The term "man" (and "boy," too, to a lesser extent) is very literal. Only upon reaching this point is one considered to have all of the rights of an adult. The concept of gender for shipborn can be a little bit confusing for outsiders being based as it is on stages of life instead of physical sex or anything else more easily understandable. In the pidgin language that the shipborn have developed from tens and tens of languages new and old (especially one language that is extremely old) they use different kinds of pronouns re-purposed to specify particular ranks. Regardless of language, though, most cultures recognize two genders, and by their standards every man, regardless of whatever he bears or sires his children, should be treated as a man. The shipborn recognize that differing cultures should be respected for the simple reason of having good business relations with them all, but having a bit of strangeness and exoticism about you doesn't hurt either. And the shipborn do so hate to be treated inappropriately, too. People who forget that the trader standing in front of them is a man no matter what he looks like are liable to disappear for a few hours and then reappear with a lot of bruises and some broken bones, or even worse than that if they took things too far.

Marriage and Children

Conversely, ordinaries and ables are considered to be female. Shipborn are married before they even become ordinaries. It's a rare girl (physically one or not) who isn't living with her husband by the time that she's fifteen. For the next fifteen or so years, until she is considered to be fully proficient in her occupational field, she will remain in that marriage barring extraordinary circumstances. After reaching the rank of man, shipborn are released from their marriages and usually spend a few years "between" until they remarry again (and possible again and again; polygamy is common for men who are prestigious enough). Shipborn who bear children are the ones who have authority over them. They can expect to have four children on average, not including any claimed by early mortality, and might even have another one or two after becoming men.

But what of those children, whenever they happen to be born? Hopefully they won't be born at the wrong time, for one thing. There are a handful of very bad omens that the shipborn keep an eye out for. These include being born on a moonless night or when there has been no wind for at least three consecutive days. The first indicates that the child's spirit has been eaten (the moon isn't empty because the baby's soul was eaten, but when it is empty the sea plays host to demons who will do the deed) and the second predicts very, very bad luck for the child. Letting the child live would hardly be a mercy for either him- or those around him, since his luck is liable to be bad enough that the whole rookery would sink just so that the world could take a shot at the child. The infant is anointed with oils, placed in a small boat, and set out to sea. The boats are never touched if encountered on the water by a rookery, no matter if the child is still alive.

Should the child not be so unfortunate, however, he'll soon be given a name. Children are named after the first thing that their mother sees after going outside after she has given birth. Obviously, there are a lot of names that have to do with weather or the ocean, but shipborn infants are luckily born into a culture which, being seafaring, has a great many different names for different phenomena and properties relating to water and weather. Of note is the not-uncommon practice of the new mother keeping her eyes shut until someone informs her of something interesting. There are stories of some mothers keeping their eyes shut (or keeping something over their eyes) for days or even weeks at a time just so that their child will have a particular name.

Head-flattening begins within the first month of life in order to enhance the child's future attractiveness. Pieces of wood are bound to the infant's head in a way which will result in the top of the head becoming perfectly flat. This continues for twelve months with occasional readjustments of some of the pieces of wood in order to prevent deformation elsewhere.

Marriages are arranged and made as early in life as when the younger partner is nine (but the age is usually twelve). Cohabitation and consummation do not occur until said spouse becomes an ordinary. Otherwise she would be considered a he, no matter what happens to be between the legs, and despite their peculiarities with regard to gender identity the shipborn have a bad tendency to frown on that kind of thing to the point of it being an offense that can get you exiled (and that can be dangerous if you're too far from land because it gets carried out immediately). Pointing out to them that they're participating in this practice anyway will either get you a confused look or an assault depending on whether the shipborn in question thinks you're genuinely confused about how gender works in a civilized society or you're deliberating egging them on.

There are as many marriage ceremonies as there are religions in shipborn society but one of the most common traditions which crops up (indeed it might be regarded as the shipborn wedding tradition) starts with the placing of various obstacles in a path lying between the groom and the bride. These obstacles must be bypassed by the groom in order to show his worthiness and demonstrate his willingness to surmount all problems and dangers in order to be a proper companion to his spouse.

Interpersonal

Fashion is used to mark differences in rank. Exact kinds of clothing are not restricted to rank. It's the details that matter. All ranks wear jackets, but boys and ordinaries' jackets lack a skirt and buttons, and ables' jackets have square buttons instead of the round buttons that a man's jacket will sport. Some hats have brims, others lack lather, and depending on your rank you may have gloves that are long or that reach no further than your wrist. Married couples cannot wear the exact same kind of clothing but it is traditional for them to wear the same colors in their wardrobe. This may be as simple as making sure that the same color is included somewhere in their respective outfits or be so exact that in color they are almost mirror images of each other.

Punishments are usually permanent and of a lasting nature. If you are not exiled then you will be tattooed so that everyone will know what you did, how long ago, and what punishment you were given. It isn't normally possible to escape the past even if you leave for another rookery. There is an out for those who want to take it, however. By accepting exile to another rookery, procedures will be performed to remove the tattoo, including dermabrasion with shark-skin sandpaper and excision. Anesthetics are not used during these procedures. Not even alcohol can be drunk, because the pain of this process is part of the cost of shedding the signs of your crimes and becoming one of the Grace-Given. The skin will remain raw and red for up to several months.

The shipborn don't have a strong concept of personal space. Growing up on a rookery means that every spare inch of space on-board is used for something, and often for more than one something. Outsiders, were they allowed into the bowels of a rookery, would be hard-pressed to get around with bumping into someone every ten minutes. The shipborn, of course, are more than capable of dodging past each other while on the move but it's a skill that takes practice or very slow and careful movement. The "quarter space" of a shipborn, that area of the rookery which he can place his own possessions and sleep, is in most cases scarcely larger than the room he takes up when laying down. This is only doubled when married (the couple's quarter space is combined) and even the quarter space of the rookery's captain is only three times as large as normal. This space is utilized as best as possible through suspending one's possessions from the ceiling (quarter spaces that border a wall are prized, since it gives another surface to hang things from), and people usually sleep on hammocks, which not only make maximum use of the available space and can be put away but also prevent the user from being thrown onto the floor by a sudden lurching of the rookery.

Next month: The art and minds of the dead.