You can't "lock" something that doesn't exist.

[Penthea]

I would argue that just because we're unable to play as something it doesn't mean we're locked out of it, just that we haven't gotten to it yet.

If we can't play it then how is it not locked?

We aren't locked out of Garlemald or Sharlaya, both of which are mentioned in the story, we just haven't made it that far yet. By your logic we should already be able to visit those places because 'they exist in the story so we should be able to play it' and for us to not already be there right now means we're locked out of them. In fact we should already have access to ALL the regions mentioned in the story just because, heaven forbid, they lock us out of somewhere.

By my logic if something exists in the story and we can't access it, we are locked out of it. Whether that's a zone, a race, a class, etc. Once again I must remind you I said nothing about what I want or what we should be able to do. Do you always try to label other people with opinions they didn't claim to have?