The Assault on the Sea People

The Moon and the Sun

This thread follows the historical violence behind the sea people’s fear and the beginnings of their defensive war against land-dwellers.

increasing

Bearing strength in each event

decreasing

A Meeting with Atlantis A Meeting with Atlantis from "The Moon and the Sun". Exchange Before Violence Friendship Sea people meet the inhabitants of Atlantis and share songs, flowers, and stories.

A Meeting with Atlantis from "The Moon and the Sun". Exchange Before Violence Friendship Sea people meet the inhabitants of Atlantis and share songs, flowers, and stories.

Exchange Before Violence Friendship Sea people meet the inhabitants of Atlantis and share songs, flowers, and stories. The memory offers an alternative to inevitable hostility between land and sea. Loss A volcanic eruption destroys the city. The sea people remember the catastrophe as the beginning of a long history of separation and grief.

Raids by Sailors Raids by Sailors from "The Moon and the Sun". People Treated as Spoils Raiding Northmen capture sea people, exploit their bodies, and use their cries for navigation.

Raids by Sailors from "The Moon and the Sun". People Treated as Spoils Raiding Northmen capture sea people, exploit their bodies, and use their cries for navigation.

People Treated as Spoils Raiding Northmen capture sea people, exploit their bodies, and use their cries for navigation. The practice reduces intelligent beings to instruments and prey. Intergenerational warning Songs preserve the memory of assault for distant families. What land-dwellers call a monster’s cry is revealed as testimony and warning.

The Cross at the Mating Ground

A Massacre in Sunlight Attack A storm-damaged ship enters the sea people’s mating gathering. Explosions turn communal pleasure into mass injury and death. Consequence The sea people become wary of gathering in daylight. Their custom changes under pressure from human violence, turning joy into a vulnerability they must manage.

Near Extinction Near Extinction from "The Moon and the Sun". A People in Danger Fewer survivors Repeated capture and killing have left the sea people too few to withstand another assault.

Near Extinction from "The Moon and the Sun". A People in Danger Fewer survivors Repeated capture and killing have left the sea people too few to withstand another assault.

A People in Danger Fewer survivors Repeated capture and killing have left the sea people too few to withstand another assault. Their annual meetings carry the risks of survival as well as reunion. Human responsibility Their near extinction is not a natural mystery. It is the accumulated result of organized human fear, exploitation, and violence.

A Defensive War A Defensive War from "The Moon and the Sun". Resistance Reversed A changed response Sherzad and her relatives attack a pursuing privateer, using coordinated sound and spears to sink the ship.

A Defensive War from "The Moon and the Sun". Resistance Reversed A changed response Sherzad and her relatives attack a pursuing privateer, using coordinated sound and spears to sink the ship.

Resistance Reversed A changed response Sherzad and her relatives attack a pursuing privateer, using coordinated sound and spears to sink the ship. They prevent the crew from returning to the surface. An unsettled future Sherzad has a child and rejoins her people, but the sea people no longer trust land-dwellers. Their defense is both survival and a declaration of war.

The ancient past in Sherzad’s first story

The Northmen story told during the public exhibitions

The history recounted to Pope Innocent

After the attacks described in Sherzad’s stories

The Caribbean epilogue, after Sherzad’s return