[Gregstrom]

Jarkko, I don't think Omnirizon's point was intended as criticism in that way.

I would say that in the EA at least, the nordic nations have less human recruits than Yomi do. It's all Vanir or giants.

There are a total of 7 human-led races in the EA, at a quick count. 5 (Arco, Ermon, Ulm, Marverni and Mictlan) are Occidental - TC and Sauro aren't. 3 (Tir, Vanheim, Helheim) are led by very humanoid types - all are Occidental.
Abysia, Agartha, Fomoria, Niefelheim and Hinnom are pretty much human-shaped, if definitely non-human. 2 Occidental, 2 fictional (place them where you will) and 1 from the Orient.

I see 9 non-human EA nations: Caelum, C'tis, Pan, Kailasa, Yomi, Atlantis, R'lyeh, Oceania, Lanka. 2 fictional, 2 Occidental, 5 Oriental.

So by the numbers there does appear to be a bit of a bias. Some of this bias, though, may not be from any Orientalism on the part of JK and KO.

I don't know for sure what order the nations were created in, but I'd guess that the more human and humanoid nations were created first as they generally represent the mythologies and history most westerners are aware of.

After that, I suspect the desire to create new and different nations pushed the search for mythologies further afield at the same time as a desire arose to create something more than 'just another humanoid sprite'.