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So, what does the Old Kingdom of the Modern Day (i.e. the time the books are set) look like to you?

Mostly empty space with scattered villages and towns. Isolation in the mountains is because that's the nature of mountains, but in the flats it's because where there's sufficient water and food is spread out. Perhaps some large concentrations of people crop up along some stretch of a river. This isolation blunts some of the racism of the world, particularly the further you get from places like Timiro, where you can find orcs trading with elves and goblins who actually make good friends.

Big open space with scrubby grasslands and light forest, lots of game, lots of goblinoids, old elven ruins, the odd dwarven ruin, rare hidden elven villages (elves area delicacy here), big rainstorms.
Big gains and big losses to had by all.

With orcs, and other monster races controlling the borderlands, a broken Elven kingdom (think feudal England, without a true king or queen to guide them the nobles are grabbing for power) in the middle. without parliament or house of nobles to stop the idiocy of war and appoint a new king.

I'm not familiar with it, so I'll just inquire as to what it looks like to YOU?

haven't GM'd or played in that area of the world, but when i read the setting bits in the book, i'm reminded of Eriador from Tolkiens legendarium.
Eriador is the region known as "the west" (really the north-west), part of the former holdings of the men of Numenor.

pretty much the world of the Lord of the Rings and hobbit films. you have vast tracts of open land with scattered settlements, dotted with old ruins of all sorts (both wholesome ruins like Weathertop, and those home to powers less wholesome. like Carn Duum) in places you have areas where people have rebuilt and live fairly peacefully (like the Shire), sometimes right next to places where life isn't quite as good (Bree and the old forest), you have places where the old races are holding on (like the grey havens, Rivendell, Greenwood), places where they once held strong but recently lost (erebor), places where other groups have moved into old places (Gundabad, Moria), and places where lesser kingdoms with long linage still stand (Gondor).

you can pretty much put all of this into PFRPG into the old kingdom area. only the book wisely left things vague so your not locked into a specific map.

We are playing it like the New Zeeland wilderness like the LOTR seettings. Its a perfect match with big river (Old kingdom river) high mountains to the north and plains and forest in the lowlands.

In my setting we have Old dwarven cities in some of the mountains. Some still active. Also Dwarven mines. But they are not active anymore. But have lost secrets.

The Orcs are ruling most of the land with many scattered tribes. Also many of the non-human races are present here. Its a hostile place.

I have not added any elven cities or stronholds yet. But I am thinking that there will also be some Elven lost cities here.

https://www.google.no/search?q=new+zeal ... BJ#imgrc=_

Lord of the Rings'ish with more runes than running kingdoms.

I ran my Old Kingdom lowlands with lots of plains or steppe land, ruined and buried dwarven and elven cities here and there, broken walls and towers, ect. Lot's of roving bands of goblins and orcs, and Mongol-like tribes of humans. I had cities of mostly orcs and goblins (some Ogres) in some parts too. An occasional small forest, more trees near the mountains and rivers.

A few elven citadels managing to survive, and having to deal with constant barbarian pressure. Sometimes I was inspired by the later days of the situation of the Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantine).

The mountains had tribes of Orges, Orcs, Gromek. In the current campaign I run in, the GM has a lost elven city/civilization (That practiced Star Magic, and had an observatory up in the mountains in their city, tried to stay mostly as hidden and shut off from the rest of the world as they could. Had some terraced farms on the sides of the mountain and such).

If I ever start another PF campaign, I always wanted to set it out of an Elven Citadel in the Old Kingdom. Probably along the river.