Empress of Mars

A catalog for the new Old Solar System.

[retroscifiart]

Cities in space. Art by Steve R Dodd, Chris Foss, Steinar Lund, Robert McCall, John Berkey

[anempressofmars]

Regional duststorm enshrouds castle ruins in Southern Noachis, captured during the 1996 expedition to Mars.

"It befell in the days before SIN SHIAN, the Living God, that a proud ruler reigned over the City of Asrathtah. They bore the name of an ancient clan whose name eludes history, and learned ones know only their personal name, that which they ruled with. And that name was Kasir.

Now Kasir desired the land called Noachis by men, which in those days was ruled by a young sovereign, who took the name Hasath of Hakad upon their coronation. When the old and decrepit ruler of Noachis had died, Kasir had been called the Princess of that land, because many thought they would inherit it. But when the council of clans met, they overlooked them. And jealousy and resentment grew greatly in their soul.

So did Kasir decide to journey to the seer's temple near the sea. Kasir carried a great retinue before them and it included their four thralls, their bonded mates, their close warriors and their honor guard, and even two of their flesh-heirs. One bore the child-name of Hemva, "the Reddish", and the other bore the child-name of Amaksat, "the Quick-running." And Kasir loved Hemva, their first-born, with all their heart, and wished for the child to one day rule after them.

After forty passes of Deimos, Kasir and their retinue arrived at a great temple which now rests under the seas of sand. And a group of servants were building a statue to the new ruler of Noachis. Kasir bid their warriors to drive them out into the sand, and tore the statue to the ground. The warriors burned the statue in a ritual. They did not honor the seers nor pay them in homage.

And Kasir took upon the face of a High Ruler, and said upon the Seer, "Tell me how I might steal Noachis, and show me reigning over the land."

And of the vision Kasir saw only sand and bones.

And the seer told them, "You shall reign over the land in death. When your bones sink beneath the seas of sand. When your greatest flesh heir betrays you and takes your seat. When the temple here is buried beneath the sky. When your breathen warriors feast upon you. Then shall the sand sea of Noachis be your palace."

In fury, Kasir slew the seer. Their warriors burned the temple and the remaining seers inside. Kasir rode out with their retinue. Then they returned to Asrathtah, and ruminated upon all the visions and sayings they had heard. There they built a great bonfire with the help of their servants and thralls. And Kasir wept and brought forth Hemva, and burned them upon the fire. Then did they name Amaksat as heir.

Then did years pass. Kasir raised Amaksat, grooming them for command, and making a true warrior and ruler out of them. They grew into adulthood, and took the name of Masatkah. In time, Kasir did make war upon Hasath, the High Ruler of Noachis. At the final battle, in the midst of the sand sea beneath the temple and across from their home city, Kasir slew Hasath on the field of battle and cheered. For a pass of Phobos, Kasir wore a crown.

Once Phobos set, a mighty shadow grew upon the sky, a shadow which howled the nightmares of the mind and seeped into the soul. Dust swirled upon the surface of the sand sea. The landscape shifted. Puddles of quickstand formed in the desert. Masatkah took their armies and Kasir's, and confronted them at their royal pavillion.

There some words were said, lost forever. Masatkah pulled their sword from a scabbard and slashed across their flesh-parent's face. Blinded, Kasir wept blood and knelt in the sand. Their flesh-heir took the crown of Noachis and left them there. Thereafter did Masatkah become High Ruler. They gathered all the banners of the land and returned to Asrathtah, which they declared their capital. And more, they renamed the city Hemva Naro, the City of Hemva.

It is said Kasir lived on, travelling with a few thralls and loyal soldiers, half a shade. Blind and lame, they circled the old sand sea for the remainder of their days. When they could no longer walk, their brethren soldiers slew them, and feasted upon the marrow of their bones. -Translation of ancient Martian legend, c. 1996.

[anempressofmars]

Evolution of the Red Planet

"Twenty million years ago, Mars was a water world. Iron-rich seas covered more than half the surface. A balmy, earth-like climate produced black-leaved rainforests and fertile prairies of redgrass and overtall mosses. The red planet's mammals dwelled in the oceans alone, living off scarlet seaweed, swimming shrews, and undersea reefs of every color. On the land, mollusks ruled, growing to great size and slithering across grassy fields and hanging from tree branches.

