Tianxia:Loki Laufeyjarson

Background
The Nordic Trickster God, Loki, is well-known in the stories and legends.Often compared to some evil deities, like the Christian's Satan and the likes, Loki certainly has a reputation, that, certainly is, earned. Yet there's more to Loki than just a simple evil god, far from it in fact...

Trickster in Asgard
Loki, in the Nordic Mythology, belong to the Vanir, a group of god that descended from the Jötuns and lived in Vanaheimr. When the Aesir, from which Othinn belong, arrived, they raised their walls and challenged the Vanir. A war between the two group of gods broke out. Although the Vanir managed to tear down the Aesir's walls, they were forced to submit, placing themselves below the Aesir as a subgroup and forced to offer some of their members as hostages to the Aesir.

Loki was one of the hostage of the Aesir. Before being sent to Asgard, he was married to the Jötunn Angrboda, from which he will have his infamous children. The wolf, Fenrir, the Serpent, Jormungandr, and his daughter, Hel, who was in charge of her own Hell, named after herself, in Niflheim, taking a portion of the dead not worthy of the High Halls.

Loki certainly did not enjoy being removed from his home and forced to sit along with former enemies, always too eager to remind him of the defeat of his kind. Loki of course, responded with intensity, often throwing vicious and insulting jabs at the Aesir, often causing him to be the target of threats from the gods, most notably Thor.

His monstrous children, Fenrir and Jormungandr, were targeted very quickly by the Gods, as they saw them as potential threats. Fenrir, was bound by the magical bind Gleipnir, forged by the dwarves, and the gods attempted to drown Jormungandr, only to release the snake benefited from the water by growing in size, so much, that now every particle of water somewhat hold parts of the Sea Snake, from Heaven, to Earth and even Hell.

Many times the Gods have tried to slay or seal the creature, yet his size and dangerous poison proven too much for the Aesir, and so they decided to force the creature into a deep slumber, causing it to lay down in the deepest bodies of water, unreachable by all, for some, hoping that it would be forgotten forever. A routine for the Aesir, that still goes on to the actual days, is to sacrifice some cattle and drug the meat before dropping it into the ocean, tricking the slumbering serpent into devouring these baits that fall on him, forcing it yet again to sleep.

Loki was certainly irritated that most his children were imprisoned or banished in some ways or another. Even his Jötuun wife, Angrboda, suffered the humiliation of being left behind when he was forced to come into Asgard, with the Aesir attempting to murder her. They've failed, and in retaliation, she often send monstrous creatures after Mani and Sol, the Aesir God of the Moon and the Goddess of the Sun.

Yet, even with such humiliation and mistreatment, Loki tried to be helpful in many ways, often saving the hide of the Aesir on multiple occasions. He married an Aesir Goddess Sigyn, to show his good faith and attempt at fitting in, even though he had quite a personality. He even had two sons from her, Narfi and Vali, that certainly showed more Aesir traits than any other children of Loki. What more, he actually saved Freyja from a promised marriage with a very talented builder by distracting his horse, Svadilfari, who will have, some unfortunate ending for Loki, as he will give birth to Sleipnir after a misadventure with the builder's mount.

He helped Thor, who certainly did not like him, retrieves his hammer, Mjolnir, after it was stolen by giants, disguising him and leading him close enough to his stolen weapon so that he could take revenge on the thieves. Yet, he still was looked down upon by the Aesir. Tired of dealing with such ingrates, the Trickster God decided to put out the light, or the actual god of Light, Baldr, son of Othinn.

Fall to Midgard
Baldr, the Aesir god of Light, was Othinn's favorite son, a perfect target for Loki, who certainly couldn't hope to take out the Allfather by himself. However, Frigg, Baldr's mother, went a long way to make a pact with all living and non-living things so they would not be able to harm her son. Every time something was thrown at Baldr, the item itself would deviate and miss and creatures would fail to land a strike at him. It had sort of become a twisted habit between the gods to throw things at Baldr for laughs because of this.

Yet Frigg forgot to make a pact with one little plant that she deemed too weak to even be able to hurt her son.The Mistletoe. Loki was well aware of this, often sneaking on the gods and goddesses, learning their secrets, so he went on to collect the plant, which would prove fatal to his victim.

