Comments about place:

ARDANIA

The average Ardanian commoner has never seen a non-human, nor would he believe in the existence of non-human races. Ardanian nobles know some of the basic facts, but are unlikely to have met anyone other than a half-elf (see note on half-elves).

Any non-human unlucky enough to land up in Ardania would end up in a circus or the like... considered a freak or monstrosity -- the outward sign of a human parent's sinfullness. Actually, the odds are quite high that Ardanians would simply kill such a being as an obvious spawn of the devil. Knowledgeable nobility rarely intervene, unless there is some over-riding political interest, or the non-human looks like it might make an entertaining plaything (some of the nobles are sickos...).

"Characters from Ardania MUST be HUMAN, or HALF-ELF with the DM's permission"

ALUSIA

All the races in the PHB are present. Humans are vastly in the majority, but significant populations of elves and dwarves exist, as well as tiny populations of faerie folk and goblinoid races.

"Characters from Alusia can be from ANY of the races in the PHB"

ISLES

As Alusia, but humans make up a smaller percentage of the races. Orcs are the most common, and there are large settlements of elves, dwarves, and halflings.

"Players may not create Islanders without permission from the DM. Islanders may be any race from the PHB, and may also be from certain sentient races in the Monster Manual, with the DM's permission."