One of prehistory's great mass extinctions soon followed. Scholars of both planets call it the Great Dissipation. Martian water retreated. The worldwide temperature dropped to a frigid 6 degrees Celsius. Rivers dried up, seas of water turned to seas of sand. Water flourished only underground, where it remains in aquifers and subsurface lakes. The ice caps expanded to their present maximum, and a stable ice-house climate took hold.

The causes of this tumultuous event remain elusive. Some scientists believe the planet's lack of tectonic activity and eccentric orbit caused the planet to undergo rapid cooling, trapping much of its water in underground ice deposits. Others believe the planet's lack of a magnetic field is to blame; the Sun's radiation beats down on the Martian atmosphere, and bits and pieces of it fall away into space over the eons.

Regardless of the reason, the Dissipation brought the mammals of Mars out of the seas, and onto sand. The ancestors of Martian ruuk amah evolved from something like a feliniform seal. They became the clade that evolutionary biologists call Psychetheria: the psychic beasts." -Excerpt from the script of Red Planet, a Britannian nature documentary.

"Caring for alien flora can be difficult. Red weed, which became a common sight in Appalachia and Britannia after the Arrival, is similar to kudzu - it grows fast! Take care not to water them excessively. At full bloom, the vine will sprout its flowers, famous for its jet black petals." -Alien Flower Care, pamphlet by American florist Jeanine Driskoll, publ. 1995

"Martian animal life is tall, lean, and lithe. The same goes for the mammals. All of them are descended from the ancient marine mammals which once inhabited the old Borealis ocean. These creatures tend to have thick, shaggy fur in the northern hemisphere to protect against the cold - and the sand, which can burn unprotected skin during windy weather. They have webbed fingers, complex vascular systems to store oxygen, echolocational ability. Some even have vestigial fins and gills.

Prior to mammalian dominance, mollusks and cephalopods were the most prominent form of life on Mars. Archaeological evidence suggests these creatures formed entire food chains during the Amazonian period, the geological era of Martian oceans. Untold biodiversity may dwell under the Martian dust, waiting to be uncovered. The Martian mollusks largely died out with the oceans. Competition from mammals and the destruction of their fertile, humid habitats played a role.

Nonetheless, some yet survive." -Biology of Mars, by American xenobiologist Dr. Robert Neal, publ. 2012.

"The Martian mollusks comprise the landsquids, the sand snails, the subsurface slugs, and the motile corals and bivalves. Landsquids are the most common Martian pets. They are used as pack animals, for pest control, and in smaller breeds, for companionship. Martian mythology and folklore says the landsquids are intelligent beings, prone to mood swings, egomania, and mischievous activity.

There is only some evidence of this, however. The brain of a Martian cephalopod is more developed than that of its earthly cousin. Its tentacles are more plausible useful for toolmaking. While groundbreaking work by offworld researchers Grant, Jocelyn, and Lewis has shown some degree of animal intelligence, it may be more likely that these tales come from the landsquid's psychic aptitude. Of the Martian animals, only it and the rooks themselves are so advanced in electropsychic ability. -Comparative Mythology for the Red Planet, by American psychoanalyst and sociologist Dr. Meghan Simpson, publ. 2005.

[animasmagic]

[talonabraxas]

Arcturus, Saturn & Venus

[animatedglittergraphics-n-more]

[dead-silent-211]

[70sscifiart]

John Harris

[space-gods]

This is forever an absolute favourite of mine

[anempressofmars]

Do any Martians participate in what humans would recognize as binary genders? That is to say, are there any Martian women or Martian men, or is it all kind of the non-binary clan, profession, etc. type genders?

Thanks for the question,

The gender binary is largely an earthly imposition. In the years immediately after the arrival, earthbound Martians were generally seen as men or animals. Typical writings of the time refer to Martians exclusively as 'it.' Since the late 1990s, there has been an ongoing movement to recognize the depth of Martian gender expression and identity.

General concepts such as femininity and masculinity do exist on Mars, though under vastly different social models. A third axis of traditional gender also exists. On Mars, womanliness is called nahar mara, and is associated with authority, independence, and being assertive and emotionally expressive. Manliness is called sheon mara, and is associated with courage, modesty, and being supportive and stoic. A third gender axis is called tsaan mara, and is associated with intelligence and sensitivity, being creative and nurturing.