As of another feast in Asgard, the gods were yet again throwing a few items at Baldr to lighten the mood. Loki sneaked up to one particular god, Hödr, the blind Aesir god and also Baldr's brother. Loki proposed to help Hödr throw a certain item at Baldr, which he accepted, not knowing what it was: a spear made from Mistletoe. The other gods failed to see the actual threat that the spear presented to Baldr, and no one stopped Loki and Hödr before it was too late. Guiding the blind god's hand, Loki couldn't help but laugh as the brother of the god of Light threw the spear right at his own kin.

The gods all fell in silence when they saw the spear piercing Baldr's body. Before they could recover from their shock, there was already a mad laugh leaving the area. It was a mad hunt for the trickster god for what seemed an eternity until they caught him, as he was hidden right under their nose as a salmon in a waterfall.

The enraged voices all asked the same thing, justice for Baldr's death and punishment for the trickster god. Othinn left his pairs do justice as we was mourning his lost son. The gods believed it was fair that, since the Allfather lost a child, Loki should also see his children's lives taken away. They seized Narfi and Vali, his sons that he got from Sigyn, turned them into wolves and forced them to fight each other. Both perished from the fight, under Loki's eyes, that remained silent before such a display as the other gods cheered for theirs deaths, pleased with their "justice".

Dragged down to Midgard without ceremony by the other gods, they chose to lock him down under a cave below some hot springs. Binding Loki with the entrails of his Aesir children, the gods also decided to place a venomous snake over him, cursed so it would pour its fiery venom constantly on the Trickster god. Once they were assured that everything was in place, the Aesir left the trickster god in his case, making sure no humans could ever find his prison. Only one person stayed behind with Loki.

Sigyn was traumatized by the cruel judgment of the gods, and while she didn't approve Loki's actions, she was heartbroken by the loss of her two innocent sons. She faithfully helped Loki during his torment, as he was trying to break free from the binds, and often prevented the venom from burning her husband's face using a bowl to collect the venom. Yet, she couldn't stop it all, and whenever a drop touched the Trickster god's face, he would cause earthquakes as the pain was unbearable.

Eventually, as it was foretold by the völva, he would break free, lead those that were scorned by the Aesir to Asgard, and see the Heavens burn, his brood unleashing great destruction upon them for all the times they were sealed and imprisoned. Loki hanged on this prophecy, knowing he would get his last laugh over the gods.

Finaly, one day, he broke free from the binds. Escaping his prison and leading Sigyn to safety, he prepared for the Ragnarök...But he would find nothing. His sons were still imprisoned, Hel was under surveillance and too caught up with the dead to help him, ahd the giants of Muspelheim never rised from their realm. Utterly shocked, Loki quickly began to investigate the reasons why the völva's prophecy never happened. It would soon come to his attention that a heavenly, yet foreign force, intervened to prevent the beginning of such events.

The Celestial Bureaucracy arranged it so that the Aesir would never be threatened by the Ragnarök, at the cost of removing their presence, somewhat, over human's minds and memories. Suffice to say the trickster was outraged by this discovery, but he knew too well he couldn't take on such opposition by himself.

Knowing that the way to the Heavens were blocked, and unsure if he could fight Bifrost's sentinel, Heimdall, he resigned to live down in Midgard. Although he remembered watching humans, from Asgard, and mocking their lives, he was slightly surprised at how they evolved and even lost most of their faiths and fear of the unknown. In a rare show of pity, he gathered a very small group of fellow Jötunn that fell into difficulties with the human's lack of fear and their legends altered into simple myths. Gaining their loyalty by taking care of them proper and leading them trough the modern times, they now serve as eyes and ears to Loki around the world, always informing him of the latest news and secrets.

It took him some time to adapt, but the trickster god managed to fit into the human world quite well. Over the time, he assumed many identities and shapes thanks to his shape-shifting ability and made quite a treasury, building himself a quiet yet modern hideout for him and Sigyn. He also became quite adept in the use of modern technology and often love to infiltrate trading sessions and exchanges, spreading rumors around to mess up with people's trade and affairs.

However, Loki doesn't forget the shame that the Aesir inflicted upon him, nor his wasted chance to get back to them and repay them their "kindness". The trickster god waits for the opportunity, and the chance, that one day, he will be able to perform his greatest tricks.

