Solar System · terraformed red garden
Mars
Red rock, green valleys and the best repair depot in the system.
Mars is fully terraformed but still unmistakably Martian: red sandstone escarpments, enormous mesas, high-desert skies and canyon-front towns with terraced gardens climbing out of the valleys.
It is Earth's staging post and repair yard. When the Wobblenaut limps home, she usually stops at Mars first, so Onobo can fix her and Zamfyr can pretend that was the plan.
Terraforming took centuries and is still not quite finished. Some valleys are lush with orchards; others are still the raw rust-red desert of old photographs, kept that way on purpose as heritage land. Martians are proud of both.
Martian culture is practical, sunburnt and very good with tools. If something breaks anywhere in the Solar System, there is a good chance a Martian fixed it last time.
Atmosphere
Thin-to-comfortable, dusty-gold skies, sharp desert light and long dramatic sunsets.
Local quirk
Martians are very touchy about people confusing Olympus Mons with Valles Marineris.
Regions · proposed names, not locked canon
Great Red Escarpments
Cliff cities carved into banded red rock.
Marineris Frontier
Settlements along Valles Marineris, the vast canyon system. A canyon, not a mountain.
Olympus Foothills
Towns at the base of Olympus Mons, the giant extinct volcano. A mountain, not a canyon.
Terraforming Gardens
Engineered green valleys, orchards and water terraces.
Depot Nine
The repair yard where the Wobblenaut spends more time than anywhere else. There is a bay with her name painted on it, and a jar for the fines.
Hazards
- ▲Dust stormsFine red dust gets into engines, filters and teeth. Some storms last for weeks.
- ▲Canyon windsValles Marineris funnels gusts that can flip a small ship. Or a large hat.
- ▲Mechanics who charge by the wobbleThe more she wobbles, the more it costs. She wobbles a lot.
Visitor tips
- ✦Carry a dust mask.
- ✦Ask before landing near an arch.
- ✦Bring the Depot a pie. Discounts happen.
Local life
- ●Martian-born humans and aliens
- ●Engineered desert flora
- ●Canyon gliders
A day on Mars
Martian days are a little longer than Earth's, and nobody hurries. Mornings smell of hot dust and orchard blossom. Canyon gliders ride the thermals while workers on the terraces open the water gates one by one.
Sunsets are blue. Visitors always gasp. Martians always say, 'Yep.'
Locals & customs
Chief Mechanic Dosu Varn
Runs Depot Nine. Has rebuilt the Wobblenaut's engine eleven times and calls it 'my disappointment' with real love.
The Heritage Board
Seven elderly Martians who protect every arch, mesa and footprint. They have a file on Zamfyr, and it is thick.
- ◆Never confuse Olympus Mons (mountain) with Valles Marineris (canyon). Locals will correct you, loudly.
- ◆Every newly terraced field is named after the first child born nearby that year.
- ◆A broken tool is never thrown away. It is mounted on the wall with a little label explaining what it did.
Legends & history
The First Gardener
Martian children are told about the First Gardener, who planted a single apple tree in the red dust and watered it with her own drinking ration until it grew.
Historians say she was probably a committee. Martians say that is exactly the kind of thing a committee would say.
Crew log
“Mars always fixes the ship. And Mars always sends a bill.”
“Good mechanics. They let me hold the big wrench.”
Story seed · in development
Parking on Mars
Zamfyr parks the Wobblenaut on a historic red-rock arch. The arch has opinions. So does the Martian Heritage Board. Onobo has to repair the ship and the arch before sundown.
Halfway through the repair, the arch turns out to be hollow, and something old is inside. The Heritage Board want it in a museum. Grimlash wants it in his pocket.
Earthward stakes
Mars keeps Earth's defences running: ships repaired here are the ones that protect home.
Science inspiration
Olympus Mons (a giant volcano) and Valles Marineris (a vast canyon system) are real, separate features. The terraforming is fiction.
NASA: Mars facts