Halflings

Halflings are the diminutive cousins of Humans and share many of their traits. Like humans, they vary widely in appearance and temprament, but are smaller, generally between 30 - 38 inches tall. They are the 2nd most common peoples one encounters in the known world, although they are far less numerous than humans. Halflings reach maturity around age 20-25 and usually live 100-120 years.
The Halflings of Gaeda primarily live as a subculture of humans. They can be found living in small close-knit communities that either claim a section of a human settlement or more rarely create their own outlying settlements. Many Halfling communities are often overlooked as they may blend in with the local human architecture. Many Halflings lead perfectly fulfilling lives in the shadow of their larger neighbors, while some prefer more nomadic lives on the road, traveling the world and experiencing all it has to offer.

Halfling Society and traditional culture

Optimistic and cheerful by nature, blessed with uncanny luck and driven by a powerful wanderlust, halflings make up for their short stature with an abundance of bravado and curiosity. At once excitable and easy-going, halflings like to keep an even temper and a steady eye on opportunity, and are not as prone as some of the more volatile races to violent or emotional outbursts. Even in the jaws of catastrophe, a halfling almost never loses his sense of humor. Halflings are inveterate opportunists. Unable to physically compete with the larger inhabitants of the world, they know when to bend with the wind and when to hide away. Yet a halfling’s curiosity often overwhelms his good sense, leading to poor decisions and narrow escapes. Though their curiosity drives them to travel and seek new places and experiences, halflings possess a strong sense of house and home, often spending above their means to enhance the comforts of home life.

Physical Description:

Halflings rise to a humble height of 3 feet. Many prefer to walk barefoot, leading to the bottoms of their feet being roughly calloused. Tufts of thick, curly hair warm the tops of their broad, tanned feet. A halfling’s ears are pointed, but proportionately not much larger than those of a human.

Society:

Because of their often nomadic lifestyle and differences in appearance and culture, Halflings and their more settled neighbors have sometimes held each other in distrust. The superstitious image of Halflings as tramps and thieves unfit for work has sometimes caused them to be persecuted in certain parts of the world, while halflings can sometimes see the larger folks as threatening or interfering presences in their lives.
A typical halfling prides himself on his ability to go unnoticed by other races—it is this trait that allows so many halflings to excel at thievery and trickery. Most halflings, knowing full well the stereotyped view other races take of them as a result, go out of their way to be forthcoming and friendly to the bigger races when they’re not trying to go unnoticed. They got along fairly well with gnomes, although most Halflings regard these eccentric creatures with a hefty dose of caution. Halflings coexist well with humans as a general rule, but try not to grow too complacent when dealing with them. Halflings respect elves and Dwarves, but these races generally live in remote regions far from the comforts of civilization that halflings enjoy, thus limiting opportunities for interaction.
Halflings rarely live in segregated communities, but their cultural kinship with other Halflings is an unspoken connection between those who know what it is to be so small and ignored in a world full of bigger creatures.

Tradition:

The traditional halflings place a high value on the extended family. Both men and women often marry young.
Many halflings are observant in a tradition of purity laws, applied to actions, people and things:
Clothes for the lower body, are washed separately. Items used for eating are also washed in a different place. Death is considered impure, and affects the whole family of the dead, who remain impure for a period of time. In contrast to the practice of cremating the dead, Halfling dead must be buried. Items used to kill, either for food or in combat must be kept apart from eating and living areas. Where so ever the dead shall walk or talk that place is made unclean for 1 year and 1 day. Those who cause the dead to rise up are most unclean. Those who speak with the dead or observe the dead speaking are made unclean for 1 year and 1 day after cleansing.

Halflinipen and non-Halflings

Halflinipen is a complicated term of Halfling philosophy that means totality of the Halfling spirit, Halfling culture, Halfling Law, being a Halfling. An Halfling is considered to be a non-Halfling in the Halfling society if he has no Halflinipen. Sometimes a non-Halfling may be considered to be a Halfling if he has Halflinipen, (usually that is an adopted child).

Halfling Law:

Disputes within a Halfling community are usually settled by a Council called a Kris, made up of an odd number of honored members selected from within a Halfling community. The judgements of the Kris are designed to maintain the integrity of the Halfling community and uphold the Halflinipen. Its proceedings are oriented to reinforce fair dealings and the community harmony, an important notion of the Halflinipen. The decisions of the Kris are definitive (there are no higher Halfling courts) and they are enforced by the moral pressure of the Halfling community.

Religion:

Migrant Halfling populations often adopt the dominant religion of their country of residence, while often preserving aspects of older belief systems and forms of worship.

Related Organizations

• Empire of Aquilon

Languages spoken

• Imperial Common