HALFLING HALFLINGS

HALFLING HALFLINGS
 
History
Halflings, sometimes mistaken for the stouter dwarves or the more wiry gnomes,
are a race of people unlike most others. Standing at a rather diminutive
height and with often rotund bellies due to their incessant desire for food,
they are a generally cheerful and jolly folk.
 
Originating near Val Miran, halflings were first "discovered," so to speak
when they were recruited to engage in a number of quests, serving as jubilant
(if somewhat apprehensive) additions to all manner of fellowships and epic
crusades. Despite their best efforts to remain at home and enjoy the luxuries
they often surround themselves with, they tend to stumble headfirst into more
adventures than a blind peddler traversing the Volcano.
 
The first such example was a male halfling by the name of Drogo Loosedrawers.
Very much a homebody, Drogo was reluctantly and perhaps forcibly yanked from
his home during the middle of his morning tea in order to set out on a quest
with a half-mad elven seer and his cohorts. During their quest, Drogo fell in
love with the world, and upon returning to his beloved hamlet, went about 
attempting to convince his people to see the great lands beyond their homes.
 
After that first minor exodus from their native area, approximately half of
the halfling population moved out into the world to find greater wealth with
which to furnish their homes with greater decorations and appliances. The
other half stubbornly refused to set foot outside of the protective hamlet and
even went so far as to affectionately shun, if such a thing were possible (for
few halflings ever get truly angry), those halflings who leave and return as
bearers of trouble and bad news.
 
Since then many halflings have scattered across the lands, spreading their
numbers far and wide. Those that returned to their hometown eventually brought
change to their traditional society, restructuring the village into a trading
centre. Despite these reforms, few of their people have established solid
businesses as they are a decidedly lazy race, preferring instead other,
sometimes disreputable, methods of gaining capital. Regardless of any ethical
shortcomings, halflings are overall a good-hearted and well-intentioned people.
 
Usual Height
Halflings stand somewhere between faeries and dwarves at approximately three
to four feet.
 
See also: HALFLING2