There are also two excellent novels by Barker, Man of Gold and Flamesong. The societies presented with the game are very intricate and very old, with histories, traditions, and myths stretching back some 25,000 years. Their legal codes and sciences are much like those of the Arab philosophers of the Middle Ages they are obsessed with personal and family honor much like the medieval Japanese. Their gods are like those of the Hindus, with a heavy dose of the bloodthirsty Aztec or Mayan deities. They have mighty, well-organized legions like those of the Romans. TГ©kumel is a world of tradition, elaborate bureaucracies and heavily codified social structures and customs. Contact has been made with a race of powerful extra-dimensional beings - 'gods' to all intents and purposes - that are worshipped with elaborate ritual. The learned can make use of a form of 'magic' - actually extra-dimensional energies from the 'Planes Beyond', or the magic-like effects of ancient technological devices. Now is the time of the Second Imperium of TsolyГЎnu, the other four major empires of the northern continent - LivyГЎnu, Mu'ugalavyГЎ, YГЎn KГіr and SalarvyГЎ - and many other lands, alien enclaves, vast deserts and endless seas. Mankind has climbed back up to a social and technological level resembling that of Earth during the European Renaissance, but the societies of TГ©kumel are different and unique. The sky was empty of stars and all lines of communication were cut raw materials imported from other planets - particularly iron - became rare the great machines fell silent.ДЇor perhaps fifty centuries survival hung by a thread, but slowly civilisations emerged from the darkness and wars raged across the planet between empires and against the native species, the SsГє and the HlГјss. Then came the Time of Darkness, when TГ©kumel and its solar system suddenly and mysteriously fell into a pocket universe, shattering civilisation and causing humans, allies and enemies alike to fall back into barbarism. After extensive terraforming and clashes with the planet's native species, TГ©kumel became a residential planet frequented by the wealthy and powerful. The story begins some 60,000 years in the future, when humans and their alien allies settled the planet of TГ©kumel. This synopsis from the site really caught my imagination: This really is a great setting if many of you are as unfamilier with it as I was until a few days ago - if anyone has played Phantasy Star Online - it's kinda like a D&D version of what that would be like 60,000 years later.

Empire of the petal throne desert