Mars

Geography

The planet primarily consists of several expansive red-sand deserts, interspersed with six magnificent oceans, which are surrounded by vast, fertile grasslands and rich soil. This distinctive configuration has given rise to a habitable region along the equator called the Green Belt, where life flourishes. The Minor Yggtree, planted in this zone, serves as the source of these great seas, which branch out into sprawling rivers and lakes that penetrate the red sands, forming the Upperyard.

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Beyond the Upperyard lie the Loweryard regions, characterized by numerous deserts that the seas have been unable to penetrate. These deserts are separated by a series of imposing mountains, effectively isolating them from land travel and creating distinct and separate regions. However, beneath the planet's surface, vast expanses of interconnected caves and tunnels known as the Red Ground Keep exist, harboring their own mysteries and providing potential resources and shelter for intrepid explorers. Mars is also home to two moons, Phobos and Deimos, both of which have been colonized and terraformed ages ago.

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The MAJOR Lane that starts at Mars is the only lane in and out of this star system, but there are 6 Minor Lanes within the star system that are used to travel between planets. The Pyt Stop Lane runs from Neptune into the remains of Uranus, specifically where the planetoid used to be and where the majority of its moons still remain. The Uranus Remains has the Saturn Gate Lane which feeds directly into Saturn, the Jupiter Gate runs directly from Jupiter to Saturn and makes up its second Lane. Mars has the King's Road which runs from Mars, through Jupiter and its moons, through the moons of Neptune, namely Triton, through the planetoid Ceres, the remains of Uranus, and directly into Saturn, making up the 3rd Lane to feed into the planet. Mercury has one lane that goes straight to Mars called the Martian Straight. Earth has a Lane to Venus, the Hell-Runner Lane, and Venus has a lane through the moons of Saturn to Deimos, a moon of Mars, called the Grand Escape. ✦ Travel outside of the Minor Lanes, or simply to reach a Minor Lane for travel, is done via Hyperdrives which move vessels at extremely high speeds, but far from the speed of light. They are not feasible for interstellar travel and are only used to reach Minor or Major Lanes.

History

The First Age: The Song of Sand

In the days of old, when golden seeds still fell from the branches of Yggdrasil, into Midgard and planted itself onto debris which eventually formed planets around Minor Yggtrees, the planet Mars came to be born in the Wayfinder System. It was a garden world that supported a wide variety of life, namely the budding native Martians who showed a pre-disposition to telepathy. However, ruin visited them when the Sobek Empire found their star system and colonized it as a navigation hub in their expansion, hence its name Wayfinder. The Sobek had no use for another garden world and cooled the planet's core, shutting down the dynamo that sustained its magnetic field. That left the planet vulnerable to the solar wind, which clawed away the atmosphere and allowed the Martian water to sputter into space. Before long—in geological terms—the planet was a desert.

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Very few of the Martians survived and many were found by the Sobek during their colonization efforts, they sterilized the species, doing peremeant damage to their genetic sequence and reducing the promising race of Mortals to nothing more than mindless animals, rendering them incapable of independent procreation and ensuring the decline of their species. The Martians were used as game in the Sobek's new hunting grounds, purpose-bred to be entertaining for their new masters. The impact of the Sobek Empire's involvement was profound and irreversible. The once-developing civilization of the Martians was permanently altered, and their potential for growth and progress was snuffed out. Instead of evolving and advancing their society, the surviving Martians were reduced to a state of primitive existence, driven primarily by base instincts and trained for combat.

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During this age, The Imperium of Miðgarðr was beginning to expand and found the Sobek's actions insulting to their faith. The Imperium put the Sobek to the sword, Prince Elyakim enacted a particularly cruel punishment of stranding Sobek nobility on Mars and watching as the Martians tore them apart. The Imperium deemed the Martians Non-Intelligent life and did what they could to repair their violated genome before isolating the planet for its own safety.

