Question about multiplayer

[Sighart]

So a friend of mine and me would like to start playing this awesome looking game
so my question is if we both take the same race
is there a chance we are "neighbors" ? can we trade and make an alliance
do we see our cities on the map ?
sorry i wasn't in the beta and the few gameplay videos on youtube don't provide enough information about how the multiplayer part really works out
can players do quests together ? etc
thx 4 answers