It should be noted that nahar and sheon do not map cleanly to womanhood or manhood as understood in most earthly cultures. In general, Martians find earthly genders mostly alien. Likewise, these axes do not comprise genders in of themselves, but all genders participate in them at varying degrees. Some important notes on Martian gender:

Children are considered genderless until middle or late adolescence, when they choose the name which they will carry with them into adulthood.

Working-class people - laborers such as service workers, farmers, and manufacturers, have no prescribed gender role, though elected managers and supervisors usually participate in nahar.

Visiting workers such as lawyers, teachers, and doctors participate in nahar or tsaan.

Travelling workers such as drivers, pilots, and train and trolley conductors participate in sheon or nahar, often both.

Officers of the military or law enforcement are expected to participate in nahar at higher ranks and sheon at lower ranks. A cadet or recruit participates in tsaan, while footsoldiers participate equally in nahar or sheon, akin to travelers.

Detectives and journalists usually participate in tsaan or sheon.

Artists, musicians, writers, and tailors are usually aligned to tsaan.

Political journalists and consultants are associated with nahar or tsaan. Diplomats are nahar by tradition, but sometimes Martian diplomats to Earth attempt to play-act specific combinations of sheon and nahar believed to appeal to humans.

Generally, a reigning monarch or a politician is expected to participate only in nahar. This has recently changed. In the two centuries since the Great War, people of all gender expressions are being welcomed into political life. However, the office of World-Empress, the head of the Triumvirate, is still exclusively female in function. It is not uncommon for people of variable gender expression to conform to rigid nahar while in office.

Since arrival, earthbound Martians have struggled to conform to human gender expectations. Early advocacy groups exclusively used Spivak pronouns to refer to Martians. Today, it is common for Martians living on Earth to use a gendered pronoun of their choice, in addition to singular they. Most earthbound Martians are non-binary women.

-Dr. Stephanie Maxwell, Director of Martian Studies at the Bureau of Preternatural Phenomena, Point Pleasant, W.V.

[thefiresontheheight]

Did you know that the sunrises and sunsets on Mars are blue?

The scattering is produced by fine dust in the planet’s thin atmosphere. Also relevant, the disk of the sun is smaller, visually, than on Earth. Images like these reflect, more or less, the actual views of the sunset, as taken by Martian rovers. And looking at them like? It kinda makes me sad. ‘Cause I know irl any mission to Mars in my lifetime is likely to be a doomed corporate venture. But still. I would like to see a blue sunrise.

[thefiresontheheight]

Like! Those are real places! That’s just…a place. You could stand on that ridge, on that rusting rock, if you had a enough protection, and you could watch that with your own two eyes. How am I supposed to be chill that I can’t do that?

[anempressofmars]

The Psychics of Mars

"Electropsychism, sometimes called Quintessence, is the fifth fundamental force of physics. The phenomenon went undiscovered until the early 1980s, when human scientists began to study the bodies and minds of Martians. It is responsible for all psychic abilities, including extrasensory perception (ESP) and telekinesis.

The long and short of it is that little self-replicating particles called psions produce something called electropsychic radiation, or psy (Ψ). While the human body only has an output of 0.6 Ψ - indistinguishable from the background - Martians produce up to a whopping 24.116 Ψ."

-Parapsychology Made Easy, an general instructional book by Mike Waters, publ. 1995.

"The Martians call themselves the ruuk amah - the "persons of the whole." The concept of the gestalt identity is deeply ingrained in the red planet's culture. It can be found as a common motif of Martian creation myths, in so-called "elder mind" tales.

They involve a group of people existing in a pre-social state of nature, in which they are parts of a gestalt consciousness or hive mind. A deity or spiritual being then appears from the sky and pulls them apart. Afterward the people gain individuality but lose their sense of collective identity, leading to war, plague, and famine.

The hospids, the early ancestors of modern Martians, are primarily eusocial pursuit predators. Its dominant social paradigm features an individual, with well-developed cognitive abilities, serving as the center of a rudimentary group intelligence. Other members of the intelligence have limited cognition when alone, but participate in consciousness when in proximity to the center.

These tales may thus display some genetic memory of prehistoric cultural development. It is clear that group consciousness and intelligence was the norm until very late in Martian evolution. A remnant persists today: Martians suffer greater rates of disorganized thinking, intellectual deficit, psychosis, and mood disorders when apart from others of their kind.

