Etim 'Ne, 'the Old Person', is the first man of Ekoi tradition and a culture hero. He and his wife Ejaw descend from the sky to a waterless earth; Etim 'Ne asks Obassi Osaw for water and is given a calabash of seven clear stones, each of which, planted in the ground, wells up into a lake or stream, and from these the rivers of the world are propagated by his descendants. When one greedy son empties a whole basket of stones in one place, a flood threatens to drown the earth until Obassi Osaw checks it at Etim 'Ne's prayer, leaving a single lake. In the companion fire myth, Etim 'Ne sends a boy to the sky who, refused fire by Obassi Osaw, steals a burning brand and carries the first fire to earth. Etim 'Ne is remembered as the bringer of water and the namer of the rivers.