I pictured this like a sort of loose fantastical Columbus discovering the new world situation mixed with the episodic adventure aspect of star trek, but if the star trek gang had a mission to colonize as well as meet new races.

My thinking for the group that sent my protagonists: picture a fantasy airship crew like that of Joss Whedon’s Firefly. They have a background of being blockade runners who helped a relative to a foreign king in a recent war. Essentially the captain of said crew calls in the favor to the King’s relative and uses him as a benefactor/investor with the crown’s blessing (and various support/resources) and makes the trip to an archipelago continent to establish a colony (as well as establish relations to natives/trade routes/catalog plant and wildlife)

The book would be a collection of relatively short but episodic adventures collected like a season of television all contributing to an over arching "season" megaplot.