Physical Description
Halflings have many beneficial characteristics that offset their small stature. They are the shortest of the Conclave races, standing between two and three feet tall. They weigh between 25 and 40 pounds depending on their height and the size of their bellies. Halflings have strong senses of smell and hearing. Additionally, they can see well even in poorly lit environments. Their feet are exceptionally strong and hairy, providing natural protection in all conditions without shoes or socks. Despite the hair on halfling feet, they do not grow facial hair besides the occasional sideburns. Halflings live slightly longer than humans, oftentimes living past a century.
Halfling aesthetic features tend towards warm earthy tones. Similar to elves, they have pointed ears. Their hair colors are usually brown, blonde, red, or orange, and curls are fairly common. Typical halfling eye colors are brown, green, blue, or hazel. For skin color, halflings range from fair to warm olive. There are some additional variations for Deep Halflings, with a higher frequency of darker tones and grays.
Culture
Halflings focus on life at home first. They value large and well-connected families. To provide a supportive environment for these families, halflings have a strong nesting impulse. A halfling home is cluttered with comforts of all kinds. Blankets, pillows, and stools of every size. Portraits, games, maps, and books aplenty for guests and inhabitants to use whenever they please. These homes also tend to expand with their families, often having additional rooms added on as the next generation is born. Older homes exhibit strange architectural abnormalities as the style and taste of the different developers change over the years.
Halfling food is always comfort food or made for the aftermath of a celebration. Known for their love of hearty meals, halflings frequently spice their dishes with thyme and sage. Meals often include crusty breads, roasted meats, seasoned root vegetables, creamy cheeses, and sweet pies filled with berries or apples. Halflings take pride in their cooking, with recipes passed down and improved through generations. Their days are punctuated by multiple meals and each meal is an opportunity for family and friends to gather, share stories, and savor the simple joys of life. Halfling restaurant decorations evoke the feeling of dining at a friend’s home rather than a business.
Halfling leisure time is spent on simple pastoral hobbies. Some of their activities support the halfling love for cooking. Settled halflings always have a personal garden of vegetables or flowers. Fruit trees are another common sight on halfling properties. Halflings like to fish, not necessarily for sustenance, but just for the love of the experience. Halfling food enthusiasts will spend their time experimenting with their latest dish or brew in an endless search for perfection. Halflings are also frequently amateur writers or artists. Many personally made poems, drawings, and paintings hang proudly in halfling homes and businesses. Other popular pastimes are lawn games, darts, bird-watching, bug collecting, and bee keeping.
History
The halflings were one of the five races of the Conclave along with dwarves, elves, humans, and orcs. They fought against the goblins in the Goblin War. When the other races left the Conclave the humans reacted with anger and violence that the halflings did not support. Human fury focused on targets remaining within the Conclave. This culminated in a pogrom against halflings in human dominated communities. After the aggression was directed at them, the halflings fled cities that were hostile to them. Many halflings settled in two new cities, Nomingburg in Eastern Cimmeria and Crafterton on the Halfling Isle in the Caspian.
The conflict between halflings and humans did not end with the halfling exodus. The humans prepared to march on Nomingburg. Both sides arrayed for battle outside Nomingburg, but decided to wait until the next day to fight. In the night all their weapons were stolen by the halfling hero, Tracy. She negotiated a peace between the two sides and then returned their weapons. Tracy went on to lead the halflings during the Dragon War. She helped guide the newly independent halfling communities through the Dragon Hegemony and into freedom afterwards. Tracy went into hibernation with the other heroes of the Dragon War to protect the Orbs of Dragonkind.
After the Dragon War halfling history split into two parts based off the two cities, Nomingburg and Crafterton. Nomingburg was ruled by an elected duke that adjudicated conflicts between the adversarial guilds of the city. Nomingburg swung between periods of peace and civil war depending on the strength and negotiating skill of the duke. Crafterton was ruled by a council of business owners for centuries. This created a more stable government, but one beholden to the interests of only the elite. Both cities had a brief period of guidance by Tracy once more. She was released from the Blue Orb during the githyanki conflict and helped her people stay free from the astral invaders. Unfortunately the githyanki were only defeated through Tracy sacrificing her own life. Halfling civilization stagnated without a forceful leader at the top.
