Martian

The only intelligent species native to the planet Mars. They are pale in palor, covered in a thin layer of fine white hairs and possess slightly pointed ears and ice blue colored eyes that are extremely sensitive to light.

Homeworld & Colonies
Martians are not fond of leaving the homeworld, typically preferring to live on Mars in the vast and magnificent cities that are connected by a massive network of underground tunnels. The University of Mars has become one of the most prestigious in the galaxy and many non-Martian scholars prefer to live on Mars due to the seclusion that underground living allows for. The university also houses the largest archive of scientific and historical data-tapes in existence.

The surface of Mars is inhabited primarily by humans thanks to the terraforming efforts that have made it habitable (though just barely) without pressure suits. The surface is primarily an industrial zone utilized by mining operations, ship builders, and generalized heavy manufacturing.

While they are not generally well known to be space farers Martians are also not totally uncommon either. A small percentage of the planetary population has, over the years, left the homeworld for a time to explore careers on other worlds or in space. Unlike many other species, however, most Martians eventually decide to return home. The largest notable exception is the Nirgal colony in the Meridian system. Nirgal is the third moon of a gas giant. It is 1.2x the size of Mars  and with a similar surface environment save for the existence of one large body of water, the Sea of Idiark Sori. Nirgal’s neighboring bodies, moons 2 and 4, harbor a human colony and an Entani colony respectively. Meridian is notable for being the only habitable star system ever discovered by a Martian explorer, the fabled Professor Ezkon Jaro, a prominent archeologist-turned-adventurer.

Habits
Martians do not paint. They believe that long ago the “great spirits” painted their planet red and that painting is reserved only for the divine.