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y-rhywbeth2 · 4 months

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Lore: Halflings #1

Link: Disclaimer regarding D&D "canon" & Index [tldr: D&D lore is a giant conflicting mess. Larian's lore is also a conflicting mess. You learn to take what you want and leave the rest]

Overview | Homelands | Culture | Religion -- WIP

AKA; the Hin.

Covering their brief history and an overview of the hin and information on the three halfling cultural groups - Like the fact that Ghostwise generally don't like visitors, but they might make an exception for Gale providing he brings Tara.

This was going to be longer and include a small tangent about halfling opera and architecture, but then I realised that the politics was taking up too much space, so this is a part one, instead.

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The people known to the rest of the world as "halflings," and to themselves as Hin, are the most populous of the core non-human race on Faerûn.

When they think of or speak of "their people", a halfling generally means their clan first and foremost, rather than the entire hin race.

The values which all hin typically share, regardless of culture, are family, practicality and the simple pleasures of life. Rather like the hobbits they were originally based on, although they do start to diverge past that initial point.

They live for an average of 150 years. appearing much the same as a human beinga in range of colouration, and standing at 2'8" - 3'4". All hin grow sideburns, regardless of gender, which they traditionally braid. Full beards are less common, and most can't grow them.

The Hin migrated to the world of Toril around the same time as dwarves, elves and giants, arriving in the untamed wilderness that would come to be known as the Luirwood, in Southern Faerûn. They were socially divided into three peoples: the Lightfoot, the Strongheart and the Ghostwise. The three were prone to feuding, but were mostly forced to get along due to the need to defend themselves from intruders, ranging from neighbouring humans to gnolls.

This cooperation went massively downhill in -100 DR, when a Ghostwise named Desva converted to the worship of Malar (god of hunting, predators, bloodlust, untamed wilderness, etc). Desva and her followers took over the Ghostwise, infected themselves with lycanthropy, drove the wildlife mad with bloodlust and hunted other halflings for sport, turning life in the woods into a bloodbath for 42 years. They were eventually taken down by an alliance between Chand, leader of the Strongheart hin and the unidentified leader of the Lightfoot. What followed was another three years of slaughter, as Chand refused to allow a single Ghostwise to be spared while they rooted out every one of their settlements and put them to the sword in an act of genocide.

What little remained of the Ghostwise consisted of those who had allied themselves with the Strongheart and were permitted to remain, while any other survivors were exiled from the Luirwood. The Ghostwise took an oath never to speak, out of horror at the 45 years of hell that had occurred (referred to as the Ghost Wars), and the fact that the first 42 years of atrocities were committed by their own people. These exiles eventually settled in the Chondalwood in Central Faerûn.

The Lightfoot, horrified by the actions of the Strongheart under Chand's leadership, also renounced the Luirwood and went into voluntary exile as a nomadic people. In the modern day they can be encountered all throughout Faerûn, living comfortably alongside almost any peoples.

The Strongheart remained in the Luirwood, eventually building permanent settlements and clearing the forests for industry and agriculture, developing the Luirwood into the kingdom of Luiren. Some Lightfoot halflings have returned to Luiren over time, but the country is predominantly a Strongheart land.

Strongheart hin Also called Luiren halflings, though most of them will refuse to be called "halflings" - the Hin are not "half" of anything, thank you very much. While the hin of Luiren build permanent settlements and clans may own permanent houses and businesses, they are not traditionally a settled people. They live seminomadic lives, travelling between these settlements after staying in one for a time period reaching between a month to a year. Strongheart society is built around the concept, and things like jobs are built so that you can just turn up, pick them up and then drop them and wander off again.

Good housekeeping is important, because in a few months somebody else will be living in this home, and how terribly rude it would be to leave it a broken mess when they arrive - the entire society will fall apart without consideration for who will be here after you leave. You need to know you're moving on to a welcoming, open community and a good home to live in. Between this and the infighting of the Ghost Wars, Strongheart culture values the ability to cooperate with one's fellows as the highest virtue. Responsibility to the community, trust and good nature is paramount.

While they maintain their communal ties, and any group of hin places a strong emphasis on teamwork, groups are not permanent things either, and individuals may join or break from their communities and family/friend units as the mood/need takes them.

The ease at which a seemingly tight knit and organised society simply has members get bored and wander off out of nowhere confuses most outsiders. Even elves and gnomes find their society flighty and confusing. The Stronghearts simply assume those people must get very bored doing the same things and seeing the same people all the time.

The Strongheart are not the most trusting of outsiders, who often seem to think they can take advantage of them. They are raised knowing they may be called to defend their homes at a moment's notice. In terms of religion, Strongheart culture frowns heavily on worshipping non-hin gods, venerating only Yondalla and her children. Of the halfling pantheon, Arvoreen, their warrior god and protector proves the most popular.

They're also very into competitive sports, which are Serious Business.

Lightfoot hin The most commonly encountered of their people. Lightfoot are a flightier, adventurous lot as a stereotype and have a greater focus on individualism than other halflings.

