Mars

Mars (IPA: ) is the fourth planet from the Sun in our solar system and is named after Mars, the Roman god of war. Mars is also known as the "Red Planet" due to its reddish appearance when seen from Earth. The prefix areo-, from the Greek god of war, Ares, refers to Mars in the same way geo- refers to Earth.

Roughly one thousand years in the future, the Earth will undergo a catastrophic event that renders it uninhabitable. The survivors flee to Mars, with the majority settling in four regions: Elysium Planitia, Tharsis Montes, Terra Cimmeria, Terra Sirenum. An additional twelve regions are home to sparse homesteads, but numerous Settlements.

Central Trading, the mysterious corporate entity who regulates and purchases the mined resources from across the planet, operate a centralized power grid. This grid currently extends to a maximum range of 848.5 km from the Central Trading main office. This defines the populated area of Mars as a square grid, four regions to a side, with each square being 600 km to the side. Outside of this powered area lies nothing but darkness and unknown Martian terrain.

Within the powered region, miners rove the surface looking for volcanoes to mine for valuable minerals and ruins of failed settlements to search for fogotten valuables. Central Trading is overwhelmed with the administrative tasks of managing the economy and maintianing the power grid, so the day-to-day running of the planet is open to whomever is brave enough to step up and take it. The thousands of Settlements that dot the surface of the planet are evidence enough of the willingness of some to step forward and lead.

Coordinate System
Movement on Mars is tracked by a simple coordinate system. Central Trading is located at the center of the map, but has been declared off limits to all settlers and miners. The coordinates of Central are thus 0,0. The sixteen regions of Mars are then divided into four quadrants: NW, NE, SW, and SE. Travelling into one of these quadrants will adjust the coordinates that the player finds themselves at. For example, the point 300N, 300W is the center of the NW quadrant, while 300S, 300E is the center of the SE quadrant.

Regions of Mars
All coordinate references are from the upper left corner of the quadrant to the lower right corner.


 * NW Quadrant
 * Albor Tholus - 600N, 600W to 300N, 300W. This frontier region third least populous region of Mars.
 * Isidis Planitia - 300N, 300W to 300N, 1W. One of only two frontier regions to be devoid of homesteads, Isidis Planitia also contests Syrtis Major Planum for the highest number of unclaimed Settlements.
 * Syrtis Major Planum - 300N, 600W to 1N, 300W. Very similar in population figures to Isidis Planitia, this region is one of the most sparse in population.
 * Elysium Planitia - 300N, 300W to 1N, 1W. The third most populous Core Region.
 * NE Quadrant
 * Eunostos - 600N, 1E to 300N, 300E. Boasting the only single word name of any region on Mars, Eunostos is tied with Valles Marineris for the most rural region in the quadrant.
 * Arabia Terra - 600N, 300E to 600N, 600E. Arabia Terra is rapidly on its way to become the first frontier region to be completely claimed.
 * Tharsis Montes - 300N, 1E to 1N, 300E. Tharsis Montes has the second highest number of claimed settlements of any region on Mars.
 * Valles Marineris - 300N, 300E to 1N, 600E. Very similar in makeup to Eunostos, the only distinguishing characteristic of Valles Marineris is the vast canyon that the region is named after.
 * SW Quadrant
 * Hellas Planitia - 1S, 600W to 300S, 300W. Named for Hellas Impact Basin, this region has the largest number of crater impacts on the planet.
 * Terra Cimmeria - 1S, 300W to 300S, 1W. This was the first region to be opened to settlers and boasts the highest number of Homesteads of any region on Mars.
 * Promethei Terra - 300S, 600W to 600S, 300W. This region is reknown for it's highlands and albedo features.
 * Argyre Planitia - 300S, 300W to 600S, 1W. Argyre Planitia is the third most claimed frontier region.
 * Terra Sirenum - 1S, 1E to 300S, 300E. Terra Sirenum is the only region on the planet to have no ungoverned Settlements at all.  It also boasts the second highest number of homesteads.
 * Noachis Terra - 1S, 300E to 300S, 600E. This region also shows extensive cratering from Mars's early history. Recent surveys have shown an abundance of subsurface ice that makes mining in this region a somewhat dangerous activity. This region also has the second lowest number of unclaimed settlements in the frontier.
 * Margaritifer Terra - 300S, 1E to 600S, 300E. The landing site of the Mars Pathfinder probe, this area shows exensive scarring from early water channels. This erosion has left many valuable mineral deposits close to the surface.
 * Meridiani Planum - 300S, 300E to 600S, 600E. A rich source of hematite and other magnetic ores, many valuable mining operations have scoured the volcanoes of the region.