The Second Age: The Song of Kings

During the fall of the House of David and the reorganization of the entire Imperium, the Wayfinder System was separated from the Imperium under the sovereign rule of Duke Godfrey and his House. They were settlers from Earth and colonized Mars for a second time, pushing the feral Martians deep into the barren desert mountains and building bio-domes for their cities. This was the Iphis Dynasty and via the advanced technology of the Sobek left behind, conquered their system and quickly became an interstellar superpower in trade and commerce. Their dynasty flourished for 7 generations of Martian Kings and Queens before The House of Zion succeeded the Davidic Lineage and the Imperium was made anew. In time, they came to bring the Wayfinder system back into the fold but were met with violent opposition, Iphis Kings and Princes who did not want to bend their knees to this new Zion Clan. And so, an example was made of them.

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The Starguard, the Imperial Department of War was set loose onto Mars and they crushed the Iphis without mercy. The Wayfinder System flew the white flag and the last King of the Iphis Dynasty, Adonis, bowed and kissed the ground at the Emperor's feet. Adonis' sons killed him for humiliating their Clan so publically and the Imperium established one of their own Imperial Houses, Ullrich, in command of the system. Mars was ruled by House Ullrich who had the planet evacuated of people and flora and fauna (including the Martians they could dig out of the Mountains) and terraformed it extensively. When this effort was done, a great habitable zone ran down the middle of the planet, the Green Belt, and the Ullrich House moved the capital city Iphisus under the branches of the Minor Yggtree.

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The Green Belt was the cradle of civilization and the land around it was called the Upperyard where most of the population lived. Leaving the Green Belt in either direction was the Loweryards followed by barriers of rugged mountains and vast deserts beyond that where Martians resided. Great farms and rural cities made up the Loweryards leading back into the Upperyards. The Ullrichs ruled for a long age of unbroken law until the Great War in Heaven when the Gods waged war with Demons. During this conflict, the Ullrichs were usurped and Mars fell into civil war. The Wakatsuchi, a branch Clan from the old Iphis Clan who migrated to the moon Deimos, laid claim to the Martian Motherland shortly but lost control of the King's Road, the Martian Straight, and the Grand Escape Minor Lanes. They could only exit the star system and they had no external allies. Pressed for power, the Wakatsuchi yielded Mars and retreated back to Deimos. The Atenanuar Sultanate allowed them to keep Deimos and moved their seat of power from Earth to Mars, renaming themselves the Martian Sultanate. During the ages, the Martian Sultanate would wed into the Deimos Royalty, breeding out the Wakatsuchi Lineage, and moved their seat of power to Deimos so as to better rule Mars under vassal Govonors.

The Third Age: The Song of Heroes

During the Unmei period, a Realm Tear appeared over the Martian Motherland and the planet fell to Khaos Daemons. During this event, Deimos was pulled across the cosmos to the Unholy Realm Josherynn. Mars was isolated via the Mercury Engine and remained in this state until Khaos began to corrupt the rest of the planets in the system slowly. Doing an adventure in Josherynn, Billy the Hero, Bearer of the Word Legendary would use his magics to return Deimos to orbit around Mars and slay the Khaos King Og'thorez, severing Khaos from Realspace in this star system. Sir Billy would lead the effort to re-settle Mars, this time hand-in-hand with the Martian people who had found salvation in Khaos Magic, undoing their handicap and regaining intelligence.

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Billy would add the Skyburner Clan as the next dynasty in the line of Sultans to rule Mars, the original lords of Mars having perished in Josherynn. The Martian Sultanate would rebuild itself under Skyburner but flourish under his son, Prince Bālkyth Skyburner II, who secured his family's iron grip on the rest of the system with his vast lineage. He sired 11 sons and 7 daughters, and through political marriage, placed a Skyburner at the head of all the Clans serving under him within the system, ensuring loyalty through blood for generations to come.

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Location under

The Martian System

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