavros river has been occasionally part of Zlas, but not since Kharas drove them back to the low mountains between the countries during the reign of Emperor Evu-re-rayal-tasuse-yuruse-umatak some 300 years ago.
An agrarian country in the southwest of the mainland, which has retained more of the cultural practices of the pre-conquest Dabrı tribes that lived therein. (Nowadays, the Dabrı proper are only found in two isolated regions, one in the mountains and one in the impact crater rim islands in the bay between Chuharah and Tuhet.) The Emperor claims descent from the First Emperor and the divine stallion Samuu. Currently, there is an openly acknowledged harem, from which the worthiest son is chosen as the next Emperor.
A matrilineal patriarchy on the northern shore of the continent. Men are inherited by their sisters' sons. (Or, in absence of sisters, female-line first cousins' sons, or in case of lack of nephews, a "son-in-law" who is then expected to be inherited by a niece's sons.) Lower classes are more egalitarian; upper classes have mostly sequestered women, with their brothers allowing access to their male associates. The lower the class, the more freedom for the sisters. Aunts' daughters are usually allowed more freedoms.
Of the four Samulian empires, Tuhet is perhaps the only one that deserves the term. In the south of the continent, Tuhet has conquered the shores of the sea, expanded to the east, and maintains a standing army against the steppe tribes that wish to do what the First Emperor did and conquer at least a part of the peninsular continent. It has also crossed the southern sea and conquered its other shore, penetrating deep into the desert. Internal exile into the desert outposts is a common sentence for dissidents.
East of Zlas and north of Tuhet, there is an agrarian country that speaks an unrelated language. The steppe tribes did set it on fire when they passed through some millennia ago, but judged it too unimportant to bother actually invading. (They were correct.) Often at war with Tuhet, as there is no natural geographic boundary between them, and mostly on the losing side. Some 400 years ago, lost a third of its territory to an invasion by steppe tribes who crossed the mountains to the east through the northern passes.
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The four Samulian empires have recently acquired a fifth member: in the northeast, steppe nomads have crossed the northern mountain pass and conquered themselves a chunk of farmland from Eut. They do not call themselves an empire, though, and their systems of governance have assimilated less to the native forms. They have border friction with the land to their west, but also other steppe nomads who wish to conquer their territory: the Northern Horde (who speak a related language), and the Southern Horde.
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East of Tuhet and through the low section of the mountains lies a country that is a vassal of Tuhet's. They speak an unrelated language, and fear that Tuhet will ignore their vassalage and invade. The great desert is encroaching on them from the east, and to their north, the Southern Horde is also pressured by the climate drying, causing them to raid cities, and perhaps even invade.
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