Hello. You may have heard of me. My name is Loki. Some call me the god of mischief. Others call me the god of lies. Yet others refer to me as the father of all things evil. Some of these are true, and others are the mere whisperings of mortals trying to describe that which they cannot comprehend. Do you want to know the truth? My story begins many aeons ago- in the age of mythology.
The age of mythology.....some say it was paradise- others that it was hell on earth. It was the time of gods, of elves, and fairies. It was the time of fire giants, magical swords, and fire-breathing dragons. At the time I was content to whisk around, playing practical jokes, "borrowing" things, and generally causing mischief and havoc, for I was indeed, the god of mischief. But not all was fun and games. Angered that no one took me seriously, and saw me as nothing more then a nuisance, I decided to show them I could do good. I created the fire giants(for I am also the god of fire), and ruled over them for a time. The other gods found out, and quickly became jealous of my newfound power. They convinced Thor that only he should rule, and that I had transgressed against the very laws of nature. I was banished, along with my giants, to earth. After a time, I was received back into Asgard. The gods, it would seem, had forgiven me....but I had not forgiven them. So it was that I began plotting my revenge. I set about to take over Asgard, and rule the world from the heavens. I set loose my fire giants upon the world to plague mankind, and divert the attention of the other, more powerful gods away from me. The Fenris Wolf is my son, and he prowled about, searching for the one thing he desired- flesh. I stole weapons of great power, and forged them into mighty weapons of evil. It was I who caused Baldur's death. I found the one thing that could kill him and tricked the blind god into shooting baldur with an arrow made of mistletoe. Then, in the midst of all the confusion, turmoil and grief, I struck.
All would have gone according to plan except for 3 people- Shaknya, the steward, and Tholas and Ravenstrike, his bodyguards. Shaknya was unique in that he was the only one who knew how to make ambrosia. In case you do not know what that is, ambrosia is the drink of the gods. It is what gives us our immortality. Shaknya was the keeper of the recipe, and deliverer to the gods. One day, Shaknya was making his usual rounds, delivering ambrosia to the gods, when he heard voices coming from the wall. Curious, he leaned upon the wall, opening a secret door. At the far end of this secret room was me- Loki, and some of the other gods, including Tyr, the god of war. Shaknya hid behind a barrel, and listened to the conversation, for he knew something was not right. He overheard my plans to kill Thor, the head of Asgard, and become ruler in his stead. He fled, knocking over the barrel in his wake, alerting us to his presence. We gave chase, but were stopped at the entrance to Thul. Thul is a peaceful side-community of Asgard, where the stewards and the bodyguards to the stewards and gods live with their families. It is a place forbidden for gods to enter. Behind its walls, Shaknya was safe.....for now. I approached Ravenstrike, one of his personal bodyguards, and made a deal. He would betray Shaknya, and I, in return, would give him the gift of immortality. For, without Shaknya, the secrets of ambrosia would be lost forever, thus making all the gods, myself included, mere mortals. Ravenstrike agreed. For days I heard nothing. Then, reports were coming in saying the entire population of Thul was arming in defense of Thor. I decided I had to act, and quickly. Tyr became over-zealous, and hatched a plot to rid Asgard of Thul forever. He decided upon explosives, so blame could be pinned on the dwarfs. Bekother, the goddess of love, somehow found out about Tyr's plans. Being in love with Shaknya, she warned Shaknya and Thul, and they prepared their defense. While all this was going on, I headed for the main throne room to deal with what I thought was the main problem- Thor himself. We had already taken the stores of ambrosia that we had, and I had planned to capture Shaknya, and get the secret to its making. Bekother and the Thulians had managed to set up a heavy stone wall to take the brunt of the explosions. Tyr set off the explosive charges. The resulting explosion shook Asgard, and sent mortals on the earth below trembling to their knees, thinking Ragnarok, the Final Battle, had come, which, in a way, it had. Instead of blowing Thul up, the explosions instead went deep into the foundation of Asgard, resulting in the entire continent of Thul breaking away from Asgard. I had just killed Thor, when the earthquakes began. For weeks, they continued. Buildings crumbled, mountains cracked, and the very earth cried out in protest. When all had finally settled, only then did I venture outside, to see what had happened. I found Tyr with his wife, and asked him what he had done. When he told me, I flew into one of my well-known rages, finding that Shaknya had died when the prisons collapsed. I immediately sent out search parties to search the whole earth to see where the self proclaimed King Tholas had gone. Years passed, men were born, men were killed, and still there was no sign of Thul. I rebuilt Asgard past its former beauty, building temples of gold, mansions of pure silver, and monuments such as had never been seen before. And slowly, our ambrosia began to run out. More years passed, and still there was no sign of Thul.....until the raven came. It flew into the great hall, and perched upon my throne. It was then I noticed the lightning bolt seared into its breast, and. I knew then that Ravenstrike had sent his message. I called forth the heroes of Valhalla, and the Valkryies who chose them. and sent them forth, following the raven back to its home. I found them near an old mine shaft, where I saw wonders I had never seen before. Great monsters of metal roamed the earth, harvesting resources for the fires of industry. I found the merchant prince Ahab, who owned the whole land. It was deep in his land, that Thul now resided, under the rulership of King Thomual, King Tholas' great grandson. And so....the Great Wars began.
Myth against metal, metal against fantasy, and fantasty against myth. The rivers turned red with the blood of the innocent, and man became as powerful as the gods through their machines. Greed overcame Prince Ahab, and he turned to both sides for profit. He traded with Thul for ambrosia in return for tech, and traded with Asgard for magical items in return for the ambrosia we so desparately needed. We had no choice but to accept. And so it was that both Asgard and Thul became increasingly more powerful, yet both dependent upon Ahab until the time came that they could destroy him.
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