Dealing with Earth Elementals

Laeviss once gave a copy of his paper on the Creation of Rings to an elder spiritwalker (the Critic), out of curiosity to see if the elder would either verify the rite he described therein or deny its validity. After awhile, the Critic came back and said he'd had somewhat of a conversation with the Dwarves himself.
"How did it go?" Laeviss wondered.
Well, it went swimmingly, as normal conversations go, until the Critic mentioned being interested in something about a rite for making kings. After that, he had to perform the psychic equivalent of beating his conversational partners over the head with a very large stick in order to get them to retract their teeth. They were overly eager to be of service, he said, and requested blood.
Well, how about that? That shouldn't be of any surprise to anyone reading the lore. Loki's supposed to pay for this stuff with his head, after all. He'd lose all of his blood that way, and wouldn't the Dwarves be pleased with that?
So, how come Balder ended up dying, instead of Loki?
Good question, and Laeviss is glad you asked.
There are some very interesting side effects to working this sort of magic with another person for any length of time. Laeviss has performed this ritual at least twice, preserved in memories from past existences. Here are a couple of questions regarding this issue.

Q: What happens if the client and the shaman are prevented from completing the ritual? 

A: Laeviss says that the Loki-type shaman arrives on Earth with a personality that is, of necessity, focused and direct (if viewed in a positive light) and obsessive and compulsive (if viewed in a negative light.) The shaman cannot turn off the compulsion to perform the prime directive, it is in his programming, as it were, and he is simply doing what comes naturally to him, and what he most has an interest in doing. If the shaman is prevented from continuing the rite once it has begun, he will eventually be drowning in an overwhelming sea of love and desire and the only way to turn the more negative aspects of this off aside from continuing the ritual is to disable his own emotive drivers. There are ways to do this, but Laeviss tells me emphatically that they are very unpleasant and unhealthy and he very strongly advises staying away from them. Entertaining them usually results in the self-destruction of the shaman. The Client, if prevented from his engagement with the shaman, will be overcome, as well, and will soon exhibit varied symptoms of insanity. Laeviss says that he was once prevented by the Client (on moral grounds) from continuing with the ritual once it had already begun, and that he was eventually driven to shut down his own emotive drivers by the most expedient way possible for him. The Client, meanwhile, had become emotionally unstable. Eventually, Laeviss says that the Client sought him out and told him three things: "Don't die, I can't live without you" "I will go to hell for you" and "I'll never deny you (our physical, spiritual and emotional contact) again, as long as you stop." Laeviss says that the lure of the substance he had been using was not anywhere near as compelling to him as the lure of the bone the Client held out to him, so he agreed to be a good dog.

Q: It sounds from this like the shaman is obsessed with sex.

A: Laeviss insists that the shaman is obsessed with his relationship with the Client, not with sex, and that the sexual activity is an expression of the deep connection he feels with the Client, and the profound love that exists between them. Laeviss says he has reason to believe that the Client is nearly as obsessed with the shaman, but Odin is a man of complex nature and diverse interests and Laeviss insists that Loki's nature is quite simple, so in his simple-minded devotion he might have gotten this part wrong. But he's pretty sure, yes, he is.




Laeviss talks about the ending of the ritual of the Ring of Increase, and how Loki's death was avoided:

Laeviss says that, in accordance with his oath to Brokk, Loki pre-arranged his own death by ritual sacrifice, and that Heimdall was supposed to perform this for Odin, in order to spare Odin from such a task. At the appointed time, however, Odin intervened and stepped into the role of sacrificer. After Heimdall had hallowed Loki's person, as was the custom, Odin waited while Loki went into a trance in order to contact the Earth Elementals. It should be said here that Odin had previously (several years into the rite) ordered Loki to inquire whether or not his head could be ransomed from Brokk, and what the price might be. Brokk had answered, "There is but one price, and that price is blood. You will pay according to your oath." At the time appointed for the sacrifice, when Loki went into a trance and contacted the Earth Elementals, Odin ordered Loki to tell Brokk that Brokk could have Loki's head, but that Loki's neck and all of the rest of him belonged to Odin, and was not to be damaged. (Laeviss adds that this statement was merely poetic license on the part of Odin, Odin did not actually own Loki, although Loki had freely given himself in service to Odin. The dwarves seemed satisfied with Odin's pronouncement, however.) Laeviss comments that Brokk and his brother, Sindri, did not appear to be surprised much at this sudden turn of events. The Dwarves merely conversed between themselves a bit, and then Brokk told Loki that since Odin owned Loki, and had thus ordered it so, Loki was free of his oath, but that Odin now owed the price of the Ring. Brokk then magically sewed Loki's lips shut so that Loki could not tell the Aesir who the Dwarves had decided to take in Loki's stead. (Laeviss guesses that they didn't want Odin to figure out a way to weasel out of it.) But Brokk warned Loki that if their choice (Balder) was not sacrificed or if he went unwillingly to his death, the ring Draupnir would be cursed like Andvari's ring, and all that Odin had achieved with it would have been for naught. Loki then had a hard choice: Name Balder as the sacrifice, or completely fail in his prime directive, and cause the ruination of Odin, whom he deeply loves.

Q: Why did the Dwarves choose Balder as the sacrifice after Loki was denied them?

A: The Dwarves had strict criteria for the sacrifice. It had to be Odin's man, and it had to be one that was of suitable value, and one that Odin would miss. The Dwarves also probably chose one that they believed might be willing to die for Odin. Remember, the Earth Elementals have a vested interest in the potential results following the creation of Rings of Power.
(As others have pointed out, a nifty side effect of this is that placing Balder in Hel actually keeps Balder safe, so that he can reseed the new Earth after Ragnarok.)