By all means, I agree that "special" characters should be a drop in the ocean of normies. But I'd say it's enough if the world is the "normal" backdrop; like that human fisher's village. (And yes, we do need more normal backdrop.) Our party could be the band of oddballs.
That would be completely fine. After all, your party is going to "save the world". So, it's allowed that it is "stronger" than the average.
You need a human fisher's village to have Tieflings, Mind Flayers and Elves be something special. If you continuously throw powerful races at us, they become boring and dull.
I get your point and I agree that fisher's village would make illithids look more special but on the other hand I started in far too many "fisher's villages" to enjoy them even a little. Even tiefling refugees seemed too generic for me.
True, the "hobbit village" starting point has been used in so many books and games that it is difficult to write it well. If I go back to Lord of the Rings, it feels a bit generic and long winded how Tolkien writes in the beginning about the planned feast and Gandalf's visit. At the same time, you can't just jump directly to the strongest foes and most powerful beings, there is no awe and wonder in that. You have to describe everyday life and small worries to make the coming wars and suffering more credible.
And that, of course, is an art.
