Heimdall is one of the Aesir, a Norse god tasked with protecting the Gjallarhorn, an artifact of immeasurable power. When Ragnarok, the end of the world arrives, it is his duty to blow the Gjallarhorn, thus signaling the final battle and the apocalypse. It is not a duty that he takes lightly: he is fated to fight Loki, another Norse god during that battle, and he will both kill and be killed by his opponent.

When Ming stole the Gjallarhorn from it's resting place on the Material Plane, Heimdall descended and gave chase, but far from his worshippers, and deprived of power from his artifact, he was ambushed on the Silk Road by bandits, who nearly killed him. He was recovered by magistrates who took him to Kaifeng as a curiosity for the Emperor. It was Heimdall's fevered ramblings that led the Emperor to discover what had happened and order the gathering of powerful heroes to stop Ming.

When the heroes finally liberated the Gjallarhorn, Heimdall, his power restored appeared to them in his true, godly form, and took possession of the artifact before thanking them and leaving for his homeland once more.

Emperor Huizong was the eighth Emperor of the Song Dynasty and ruled China from between 1100 and 1126. When his soldiers brought a mysterious outlander to his court, he prayed to Shang-Ti, the August Emperor for guidance and wisdom. The result was his discovering the secret plans of Ming, the Brother of Purity to destroy the world. He gathered four heroes to hunt the mad monk down and stop Ragnarok.

Huizong inadvertently caused his own doom. His policies against Buddhism, while not out of line with those of his predecessors, was one of the reasons that Ming undertook his insane quest. Six years after Ragnarok had been averted, his neglected army was crushed and his dynasty toppled by the Jin. He died nine years after that, a commoner and unremembered for his role in saving the world.

Black Fox Demon was a powerful spirit left in charge of Xi'an after Ming and his companions had left it razed. She ambushed the heroes on the top floor of the Big Goose Pagoda, and unleashed powerful attacks with her short sword.

A master of Setting Sun and Shadow Hand styles, Black Fox Demon made full use of the unusual terrain atop the massive temple by fighting defensively and throwing the heroes from the top and then attempting to hide. Her techniques and trickery was no use though, and she was destroyed.

Brother Thunder and Brother Lightning were a pair of ogre mages who, along with a gang of ogres and a pair of fire giants, had taken over a magistrate's station and controlled a large section of highway between Kaifeng and Xi'an. True to their names, both brothers harnessed the power of storms to strike at the heroes when they were brought to justice.

Brother Thunder was heavy and carried an oversized warhammer that sounded when it struck and had the power to rattle the senses of those it struck. Brother Lightning was gaunt and carried a large spear that crackled with electricity. When the two were finally killed, they cursed out the heroes and inadvertently revealed the assistance of the Jottenheim.

Great Bull Demon was the last demon that the heroes fought on their way to stop Ming from bringing about Ragnarok. The powerful spirit was actually once a foe of Tripitaka and the Monkey King during their Journey to the West. Since then, he had obtained Guan Yu's Green Dragon Crescent Blade and wielded the polearm with great skill.

The heroes handily defeated Great Bull Demon, but left the Green Dragon Crescent Blade at the steps of the monastery he guarded, in hopes that a worthy warrior would arrive to claim the legendary weapon.

Horse-Face Demon was a spirit who guarded the pass that led to a monastery that Ming had selected as his place of meditation before the summoning of Ragnarok and the end of the world. While Horse-Face Demon was a worthy warrior, he relied on tricks, and sent several lesser demons and a tun mi lung dragon to their deaths before he decided to brave them.

Skilled with the chakram, Horse-Face Demon was able to keep the heroes at bay while striking at them from a distance. Upon his death, Frog claimed his weapon and found that it retained the mystical power to return to the thrower; a handsome reward for ridding the world of a troublemaker.

As Ming escaped Heimdall and returned to China, he was not alone. The Jottenheim had heard of the monk's theft and raced to join him in his quest. If Ragnarok was signaled too soon, the Aesir and Vanir would be unprepared and Sutr and the rest of the Jottenheim could easily destroy the world and consume it with eternal fire.

To that end, the Jottenheim whispered lies to Ming, reassuring him that after the world ended he would be able to recreate the world in his image. In addition, several hill, frost and fire giants took to attempting to stop the heroes from getting to Ming. In the end, it wasn't enough, and the Jottenheim quietly returned to their homeland to await the true start of the apocalypse.

Ming, the Brother of Purity, was a man with a mission. He stole the Gjallarhorn, a mystical horn that when blown would signal the end of the world. Once the world had been destroyed, he believed incorrectly that he would be able to remake it in his image. He realized that his quest would be opposed, and against his better judgement, he aligned himself with demons, wicked spirits and even outlander Jottenheim warriors.

Only seconds before he completed his quest, he was attacked by the heroes, who quickly stopped him and finally killed him to keep Ragnarok from occuring early. Upon his death though, he found that his actions removed him from the cycle of samsara, and he was unable to be reincarnated. In addition, his extended exposure to the Gjallarhorn imbued him with large amounts of divine energy. Unable to move on to an afterlife, and unable to be resurrected, he found himself in limbo.

Ming has since been lost to time, but rare tomes still speak of the mysterious Ming, and how his spirit might be summoned from the nether...