Asgardians

Asgardians: Norse Gods

History

The Asgardians refer to all of the major known inhabited realms of their cosmology as the “Nine Worlds”. Only four of the Nine Worlds are located on the main Asgardian landmass: Asgard, home of the Gods, Vanaheim, home of the Asgardian’s sister race, the Vanir, Nidavellir, home of the Dwarves, and Alfheim, home of the Light Elves.

The remainder of the Nine Worlds are on separate landmasses isolated from one another by interdimensional space. (For the sake of creating a comprehensible diagram, the Nine Worlds of Asgard are placed in a multi-leveled configuration. These levels do not represent any real physical distances or relationships between the realms.). Midgard, our Earth, does not appear to be physically affected by the motions of any of the other physical bodies in the Asgardian cosmology, although Earth’s axis (the imaginary pole around which it rotates) is in alignment with one of the roots of Yggdrasil, the comsic ash tree that stands in Asgard. Jotunheim, the world of the giants, is a flat ring-shaped realm with high mountains along its inner edge. It is apparently on its own separate dimension plane, discrete from Asgard’s and Earth’s. Svartalfheim, home of the Dark Elves, is another asteroid-like landmass, small than Asgard. There are numerous nexus-portals between the mountains of Asgard permitting easy passage by denizens of each realm. These passageways make Jotunheim and Svartalfheim seem like “underworlds” of the Asgardian continent itself.

The eighth of the Nine Worlds is Hel, realm of the dead, and its sister realm, Niffleheim. In the Asgardian scheme of afterlife, the heroes and honored dead go to Valhalla, a special region of Asgard, the common dead go to Hel, and the dishonored dead (murderers and other evil-doers) go to Niffleheim. Hel, Niffleheim, and Valhalla possess the necessary conditions to permit the astral forms of the deceased to exists there for indefinite periods of time. At one time, Hela, goddess of the dead, usurped the rule of Valhalla, despite the fact it was on a different dimension plane than Hel. Odin has since reclaimed the land. The ninth of the Nine Worlds is Muspelheim, land of the fiery demons. Until his recent disappearance, the primordial demon Surtur ruled Muspelheim. Muspelheim is on its won dimensional plane, separate from all the other Nine Worlds. In the Asgardians’ account of the origin of their cosmology, Muspelheim, the land of fire, and Niffleheim, the land of ice, were said to predate recorded time, separated from one another by Ginnungagap, the Yawning Void.

Asgard is honeycombed with nexus-portals to the various extradimensional realms of the Nine Worlds, making the worlds (with the exception of Earth) sometimes seems like they are on a contiguous plain. (Indeed, early cartographers of Asgard mapped it this way). The only permanent portal to Earth is Bifrost, the Rainbow Bridge. There is a special passageway from Asgard to the extra-dimensional realm of Olympus, home of the Greek gods. Since Olympus is not a part of the Asgardian cosmology, this nexus-portal is believed to be an artificial rather than natural phenomenon. Another unique feature of Asgard is the Cave of Time, an apparently natural phenomenon through which passage to other time eras is possible.

It is probable that somewhere in Asgard’s outlying Sea of Space there are floating nexus-portals to Earth’s space. Beings of the Earthly dimension have in certain instances been able to travel from Earthly to Asgardian space. There may indeed be an edge to Asgard’s Sea of Space, perhaps at the perimeter of the “Dome of the Sky” extending from the outer edge of ringed Jotunheim. At the edge of the Sea there would exist “dimensional borderlands” which serve as transitional areas between discrete dimensions.

Asgard and its sister realms are populated by six distinct humanoid races.

The Gods: The origin of the gods is shrouded in legend. It is believed that they are not native to the dimension of Asgard, but were born on Earth and relocated there at some point in the distant past. A typical Asgardian will have the following stats:

 Known Powers:

• Body Resistance: Good
• Resistance to Aging and Disease: Unearthly

The Giants: The second race of Asgard is the Giants, whose dwelling place is Jotunheim. The Giants are basically humanoid in appearance and color, although they tend toward the neanderthalic in body and bone structure. Their most distinguishing feature is their height. The average Giant is twenty feet tall, although some reach up to thirty feet. All Giants known to reside in Asgard have the following abilities:

 Known Powers :

• Dense Flesh: Excellent Body ResistanceAdditional Power’s Based on Type of Giant
   Fire Giants:
  * +1CS on Strength and Endurance
  * Invulnerability to Fire
  * Growth: Amazing
  Weakness: Cold based attacks receive a +1CS
  Frost Giants:
  * +1CS on Strength and Endurance
  * Invulnerability to Cold
  * Growth: Monstrous
  Weakness: Heat based attacks receive a +1CS
  Storm Giants:
  * +1CS on Agility, Strength and Endurance
  * Weather Control: Remarkable
  *Growth: Unearthly
  Hill Giants:
  * Growth: Incredible

The Dwarves:The third race of Asgard is the Dwarves. Dwarves are smaller in stature than the gods, and have squat, stocky bodies. Their average height is four feet. The Dwarves tend to be craftsmen and farmers who maintain friendly trade and peace relations with the Gods. Dwarves dwell in the land of Nidavellir, which is part of the landmass where Asgard and Vanaheim are situated. The following represent a typical Dwarf of Asgard:

 Known Powers :

• Dense Flesh: Typical Body Resistance
• Resistance to Aging and Disease: Unearthly

The Elves: The fourth race of Asgard is the Elves. There are two types of Elves, the Dark Elves and the Light Elves, and each dwell in their own separate world, Svartalfheim and Alfheim, respectively. Elves of both kinds vary greatly in size, from four to eight feet. They tend toward slender bodies with proportionately long limbs, although there are exceptions. The Light Elves tend to be lighter in color than the Dark Elves, and dwell on the surface while the Dark Elves dwell underground. Both typically possess the following ability ranks:

 Known Powers :

• Resistance to Aging and Disease: Amazing
• Infravision: Excellent

The Trolls: The fifth race of Asgard is the Trolls, the least human-looking of the denizens of the worlds of Asgard, possessing body characteristics that are almost simian. Trolls are stocky and massive, have thick body hair, and tend toward a ruddy orange in color. They live in scattered settlements throughout Asgard, Vanaheim, Jotunheim, and Svartalfheim, mostly underground. The following represents a stnardard Troll..

 Known Powers :

• Resistance to Disease: Unearthly
• Infravision: Excellent

Equipment : Club- +1CS to Strength for damage purposes
Limitation-Cowardice : Trolls will not attack unless they outnumber an opponent or can take them by surprise. They are more courageous when given firm leadership.
The Demons: The sixth race of Asgard is the Demons. The Demons are beings of fire who dwell in Muspelheim, but sometimes venture to the other worlds in the name of war. A nomadic race, the Demons are the offspring of the great fire demon Surtur, whose existence is said to preceed that of the Gods. A typical Muspelheim Demon possesses the following:

 Known Powers :

• Invulnerability to Fire
• Heat Generation: Amazing
• Energy Sheath-Fire: Typical
• Body Resistance: Amazing