Personally speaking, for example, I don't actually find Garlemald's aesthetic or culture particularly compelling in and of itself. I still loved the story about them, in their dedicated zone, because it was compelling and full of emotional nuance and conflict I could connect to regardless of my having no strong feelings whatsoever about Roman or Russian architecture, customs, or nomenclature. (Or steampunk, for that matter.) So I don't see why that couldn't apply to any culturally x-inspired fantasy setting you can think of.