Personality
To put it simply, the Trickster God is unpredictable. He will often go out of his way to mess with somebody, on various levels, from a unpleasant prank to an harmful trap. He often hides his presence to his potential victims, but if discovered, will often shower the person with insults and other unpleasant words.

As verbally aggressive as he can be, he will not choose to fight if this is an option, preferring a quick escape over dirtying his hands. He will often mock and trick people that are too eager for a fight. On the other hand, people that manages to avoid his tricks will receive a very annoyed compliment from him.

The length at which he will go to trick somebody can vary depending on the target itself. Sometimes, it can be very simple and short. On other occasions, it can be complex and cruel.

To the few that become his occasional acquaintances, he still show some rudeness but do not actively seek to harm them like he would do to other strangers. However, he despises anything remotely tied to a religion and he will torment anyone related to this matter.

He is certainly a bit easier to approach if you are not human or a divinity, but that won't spare you from him. Although he does enjoy stories from time to time and love learning the many secrets people can have.

Certainly not someone you would invite, or worse, have a party with. Loki is a very mean drunk and a poor guest as well.

Power/Combat
Loki is certainly not interested in getting into fights unless he has to. And it is generally a bad sign if you somehow managed to get yourself into a fight with him.

He is a very old being with plenty of experience and spells in his sleeves as well as an extremely talented shape-shifter. He is very evasive and often set up a lot of illusions to torment his opponent while staying out of harm reach.

Even though he his a god, his strength and stamina is below average, not being a warrior himself. He still has plenty of options left in his hands to torment his opponent.

Shape-shifting

A perk of having some Jötuun's blood is the ability to shape-shift quite easily. Loki abuses this power quite a lot for his tricks, hiding his true identity, and even for fights, when he changes into a much smaller target. He can easily shape himself into any human beings or animals for this matter, although there is a few restriction on how large he can appear. Although you may not notice, he will often pair up his shape-shifting ability with his illusions to appear way more threatening than he is in term of size and power.

There's a small flaw when it comes to his shape-shifting, once losing a bet from dwarves, he had his mouth sewn for tricking his way out of the bet. Although the threads are long gone, the scars remains. These scars can usually be moved all around his body when he changes shapes but he can't hide them proper. This is a tiny detail that only the most observant could detect.

Illusions

Illusions are an obligation to trickster beings like Loki. And he loves to use them with his other powers. His illusions affect the senses with very convincing set of forms and images thanks to his shape-shifting. He often forces his opponent to attack his illusions, setting them up so he can be safe from way behind. He can also trick you into thinking you were injured by said illusions or attacks, confusing his opponent even more when he actually may have never landed a real attack himself. They can be hard to see through unless you know where Loki is hiding.

Invocation of the Runes

His time with the Aesir allowed him to learn how to use and summon the power of the Runes. Although he may not be on the same level as Othinn on this matter, he is still very capable in their use. He has a particular affinity with a rune of fire, the Quairtra Rune, which is quite potent in burning down anything, from physical material to magic and illusions. However, Loki is not actively using them as much as he should, preferring his illusions and shape-shifting abilities.

Do be reminded that he was the one that created his own weapon, the Laevateinn, with the runes. The gods had it taken away from him and sealed since it was too unstable for the power it contained.

Spellcards
Spellcards? Good luck trying to have him follow the rules! (None as of yet.)

Major
Loki's Brood: Loki always has a thought for his children and do care for them. Although he is not given the occasion to approach Fenrir or Jormungandr, he often keeps contact with his daughter, Hel, who sometimes allow him to raises a few dead husks to help him in some tasks.

Othinn: To put it simply, Loki hates all the Aesir, but the Allfather is certainly the one he would love to see perish in a way or another. He blames him for remaining passive in his mistreatment during his time with the Aesir and for the death for Narfi and Vali, who were completely innocent in Baldr's death.

Minor
Garme Autras: Loki once met the Baltic Blacksmith God when he escaped from his prison. Garme could boast about being one of the rare beings that Loki has some shred of sympathy for, losing his place in the circle of the gods and his faith, tricked by another. Loki will occasionally come and chat with Garme on rare moments, but the blacksmith is not spared from his more "lighthearted" tricks nor his organization is.