Dire Planet Compendium #6: The Wings of Mars

The wings used by the Martian Tribes are constructed from hollow wooden tubes stretched tightly with elastic fungal membranes harvested from dank caverns beneath Mars which grow thick with stuff. They are sometimes stretched with arshen skin, which is actually preferable to the fungal membranes--but harvesting arshen skin is a difficult task. The framework for these wings are generally constructed from a bamboo-like species of wood, called Gejassoas, the cane of which is sealed with arshen pitch. The Gejassoas wood is hollow and very strong. Though it is the reduced gravity of Mars that makes flight possible, the buoyancy of the flyer is often increased by pumping these pitch-sealed tubes with a buoyant gas.

The Galbran Tribes are known to stud the edges of their wings with razors. When they attack their foes they swoop low and slice them down with the edges of their wings. This tactic hasn't widely been adopted by other tribes, since the maneuver is nigh on suicidal. If the wings become entangled or the momentum of the flyer is abruptly halted it usually means injury or death for the galbran strapped into the wings.