>>98543682
Well as a Dutchman with some Indonesian ancestry I can comment a little bit on the way colonials looked at it.

Early colonial Dutch often simply viewed the natives as barbarian, superstitious tribes.
Stories where usual seafarer nonsense about headless people, ghosts of the forest, cannibals and wildly fantastical wildlife.
As the relationship progressed, the Dutch started to learn about some of the cultures present and appreciate them, often through a lens of court culture and wayang theatrical culture for instance being preservations of a lost high culture. Truth is, it was a form of high culture in and of itself, that blended local traditions with hindu/buddhist and islamic influences and often inserted entirely new aspects like comical characters that would suddenly pose scathing social or political commentary or great philosophical insight.

In terms of stereotypes I'd mention that duplicity and disobedience are common tropes (common and understandable within colonial context). We still struggle to phase out the phrase "east indies deafness" to refer to selectively listening to what someone says in order to "follow instructions" while doing whatever you want.

An interesting read might be The Hidden Force (de stille kracht) by Louis Couperus about the struggle of Dutch colonial rationali(sm/sts) to truly understand or explain an almost mystical Java.

For fantasy setting thievery I'd say it would be good to study up on Balinese, Javanese and Sabanese cultures and intersperse them with more or less idiosyncratic tribals. Make sure to give some idiosyncrasies to the major 3 kingdoms, but also have them obviously influenced by 2 of 3 major civilizations with historic or current ties. For true indonesia this would be China, India and Islam. But make sure to emphasize its something else influenced by, not direct copies.
Also remember the coasts are all connected, and the inland regions are remote and mysterious, even to some of the natives.

>>98543682
can you...orient your picture properly? specifically to show America so that I can even try to evaluate where the fuck you're trying to show me in relation?

(?????)

>>98543682
>ought

>>98544397
>We still struggle to phase out the phrase "east indies deafness" to refer to selectively listening to what someone says in order to "follow instructions" while doing whatever you want.

Fuckin' fags

>>98543682
I've used this map for over a decade now for every fantasy setting I've run. It's the right mix of ocean to island hopping adventures that can either be episodic or long term campaigns.