The D'naa
To be D'naa is to be born free, this is the center of all spirituality in their system of belief. They are born to the planet, Mars is their mother and home; They guard its secrets and its majestic beauty fiercely. When they arrived centuries before the corporations got to mars they wanted to establish an understanding with the planet, they have watched from a distance and they originally had an idea it was the next frontier in the solar system.
Mars offered a unique way of surviving, converting the planets heat into energy, genetically engineering plants and food that grew in the iron rich soil. Even finding water in the most unlikely of places. Oxygen was available in the atmosphere and they worked actively to convert it while on the move.
A good portion of their society formed out of necessity such as castes that formed the structure of their culture, at a young age children are evaluated and groomed into certain castes that are separated depending on their aptitude in science or engineering for example.
Each clan is as different from each other as can be however they're certain elements to all D'naa society which has been written in stone. This is the product of centuries of civil strive, corporate wars and the active pursuit to eradicate all D'naa life, wherever found.
To the average Martian citizen, the D'naa seem tribal and anarchistic in nature, they are often called terrorists or natives, which invokes a deep sense of primitive thought process. However there is a deep level of culture, etiquette and spirituality to these original inhabitants of Mars. The progressive evolution of their culture and beliefs remain a mystery however the actual D'naa nature has gone through several stages throughout the generations.
Clans exist as social groups and is consider among them as a family, while not being blood related they are still considered an extended family and often intermingle with other clans to promote a safety in procreation.
While there are no ranks or centralized leadership there is an order to their culture which revolves around the elders who are respected and often counsel the younger generations. Each caste is equal to another caste and the diversity in them is as necessary as the duties they provide to allow D'naa culture to continue. Such castes include: warriors, engineers, scientists, medical and lore keepers.
While most D'naa do not believe in ritualistic suicide they do believe in sacrifice. Clan leadership is often found to be a form of usurpation where the strongest D'naa from any caste takes the role of leader. The elders advise and council the leader and the other clan members follow; They are of course free to decide, to not follow the leadership but those that do are often found alone or left behind to pursue their fates as they see fit. These outcasts are generally what Martian society refers to as Nomads who follow their own path and are often neutral in political affairs of both D'naa and corporate agendas.
When leadership is challenged it is decided through simple armed combat, if a challenge is invoked the leader usually subdues the challenger or is defeated and relinquishes leadership to the victor. While these challenges are sometimes fatal they are usually kept within the clans keep. If a leader is killed in this fashion it is considered a high honor to sacrifice their lives for the rest of D'naa society. It is not exactly known how this practice came into being but it is speculated that it was an extension of their willingness to sacrifice their life to their pursuit of freeing Mars. For every D'naa is raised from birth as a warrior who is inseparable from their mother planet and while they are individuals their fates are tied to the world they live in.
There is a very zen'ish center to their beliefs where D'naa spend countless hours meditating in seclusion, emptying their minds of their identity and reaching a point where they are one with the world around them. They describe this state of being as a universal harmony which is always present and the lore keepers, often teach the younger generations through example. For the modern day D'naa follows the will of the planet through silent and mysterious methods which are derived from long stretches of meditation. Visions and dreams play an active role in their spirituality and what others may view as fantastical-outlandish methods of deciding ones fate is often viewed matter-of-factly for the D'naa themselves.
The people usually have multiple keeps often found in mines and tunnels under the Martian surface. Free from prying eyes and protected from solar-cosmic radiation. Their keeps are pressurized and always located near a natural heat source to power their geothermal generators. While water is processed within each location for the whole of their clan. If a visitor from another clan does arrive they do so with the general etiquette of paying for their usage of their water and supplies by giving themselves over to the will of the clan. Such etiquette applies to guests who stay for an extended period of time and while one may be considered a friend and be in good standing with another clan you will never be anything but the clan you are born to.
The D'naa language is a complicated an intricate language which the corporations have been trying to learn for many decades to understand. Modern day researches believe the reason behind the language was to centralize and protect their communication. It is very rare for a non D'naa to know the language since it is solely kept within the knowledge of their society and it has become to the modern day D'naa their first and only language.
They are often found with only one name, which is decided by the eldest female of the family. The name is appropriate to the child's temperament or the state in which they are born. For it is commonly believed that a name invokes power and the fate of the child is tied to the naming of one. There are no surnames other than the clan in which they are born which immediately identifies them to any of the other active clans. There are scores of clans however the most dominate one in the northern hemisphere of Mars are: light water, two rocks, tower house, feather people and the red wind clan.
All property is possessed by the females within the clan with the males owning very little if anything at all. Possessions are kept to a necessity and greed and the accumulation of wealth is often speculated with a sense of suspicion. An over abundance of anything within the clan is always spread out to all the families evenly since they operate as a single unity and that belief in unity extends to everything they do.
Technology is shared and traded amongst the clans and if one keep does not have the available means of reverse engineering stolen corporate technology it is usually handed off to the clan that can and the information and technology is shared. All and all the sharing of technology allows all clans to progress and even if they do not see eye to eye or war with one another occasionally the distribution of wealth and resources as well as information is a form of survival they all accept and to break that etiquette is considered the highest form of taboo. For no clan has challenged the combined power of all the others and lived to tell about it.
D'naa warfare is a war of attrition and uses a combination of skirmishes and guerrilla tactics to hit the most sensitive of corporate locations at a given time. They are masters of stealth and melee combat and can be found using short ranged weapons such as knives and special tomahawks that are engineered to explode on impact or vibrate through armor and pressure suits. Since their preferred method of attack is point blank they often dress appropriately to reach full effect of terror tactics and psychological warfare. The image of an advancing D'naa is usually the talk of nightmares among the nomad traders and Martian civilians. The common belief is that the D'naa themselves are fearless and indeed their promotion of self sacrifice also reinforced this understanding.
Each D'naa is capable of surviving alone and cut off from their clan. This is mainly due to their right of passage which is done during their teenage years. where they are left to wander the martian desert alone to utilize their years of intense training and knowledge of living off the land. This is less about having the will and knowledge to survive than it is about each D'naa finding their own voice with the world. This is often another point of misunderstanding when it comes to modern day society for each D'naa must at a young age develop a personal communication with the world in which they inhabit. it is unclear the exact method or outlining that determines whether one is successful or not but these spiritual treks may take anywhere from weeks to months and in rare cases years. Once they have found their voice they are welcome back with open arms and have a place among D'naa society.
At anytime if a D'naa is said to lose his voice he must return on a spiritual pilgrimage for however long it takes them to obtain it again. Sometimes they never return and become nomadic hermits living out in the Martian land.
The D'naa say Mars is saturated in blood and the people will continue giving their lives to the planet and their mother. Their ultimate goal is to free the planet from terraforming and corporate dominance so it can retain its oneness and if or when this ever does happen it is not entirely known what will become of these mysterious warriors. One thing is for certain, they are the self promoted protectors of Mars and their is no future for the corporations without the destruction of these unique and misunderstood people.