Language: The language of Nectar is a dialect of Gaaryani called Thark. It is a coarse tongue, full of gutteral sounds. The Prince and his officials speak pure Old Gaaryani at court functions and all official business is conducted in that language. Consequently all the literate classes of Nectar have at least a basic familiarity with Old Gaaryani. Since Nectar is a trading city, the Martian trade-speech Koline is understood by most of the citizens. Refugees recently arrived from the Coprates Valley speak either Thark or Memnite, depending on which part of the Valley the come from.
Because the French established a presence in Nectar early on, the primary Terran language in the city is French. Many merchants and some government officials speak French. With the arrival of Americans, English has gained some in popularity, especially since the opening of the American University of Nectar.
People: The inhabitants of Nectar are a diverse group. The bulk of the population are pure Canal Martians _ tall and slender, with large pointed ears and golden skin. Nectar's busy marketplace brings merchants from all over Mars, so one may see the relatively stocky Boreosyrtans from the far north, muscular bronze-skinned Hill Martians from the upland deserts and aloof militarists from Oenotria. The chaos attending the Belgian conquest of the Coprates Valley to the west has driven thousands of Copratians to seek refuge in Nectar.
Because the city lies near the mountains of Ophir and Thaumasia, a surprisingly large number of the winged High Martians can be found in Nectar. High Martians are the only branch of the Martian species that have retained the antigravity "lifting gland" of their ancestors. They are brutal and savage, far less civilized than the Canal Martians. Most High Martians in Nectar have come to trade liftwood from the mountain groves and booty seized by pirate raiders for manufactured goods and slaves. Perhaps a hundred have settled permanently in the city _ mostly exiles driven from the mountains by clan warfare. Since they know no vocation but warfare, the High Martians in Nectar work as mercenaries, guards or just plain thugs.
Customs: Nectar has its share of unusual customs, in addition to those common to all Mars. For example, it is a curiosity of Nectarian culture that twins (or other multiple births) are treated as the same person _ they are brought up as a single individual with one name. Legally and socially twins are counted as a single person. This is particularly bizarre when the twins are not identical and even more so when they are of different sexes.
Religion: While the people of Nectar have never been renowned for their piety, the city supports its share of temples. Nectarians worship the eleven Universal Gods common to all Canal Martians. There are nearly a hundred temples scattered around the city, from the large and imposing ones on the Plaza of the Gods in the Administrative Sector, to tiny makeshift shrines in the rubble of the Mortuary Sector.
In addition to the worship of the Universal Gods, a large number of minor sects and underground cults flourish in Nectar. These range from the mystic but benevolent Elemental Temple, to the atheistic God-Haters, to the violently anti-Terran Ground Cleansers, all the way to the obscene Cult of the Worm.
Christianity has made little progress in Nectar, despite the energetic work of the Interplanetary Missionary League. There are perhaps a hundred Martian converts to Christianity in the city. Most are from the poorest classes and a dozen are slaves liberated by the League. The Martian priests do not consider Christian missionary efforts a threat and generally ignore them.
The Keepers of the Way are an ancient religious order, dating back to the era of the Canal Builders. Their numbers are small _ no more than a few hundred in a given city. The Keepers are great scholars and healers, operating hospitals and libraries all over Mars. They are respected and revered by most Martians.
The Keepers are divided into lay members and cloistered members. The lay members live ordinary lives, but contribute funds to the order and perform good works. Cloistered members isolate themselves from the world in secluded monasteries, spending their days in contemplation and study. Often members will take up the cloistered life for a time, then return to lay status.
Actually, the Keepers are not a religious sect at all. Rather, they are an organization devoted to preserving the secret knowledge of psychic powers, which once were a major part of the great Canal Builder civilization. All members of the order have some psychic ability. The secluded monasteries are training centers where lay members can develop their latent powers.
The order is run democratically, reaching decisions by a linking of minds. There is a rigid code of conduct known simply as "the Law," which forbids the use of psychic powers for evil. Members of the order who violate the Law are considered to be sick and are treated by skilled psychics, who can restore the deviant to a proper state of mind. Only in a few hopeless cases is the ultimate deterrent used: when no cure is possible, the powerful psychics of the order use their powers to destroy the criminal's psychic abilities.
There are three branches of the Keepers of the Way. The Healers of the Path specialize in medicine and healing. In addition to their psychic abilities, the Healers of the Path also have a great deal of ancient medical knowledge passed down through the ages.
