”Our ancestors made boats and sailed the stars. It was priests from Iox who took those boats away and burned them. Now we have had all the children this moon has to offer us, and we have nothing left to do but grow more rice than we can eat."

The Leader is the only person on Maersi who will willingly talk to Aliya. He says that he has had some dealings with outsiders before and describes himself as "forward."
He repeatedly denies having seen Renba or any other outsider, but if pressed will confess that Renba visited and then left in a ship, and afterward there was an explosion in the sky. Then, if Aliya has not yet found or been given the Iolite Shard, he will give it to her.
The Leader is angry at Renba for leading Anulya on and then abandoning her. He makes no secret of his resentment of Iox and Ioxians for their treatment of his moon.