#rivervale_lodge

Sylvi glances to Dagmar. (Is everything okay?)

She nods and shrugs. ("Sluagh gonna sluagh.")

His eyes start glowing lambent green, which probably doesn't help Ashblythe's ease.

Kerri and Sylvi have very similar looks of surprise as Symon starts to do his Bruno Madrigal act.

the curse is strong, formed during the Dream dance itself! Like a flat handed strike on a child's face that will not unblemish

Symon can sense that there is something unjust in this, something supernatural rather than natural.. the wrong life punished? Or maybe the touch of some outside hand litterally

"Damn." He whispers, his voice possibly carrying now that everyone has gone quiet and watching him. "Olgar might have done something to deserve it, but you? Seems... petty. Cruel. Who did you piss off in a past life?"

His words a bit harsh, perhaps, but his tone, he's at least trying to be kind.

Olgar arches a brow "Huh"

Sitting back from the girl, squatting on his haunches with hands dangling like an underfed frog.

"I don't understand.." Ashblythe says

Dagmar frowns, a worried crease between her brows.

He gums at a lip a bit. "Being ugly is one thing." Blunt, but honest, as he reasons it out. "Ugly can be hidden, or fixed. But... there's something you have going on. People don't like you, eh? Mortals, probably. They get creeped out, or intimidated. Probably just looks like they're making faces at your face. Makes sense. How are they gonna understand? You're just a kid, not someone to be on edge around. So they think, "ugh, I just don't want to look at her."

"Symon!" Sylvi feels the need to defend the girl's feelings.

Ash says "I didn't ASK you to look at my face, if.. if you don't like it, you don't have to"

"Sy? I think the rest of us need some help catching up on what you are thinking here."

"No, you're not listening. It's NOT your face. That's what I'm trying to explain." He shoots Sylvi a slightly withering glance.

Continuing in the closest thing he has to a gentle tone, "You have a curse. That's what people react to, not just.... the layout of features based on stupid modern standards of beauty."

"A curse," Kerri echoes. "So this was done to her intentionally."

"Sorry." He says, sliding away to give her some more space. "Didn't mean to sound like a jerk. ...you didn't know, huh?"

Blink. "Who the fuck would curse a kid?"

"I wasn't supposed to be like this?" she ask

"No one, probably." He nods to Dagmar. "Someone cursed a Troll."

Olgar scratches his chin "I heard of things like this..."

"Cursed her face..." Sylvi says quietly, thinking. "Maybe to hide her real appearance for some reason?"

"Or maybe not someone. Could be that she did something awful in a past life, and fate branded her for it." He feels the glares before they even come, and, "Sorry, just saying it could be."

"Oh," Sylvi says at the mention of being branded by fate, and she looks at Ashblythe again.

"I didn't MEAN to have a bad past life" says the girl sounding a bit pitiful despite her effort to be strong

"Maybe you didn't," Sylvi says. "That's just one of the options."

"More likely, you pissed someone or something off." Symon says, helpfully.

"There's lots of way to do that. I'm somewhat of an expert."

"Perhaps Mountain Vali could delve more deeply into this," Kerri suggests.

Brow furrow.

"Maybe" Olgar leans down and looks at Ashblythe "An omen might help"

"If it's a curse, that means it could be... lifted, couldn't it?"

"I bet it could," Sylvi says. "But we need to find out more."

Symon shrugs and whispers. "I could tell you about cursING, maybe. Removing them... that's not something I know."

"Magic isn't my strong suit. But it IS Vali's."

"Yeah. And Gerd's, right?"

"Zane."

"Zane! Of course, yes."

"I thought Zane was in Dark gate" Olgar is behind the loop

"Well, he was here for the Goldfinch meeting. Hang on, I'll text him." She takes her phone outside to do so.

Kerri quietly pours Ashblythe a glass of lemonade and passes it to her.

"Hey, Sorry, Ash. I didn't mean to sound like an asshole. Sometimes I do. This isn't one of those times."

Symon whispers to the girl.

"Social graces aren't his strong point."

Coming from Dagmar.

"He used a curse word" She mutters feeling on the spot

A glance at Dagmar, and he retreats, climbing the wall. As he passes the troll, he whispers, "I dunno, can you get her a cookie or something? I'm not good at this part."

"Cookies help a number of things."