Calm Before the Storm
Once the players had all been gathered, Loki transported himself, along with Ardis and Halbjorn, the spider-god Ohu, the mortals Grace, Griffen, and Dawn, and the mysterious woman called Marlow, to Asgard. It was a desolate, abandoned region, where few would ever traverse. He himself had only been here to make certain that the Norn Stones had still been in place, should he require them for a future plot. He had discovered the Grandmaster only by chance.

The Grandmaster, the being who stood before them now.

"Greetings again to thee, Elder," Loki said, feigning humility and feeling disgust at doing so. The Elders were older even than the Asgardians themselves, possibly the one set of beings in the universe who might yet give them pause. He it galled him to know there were beings truly his superior. "And again, mine thanks for thine leave to gather mine champions. T'will make for a most entertaining game, I doth assure thee."