The Lightfoots have made themselves at home pretty much everywhere that people won't attempt to enslave them (or where they they haven't been banned entry, such as the human nation of Halruaa). If there's a human settlement bigger than a village, you can usually find a halfling. in fact they can be found quite comfortably living in most societies outside of their own communities, including elven, gnome or dwarven, even if they are less common there than amongst humans. They are polite and quiet, and tend to be overlooked by their neighbours - which is agreeable to halflings, who enjoy being able to live their lives as they please without others sticking their noses into it.

When living in human communities, halflings will divide a house or apartment of human size into subsections which will be divided between several families. Often one family will buy the building and rent the other divisions to the other families.

Living amongst a people who can easily threaten them (or will start a fight thinking they can, anyway), Lightfoots often keep mastiffs and other large dog breeds as pets.

Having developed amongst a myriad of cultures miles away from one another, all over the continent, there is no "Lightfoot culture" as there is Strongheart/Luiric or Ghostwise culture.

Many Lightfoot families have never given up on the nomadic lifestyle of their ancestors, and tend to pick up their own unique worldviews created from ideas picked up all over the place.

While stationary Lightfoots are less likely to simply wander away from their lives the way Stronghearts are, it isn't unheard of for individuals or entire families to simply pack up and move after a few decades once their current habitation grows monotonous. It's said by some that the restlessness is the result of the Lightfoots having found no homeland for themselves in their wandering, and so they continue to feel the need to wander and search. Some of the hin disagree, but there are those who would like to carve out a place like Luiren for themselves. The latter (especially the young) are often drawn in by followers of the goddess Cyrrollalee, who preach that the halflings should seek to make a place of power and respect for themselves amongst the peoples of Faerûn.

Regarding religion, Lightfoots are the most open to adopting deities from outside their own pantheon, and families often declare one certain deity their household patron god (usually the result of one influential ancestor who was very religious and made it a family thing).

Ghostwise hin The Ghostwise have retreated into the Chondalwood, and desire to be left alone there. Most are fully unaware of their presence, save for the green elves who share the woods with them, and with whom they have a sort of peace; The hin avoid the elves out of fear, and the elves respect the halflings' desire to be left alone (having a similar history, the green elves understand that wish).

Following their vow of silence in their exile, the Ghostwise have developed a natural telepathy, having mostly forsaken speech altogether in favour of mental communication. While the family heads and druids may take the time to learn foreign languages in case of diplomatic need, the average Ghostwise is so used to telepathic communication and lack of contact with non-hin that they don't see a need to learn more than halfling and common.

Their people are divided into family groups. Hin cultures all put emphasis on clan and kin, but the Ghostwise obsession with filial piety seems extreme even to the others. Clans live a nomadic life within the boundaries of the Chondalwood, under the leadership of the family matriarch/patriarch, each claiming a territory ranging in size from less than fifty square miles up to several hundred. There aren't many Ghostwise, and as they have plenty of space to avoid stepping on each other's toes there's little squabbling over claimed territory or hunting grounds. The clans don't shun each other's company, and their leaders maintain ties and hold regular meet ups in order to discuss matters of import and news of anything that might affect their lives in the Chondalwood. Should danger arise, the Ghostwise clans are prepared to band together to defend each other from threats in the name of mutual survival.

These claimed areas span out from a specific natural feature - a designated rock formation, lake, tree or whatever. Each member of the clan carries a part of this feature on their person, usually in the form of something wearable. If it's lost through carelessness, then the halfling must atone for their disrespectful error before they're allowed to replace it. This often involves being sent out on a quest of some sort.

The Ghostwise have formed a bond with the giant owls that live in the Wood, and their best warriors train to become Nightgliders - mounted fighters who patrol the skies and go into battle astride said giant owls. In larger clans, the position of Nightglider is hereditary, and parents who hold the rank train their children from birth. In smaller clans every halfling has a giant owl. Becoming a Nightglider is a position of prestige, and much ceremony is involved in becoming one.

They also enjoy the company of tressym, and many druids and sorcerers (and the occasional wizard) can be found with a tressym companion.

Ghostwise cremate their dead, and in terms of religion they tend to focus on the halfling nature goddess Sheela Peryroyl, seeking to have a positive relationship with the woods that shelter them. The Ghostwise hold cultural shame over the actions of Desva and her followers, and are mistrustful of non-hin druids, whose defence of the natural world against encroachment and hatred of civilisation often sounds dangerously close to the dogma of Malar that led to the Ghost Wars.

They aren't necessarily outright aggressive to outsiders they encounter, and will avoid such encounters if they can, but they won't hide their irritation and distrust if they can't. The halfling tradition of being a good host holds strong, and guests will be protected and treated reasonably well by their Ghostwise hosts - even if they are spending your entire stay hinting that maybe you could hurry up and finish what you came here to do. Don't you have somewhere else to be now? Please?

The typical Ghostwise response to adventurers is "oh gods no." There are many old ruins and such in the Chondalwood, and more than once a party has unleashed things from inside those things that caused chaos for the people trying to live in the woods. The clans are perfectly willing to chase off any adventuring parties they find.

Following their history of banishment, exile is the ultimate crime in Ghostwise society - death is considered more merciful. _

#long post #for #halfling tav #s. Everybody who played halfling made one of the superior choices #Anybody who played halfling DURGE: I will sacrifice my non-existent firstborn in your honour #I'll use a baby doll as an effigy

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