Halflings: Stoutheart
The Stoutheart halflings are the tough, strong, and resilient halflings. They feel no fear and accept any challenge, especially against those tall legged races that make fun of their size, only to be brought down by a muscular halfling. There is very little that could upset most Stouthearts or corrupt them. Their outlook on life stresses cooperation above all else, with one's skill in teamwork being among the most valued of behaviors in their lands. Some races sterotype them as being fat or lazy due to their sedentary nature and love of fine food. However, they are simply patient as well as very industrious. They just put great emphasis on quality.
The Stoutheart tribe was created with the other halflings in the First Age, The Titan War by the Titan Great Mother. Their destiny was to become the guardians of the race, their strongest warriors and valiant defenders. This was put to these after their creator vanished, just before the Second Age, Godswar and they needed a leader. The Ghostwise said that it should be them, while the Stoutheart rejecting the idea suggesting themselves and in turn the Lightfoot tribe to laugh it off. Rarely anything could set off a Stoutheart and this moment, out of all three tribes, would live on as their most henious acts, something that they felt guilty for for centuries and millennia - the War of the Half-heart, where the halfling race broke into a civil war. They were stopped by the Translucent Traveler, who understood that the race can't stay together now and needed time apart, so the Stoutheart would be sent deep into the Ashen Mountains of the soon Sailan. When the Third Age, Kingdoms dawned, the Stoutheart felt that they are at fault. Many tried to take their lives in combat or poisoning themselves. Historians speculate that the hardship they took upon themselves made them the resilient race they are now but those that are less charitable (and more racist) tend to see the Stoutheart as the lazy ones that would feast after the conflict, while not understanding the dangers of the flora in the mountains, almost dying to poisoning and it turn gaining resistance to it. Whatever the reason, the Stoutheart tribe tried to survive in the mountains, mostly abandoned by the dwarves but in the coming centuries, the Jadeite Empire rose. The Halflings gained the name Hin among the people of Sailan and many of them were driven out from the mountains into the eastern coast. They would live a life outside of the empire, trying to not upset the locals as their tribes hid themselves in caves and high mountains. This hide and seek would end during the event known as The Great Reunion Feast, when the Lightfoot tribe would find them, forgiving all that was done in the ancient times and reuniting again. The Stoutheart finally felt at home, with their halfling brethren. Many of them would leave Sailan, while some would stay and somehow integrate into the local populace. A lot of them would travel to the Old World, where they would build nations with their Lightfoot brothers and sisters.
On Tethys
Many of them take jobs as mercenaries but most work with their halfling cousins in the nations that they built together. There are less tribes of Stoutheart halflings that were millennia ago, as they learned to be a part of a greater community. Most notable is of course Jollyhills, where the Stoutheart led the people of the halfing nation, while their more inclined for excitement brethren seek fun.First World
Likewise in the First World, the Stout halflings were the defenders and guardians of the halflings. Many becoming the muscle of their kingdom.
Genetic Ancestor(s)
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