The most accepted theory suggests that individuality developed abruptly c. 30,000 BCE during the emergence of behavior modernity. Another theory suggests it may have occurred as late as the agricultural revolution."

-Comparative Mythology for the Red Planet, by American psychoanalyst and sociologist Dr. Meghan Simpson, publ. 2005.

"My men can fight Martians when they hide in their machines. It's not a morale issue. This is not Uri Geller bullshit, either. It's real. You know it. There is something unnatural about them. We are being chased like cattle or cats. People come back wrong after treating with them. They are seeing things in the night and hearing whispers. My people are not mad, and neither are yours.

I'd rather talk about this face to face. Even if we cannot trust our own senses we must trust each other. We have seen the same mystery. We're in it together now."

-From the letters of Sgt. Andrew Wilson of the W.V. Army National Guard, dated Feb. 8, 1980.

"The Martians have a word: tsuradám. This word has no precise earthly translation. Some will explain it means authoritarianism, or populism. "Rule by a personality cult, fascism," Arthur-Ambers dictionaries tells us. None of these capture the depth of menace or depravity the Martians speak of.

For the Martian, authoritarianism is no real vice. The governments of the red planets are strict. While wide personal autonomy rules on a local level, national and international governments alike have centralized decision making bodies, recognize the personal rule of a World-Empress, and participate in an stratocratic system of patronage politics.

In ancient times, Mars was a planet ruled by military despots. An era of constant conquest and war. The Martians ruled by the sword and the mind. No regulation or ethical debate held the peculiar gift of telepathy in check. Instead, the Age of Thralldom prevailed, a time in which Martian states were subject to the absolutist dictates of gestalt consciousness.

A crude translation might be hive-archy. Tsuradám is Martian mob rule: semi-voluntary hive-minds central to Martian reactionary politics. The religious ecstasy of participatory mind control."

-A Study of Martian History and Culture, by Dr. Stephanie Maxwell, publ. 2002.

[anempressofmars]

Infographic released internally by the newly-formed Bureau of Martian Affairs, c. April 1982.

"Tall bipeds, of a similar strength and build to man. Sharp claws and fangs capable of rending flesh. Fur-covered. Prolonged close contact may cause mental distress."

-Transcript of message sent from West Virginia National Guard H.Q. to the Department of the Interior in Washington, D.C., received Nov. 2, 1979.

"The proportions of the Martian body are entirely wrong to the earthly eye. Martian life must surely tend tall and gracile. This is perhaps a consequence of the lower gravity. Here on Earth, they seem so tall and impossibly top-heavy to me, with overlong arms and legs. Still, they are quite capable of locomotion, though their gait is unsteady. A typical specimen stands at roughly six and a half feet tall.

Facial features and body language cues are as yet totally unreadable. It is a mosaic of the familiar, made alien by the ways of another planet. Their round, almost human faces end in a prominent rhinarium. All of them have thick eyebrows and a distinctive line of marginal fur across the cheeks. They have predatory eyes: large irises which can be of many exotic colors, most commonly gold.

All of the subjects I have studied have just three fingers, and a hyperextendable thumb which can be seen to bend backward. These all end in highly dangerous claws. All Martians are covered in head-to-toe in sparse fur, which can be smooth, straight, coarse, or wavy in texture.

I assure you also that the Martians are capable of communication. It must be done in shifts lest the communicator become weary and forlorn, by some as yet unknown process of the mind. My colleagues and I are currently attempting to teach some of the Martians the English language, with some success."

-From the letters of Dr. MacKeznie Arthur, dated February 16, 1980.

Ancient Martian art found in caves beneath modern-day Terra Sabaea, dating back to the 2nd century CE. Thought to depict the consort of a reigning queen. Some portions of the original paint have survived.

"The Martians resemble earthly mammals. The ruuk amah, or "rooks", have humanoid body plans, digitigrade legs, and tails. They even nurse their young with breastmilk. Like the cetaceans of the sea, they have layers of blubber under their skin which help insulate them from the cold.

Unlike the mammals of this planet, rooks have mutable reproductive biology. The technical term is bidirectional dichogamy. The direct evolutionary ancestors of rooks were polyandrous by nature; females sought out mates during the mating season, and returned to an intersex state in the months following birth. Even rooks' endocrine system is variable. Rooks produce different sex hormones depending on their environment, state of mind, diet, sexual activity, and life history.

