While Black-ears and his team of scouts are away, Ekay is busy introducing the sergals to new tools and techniques. After learning more about the raw materials that are available to the tribe, he shows ways to craft new items. For instance, the tribe already knows how to dry Talyxian tree skins make a leather-like fabric. Using an iron hole punch to make smaller holes than their existing methods, a belt can be produced! While these items may appear to be simplistic in nature, they represent a major evolutionary step for the tribe.

After making their first belt, Little Weaver is delighted to learn that they get to keep the hole punch. This marks Little Weaver’s very first iron tool, something they are quite excited about. Like many Sieg tribes, the Mole-Diggers have no real way to gather ore and forge iron products. However, through trade with travelers such as Ekay, they are able to gain access to new ways to survive and even thrive. This is exactly the philosophy Ekay’s entire family works so hard to accomplish.

Impressed with Ekay’s talents, the sergals pay him a high compliment and liken him to an adult. This is because Sieg sergals believe that only “adults” are capable of performing advanced feats and skills, with children being limited only the most basic of ability. This is both a Sieg sergal custom and a spiritual understanding, separating tribes of Sieg children from communities of capable adults.

Once a child reaches maturity and discovers ways to become more skilled, they are promoted to the position of tribe’s leader. Eventually the tribe’s leader grows enough to survive and leave the tribe to join a group of adults, and the process repeats. Thus, the Mole-Digger Tribe members view Ekay as an adult and believe that his crafting abilities are something that typically only an adult could do. To learn more and better understand Sieg culture, please consider checking out Vilous co-creator Kiki’s recent lore post on this topic!