This is definitely an interesting question. If we use Earth's history as a guideline much of this will be highly contingent upon the area in which the settlement exists and the resources and types of people there.

For instance, in a fairly rich area with lots of jobs and universal/easy access to the necessities they may live peaceful lives for the most part. In a poorer area with less access to the basic amenities, the poor might resent the minority races or vice-versa, the minority races might blame the majority for their hardships.

Similarly, from the religious perspective, it is just as often (especially in the middle ages) that areas that had an even mixture of multiple religious views within a population ended up with either hardline splits within the culture and physical boundaries within the settlements as well as the possibility that they live with a microcosm of a new blended religion/culture with their own views and beliefs that often superseded the grander racial divides.

Just some food for thought.

Just something to keep in mind.

Good questions! My city is 47% To'resk, 35% Janoa, 17% Dras. It is in a Janoan biome (Trop Rainforest) in a barely plurality Janoan county. Will I have To'resk or Janoan architecture (or, preferably, both!)? Will the members of each of the three tribes each worship their own religion or will there be a dominant religion that others have been converted to (if not born into)? Will all of the religions have houses of worship? Will the Janoan NPCs look down on the Dras NPCs? Will the Dras all be in the drudge jobs? Will all the merchants be To'resk? Will all the soldiers be Janoan?

All interesting questions...

It is stated that the roles of the rulers to set and enforce the cultural norms of the various civilizations.

From the kingdom level on down.

So depending on what the noble above you feels in regards to these things, you will have that to take into consideration.

And then it would be up to you to either carry that direction further.

Or to take it another direction at the county or city level.

What I am going to to as a Janoa mayor introducing myself to a village of mostly Janoa but some Tor esk and Neran. They are right in the middle of a lot of Dras. So, what I will do is start talking to everybody I see right away.

I do not know what kind of interface will be provided, but my little avatar is going to be chatting up every body she sees.

[to the other tropical biome guy upthread, there is political strife about some people not liking Dras in the tropics.

It's a part of my management of my Village in their natural territory. I am going to become a dissident in my tribe about Dras because I live among them and work with them. ]

not to invoke a floki on myself for three posts in a row or anything, but it looks like we will have migrants. Tribes will be driven out of some areas. I am planning for this. My village welcomes Dras driven out of other parts of the tropics. We need them. For example

Still nothing I could find can justify the existence of these mixed settlements or explain how a Waerd would feel about being in a Neran settlement and subject of a God knows what monarch. If I were a waerd, the way it's explained, I'd just move to a full waerd settlement. I really want to write the show us your domain, but I don't think it makes sense if I don't know if the citizens live peacefully together or if there is segregation and prejudice or hate in general. I wish Soulbound would share their view on the subject. :(

Nerans in particular seem to like insinuating themselves anywhere they can. If you are concerned about it, there are probably some fully Waerd settlements, and certainly some with overwhelming Waerd majorities. An important consideration is that if the Waerd tolerate members of other tribes in settlements that were originally all Waerd, then they must find those individuals to be useful.

As for the justifications for multi-tribe settlements, the game will be taking place in an era well after the first contacts of the tribes. The detailed explanatory backstories might be filled in by future lore that will be partly based on player actions during the Kingdoms of Elyria phase. Beyond that, I know nothing, so stay skeptical.

hmm, what i'm wondering is what will happen if i pick being a Dras Mayor/Count in a Tropical Rain Forest Setting with a ~50/50 Dars Jonan Population... could be interessting ... or possible a short/difficult reign...

Even when we start playing Elyria does not come out of a vacuum.

How about this:

Years and years ago some traders send member of their own tribe to other tribes to establish a permantent trading post in foreigen territory.

For some of these foreigners this short term assignement became a longtime/permanent assignement or they liked their new home. These people then called some relatives to live with them in.

Most of them kept their customes and when they looked for marriage partners they turned back to their own tribe.

And so what once was just some people working for a trading post become many people of a tribe living far away from their own tribe.

This is just one scenario for tribes living together in one settlement.

Example in history: Hanseatic League. As a side node for member of the Hanseatic League it often was forbidden to marry someone from the place of their assignment.

Other scenario:

A king needs certain skills in his kingdom that is his own subject does not have. So he calls out to other tribes and invite them to settle donw in his own kingdom to get this skills.

Example in history: End 18th / Begin 19th century the Russion Zar called German settler to to Russia. These setters founded own settlement. They kept their language, their customs, their religion. After some time there were also mixed settlements.

Other scenario:

Religious Presecution. For a Muslim the distinction between Catholics, Protestants, Methodist, etc is hard to see, the are "all" christians. For Christians the differences between Sunnis and Shiites are hard to see, the are "all" muslims.

So just because the tribes are describes of having a certain religion does no mean all tribe members agree on every part of this religion.

So when your are Waerd which have a slight diffrent view of certain relgious matters and the majority calls this heresy and wants to kill you, what are you going to do? You take your brother and sisters in faith and emigrate.

Example in history (there are countless once) : Expulsion of the Huguenots from France. A lot of Huguenots went to Prussia and settle there.