And looking at the name (Abyss =~ hell), I'd say that Abysians are somewhere between humans and demons, or actually humanbreds and demonbreds. I just hope Abysia will get Blood-only Cross Breeding in DomIII... That spell's flavour is just so fitting for the whole breeding concept.
How many of you have played Illwinter's first game, Conquest of Elysium, which
did have elves and dwarves, dark elves and draconians, human nations inspired by Middle-Age Europe, something Asian (), Roman imperium, and also classical mages: druid controlling animals, shaman controlling spirits, enchanter controlling items and statues, demonologist constantly sacrificing gold to have a chance of binding infernal forces, and necromancer losing his sanity when using his power, but having the chance to obtain immortality if he can clear his mind. Many things from that game are still visible in Dominions, and the changes are just as visible.
The better of the spirits Shaman controlled resemble later Horrors. Blood hunt is no longer automatic, but one still has to lower taxes to push into blood, and two nations are still clearly inspired by Rome. And while Ermorian necromancers don't sacrifice their sanity to call back the dead, the hordes are even larger, and the price isn't gone, it just is different. Even the shapeless things sometimes formed when dozens of corpses were available came back, in the form of the Eater of the Dead.
I wonder if DomIII will bring back other things from that old game. Not orcs or elves, but other well-known clichés... I presume most of you have noticed the mercenary group with Inquisitor leading huge number of Marignon pikemen. Well, imagine an independent army twice that big, with inquisitors and witch hunters in the lead, one of them seemingly prophet, Knights of the Chalice holding the read, all this under the name of Inquisition, attacking unexpectedly? Can you see it? What about the Four Riders?
Oh, there certainly are clichés I wouldn't mind seeing. I trust Illwinter can handle most any cliché well enough for it to fit right in to their world. As a good example, Vaetti could be said to be just smaller orcs. In Conquest of Elysium, they were even named Goblins. Still, I wouldn't mind a Vaetti nation, because Vaetti are more than just goblins. Similarly, I wouldn't mind seeing orcs under the name, costume and even culture Illwinter would dress them in. However, I'm not expecting a Vaetti nation, because unless they think it would work, Illwinter won't add it. I didn't except Moose riders, but I'm excepting Jotun Moose Knights more than War Bears.