Halflings of Farland
PART ONE OF AN IN-PROGRESS SERIES
PART TWO HERE ///// PART THREE HERE ///// PART FOUR HERE ///// PART FIVE HERE ///// PART SIX HERE /////
PART SEVEN HERE
Characteristics
Halflings, or hositan in their own speech, were a dying race, almost rendered extinct when the Lords of Sin conquered their shires and hames, expunging centuries of culture and tradition in days. It is generally accepted that the survivors are a greatly diminished people, their natural inclinations towards reticence and passivity, among the larger races at least, becoming more exaggerated with each passing year. In the occupied kingdoms, halflings are even beginning to shrink in size, with fewer each generation reaching four feet tall.
Humans and dwarves are prone to saying that all hositan look the same, which can almost be considered true of the elder population - swaddled in shapeless and drab clothing, worry tinging each syllable, unadorned by necklace or ring or smile - desperate habits instilled in them from birth by parents haunted by memories of the occupation. In the liberated kingdoms, hositan are beginning to reclaim their ancestral virtues, albeit slowly and falteringly, for few still live that have any personal experience of those happier days.
A halfling typically has the warm skin tone of the southern Orlanders, or the deeper flush of their northern cousins. Most in the liberated kingdoms will never cut their hair, binding the curls into a dastar or dulband-cloth, but only those who live in perpetual hiding from the dark folk in the occupied realms maintain this custom, since it immediately identifies them as hositan and not human child. Indeed, shaving the head is commonplace in those lands, among men and women both, as it also serves to protect against lice and other such vermin.
Halflings are perhaps as close to a pacifist people as can exist, doing their utmost to avoid armed conflict and even settling the fiercest of disputes with words and sanctions. Even hositan find their courts to be nightmarish, their procedures of such convolution and intricacy that coming to an agreement outside of them is a priority regardless of personal hostility. As such, the offices of sheriff and marshal in halfling communities are very nearly honorary, often stereotyped as the go-to profession for the lazy or indolent hositan.
>>>>>
Varieties
Proudfellow -- Life is truly very simple. Look over there, the ground by that tree. That, my friend, is spoor. It reeks, stains and it is out in the open. Now, this about my waist is called a sporran. It is scented, clean and keeps things hidden. As long as you can tell the difference between spoor and sporran, you will do just fine in life. ~ Hositan 'advice' often given to youngsters
The rarest of the hositan, Proudfellows are widely thought to be descended from ancient trysts with fey or elves, their pale skin and fair hair setting them apart from the rest of their kind, who tend towards darker features. Long ago they began to train the emishika, better known as Kebito's elk, using the immense creatures first in place of oxen, then in place of horses, riding two abreast and four deep when they lost interest in farming and returned to hunting. Regaining mastery of emishika is a secret hope of many a Proudfellow.
Proudfellows are extremely conservative at heart and resistant to change, which has led to them suffering the greatest losses of all halflings. They reacted badly when the armies of the dark folk poured into their lands, refusing to surrender or flee like the majority of their people, instead taking up arms against the invaders. For all their skill in the hunt, the sad truth remains that no hositan was meant to see a battlefield and the Proudfellows were nearly wiped out entirely in the first few engagements.
***
Stalwart -- #A mermaid I did see one day, a-swimming in the stream. When down upon the bank she lay, my eyes-oh they did gleam. Her pearls she shone in noontime sun, I gripped my oaken rod. So near I crept then cast my line, as though it were a wish. Her treasures hauled up from the brine, I had my fill of fish.# ~ First verse of the traditional folksong "Truth be told"
Stalwarts are builders, innovators, gnome-friends and viewed by other halflings as quite bizarre for precisely those reasons. Much like the gnomes with whom they've associated for centuries, the Stalwarts tend to cultivate patterned whiskers and hairstyles, experiment freely with accessories and dyes, even wear actual shoes! Swift to adapt to other cultures, these halflings frequently work tirelessly to integrate into and modify whatever community they inhabit. They are often dismissed as busybodies and dreamers by the other races of said community.
Given that most halflings never learn how to swim, the Stalwarts separate themselves still further by actually enjoying the activity and seeking out coastal areas or those with lots of waterways to explore. The 'village' of Merrowsfloe is famous (infamous among hositan) for being entirely boats and rafts that drifts the Lonely Sea, coming to shore only when major repairs are needed. An increasing number of these vessels are being fashioned from corals, whale bones and similar materials, further reducing the frequency of visits to the land.
***
Hairfoot -- No rational hositan would be caught dead in something quite so ridiculous. Even an elf would hesitate to invite mockery by wearing that travesty. I cannot begin to understand the lunacy involved in, firstly making such a monstrosity, then actually putting it on display in a window. ~ Hositan criticism of a traditional harvest festival gown design salvaged from Rowanspeak Hillock
Ask someone to describe a halfling and you will invariably learn of the Hairfoots (or is it Hairfeet?), for they are by far the most common and widespread of hositan. Naturally inclined to cheerfulness and camaraderie, a Hairfoot is constantly reminded of how much their people has lost, for even in their own villages there is little that is truly hositan and not merely adopted or adapted from another race. As they are not fond of anything remotely resembling an adventure, they often hire people to explore the ruined shires of their ancestors in search of their past.
A Hairfoot is brought up to be polite, respectful and hard-working, honest to a fault, generous to the less fortunate and stern with the unjust. Naturally, these traits rarely survive childhood intact, ground to powder by the realities of life outside a shire. Their reconstitution leaves something to be desired, but in general, a halfling is a fine fellow all round and welcome in any community, albeit with a few sniggers and condescending comments from the existing inhabitants, who seem to find them inexplicably amusing.
