#rivervale_lodge

"After that time, Gwydion became a fierce, wise, and honorable warrior, and he collected to himself only the fiercest, most wise, and most honest warriors he could find...including the now-grown Keredwyn, who eventually became his wife as well as his shield mate."

"Knowing that...what can you tell me of what matters to House Gwydion?" Again, the slow circling, spear loose in her grip.

Dagmar slowly turns, keeping face to face with Brekke - her grip tight, body tense.

"Well, you said it - fierce warriors. Gwydion are good fighters. And Lord Gwydion collected good fighters."

A nod towards her death-grip on the spear. "You fear I will hurt you?"

"I... don't think you would hurt me on purpose, not, like, really hurt me. Might give me some bruises to think about."

"You don't hurt anybody unless they deserve it."

Brekke nods. "Even if I did attack you with intent to harm, you are a troll. Trust your strength and your might. Tension will not serve you well with spear." She throws a quick strike, as easy as tossing a ball to Oak or Edelweiss, trying to tag Dagmar in the shoulder. "What else does the story tell you of House Gwydion?"

She pulls her shoulder back, hoping to duck the blow. "Well, if they hooked up, Keredwyn forgave him."

"So maybe it's that people can change?"

The blow just grazes Dagmar, and Brekke nods, circling. "What happened when Keredwyn and Gwydion first met?"

"She kicked his ass. Because he and his buddies raped her house." A scowl, and now Dagmar flicks out a blow - finding a vent for that well of anger. Not a jab, but a swing.

Brekke blocks it with the haft of her spear, and moves to return the strike. "Is that why? Revenge? Is that where her power came from?"

"No..."

"Maybe?"

"No." Strike.

Grunt, scowl, riposte.

Block-strike-circle.

"He hurt her people!"

"He hurt many people. Why could she win?" Strike-strike...then pause, stepping back. "You are close, Dagmar. Who told her to fight?"

"Her father... but she would have fought anyways, I bet. Because they were her people. And he hurt them, and she wasn't just... she.. "

"If she lost, that would mean Gwydion would go free and that.. that it would be okay, what he did..."

"She had to win."

"It's not that beating him or hurting him in the fight was the thing, it was showing him that he was wrong."

Brekke considers this...then nods. "I can see how you are seeing it. That it was a matter of justice. That is not the message I take from it, however. She fought for her father, Dagmar. She fought on his behalf, not to mete out the justice she had decided was right, and not to glorify her own strength. To fight on behalf of another...that in itself is a source of great power."

"And...certainly...when Gwydion was released from his three-year's punishment, he made it his duty to seek out the unjust and the bullies and to punish them. So in that sense, you are perhaps closer to how Gwydion himself would have seen it." A bit of a grin.

"...oh..."

"I don't know if beating up other people makes up for being a rapist, though."

"No. What of three years hunted as an animal, afraid, weaponless but for teeth and wits?"

Her jaw juts out again and she frowns. "I don't know."

"I don't know what's enough, for that."

"They need to understand it was wrong."

Brekke watches her, listening.

"They?"

"...Gwydion. The rapist."

"Mm. I think I may not be telling the tale well. As an animal, he learned fear, and to understand the fear of others. When released to his own form, he swore to punish those who misused their strength, as he had misused his. You see, he had learned that to do so was wrong."

She slows, a line furrowing between her eyebrows. "...Maybe..."

"But I don't see why it's House Gwydion and not House Keredwyn."

A grin. "He formed his House, and she chose to join it. You know she was a mighty warrior herself...so she must have seen great worth in doing so, it seems."

"Why did you join?"

"Hm." Not quite a chuckle, and she looks off (or to the past) for a moment. "Hemlock, then a Baron, and I were already held together by an ancient oath before we drew breath in this life. He is Gwydion, through and through...and when he gave me title and holding, he welcomed me into the House, much as Gwydion of old welcomed his three-hundred warriors...to use my strength to serve the needs of others whose strength is less."

"But that's... Dagda, sorta, isn't it?"

"Hmm." Brekke grins. "Interesting, that, is it not?"

"Well, it's Spider-man, too."

"Or... Thor. If you have power, you have to... be responsible, be worthy."

Pause. "That's why trolls get weak if they break their oaths?"

"I think you will find that thread in many of the stories that grasped your attention before you knew yourself. For you were Gwydion even before you knew you were Dagmar."

She chews on her lower lip and nods.

Brekke nods. "And it is why we are careful in our oathing."

"I was Gwydion in a past life, but... I mean... I'm not the same, this life."