Expanding the Northern Reaches: Alternate Loki
by Marc SaindonThis is an attempt to mix both the various versions of mythological Loki and Mystara's Loki as an Immortal.
So Loki starts out as an Antalian Fire Wizard. I'd give "Muspel ancestry" (Fire Genasi ancestor) to link him to his origin as the son of a Fire Giant, and to explain his magical prowess as fire elementalist. He might have originally been called "Logi" or "Loge" by his clan (also a call back to norse myth).
He begins his Quest for Immortality in the Paragon path, under the sponsorship of Rathanos. The point of divergence is that rather than falling to Entropy, Logi begins to question the purpose of life under the "iron rule" of Fate set by the Norns, as if everyone is bound to their Wyrd (destiny), what's the point of choosing or even trying? I think works than "Loki was seduced by the dark side" as could you really con the con man?
Having a change of heart on the issue of Fate, especially as is own destiny was to help destroy the world and betray all of his closest friends (he's a blood brother to Odin and a companion to Thor), Logi became Loki and opted for the Epic Hero path to Immortality to find membership in the Sphere of Thought. Loki might be associated with fire, but he's mostly known as a trickster. Naturally, Loki favors Chaos over Law, which he perceives as confinement of the Norns, but in this is alternate version, he's Chaotic Neutral, not Evil (or just Chaotic in BECMI terms).
Loki posits that belief in chaos, luck, free will and happenstance will loosen the Norns' grip on reality, and in turn allow him to avoid the worst aspects of his fate. Hence to spread unlawfulness, Loki creates mischief.
At some time after he became Immortal, Loki's psyche kind of split. After all, having plans within plans, within plans, and having some schemes backfire as "what Fate intended all along" (see the myths of Oedipus or Perseus for cases of when destiny backfires when trying to avoid it).
What we got as Loki's was a fragmented mess in which coexist in a cycle different personas: a Chaotic Neutral Loki (The Fool), a Chaotic Evil Loki (The Prince of Lies) and a Chaotic Good Loki (The Jester).
The Fool and the Jester are the two "mainstream" Lokis. One might pray to Loki for a bit of luck at gambling, but not be part of a Hulean conspiracy. In more urban parts of the Northern Reaches, people might have symbols for Loki as good luck charms and the like, and at worse it might be seen as we see a bunch emo kids: not really a threat. In more rural areas, where chaos can destroy a year's crop or livestock, people view Loki more as the Chaotic Evil Prince of Lies (and those emo kids aren't getting a warm welcome).
The Fool is usually the dominant personality, but The Prince of Lies often prepares contingencies to keep his own plans on schedule when he's dormant (the Bozdogan project in Hule, to either gain permanent dominance or split off from Loki completely). The Jester is the weaker one, although PCs could intervene in a campaign and rearrange the balance in Loki's mind by helping the good-natured prankster gain ascendance (maybe it's a trip to the Astral Plane inside Loki's mind, or as simple as starting a pranking holiday in the Northern Reaches).
(art from: https://mythopedia.com/topics/loki)