Oh man, the field of Ottoman studies has changed a lot in the last decade, which I suppose can be either good or bad news for you depending on how much you like reading. It's a hallmark of a vital and healthy field to have such dynamism in its scholarly production so I can't really complain, but it does mean I have to be constantly trying to keep abreast of new books. Kersten's was the book I meant, yeah, I found it a pretty useful primer. From Anatolia to Aceh is a book length collection of papers edited by both Islamic SEA studies legend Annabel Teh Gallop and the father of modern Seljuk history A. C. S. Peacock - may be worth picking up. India is a blind spot for me as well, but I've been told good things about the utility of Samira Sheikh's Forging a Region: Sultans, Traders, and Pilgrims in Gujarat, 1200–1500 as an intro to the most relevant region from friends who study the area. I can't personally speak to its quality, though.
I would say the mechanics present in The Cradle and the Crescent fit Muslim SEA a lot better than they would the actual Islamicate heartland they were built for by the 1500s, so you're probably good on that. Mechanics wise, my rec besides the others folks have made would be to stress Realms of Power: the Divine. The most famous "magical practicioners" in Islamicate SEA during this period are far and away Sufi awliya - your characters could actually meet several of the Wali Songo depending on when they turn up! - and some of the rules around Divine powers in RoP: tD simulate the traditions around these mystics pretty well.
One combo I've always wanted to assemble a tradition out of is Ars Notoria (Realms of Power: Divine), Mythic Alchemy, Mythic Herbalism, or both (Hedge Magic), and the advanced uses of Philosophiae and Medicine (Art & Academe). It doesn't quite work in the standard setting because Ars Notoria is aggressively obnoxious to actually qualify for and learn, but there might be elements there you could borrow for, I dunno, traditional medicine practitioners or something. Lots of low-powered esoteric medical and alchemical options.
Just wanted to thank everyone for the suggestions. I learned a lot of things that will help me set up the game. Now to start buying the books so I can get to work.
Not quite 10-15 years but apparently late enough that the OP has decided to move on.
I was looking at playing a game where the group would be based out of Antwerp in the 1700's and they would be able to explore Indonesia and new Guinea (that is the area covered by the modern country of indonesia).
However the interests of both me and the group I was playing with at the time are much more oriented towards biology.
Thus I have mainly given loose thought to the many unique ecosystems present in the area. The many islands are home to quite many interesting species. Including Birds of paradise, The sumatran Rhino, etc. and many interesting plant species including many different varieties of spices. (we were 3 biologists in that group). I planned to focus the trip on finding interesting magical creatures and vis sources.
But considering the immense amount of research into the fascinating cultures of the area I feel almost shamed to share what few scattered thoughts I have made. I hope you can still find inspiration there.
I always wanted to play an Ars Magica saga in ancient or medieval China (probably during the Song dynasty) and I think it's better to keep hermetic magic as close as possible of the core rule for simplicity and because I think it's the most interesting magic of the game for a group of magician PC.
Re-organising the forms could be intersting to give new flavor and staying compatible with core rule, but I never founding an appropriate alternative partition so I cannot help you with that, sorry (I feel that separating Earth and Metal would be philosophically appropriate -at least for my idea of playing in China- but it would probably make them to narrow)
I haven't moved on, it just didn't look like anyone had replied in a day or so and I wanted to thank everyone for the help before it moved off the page. I actually hadn't thought much about the biology of the area, most of my reading was focused on political and economic history. I really appreciate you mentioned it because that is something I should learn a bit about to add flavor.
@Syrus: I was thinking loosely along the same lines of having a group of mages in China with very similar powers to the PCs but having different forms and techniques; as well as having more alien forms of magics that function very differently. Not sure how I will go about it. An advantage to having the PCs being outsiders to the region is that I don't have to develop the same detail for NPC characters that I would have to if the players were going to be from those traditions. I just need to think up the specific effects the players will see in play and think about how the differences might serve as inspirations for the PCs to research something new.
Specifically there are a group of islands called "the spice islands" that are the sole source of among others nutmeg, but also cloves and mace. Spices that are somewhat obscure today but which used to be in everything.
Trading in spices can be incredibly lucrative, and magi may be tempted to try to get their hands on some of the plants that the spices come from, because magic can make plants grow under conditions where they otherwise cannot. I imagine there could be a great plot about trying to acquire a nutmeg plant to grow it at home using magic.
Spices are also great ideas for vis sources and magi may come looking for the magical plants that produce vis-containing spices in order to have a reliable vis source.
That is if you prefer to focus on the economics.
For prestige exotic bird feathers and other hunting trophies are great. They also make great sources of familiars and even just display pieces ("you have a canary? thats cute. Watch this unique bird from across the globe.").
There is also a cryptid called the orang-pendek in the area (I mean its not actually in the area, but story is in the area)- Which is a sort of weird mute human covered in orange fur (Note that it is not an orang-utan despite what a reasonable person would infer from the description). Maybe orang pendeks are real in mythic europe) (mythic asia?). Searching for a legendary hominid is surely a worthy task for magi and could potentially be a fun plot.
If you can manage to pull it off in a respectful manner, the island of New guinea is also home to a staggering diversity of human cultures, from uncontacted peoples (even in modern times) to the entire range of possible social structures from hunter gatherers to small scale farmers. I imagine contact with these people could be a great source of stories, once again, if you can pull it off respectfully.
oh and not to mention, primeval rainforest is about as close as you can get to the perfect example of the kind of landscape that generate tethers.
Probably most of the islands would qualify for a tether score of 2 in the category of forest and 1 in the category of water,in their entirety.
I am not saying you should assign a magic aura of 3+ to every square cm of unsettled land, only that the rules would suggest this to be the case, and as such magic auras should be extraordinarily common and with them both vis and magical beings.
In addition the islands of Sumatra and Java (plus numerous smaller islands in the same line) are home to quite many volcanoes, including one that, uniquely, features blue lava (truth is stranger than fiction).
Thanks Euphemism, those are some great ideas. I had thought about the spices as a revenue source for the covenant, but it makes sense they could be tied to vis sources as well. And having high magic auras and lots of available vis would solve some problems. I want the PCs to have lots of neat places to explore and to find a good site, but I needed an explanation for why local magicians hadn't taken it. If magic auras of around 3 are very common, and vis is common, it would be very plausible that the local culture might come to see this as sufficient and the higher aura areas as not worth the trouble if something else is already using them. When I start nailing down the specifics of how the locals practice magic thinking how easy access to decently high auras and lots of vis would cause changes in practice will be helpful.
And just thinking about the animals provide some interesting ideas. The blue volcano is very cool, I will have to think of something to do with that.
If you've made any notes on that setting, do you mind sharing? I'm still working on expanding the Peripheral Code for our own early 21st Century saga so I'd be most interested in Hermetic matters at this time.
@Detroitgamer I don't know if the idea of chakras comes from Hindu, Taoist, or Buddhist teachings but it seems to me that it might be cool in (at least some parts of) Asia to find auras that reflected that structure.
Like the middle (green?) would represent the mundane level, with levels below that being progressively "lower", perhaps Winter Court type faeries and faerie places a la Dresden Files and the lowest layer being infernal powers. Conversely, above the green you'd progress through magic and Summer Court faerie areas with the divine powers at the highest level.