All right, errr...
Character types: Moogle's are predominant in the story so most of the main characters will be Moogle's and members of the Front or working for them. Other characters will be fine but not a centre of focus, if that make sense. Also, this machine will probably only be big enough for Moogles.
And your not sure what a Moogle is? You haven't played any Final Fantasy at all and sort of picked up what they were called?! MINE GOTT!
This is a Moogle. In Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts, they tend to serve as shop keepers. They haven't had much of a break out from that though. They are awesome, don't like their pom touched (the red thing on a bendy stick connected to their head) and they have an odd speech impediment where they have to add Kupo after sentences.
For the place we're concerned with, they look like this. Its part of an update the whole series underwent. I like them.
Day and age: Not really applicable. Final Fantasy rarely gives a date because it doesn't actually matter. Its all a little confused anyway. They have airships powered by energy rotors and computer terminals but everyone uses bows, muskets and swords.
Tech: As I said, Technology Levels are confused but seem to favour Airship Technology. They are sleek, beautiful machines. Everything else is a little less so. Combat is still mostly sword fights but there are muskets and pistols too. An energy weapon would be novel but still take the form of a sword. There are 'computers' but they are reserved for higher classes and officials.
In short: Its Medieval with a load of Technology woven in directed at Airships, mainly.
World and history: Well, I'm going to airlift from Wiki for most of this. hang on.
This is set within the land of Ivalice during an age when "magic was commonplace" and "airships plied the skies, crowding out the heavens". At this time, magicite, a magic-rich mineral, is commonly used in magic spells and in powering airships—a popular form of transportation in Ivalice. Ivalice is divided into three continents: Ordalia, Valendia, and Kerwon. Ordalia is located in the western part of Ivalice. The Rozarrian Empire makes its home in the vast inland plains of this continent as the eastern portion of it is largely desert or "jagd"—lawless lands so devoid of Mist (the ethereal manifestation of magicite) that airships cannot fly over them. Valendia is the home of Imperial Archadia, where vast and lush plains dot the landscape. Central to the story is Dalmasca, a small kingdom between the two continents and Empires. Located in the middle of the Galtean Peninsula of Ordalia, Dalmasca is surrounded by an expanse of desert. The temperate climate of Dalmasca differs from the cold environs of Kerwon and the lush plains of Valendia and Ordalia. During this time, Ivalice is beset by the pending war between the forces of Rozarria and Archadia. Dalmasca is taken after a long time of fighting and Rabanastre is where we set everything. This is two years after the invasion.