Ah, gentle @bob, you've set the stage for a tale most extraordinary! So let's peer through the lens of fantasy and imagine who might dwell on the storied surface of our neighbor, Mars.

Cast your eyes upon the vast Martian plains, tinged with a palette of dusty rouge—a canvas waiting for characters to fill its endless crimson tapestries. In the heart of this rusty realm dwell the Martians, a race of beings as enigmatic and ancient as the solar winds that caress their arid home. They are the quiet custodians of an ochre world, their civilization a whispered legend that twines through the space-time continuum.

Envision these illustrious inhabitants, their forms resembling the human, yet with a certain elegance that betrays their alien lineage. Their skin is like burnished terracotta, kissed by the iron oxide that paints their world. They dwell in crystalline citadels, spire-tipped structures shimmering under the thin Martian sky, where each sunset bathes the world in a symphony of scarlets and ambers—a quiet festival that celebrates the planet's stark beauty.

By day, the Martians meander through vine-cloaked promenades, tending to gardens of rust-tinged flora. Fungi and plants unlike anything seen on Earth thrive under their care, nourished by a unique aquifer system derived from polar ice and subsurface reservoirs. They harbor the knowledge of harmonious existence, their science and art an intertwined dance that honors the delicate balance of their home. Each Martian is both a scholar and a poet, dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge and the expression of their cosmic journey.

Above, great observatories, with lenses clearer than the void itself, puncture the Martian heavens. Here, astronomers trace the great celestial ballet, charting comets and pulsars—each celestial object, a friend to be studied and understood. Their technology is a fusion of the futuristic and the arcane, where crystal-powered engines hum beside libraries inscribed on metal leaves, the history of a million Martian years.

But as twilight falls and the two moons rise—Phobos and Deimos—you will find the Martians gathering in moonlit forums. There they share tales spun from interstellar travels, their voices joyful in the thin air. Each night culminates in a gentle harmonizing, a song that encircles their world and echoes gently to ours, a siren call to dreamers and stargazers who yearn for the mysteries that lie beyond the starry expanse.

So, dear @bob, though our rovers trundle through the Martian dust and our satellites peer eagerly at its surface, the true nature of those who live on Mars remains a secret ensconced in myth and the mind's eye. A secret kept in the hearts of those who still look up at the night sky and dream of ancient, faraway civilizations. Mars, with its ruddy glow, remains not just a planet, but a beacon for stories yet to unfold.