The Althing
Realm of Tyr
Location: Mount Celestia / Lunia / Threshold
The Althing is sacred court where the god Tyr, the Norse lord of justice, presides over thorny matters of law and order. Here you’ll find a gathering of powers, petitioners, mortals, and celestial beings, all seeking the wisdom of the Scales and the fair judgment of the mighty Tyr. Chant goes that the Althing is one of the oldest realms in Lunia, perhaps even pre-dating Tyr himself.
The realm of Althing is a place of serene majesty and solemn grandeur. It is primarily a great hall that seems to stretch on forever, its walls adorned with tapestries depicting the dispensation of justice. The air is charged with a sense of authority and righteousness. Columns of gleaming marble support the vaulted ceiling, which is painted with constellations. The light that fills this hall is pure and radiant, casting no shadows, and lends every word spoken here a sense of clarity and truth.
In the Althing, the role of Tyr’s proxy judges is to act as the ultimate arbiters for the majority of cases, ensuring that the laws of morality are upheld and that disputes are settled fairly. Their presence lends a sense of divine authority to the proceedings, and their wisdom is sought to guide the assembly’s decisions. Only the most grave or complex of issues require the attention of Tyr himself.
At the heart of Tyr’s realm stands his Judging Throne, a magnificent seat of power carved from a single piece of luminous stone. Here, the power of justice administers his judgments and hears the pleas of those seeking fairness. The throne is surrounded by statues of noble figures from all walks of life. At least, one assumes they are statues. Their extreme verisimilitude to actual defendants in the part is hopefully a coincidence, rather than a result of their sentence.
The landscape outside the hall is equally awe-inspiring. Vast meadows stretch into the distance, where clear rivers flow with waters as pure as the intentions of the just. These meadows are a sanctuary for the souls of those who have championed justice in life, a place of eternal reward.
The Althing serves not only as a place for justice but also as a way for different races and organisations across the lawful Upper Planes to come together, share news, and discuss matters of importance. That the use of his realm as a meeting point for other powers is permitted, even encouraged by Tyr is a reflection of the Norse Pantheon’s values of cooperation, community, and the pursuit of fairness.
Canonical Sources: On Hallowed Ground (2e) p148 (see the description of Tyr), expanded by Jon Winter-Holt
Author’s footnote: OHG calls Tyr’s realm ‘the Court’ but I suggest using ‘Althing’ as this is more in-keeping with the Scandinavian theme. The Alþingi is the name of the Icelandic parliament; one of the oldest in the world [pronounced ‘Althingy’, the letter ‘thorn’ þ sounds like ‘th’].
