Choths And Marriage

The People Of The Wind, I.

The institutions of marriage and family are common to many species in Poul Anderson's Technic History. On Avalon, Eyath might marry Vodan who is also of Stormgate Choth. Marrying out of choth would require her to move elsewhere, e.g., to:

the Plains of Long Reach;
arctic marshes;
the New Gaiilan savannah;
one of the many islands where most of the dry land is to be found.

However, flying Ythrians are more mobile. Eyath's mother often revisits her homeland, the Sagittarius basin.

Ythrians can delay starting a family by remaining hriccal, avoiding each other while on heat. They do not usually use contraception because, as with the winged Diomedeans, it is mainly shared care for offspring, not sex, that keeps couples together.

Vodan, in partnership with young Ythrians not only from Stormgate but also from Many Thermals and the Tarns, has started a silvicultural engineering firm.

See Choths II.