Primary and secondary sexual characteristics can be induced at will, with common methods known and taught since antiquity. Ritual and circumstance surround them. In many areas of the red planet, it is known as the "calling" or the "longing." Individuals may retreat into isolation for months during such a time. Hormonal changes can usually be induced within a few weeks.

Martian society never developed a binary view of sex and gender, as patriarchal cultures of Earth did. Instead, one's current reproductive functionality is of purely medical interest, and gender is part of a broad spectrum of identities that are closely tied to one's social status or profession. Gendered pronouns are not common among the Martian languages. Instead, languages typically have a multitude of pronouns, often derived from nouns, kinship words, or adjectives."

-Excerpt from "The Martian Perspective", a sociological work by Dr. Beverly Evers.

[70sscifiart]

Uncredited 1980 art from ‘Exploring UFOs’ by Jonathan Rutland. Via @WeAreTheMutants

[anempressofmars]

The Red Planet

They come from a world totally unlike our own. The Martian air is thin, shrouded in ferrous dust, and it tastes of carbonated water and blood. The sky is orange by day and turns pink and blue during twilight, like an absurd technicolor dream. Snow is more common than rain. Every few years, a global dustbowl grips the planet, blots out the Sun, and puts an end to the growing season. Farmers go back in their homes glumly. But they're used to it.

Most surface water on Mars is toxic to us. Those small ponds, streams, creeks, and lakes that dot the Martian surface give life to its little critters and tall, pointy-eared men. But the water is gray, brown orange, maybe even red, full of heavy metals, enough to rot your own insides twice. The Martians can suffer it, but the good stuff is underground. They have an ocean of aquifers down there. They dig, and dig, and pump it up from beneath the sands. It shoots out like a geyser when they find it, and miners take turns drinking water purified by the planet itself.

Those dark patches you see from your telescope are forests. The Martian trees are black, sometimes red. The grasses are like seaweed for the sand, evolved from marine leaves that used to exist a few million years ago, when Mars was still wet. Red vines - the "red weed" you've heard so much about - is everywhere in the sunny tropics, growing quicker than the eye can see. It will grow into your car door if you let it.

-- Excerpt from Two Months on Mars by American journalist Michael Monday, published c. 1998.

[anempressofmars]

The Martian Triumvirate

The de facto world government of the Martians is constitutional stratocracy called the Triumvirate. Formed c. 1560 as a military alliance between the three most powerful reigning queens of Mars, it has since evolved into a world-spanning web of alliances and political unions with a mandate to preserve international stability.

At the apex of the Triumvirate is the Empress. She is elected by all members of the Martian military, from among the ranks of retired and serving officers. By tradition, the Empress is typically also a member of an imperial bloodline or clan, but this is not always the case. Throughout Martian history, often in times of crisis or instability, promising regular officers have been elected on promises of change.

The death of an Empress brings about a period of mourning known as an Absence. However, these are quite rare. The most recent Absence occurred in 1972, when the reigning Empress died of an apparent stomach illness. Most Empresses simply abdicate into retirement when they reach a venerable age.

Parliamentary democracy was a recent innovation for the Martians. A legislature, known as the Fellowship, developed out of necessity in the late 17th century due to political disagreements between clans. It is comprised of a variable number of elected representatives. Any clan on the planet, from the smallest clan of laborers to the dynastic landlords of cities, may hold a vote an select a representative to send to the parliamentary citadel.

Most of the actual business of government is decided upon by the High Council, with the agreement of the Empress. The High Council is a standing committee of legislators from among the wider fellowship. These councilors are elected to office in a worldwide septennial election. Many run for these coveted seats; few win. Those who do not serve on the Council instead serve as lobbyists for their respective clans, jockeying for influence.

On Mars, politics can be a cutthroat business. Many earthly scholars have noted, with some worry, the authoritarian nature of Martian government. Any prospective representative must be confirmed to office by the Empress herself. Civil service requirements mean some cannot participate. While some idealistic UN diplomats hope to encourage reform, it may be still be some time away.

-- From, "A Brief Study of Martian Government", by interplanetary sociologist Stephanie Maxwell.