It was the first constructed language ever published as part of a role-playing game and draws its inspiration from Urdu, Pashto, Mayan and Nahuatl. The last influence can be seen in the inclusion of the sounds "hl" and "tl" . One exact borrowing from a real-world source is the Tsolyáni noun root "sákbe," referring to the fortified highways of the Five Empires; it is the same word as the Yucatec Maya "sacbe," referring to the raised paved roads constructed by the pre-Columbian Maya. Another close borrowing is from the Nahuatl word "tlatoani," referring to a leader of an Aztec state (e.g. Montezuma); it is similar to the clan-name of the Tsolyáni emperors, "Tlakotáni."