The taboo against sea folk mating in sunlight

The taboo against sea folk mating in sunlight is a survival rule formed after an attack devastated Sherzad’s people. Because so few remain, they decide that the exposure of mating beneath the sun is too dangerous to risk again; the change reshapes both the timing of their gathering and the rhythm of their communal life.

Origins in the Assault

The rule follows the assault on the mating haze in which Sherzad was captured. Her brothers and sisters survived, but her mother, uncle, and aunt—all elders of the family—were killed. Sherzad grieves for her mother in song, while the losses make clear how vulnerable the surviving sea people have become.

The danger is not treated as a passing misfortune. The survivors judge that they are too few to endure another assault by the men of land. Their decision not to mate in sunlight therefore arises from the cost of the attack: a gathering once associated with communal life must now be arranged around the threat of being found and attacked.

The New Gathering

The people plan to meet at sunset, when Midsummer Night coincides with the dark of the moon. On the shortest night of the year, they will rise together to the sea’s surface in darkness. Their bodies will glow amid the waves as they come together for the mating haze, replacing the daylight gathering with one timed to conceal them.

This altered observance is not a simple cancellation of communal life. The sea people still intend to gather and share the brief pleasure of the haze, but under conditions chosen to reduce their exposure. The protective rule thus changes the circumstances of the gathering rather than abolishing it.

Rarity and Consequence

The next gathering is expected to take place after a fourteen-year interval, when the dark of the moon again coincides with Midsummer Night. The long wait makes the new practice more than a change of hour: it marks how severely the assault has constrained the survivors’ ability to assemble.

The taboo carries grief and caution together. The dead elders remain present in Sherzad’s mourning song, while the living prepare to meet again under cover of darkness. Their decision records the danger posed by the men of land and the community’s precarious survival in a rule that governs when they can safely come together.