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British Colonial Aims

THE BRITISH have three main policies on Mars: first, to obtain control of a major source of liftwood; second, to ensure the security and continued existence of the Crown Colony of Syrtis Lapis, and increase its territory if possible; third, to ensure
the continued stability of the Boreosyrtis League, maintain its monopoly over production of bhutan spice, and continue to be the sole purchaser of the League's spice production.

The prime threats to British aims are Germany and the Oenotrian Empire. Bismarck's colonial aims are diametrically opposed to those of the British, and the persistent attempts to
destabilize the Boreosyrtis League and to weaken British control and influence there are a constant source of vexation for the British governor.

The recent defection of a high German official, who brought with him details of German actions in the north, has been a tremendous victory for British interests, and temporarily defused the German threat. This is fortunate, as the simmering conflict with the Oenotrian Empire has
recently boiled over into a full-blown war.
This message was last edited by the GM at 11:57, Tue 01 Sept 2015.

BEFORE THE coming of humans, the major Martian city-states were in rough equilibrium, although a few of them stood out above the rest:

Oenotria: The Oenotrian Empire
was a rising star in the region south
of Syrtis Major, rapidly dominating
the older principalities of Deltoton,
Astrapsk, Iapygia, and Avenel in
diplomatic and (occasionally) military
campaigns of conquest. With the
coming of the humans, and particularly
with the establishment of a British
Crown Colony in Syrtis Major,
the Oenotrians have been thwarted in
their northern expansionist plans.
The present war between the British
and the Oenotrians was almost an inevitable
result of the political and
diplomatic climate in the Syrtis plateau
resulting from the human settlement
there.

The Boreosyrtis League: The
Boreosyrtis League is not a civil entity,
but a loose mercantile confederation
with many similarities to the
Hanseatic League of the later medieval
period on Earth. The cities of
the Boreosyrtis League have a complete
monopoly on the production of
bhutan spice, the prime British export
from Mars (after lifiwood). The
league's headquarters is presently in
the city of Umbra, where the major
mercantile houses and princes of the
cities of the league send their representatives
to the League's Grand
Council.

Astusapes: The Astusapes mountains
are inhabited by High Martians,
ruled by a number of greater or lesser
kings from their "kraags," or
mountain fortress-cities. The kraags
are nearly invulnerable fastnesses,
carved from the heart of one of the
rugged mesas or cliffs that permeate
the region. The highlands are also the
source of liftwood, and liftwood and
the kraags are the twin pillars of
High Martian power. Raiding the
trade routes to the north was a minor
sideline that brought them into conflict
with the Boreosyrtis League and
the British.
The predominant high king of the
Astusapes region was the master of
Kraag Barrovaar, King Hattabranx,
until a British raid weakened his
power in February of 1888. Since
that time, the area has been in a state
of flux.

Technology

IN GENERAL, the Canal Martians
are the most civilized and the
most highly advanced technologically.
It is they who manufacture gunpowder,
cast guns (when they can get
the metal), and build the largest and
most advanced cloudships. Despite
this, however, the Canal Martians
possess a stagnant culture and have
not made a single major scientific
discovery in centuries.

Hill Martians are more primitive
than Canal Martians, both in appearance
and in technological advancement.
They are still capable of
relatively sophisticated creations in
many different kinds of wood, although
they lack the practical and artistic
metal-working skills of the
Canal Martians.

High Martians are a brutish lot,
both physically and technologically.
Although they can work metal, they
prefer to obtain manufactured goods
by trade or brigandage, or as tribute.
As masters of the high places where
liftwood grows, they have a monopoly
on the most important item of
trade on the planet.

THE CANAL MARTIANS are
the most advanced of the three Martian
races, but their culture, though
responsible for Mars' highest cultural
and scientific achievements, has
begun to decay.
PHYSICAL APPEARANCE
IN EXTERNAL appearance, the
Canal Martians present a most pleasing
(albeit still quite alien) picture.
Their general form is similar to that
of humans: They are upright bipeds,
with two arms freed for use as manipulative
appendages. They are quite
tall and slender, with a massive chest
cavity (necessitated by the atmosphere
of Mars). In coloring, they are
most fair, having fine hair and pale
ocher skin. Some humans feel their
large, pointed ears give them a faint
resemblance to the elves of human
myth.

Their hands have only three fingers,
but they are otherwise similar
in form to the human hand. Their
three-toed feet are roughly similar to
human feet with one major difference:
They were originally grasping
appendages very much like their
hands. The foot of a Canal Martian
has a vestigial "thumb" located
proximal to the metatarsal bones, on
what would be called the heel on a
human foot. Comparisons with the
anatomy of Hill and High Martians
demonstrate conclusively that this
was once a grasping as well as an
ambulatory appendage.
Their digestive and respiratory
systems are nearly identical to humans',
and both can eat the same sort
of fare (although Martian cuisine is
too spicy for most human palates,
and Martians find most human dishes
unpalatably bland).

Canal Martian dress is too varied
to be easily described, but it strikes
many observers as reminiscent of the
garb of the ancient Egyptians.

CULTURE

CANAL MARTIANS represent
35,000 years of civilization. While
consummate farmers, accomplished
builders, and skilled artisans, they
are nevertheless obviously a society
in decline, to which their inability to
maintain the more complicated machinery
found in many canal pumping
stations is ample testimony. The
culture of the Canal Martians is stagnant
and unchanging, their arts have
become incomprehensibly baroque
and degenerate, and their science is
without the innovative spark which
characterizes human intellectual activity.
The Martian inventive genius,
which built the magnificent Grand
Canals, is a little-used faculty of late.

LANGUAGES

NEARLY 200 Canal Martian
languages and dialects have been
cataloged by Professor Forbes-
Hamilton of the British Museum,
although only about a dozen are in
common use and, of these, only three
are likely to be encountered in the
British colony. These are:

High Oenotrian: High Oenotrian
is believed to be descended from the
original language of Syrtis Major
(prior to its occupation by the armies
of Emperor Seldon II thousands of
years ago). It is now spoken by the
cities of the Oenotrian Empire and
is understood in most of the neutral
city-states of Syrtis Major.

Parhooni: With English, this is the
official language of the British
Crown Colony of Syrtis Major. It
was originally the language of the
northern half of Syrtis Major, and is
a much-changed descendant of the
language of Seldon's empire (Son-
Gaaryani, or old Gaaryani). Parhooni
is understood by most of the
neutral city-states of Syrtis Major.
Parhooni is the label attached by
English lexicographers; its native
speakers call the tongue Gaaryani.

Koline: Koline (trade-speech) is a
pastiche of Son-Gaaryani (the archaic
dialect of Seldon's empire) and
several other tongues. It is the trade
language of Mars, spoken by almost
all canal boatmen, merchants, and
cloudship crewmen throughout the
planet. It is a primitive language, but
it is easily grasped and serves its purpose
well.

Umbran: Umbran is the name applied
to a number of similar dialects
spoken by the inhabitants of the constituent
city-states of the Boreosyrtis
League. Its roots are uncertain,
but it bears no resemblance to Parhooni/
Gaaryani.

Other widespread Canal Martian
dialects are Hellan (spoken by the
southern kingdoms in the great basin
of Hellas), Noachan (spoken by the
city-states north of the Noachis
Highlands), and Khallan (a dialect
spoken by engineers and craftsmen,
and now, unfortunately, largely extinct).