Dag

Overview

Dag is an extramuros migrant encountered as a passenger on a smuggler sledge heading toward Kolya. He travels alongside Laro and Brajj. He is identified in-scene with Laro’s community as Gheeths (a label used by others), and later becomes the focus of a public accusation in Old Mahsht following the crevasse incident.

Appearance and Traits

• Little description is given; he is noted as the sturdier of the two migrants traveling together (Dag and Laro).
• He and Laro are shown praying together and are characterized by others as Deolaters.
• Quiet and practical in manner; when survival work begins he takes over sawing tent poles to fabricate makeshift snowshoes.

Roles and Actions

• Boards a one-sledge smuggler run during a storm; shares the covered sledge with Laro and Brajj while the avout narrator rides alongside using cold-weather gear.
• When the drivers depart—claiming they will return with fuel—Dag joins the effort to break camp, salvage gear, and craft snowshoes and a toboggan for a self-rescue descent toward the coast.
• Roped between Brajj (lead) and Laro (aft), Dag is pulled off the safe line during a steep traverse; shortly after, he disappears into a crevasse during a small slide. Subsequent rescue efforts recover the toboggan and Laro; Dag does not reappear.
• In Old Mahsht, Laro later appears among Gheeth men as a “witness” and accuses the same avout of saving himself but leaving “our kinsman Dag” for dead. Crowd leaders brandish the avout’s bolt, chord, and sphere to incite a vigilante attack before the situation is broken up.

Relationships

• Laro: Travels as a close companion and, per Laro’s later statement, kinsman. Laro subsequently invokes Dag’s fate in a public accusation.
• Brajj: Fellow passenger who organizes the self-rescue and leads the roped travel; helps recover Laro after the fall. Dag’s disappearance occurs while roped between Brajj and Laro.

Current Status

Not recovered after the crevasse incident; presumed dead by on-scene participants. Later, Laro publicly claims the avout “left our kinsman Dag for dead.” Dag himself is not seen again and his exact fate remains unconfirmed.