Halflings

Halflings are primarily a boat people, having sailed along the waterways of Oderen for as long as anyone can remember. They primarily live in two regions on the continent, in the Lothern and Nimpo marshes. The Lothern Marshes give way to Muselle in the southeastern Midlands, where Halflings live idyllic lives amid the steep valleys of the area. Clinging to tradition and conservative values, Halflings live in extended family groups and pride themselves on heritage and personal connections. Many prefer to stay within their homelands, though others prefer to follow old routes down rivers their families have travelled for generations. These Halflings form an important part of trade and gossip networks wherever they roam, helping to connect villages and link people with the wider world around them.

History

Halflings have lived in Oderen for a long as the continent has existed. They mostly kept to themselves, living along the rivers and building little in the way of great civilization. The Dwarves mostly ignored the travellers, preferring instead to focus on other threats. Elves were a much different threat altogether, stealing and capturing eastern Halflings to use as slaves. These would eventually be transformed into Gnomes, experimented and subjugated into their current forms. For this, many Halflings have a distrust of Elves, though this is strongest amongst those in the Nimpo Marshes. Once humans arrived on the continent, Halflings were exposed to a new culture and way of life. The cleansing of the Midlands from Orcs allowed humans to have even more direct influence on Halflings, bringing the two closer together. Some humans settled among them in Muselle, while Halflings were encouraged to travel beyond their ancestral borders. The two groups have similar cultural heritage, but various influences over the years have steered them in different directions. The Halflings in Muselle have linked themselves to the humans, while those in the east were unwilling joined with the Elves. Each has their own unique culture, yet similarities do exist between them.

Society

Nobility

There is no true nobility among Halflings, as their society is not some feudal hierarchy. Instead, Halflings are based around family and village elders, each having certain respect attributed to them. Family elders are typically the heads of the family, the oldest man or woman, whose opinions carry the weight of law within its ranks. These leaders form a council of sorts within their home region or village, meeting together to help solve disputes and to arbitrate conflicts. Among them, one is typically considered the head, usually the oldest among those assembled. To be put in this position is a great honour, and one that many old Halflings aspire to.

Conflicts

Family Squabbles

With such an emphasis on families within their society, it’s little surprise to see them take a major role in any tension between Halflings. Both within the family and without, blood makes for very strong connections in their culture. Family groups are extended, and typically quite large, encompassing several dozen Halflings per generation. With so many people involved in each others lives, there’s due to be animosity. Parents and children fight, creating rifts that grow wider over time, while brothers and sisters argue about practically everything. Home life for Halflings becomes a careful navigation of petty rivalries, dodging hated aunts and keeping the peace between feuding uncles. Despite all of this, families are bound by blood and name, and will unite immediately when faced with opposition. Outside of a family group, this opposition comes from other families. Feuds between clans are incredibly common, with some more established rivalries going back centuries. Generations perpetuate the fighting at every turn, keeping mistrust and enmity alive between them.

Autonomy

Despite their commitment to family, independence plays a major role in Halfling lives. Freedom to travel as they will is what draws many to their rivers in the first place, keeping them moving as vagrants and itinerant traders. Within Muselle, this independence has been threatened by human subjugation, the region claimed by the kings of Muerthe. Mostly undisturbed over the millennia, the sudden imposition of foreign laws took many by surprise. Human magistrates live among the hills and valleys, doing their best to govern an unruly populace. Luckily for the Halflings, Muselle is so divided and fractured by rivers that effective governance by outsiders is nearly impossible. Most villages are left to their own devices, only affected briefly by the presence of humans and their administration. While not popular, there is a movement of sorts to resist the occupation of their homeland, though it rarely involves direct violence. Instead, the resistance is carried out by smugglers and various criminals, working to subvert the rules and duties imposed on them.

Daily Life

Halflings live mostly on or near to rivers. In Muselle, villages stretch along the steep banks of ravines, scattered in long strands down the winding river valleys. Boatmen connect these villages to each other and the world abroad, ferrying goods and information between them. These boats are the most common way for Halflings to live, with the marshes across Oderen full of their lively boats and barges. Halflings often live in close quarters with their extended families, with many living under the same roof or in neighbouring homes. Outside of their marshes, Halflings tend to clump together in their own groups, preferring the company of other Halflings to that of the other races.

Amidst Halfling communities, conflict and disagreement is common. To help alleviate this, one of their number will often be named as a Mediator, helping to arbitrate and settle disputes. Mediators differ from the elders that govern the rest of Halfling life, instead being simply trusted members of the community rather than older heads of families. The legal position has largely been usurped by human magistrates in Muselle, naming themselves Mediators as a permanent title. Despite this, Halflings still prefer to solve their own problems, and mediators are still well respected in more rural communities.

Notable Factions

Greenshields

The Greenshields are an order of Halflings in Muselle, dedicated to the preservation and protection of their region. Originally formed to keep Orcs out of their homelands, they still exist to fight the various monsters and beasts that lurk in the marsh. Greenshields are typically stout and brave Halflings who eschew more mundane lives to live on the fringes of society. Rangers at heart, they roam the hills of Muselle in small packs, hunting down any threats to other Halflings. Widely beloved, they are welcome in any Halfling village and tavern, receiving great hospitality for their troubles. A key part of their raiment is the ubiquitous green shield, a piece of wood painted green and emblazoned with the symbol of their order. Higme is the patron of the Greenshields, lending her strength and will to their cause.

