Work Text:
When I met Alåth Olonthatthil I hardly realised that I had. She was painfully shy, and she didn't seem inclined to socialise. Keeping to yourself on a small wagon is quite tricky, but she managed it.
In fact, I don't think she said a single word in all the time we were travelling; the first time I heard her speak was after we had finally settled on the site for our new home.
"Right, I'll go catch us some fish, then," she said.
Our expedition leader was having none of that, though; Kol Oslanmuzish was far too sensible to let a dwarf wander off on her own when the wagon needed unloading.
"Look, Alåth," she said gently. "There are kea about, so we really need to get all this stuff under cover, and to do that, the first thing we need is some cover to get it under. Could you just, well, take the spare pick, and help Melbil dig out an entry tunnel and stockpile? We'd all really appreciate it. And it's not really safe for you to go and look for water alone."
It seemed to me that Alåth’s shoulders drooped a little, but she took the pick, and gamely got to work.
The entrance and stockpile were soon finished, but then of course we needed some stairs and a meeting room. Alåth at least seemed to have some enthusiasm for the meeting room, since it meant we had somewhere to herd the cats into so they weren't underfoot all the time. She was fond of cats, in her quiet way. And she perked up a bit more when she was asked to excavate a kitchen and dining room; I think she was thinking of fish stew...
By the time Kol was asking Alåth to excavate us some bedrooms, it was probably true that no one could have done it as well as she could. And they were very well excavated indeed, but Alåth shrugged all our compliments off.
About then Kol hit on something that really did motivate the shy dwarf; she suggested that there might be underground water, which would, of course, be much safer to fish in, if we should happen to find it, than any water outside could be. I'm not sure we needed thirty levels of stairs, but at least we got them very quickly!
If only what Alåth had found was some water it might all have been ok. Alas, what she actually found was a fine deposit of magnetite... and a few days later, sitting down for some beer, I overheard Kol having a quiet word with her.
"You know, if we had some weapons, it would be a lot safer for dwarves to go outside," she was saying persuasively. I don't think Alåth actually believed her by then, but she just nodded solemnly. She really was a quiet dwarf, and very averse to conflict.
Udil Cattenlisid worked wonders in getting a smelter set up and running in record time, and promptly started making iron bars. After that it didn't take very long to get our steel industry going, since when we started excavating the iron ore it quickly became apparent that the level above it was composed mainly of dolomite. The only delays were caused by needing to find a dwarf with any free time to cut down some trees to make charcoal from, and then actually making it.
And by the time we had steel, Alåth had become quite expert at working with iron. Her growing skill was clearly recorded in the rows of menacing iron spikes of increasingly high quality that added a very... unique atmosphere to the weapons stockpile. I did try to compliment her on her newly acquired talents at weaponsmithing, but all she said in response was "I don't even like spikes".
The next day I was told that all of the spikes had been sent down to the smelter to be made into steel bars. When I visited later that month, I discovered that steel corkscrews can actually menace at least as well as menacing spikes.
I think the last straw was what happened when she tried to talk to the Manager about being assigned some time to actually fish in. I didn't hear what she asked him, but I did hear his reply.
"Alåth, you can't possibly expect me to send you out fishing! You're a Master Weaponsmith! Your skills are priceless! Labourbrand needs you, and Kol would never forgive me if I let you put yourself in danger like that!", Ducim told her, sounding very put out. "And besides, why would you want to waste your time fishing? Your battle axes and war hammers are the pride and joy of the fortress! I can understand wanting a change, and we could really use some more trap weapons; perhaps you could make some large serrated discs and spiked balls? I'm sure you'll feel more like yourself if you just give that a try!"
She didn't try to argue, she simply turned and left, and I'm sure her muttered reply, "I'm a fisherdwarf", was too quiet for him to hear.
The Mayor is supposed to talk to dwarves who are unhappy. It's the Mayor's job. It wouldn't be right to prevent an unhappy dwarf from seeking counselling.
Some time later, I took my fingers carefully out of my ears. The screaming had stopped, so it was probably safe. Likot noticed and followed suit. We exchanged a wary look.
"I think we need a new Mayor," he said sagely.
The last time I saw Alåth, you would never have known that she was quiet, or shy, or reserved. She left from the main gate, a trail of bleeding and groaning dwarves in her wake, and she hasn't returned. At the threshold, we found a sceptre, seemingly abandoned by its creator now that its work was done.
Apparently, the last words anyone heard her say were:
"I'm going fishing now, and Armok help you if you get in my way."