The Aesir
The Aesir are the ruling people of the Nine Realms — a civilization so ancient and so advanced that the mortals who encountered them across the eons could only call them gods. They do not work magic; they wield sciences beyond mortal grasp. They are not immortal; they have simply not yet chosen to die.
Seated on Asgard, the Aesir govern the empire, shepherd Midgard, and prepare — always — for the war that prophecy promises will end them.
TODO: the nature of Aesir physiology, the gene-craft of godhood, and the politics of the court.