During the two weeks the Dze would show a change in attitude towards the foreigners, for although friendly, these people were not keen to easily trust others, yet it seemed as if these foreigners were different, to them at least, and they silently appreciated that. Children would occassionally watch the two Cholish women and run away if they were spotted; the Dze seemed to have a relatively usual family structure, however strictly monogamous and yet it seemed that couples were happy with eachother, no matter the age it seemed. Later would the T'aan explain their philosophy on love one day: Dze would not date in the conventional sense before marriage, for they had a much easier time figuring out who a compatible partner would be and they would build such a relationship up as it was started. A young boy would play a melody of his own making in a particular style on a flute or a girl would carve out in tree bark a hieroglyphic message and the other side would reciprocate by answering them, this would go for a few years until it was officialized. It was unsure wether non-heterosexual couples even existed in this tribe or the nearby ones they occasionally visited while accompanying the T'aan, but he answered anyways that it was indeed extremely rare, but not ostracized; most likely a cultural or biological factor, it was certainly something to note.
Each family had from 2 to 4 children and they would help out their parents without much of a gender disinction in childhood, daughters learning how to smelt ore and sons learning how to weave, their parents too seemed to specialize in many crafts, some Dze doing carpentry and hunting or pottery-making and later cooking, they had to, for although specialized, they had to remain somewhat generalists due to the semi-nomadic lifestyle which they embraced.
The T'aan would explain this one day as they found him fishing in a small lake, Dze were beings of curiosity and of learning and it was considered a sign of strength to know of many crafts. Although the Nywic language these people spoke was related more closely to the partially deciphered Old Dze, it was mutually unintelligible asides vague cognates and so the Dze who knew Solaren, very few still, would much rather learn Thestrian and Crystallic, the T'aan included, and teach it to their kin slowly. The Dze had superb hearing and, unbeknownst to the Cholish, extremely good vocalization due to their two vocal organs and so had no trouble getting used to the sound and structure of the languages the Cholish knew.
Although very reserved about things such as biology or explaining their muddied and bloody history, the T'aan in particular would listen and answer to any questions they had and he would look and listen with meticulous detail at any show of magic they showed, unable to understand it properly but assuring himself it was a form of technology, or information about Choslow and ask back to them in hopes of knowing more.
"These totems were made by our ancestors more than three hundred generations back. We know not what they made them for but their spirits live on in them, their memories and experiences; they are what tie us to them, the sky to the earth and we must keep the ties clean, just like we clean the totems every day if plants grow on them"-said Tẋeł̣eeq one day to Hela as he brought her to one of the totems, bowing to it first before speaking. It depicted a male dze, a warrior in basic garments and yet no mask, sporting a spear on one hand and a rope on the other. The details were so well kept it looked as if they had been carved less than a day ago, the stone of the totems made of a strange composition, sturdy and able to withstand time-
He would allow for her to visit the totems so as long as she dared not deface them and inspect them to her hearts content, as did the musicians allow for her to be taught their craft, explaining their musical modes and the way the instruments worked. The musicians were young and enthusiastic, slightly more eager to share in knowledge than the older adults and they spared no time to even teach Syl and Hela how to properly play their instruments during the mostly cloudless nights that defined their stay; through them they would also learn of several Dze constellations and their cosmology, many constellations had the names of local fauna or of great spirits, their gods. The Lequn, the horse like creature they usually rode in; the Scaledmane, a large reptilian being that occasionally was seen in rocky outcrops or the Guardian of Souls, the galactic disk which they believed was the holder of stars and the souls of those who died.
Syl could also witness the Dze were not eager in changing their enviroment in large scale actions, a tree would be chopped and the lumberjack would take seeds of the tree from a pouch and spread them around; a hunter would take down male animals but would not shoot female animals with calfs or if it was pregnant and the few Dze who ventured to ore deposits would only take amounts requested by blacksmiths, for the concept of surplus in a society where it might weigh the travel of the community down was not required.
Lastly, in terms of magic it appeared as if the Dze, although spiritual to a degree, were not openly magical however there was a scent of it...an aura, just like the one on the totems but much weaker, in the case of the totems it seemed to affect life around it, turning panicking animals into tamer creatures, fostering the growth of trees of tender fruit and slowing decay. It seemed as if Dze magic did not exist, or at least not strong active magic, but rather a passive effect that reflected their spirit when at peace, cheerful, nurturing and happy, yet hidden as if it did not want to be seen.