Notable Places

Muselle

The nominal capital of the region, Muselle sits at a fork in the Muselle river. It serves as a gathering place for the surrounding towns and villages, boasting a large market and river docks as well as a hub of administrative activity. The lone road through Muselle ends at the town, connecting it to Osse and the rest of Muerthe in the northwest. Built very much in the style of Routot settlements, it has seemingly been taken over by human architecture and influence. Halflings have been slowly outnumbered and pushed into the more rural areas of the region, and animosity is growing between those displaced and the humans who have displaced them. Human religious cults have set up in the town as well, hoping to convert and expand their influence among the Halflings. All of this has pushed Halfling culture underground, starting a covert war of preservation in the face of human colonialism.

Haakenmaal

A relatively small town, Haakenmaal sits downriver from Muselle. It serves as a hub of trade between the capital and the coastal city of Lothier. Boasting a fairly small population, it is mostly populated by traders and boatmen. A few warehouses and docks store and collect the goods in a central point, before shipping them onwards to where they are sent abroad. Wool and foodstuffs are the most common goods, though some more finished crafts are popular as well. Musellan wool is some of the finest in the world, owing to a special breed of sheep the Halflings keep. This makes the region rich, and makes Haakenmaal an important stop on the river trade route. Smugglers often try to sneak by the abundance of officials in the town; human authorities empowered by Muerthe to collect taxes on the trade goods. The game between them is ebb and flow, with each side seeking the upper hand in their battle for control.

Ranh

Ranh is a small village in the Nimpo Marshes. Despite its size, it is the most permanent settlement in the swamps. Huts and hovels cling to the dry land of the village, while barges and skiffs drift slowly along the inlets and other ponds nearby. Many Halfling vessels are bound together with ropes and other cordage, creating platforms that provide common shelter for their large extended families. The town lies in the shadow of Mount Nui, a dormant volcano that dominates the skyline of the Malada mountain range. Geothermal vents heat springs and pools around Ranh, providing a surprisingly lush amount of greenery in the region. Ranh offers a relatively secluded hideaway for exiles and outcasts from Routot, while at the same time acting as a go between for the northern humans and the Halflings further into the swamps.

Notable Personalities

Eynon Heilidhe, Master of Muselle

The Heilidhe clan has dominated the waterways in central Muselle for generations, playing a vital role as mediators and elders in the clan politics of the area. With the arrival and imposition of humans into Muselle, they were raised and recognized as a part of the new feudal hierarchy, given titles and privileges to formalize their influence. Eynon Heilidhe is perhaps the most important of his clan, an old Halfling who sits as its patriarchal head and leader. Granted the title of Baron by the King of Muerthe, his holdings are the town of Muselle itself. While officially under the control of the regional magistrate, the title has still granted Eynon and his brood tremendous influence. Controlling river traffic and most of what happens in the city, the Heilidhe have used their position to usurp their former rival clans positions in the area. With the backing and support of the King of Muerthe, Eynon ensures that he always takes a cut of everything occurring in his realm, growing ever more powerful by the day. In working with the humans, and helping to repress his fellow Halflings, Eynon has earned the enmity of many Halflings across Muselle. Derogatorily called the “Master of Muselle” for his schemes of dominion, many seek to fight and subvert his influence within the realm. He is average height for a Halfling, with a mostly bald head. He stoops when he walks, hunched over with age. A cruel smile is often on his lips, and his eyes dart around the room at all times.

Tegwared Roghan, Greenshield

A folk hero among Musellans, Tegwared is the most famous of the Greenshields. His exploits are legendary, having brought down many monsters in various adventures across the region. While the order is decentralized, Tegwared has an unofficial role as its leader, his advice and direction widely respected by all. The band that he travels with has its own status above that of other Greenshields, each with their own minor legends surrounding them. All of this gives the Halfling’s a mythical status, having influence beyond their station should allow. This makes him dangerous in the eyes of the humans that govern Muselle, putting Tegwared and his bands dangerously close to being rebels flaunting the law. Evading magistrates has made him even more famous, however, giving credit to the anti-human sentiment growing in the hills of the region. He is most pursued by other Halflings in positions of power, each trying to catch him to further their own ambitions. Beyond all, he and his band are fiercely dedicated to the protection of all Halflings from the outside world. Tegwared has red hair and a roguish attitude. A smattering of freckles sits across his face, with boyish features resting beneath them. He is nearly thirty, and bears several scars across his body.

Morud Gamhna, Wise Woman of Ranh

Morud is perhaps the oldest Halfling in the world, and certainly in the Nimpo Marshes. She resides in her hut near Ranh, giving advice and acting as a seer of sorts for the people there. Travellers come from across the marsh, and beyond, to seek an audience with her, looking for wisdom, advice or something more. A skilled herbalist, she provides remedies for any who can pay her. Her prices are often unusual, either requesting certain items or random trinkets in return for help. Rumoured to be a witch, Morud is treated with both respect and fear by many who buy into her legend. For those nearer to her, however, she can act almost grandmotherly. She truly is ancient, although she is still surprisingly sharp and spry for her age. Shorter than most Halflings, she rarely ventures far from her hovel, attended to by a few apprentices. She has grey hair and dark, weathered skin. Her eyes squint with age, and she can seem to hunch over nearly double.