Hobling

Hoblings are peaceful people and generally are smaller than average. Both male and female have bushy side- burns. Primary among all other considerations, Hoblings love comfort. They enjoy a pleasant home, a warm fireplace, good food, fancy clothing, fine wine, and excellent distractions. Hoblings love a good story, play, book, or bard, and will actively seek out entertainment when it is available. Their love of living well means that most Hoblings are businesspeople first. Living well costs money! The thought of doing something for free is appalling to them, and Hoblings consider this common sense. Hoblings, with their “doctrine of mutual self-interest,” believe that is just how the world works. This does not mean they are all unkind or selfish; they just think everyone always acts in their own self-interest and it’s foolish to deny that. 16 In many Hobling societies, there is an expression that explains their culture a bit better: “You can judge worth by wealth.” Hoblings believe that you rise in society due to your hard work, business dealings, and wise investments. If you are poor, it is your own fault. In real world terms, this is “Social Darwinism” taken to the extreme. The opportunities are out there for everyone, Hoblings believe, so if you are poor it is because you are not taking advantage of the situation. Of course, for every society to exist, someone has to be at the bottom of the ladder, washing the dishes and working the fields. Hoblings who take these jobs see them as investments towards their future, and always have some get-rich-quick scheme at the ready. For many Hoblings, the get- rich-quick scheme is adventuring. Hoblings basically hate adventuring and the risks it involves, but the possibility of earning rewards or finding treasure in some long-forgotten dungeon is often just too tempting to resist. How- ever, it will be rare for any Hobling to desire to be an adventurer for too long, and the plan will be to do so “just until I’m rich.” (Then again, you can never be too rich...) Since the business of Hoblings is business, fair dealing is important. Hoblings who cheat or steal are shunned by their society. They always keep to their promises once made—however, you’d better read any contract with a Hobling very carefully, as they know all the loopholes. But, when it all boils down, Hoblings are generally simple folks. They don’t want others disturbing their comfort and relaxation so their code is written to encourage noninterference with everyone. They tend to stay neutral in political affairs and “mind their own business” (in more ways than one).
Hoblings take pride in what they do, and consider their reputation among fellow hoblings to be extremely important. A Hobling does not place necessarily their reputation in such high regard in regards to other races. Seldom does a Hobling do something without considering the impact to his or her reputation. Hoblings are competitive; they love games of chance and skill. Hoblings view life as a game in many ways, they like to compete and they like to win. Of course victory over members of the other races is somewhat expected, but a victory over a fellow Hobling makes the win twice as sweet.
Hoblings are not necessarily direct; they tend to look at problem solving through every possible angle before they implement a decision. Hoblings aren’t warriors; they don’t just step up to a foe and start swinging, they think before they act. In this way a hobling tends to be “obtuse” in dealing with things, and sometimes other races con- sider this to be laziness and procrastination. A hobling likes to set up the trap before springing it.
They love tradition, whether it be personal traditions like watching the dawn every morning or baking the same pie every Friday. These things are developed within families, communities, and within ones self. In the same way that hoblings hold traditions to be important, invariably a few things fall into the mix that are completely bizarre. Hoblings are big storytellers; the more exaggerated the better. Many hoblings can realize that a story is a “Big Fish Story” but sit down to listen nonetheless. It amuses a hobling to hear someone tell a whopper. Even so, oral history and written history is extremely important to a hobling. A hobling dedicated to such an art sticks with the facts... who wants to be remembered as a slipshod?