Hot evening in Psar-Gombadan and part of a series on dark ages; the sun has heated the stones all day and now they're giving it back.

https://youtu.be/ulBjuvmKbtA

People used to not consider such a long trip so lightly. Because it used to take months, the traveler, typically someone with a business related reason to do it, planned his journey much more carefully, and knew all the ins and outs of traveling through space and to the distant planet of their ancestors. But as technology progressed, it became less and less of a big deal. More and more people from the Dim Sun became curious about the place their people originated from, and found themselves able to make the trip. Travel companies offered all the commodities imaginable and detailed plans to better enjoy the (still months long) cruise through the void of space.

Still, and despite entire days at their disposal to adapt to the atmosphere during the train trip from the spaceports of Uwens, Bhavabul or Palera, and the brochures spelling it out for them, they're almost all taken aback by the heat of the place, and the strength with which the sun goddess graces their heads in these parts of the cosmos. Or could it possibly be that they're feeling suffocated by the dense layers of thousands of years, or distressed by the spectacle of the world that gave them birth, stagnating under a mighty sun, abandoned by the gods? They do theorize that a primal sense of nostalgia either grew far back on Aryatis, or exists to some extent in all sentient beings, a sort of spirit that's exacerbated by the tremendous distances between the stars and set free to roam the dusty corners of old cities.

Thousands of years ago, panthers were an important nation on Elles. Their empire, Xaros or Psaros, started as a feared, forever hungry ravager, and elected the desert of Zeetia as their kingdom. There, in key places along the trade route through the rocky plains, between the wealthy kingdom of Belazur and Semantia, Ancernan then Bhavabul, they founded their twin capitals, and rapidly evolved from caravan robbers to merchant magnates; from highway cut-throats to tax collectors. Certain people would argue that the difference doesn't mean much in the end, however, in order to fortify their new status and further increase political ambitions, the princes went far in their efforts to imitate their Semantian counterparts, save for the cutting of their tails at birth, unlike the Semantian dogs, a singular and very understandable point of pride. That's why these two cities were, already back then, better known under their Semantian names : Psar-Gombadan and Psaria-Thamaffid. And for hundreds of years, this tight, jealous control made the two cities filthy rich. Architects from Uwens and Bhavabul poured in, attracted by the tremendous opportunities, and covered the twin capitals with magnificent palaces for the wealthy merchant princes, as well as temples to keep them in the good graces of the gods.

Unfortunately, empires rise and fall. But contrary to most ancient empires, in the case of Psaria and its twin capitals, the fall would not come in the form of a natural disaster or a foreign invasion. Much like Ghot and Ancernan, but for drastically different, less dramatic reasons, the decline left the cities' walls untouched and its people mostly in peace. Indeed, it was the destruction of Belazur by the Spyrants (also aliens), and to a lesser extent the ravages of the Blood Moon, that slowed down the flourishing commerce, making the trade route that had made their fortune pretty much pointless; despite the rise of Pathusia, and thus a powerful new state in the West, it never fully recovered. And all that was left was domination of an arid land; all that was left after the gods had seemingly moved on to greener pastures, was their statues' stone cold gaze over the landscape.

And this is the place that the traveler will encounter. It's still there, sickeningly old, and far beyond the postcard views of the twin cities, it is the morbid feeling produced from walking through these warm ruins still infused with life, that attracts the people of the Dim Sun like a lamp does moths in the night.