PART TWO HERE ///// PART THREE HERE ///// PART FOUR HERE ///// PART FIVE HERE ///// PART SIX HERE /////
PART SEVEN HERE
Characteristics
Halflings, or hositan in their own speech, were a dying race, almost rendered extinct when the Lords of Sin conquered their shires and hames, expunging centuries of culture and tradition in days. It is generally accepted that the survivors are a greatly diminished people, their natural inclinations towards reticence and passivity, among the larger races at least, becoming more exaggerated with each passing year. In the occupied kingdoms, halflings are even beginning to shrink in size, with fewer each generation reaching four feet tall.
Humans and dwarves are prone to saying that all hositan look the same, which can almost be considered true of the elder population - swaddled in shapeless and drab clothing, worry tinging each syllable, unadorned by necklace or ring or smile - desperate habits instilled in them from birth by parents haunted by memories of the occupation. In the liberated kingdoms, hositan are beginning to reclaim their ancestral virtues, albeit slowly and falteringly, for few still live that have any personal experience of those happier days.
A halfling typically has the warm skin tone of the southern Orlanders, or the deeper flush of their northern cousins. Most in the liberated kingdoms will never cut their hair, binding the curls into a dastar or dulband-cloth, but only those who live in perpetual hiding from the dark folk in the occupied realms maintain this custom, since it immediately identifies them as hositan and not human child. Indeed, shaving the head is commonplace in those lands, among men and women both, as it also serves to protect against lice and other such vermin.
Halflings are perhaps as close to a pacifist people as can exist, doing their utmost to avoid armed conflict and even settling the fiercest of disputes with words and sanctions. Even hositan find their courts to be nightmarish, their procedures of such convolution and intricacy that coming to an agreement outside of them is a priority regardless of personal hostility. As such, the offices of sheriff and marshal in halfling communities are very nearly honorary, often stereotyped as the go-to profession for the lazy or indolent hositan.
>>>>>
Varieties
Proudfellow -- Life is truly very simple. Look over there, the ground by that tree. That, my friend, is spoor. It reeks, stains and it is out in the open. Now, this about my waist is called a sporran. It is scented, clean and keeps things hidden. As long as you can tell the difference between spoor and sporran, you will do just fine in life. ~ Hositan 'advice' often given to youngsters
The rarest of the hositan, Proudfellows are widely thought to be descended from ancient trysts with fey or elves, their pale skin and fair hair setting them apart from the rest of their kind, who tend towards darker features. Long ago they began to train the emishika, better known as Kebito's elk, using the immense creatures first in place of oxen, then in place of horses, riding two abreast and four deep when they lost interest in farming and returned to hunting. Regaining mastery of emishika is a secret hope of many a Proudfellow.
Proudfellows are extremely conservative at heart and resistant to change, which has led to them suffering the greatest losses of all halflings. They reacted badly when the armies of the dark folk poured into their lands, refusing to surrender or flee like the majority of their people, instead taking up arms against the invaders. For all their skill in the hunt, the sad truth remains that no hositan was meant to see a battlefield and the Proudfellows were nearly wiped out entirely in the first few engagements.
***
Stalwart -- #A mermaid I did see one day, a-swimming in the stream. When down upon the bank she lay, my eyes-oh they did gleam. Her pearls she shone in noontime sun, I gripped my oaken rod. So near I crept then cast my line, as though it were a wish. Her treasures hauled up from the brine, I had my fill of fish.# ~ First verse of the traditional folksong "Truth be told"
Stalwarts are builders, innovators, gnome-friends and viewed by other halflings as quite bizarre for precisely those reasons. Much like the gnomes with whom they've associated for centuries, the Stalwarts tend to cultivate patterned whiskers and hairstyles, experiment freely with accessories and dyes, even wear actual shoes! Swift to adapt to other cultures, these halflings frequently work tirelessly to integrate into and modify whatever community they inhabit. They are often dismissed as busybodies and dreamers by the other races of said community.
Given that most halflings never learn how to swim, the Stalwarts separate themselves still further by actually enjoying the activity and seeking out coastal areas or those with lots of waterways to explore. The 'village' of Merrowsfloe is famous (infamous among hositan) for being entirely boats and rafts that drifts the Lonely Sea, coming to shore only when major repairs are needed. An increasing number of these vessels are being fashioned from corals, whale bones and similar materials, further reducing the frequency of visits to the land.
***
Hairfoot -- No rational hositan would be caught dead in something quite so ridiculous. Even an elf would hesitate to invite mockery by wearing that travesty. I cannot begin to understand the lunacy involved in, firstly making such a monstrosity, then actually putting it on display in a window. ~ Hositan criticism of a traditional harvest festival gown design salvaged from Rowanspeak Hillock
Ask someone to describe a halfling and you will invariably learn of the Hairfoots (or is it Hairfeet?), for they are by far the most common and widespread of hositan. Naturally inclined to cheerfulness and camaraderie, a Hairfoot is constantly reminded of how much their people has lost, for even in their own villages there is little that is truly hositan and not merely adopted or adapted from another race. As they are not fond of anything remotely resembling an adventure, they often hire people to explore the ruined shires of their ancestors in search of their past.
A Hairfoot is brought up to be polite, respectful and hard-working, honest to a fault, generous to the less fortunate and stern with the unjust. Naturally, these traits rarely survive childhood intact, ground to powder by the realities of life outside a shire. Their reconstitution leaves something to be desired, but in general, a halfling is a fine fellow all round and welcome in any community, albeit with a few sniggers and condescending comments from the existing inhabitants, who seem to find them inexplicably amusing.