Castle Bragi houses many dangers. It's servants are wights, fooling the untrained eye with their demonic magics. Commoners are people living in fear of Lord Loki. Living in fear that even if they escaped all that awaited them was a vast unforgiving lake filled with terrors that even the great Loki built walls to defend against. Each brick of the wall was laid with specific purpose, each enchanted with spells to ward off unwanted attention.
Beneath the foundations lay a realm beyond nightmares. Hel, daughter of Loki, resided in wicked slumber beneath the castle. Some say Loki had banished her to craggy hellfire caverns beneath when she refused to restore life to his now long gone love. Worst of all, she was Hel's mother. To speak the name of the lady of the lake within the confines of those bricks was a death sentence. Loki cared not for the every day corruption of his people or servants, though he monitored them closely to assure his power over them never wanes.
His agents lie in every shadow. Beings none have seen but can swear they are there. Stalkers, we call them. We know they exist only in the pulling in the backs of our minds as we speak of politics. Flashes of movement out of the corner of our eyes. A feeling that your life could depend on the things you say, or do. Death is a common happening, making the deaths by stalker that much more terrifying.
Each time a man is found disemboweled and his blood drained from him. Cuts across his body so sharp one would believe the blade was not made by mortal men. Every time a woman was found mutilated and her body shamed. Things no person would wish upon even their worst enemy. That was when Lord Loki would address his people. While he has never admitted the existence of these beings, he sets a very cold tone in his speeches.
Smooth of tongue and quick of wit, we live in fear of uncertainty of his moods. Tales of his long life among the world tell of his prowess and greed. He contended and bested with even the strongest of deities. Rän despised him most, creating a champion that would eventually be more feared by her than Loki himself. He was simply known as the Blademaster, and he was the reason Loki locked himself behind solitary bunker that soon became his own prison.
Rän sought to strike Loki while he was down, and created a storm so fierce and brimming with the fury of the seas that it created a sink-hole around the mighty fortress. That fateful day, she brought with her Brick, the legendary Golem of the great mountain. They struck a deal, and he moved the earth around the castle. At the raise of a hand, he created a hole fathoms deep and and farther than the eye could see.
Standing in his study atop the highest spire, he watched through the window as dirt and rock began to crumble away with surprising speed. Before he knew it, he couldn't see past the vast dark that now engulfed his new home. Lightning and thunder rumbled with ferocity he had never seen before, and rain fell from the sky like it was being pumped right out of the ocean.
Days passed like moments as Loki watched as his solitary refuge became a barren wasteland of water.