The Guardians are the order's sword and shield. They are trained to use psychic powers to stun and disable others and are charged with protecting the secrets of the order. The Guardians are also the enforcers of the Law.
The Keepers of Secrets are devoted to preserving and rediscovering ancient knowledge. They are the ones who maintain the order's libraries. Frequently Keepers of Secrets go out on expeditions to seek lost cities or fabled artifacts. They are the most secretive and eccentric members of the order. Often Keepers of Secrets will refuse to share their ancient knowledge with anyone, even other Keepers of the Way.
Note: In game worlds without psychic abilities or psionics, the Keepers of the Way should be a benevolent, mystic order using some remnants of ancient technology. In worlds where magic is common, the Keepers should have access to some fairly powerful spells unknown to other magicians.
As of 1890 there are three hundred Earthmen in Nectar. About a third of them are French, a third Americans and the remainder a random assortment of Germans, Englishmen, Italians, Dutch and Russians. The Terran enclave in Nectar is predominantly male _ women make up only a quarter of the total.
Earthmen in Nectar fall into three categories: missionaries, merchants and scum. The merchants are the largest of the three groups, though the dividing line between merchants and scum can be vague at times. Missionaries are mostly Americans, while the others are from all nationalities.
The Americans tend to congregate around the American University, though there are a few who live near the landing-field. Other Terrans mostly live in the Residential Sector. A handful of Terrans live in the Entertainment Sector, but they are so far gone in decadence that other Earthmen will have little to do with them.
Though small, the Terran community in Nectar is always hungry for news. Recently a French gentleman, Pierre Leblanc, bought an old printing-press and began publishing a daily newspaper, Le Matin. The paper was an instant hit with all the Earthmen in Nectar and soon gained a small following among the Martians in Nectar as well. Le Matin publishes local news and gossip, reports from elsewhere on Mars brought by cloudship captains and bulletins from Earth carried by ether-flyers. M. Leblanc has recently begun publishing editorials mildly critical of some of Prince Sitanni's policies. It remains to be seen whether Nectar is ready for freedom of the press.
The terrible degenerative disease was once rare, but now has become a virtual epidemic on Mars. Nobody knows what causes Che'peech, but fear of contagion means that those afflicted are shunned by other Martians and occasionally are killed and burned.
The disease develops through four distinct phases. First, the victim develops small discolorations on the hands and arms. These vary from dark yellow to red and have a leathery consistency. The victims may lose some fine motor control in the hands.
In the second stage, the discolored areas spread and begin to peel off, exposing large open sores. Patients suffer from loss of vision and have difficulty controlling their limbs. It is at this stage that most Che'peech sufferers are driven out of normal Martian society.
At the third stage, most of the skin is covered by sores and in places the muscles and bones may be exposed. Victims have great difficulty with even crude movements and often are blind or deaf. Insanity sets in during this phase.
By the final stage, the victim's entire body is covered with discolorations and sores. The limbs are useless. Secondary infections are running wild. The patient is completely insane. Death, when it comes, will be a mercy.
Treatment: In the early stages, doctors unfamiliar with Che'peech may diagnose it as one of a variety of other Martian skin diseases. But as the later symptoms appear, even the worst Martian doctor will recognize it. There are many treatments, ranging from herbal folk remedies to surgery, but none can halt the disease. No Terran doctors have had any luck treating Che'peech, but so far it does not seem to affect Earthmen.
Gamemaster's Note: Che'peech is actually an environmental disease, not an infectious one. Many Martians have a genetic susceptibility to certain irritants, which cause discolorations. The Gumme plant, grown on plantations in the Belgian Coprates, produces a particularly strong enzyme that makes the body's own fluids into an irritant. In most Martians, the enzyme gradually wears off, producing only minor rashes. But to those with the susceptible gene, the Gumme enzyme causes a terrible reaction, in which the irritant is not consumed, but continues eating away the body's tissues until death results.
Because only some of the Gumme harvesters have the susceptible gene, nobody has noticed the connection between Gumme and Che'peech. Since some victims suffer a delayed reaction, many Che'peech sufferers do not show signs of the disease until months or years after exposure to Gumme sap.
Note that given Victorian labor practices, it would not be especially damaging for the Coprates Company's sales on Earth if the cause of Che'peech were revealed, but it would increase unrest in the Coprates Valley.