Krampus was willing to share all the information the Jotunn had on Mothi. That knowledge was extensive when it came to fighting style and abilities. It should be, considering they had been waging war against each other since Asgard was formed. But they had almost no information on the God outside of battle. Other than the fact that he was known to isolate himself once a month, I would need to gain additional information on him myself.

The details and description Krampus was willing to share were of little help. It only served as a starting place. I needed my own people to scout out the location and daily habits of Mothi and Thor’s household.

Thrym and Krampus’s only concession to help me was to have one of his men lead me and, by extension, Balfour and the Azi-fey through a tunnel. A passage through the mountain that got me to Asgard city without worry. The tunnel was unknown to the Asgardians, or at least it wasn’t patrolled or watched if it was. It allowed me to travel without risking the chance of running into one of the Asgardians.

The passage was heavily warded, infused with the power of the entire Jotunn population to keep Odin and his ravens from finding it, so it was possible the Asgardians had no idea of its existence. That Thrym was willing to trust me with its location, even though the chance that my passage might alert Odin was significant. And it gave me some respite, relief that he had some faith in my idea or enough hope that he was willing to risk one of the Jotunn’s greatest secrets being discovered.

And that he might have enough honor to uphold our agreement, even if he had changed the parameters.

I sent Balfour and the Azi-fey out scouting as soon as possible. Krampus knew Mothi lived with his father but had no idea where Thor’s home was. The Jotunn had never invaded deep enough into Asgard City to find it.

The information gathered from the diminutive Sidhe began filtering in within a few days. Information that helped fill in the holes of Krampus’s briefing.

Balfour and the Azi-Fey were relentless in their spying, getting into every nook and cranny, tracking down every ward, defensive, and breach in those defenses. The servant’s movements were tracked. Mothi and his family's movements were studied until, after months of observance, I had a complete picture of daily life.

Mothi’s [Domain] was more a reaction than an identity. He was slow to anger, not a constant boil of emotion fueled by rage. His was more a slow burn that took time to ignite, but once kindled, his [Wrath] would decimate anything that garnered his focus.

This methodology allowed him to control how he would react. It allowed him to control his [Domain] instead of being controlled by it. It also meant that once he decided to act, his [Wrath] was fearsome to witness and almost impossible to assuage or combat.

He was a son of Thor with almost the same strength and single-mindedness as his father. Like his father, he acted as he pleased. Mothi had no wife, no children, and no one he was really close with except his brothers: Magni and Trud, as well as a stepbrother, Urll.

There were few people other than family that he trusted. Thialfi and Roskya, Thor’s servants, were two of those people he had learned to accept. It wasn’t that he trusted or distrusted them. It was that they were servants and, in Mothi’s mind, of little consequence.

When Thialfi and Roskya were mentioned, I spent time trying to understand the underpinnings of Asgard and the way it worked. Why did those two Gods act as they did? Why would Gods take on the role of a servant?

I never was able to discover if there was a reason for their station. I shrugged it off as a peculiarity of the Asgard Realm. Perhaps they were supposed to serve as a reflection between the Realms, a touchstone to the mortal world. As above, so below was an ideal that could shape how a Divine realm was perceived.

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Thor, Sif, Mothi, and his brothers were hard to account for. They were active, always out training, drinking, or politicking. The servants were another matter. It had taken less than a month to understand their habits and schedule.

One of the more interesting tidbits of information we learned concerned Mothi’s size. He was not the overweight behemoth that had been described. Much like his father, he was brimming with muscle. Trapping Mothi would not be impossible. The hard part would be to tranquilize him and spirit him out of his home without the other Gods noticing. Trying to hide and move a mountain of fat would have only added to the issue.

It had taken time to find any action Mothi made that I could capitalize on, but after months of exhaustive reconnaissance, I noticed something. At one point, somewhere between a month and six weeks, Mothi would order a nightcap, a [Draught of Calmness] that Roskya served. The potion helped to settle his state of mind.

By overwhelming his [Domain], he was able to rest. That draught allowed him one night of peaceful slumber. Once every four to six weeks when he could put down the burden of his [Domain] and relax completely.

That habit gave me the perfect window of opportunity. While he was helpless, I could drug Mothi with Elfshot and spirit him out of his home. It almost seemed too perfect, a trap worthy of Loki’s devising. The only problem was the timing could be a bit random, and the only hint that he planned on drinking the brew Roskya served was a message he had Thialfi deliver at the start of the day.

I would need to act quickly once that message was sent and intercept Roskya as she left the kitchen to serve the drink when Mothi was ready to retire for the evening.

I wasn’t sure of the mechanics yet. If I should dose both servants with Elfshot and allow them to [Sleep] while I acted or drug the brew that Roskya carried with Elfshot and enable her to deliver the tranquilizer. I might also create an [Illusion and Glamour] that would have me take her place so that I would be in position near Mothi’s door to spirit him away once he had entered [Sleep].

I’d finally decide on a mix of actions. Balfour would lead me across the barrier that protected Thor’s house, his nature as Aziza allowing him to negate the defensive protections and spells. I would leave an enchantment at the place we crossed that disrupted the magic in that area, a device that left an opening without destroying the wards.

He would have the Azi-Fey spike the brew that Roskya would deliver. I had taken note of how much Elfshot was needed to fell Utgard-Loki and planned on doubling it. Elfshot was an illicit substance created on Talahm, and every time a stash was found, I made sure to confiscate it and store it in my [Ring of Hidden Depth], so I had enough of the drug to fell a Sithern bursting with Sidhe.

Plans now made; it was only a waiting game. There were changes to the plan required. I had decided to station Ag in Mothi’s room. I had him hide in the [Shadows], our ability to communicate through our bond giving me another layer of information gathering. I was hoping he would be able to send an additional warning when Mothi requested his [Draught of Calmness].

That way, the potion was created had been a lucky discovery, one that forced me to adapt at the last moment. The liquid poured into the cup didn’t matter. It could be water, mead, or even poison, and it would transform into a [Draught of Calmness]. If I had just poured Elfshot into the cup as I’d intended, it would have been transformed and become useless.

For my plan to succeed, I needed to replace that cup with a duplicate. Tia had managed to steal the cup long enough for me to examine it, to study the enchantments that were active, and to create an imitation made of [Glamour].

I had gifted the real cup to Thrym, let him use the vessel as ransom if he dared. The imitation cup was returned, the [Glamour] shrouded in magics and [Domain] so complete that it would take a God skilled in perception or illusion to pierce.

When crafting the [Glamour], I discovered an ability, almost a [Skill], when using my [Domain]. Now that I was blessed with my own divinity, I found myself instinctively knowing how to affix the [Glamour] so that it would endure and be harder to see past.

The Sidhe, [Fairy], and the Tuatha de Danann were creatures of a dream. We were most powerful in those places betwixt and between. By anchoring the [Glamour] I had created to [Dream] and tying that [Dream] to the Universal constants that defined betwixt and between, I was able to give reality to the [Illusion] I had crafted.

[Dreams] made real, the wellspring of the [Domain] I now claimed, and the way for me to shape [Dream], [Illusion], and [Glamour] into reality.