In recent years the two cities have seen significant upheavals in leadership. Nomingburg saw decades of conflict between the assassins guilds that run the city. Duke Jingo stopped this conflict through clever negotiation tactics. Unfortunately, his own assassination during the Second Alliance War led to another civil war within Nomingburg. Crafterton has a longer history of peace, but that ended with Xorian occupation. Crafterton’s bourgeoisie accepted dragovinian status and oppressed Crafterton’s citizens ruthlessly during the imperial reign. A harsh rebellion broke out when the Second Alliance War ended with dragovinians reverting to mortal status. All business owners were slain within Crafterton and the citizens have been taking steps to reorganize the city as a communist republic.
Subraces
Halflings were a single race without subraces prior to leaving the Conclave. After leaving the Conclave, halflings settled in different locations. Each of these places developed different cultures to support their respective industries. The different subraces of halflings have adapted to those cultures and industries with different natural talents for each subrace.
Rock: Rock Halflings live in Crafterton and have a deep love for technology. Clockwork machines of all kinds originate from Crafterton along with simple potions and household magical items. A broom that sweeps on its own, a bar of soap that never runs out, these and many more are inventions that were first made by Rock Halflings. They also have sensitive noses that make them excellent alchemists and cooks. Besides more exotic technology, Rock Halflings are also often adept at using forges, tannery equipment, carpentry equipment, and other tools of craftsmen in Cimmeria.
City: City Halflings live in Nomingburg and are the most athletic of halflings. Tracy’s original intention was for Nomingburg to be home to many survivalist guilds. The guilds would push halfling civilization further into the eastern regions of goblin controlled territory. Unfortunately after Tracy’s death the guilds focused inward in a power struggle for dominance of the city. The survivalist guilds became assassins guilds. While most halflings in Nomingburg aren’t assassins, the value of physical ability and sneaky natures have leaked into the general populace.
City Halflings are physically larger than other halflings. They stand an inch or two more on average. Their stronger builds allow them to jump longer, climb faster, and throw further than other beings of their size. They also have a greater ability to hide and move silently through shadows. Many other clandestine talents are common in City Halflings such as escaping bonds or lifting items from people’s pockets. Nomingburg is a dangerous place to go without a well-secured coin purse.
Forest: Forest Halflings roam Cimmeria in caravans or live in small villages dotted across the landscape. Forest Halfling caravans are responsible for much of the intercity trade of Cimmeria, carrying goods and valuables across the region. Some caravans also act as traveling entertainment, providing circus acts, songs, and plays to different communities. A vanishing number of Forest Halflings are homeless thieves. They steal as much as they can, then move on before the local law enforcement can punish them. These delinquent vagabonds have created a bad reputation for all traveling halflings. Many Forest Halfling caravans are treated with suspicion regardless of their intentions.
Forest Halflings have many talents related to thriving in the natural world. Their homes in isolated villages or routines on the road make living off the land essential. Each Forest Halfling has some ability to communicate with animals, either through intuition or actually speaking the language of a particular species such as moles, foxes, or sparrows. Minor magical feats are common as well, with many Forest Halflings knowing a few cantrips to assist in cooking, foraging, or hunting. Forest Halflings talent for nature magic and love for comfort makes them a true integration of the wilds and civilization.
Deep: Deep Halflings split off from the surface halflings at an unknown time. They adapted to the darkness below the Earth somehow. Deep Halflings can now see in the dark. The change process below the surface also granted them remarkable resistance to magic. Living beneath the earth requires tunneling as well as mining and smithing to make the required tools for tunneling. Deep Halflings have become experts at those tasks. Some say they even rival the dwarves in their knowledge of the forge.
Living in the Underdark has instilled a character of ruthlessness in Deep Halflings. Surface halflings admire the beauty of all living things, but Deep Halflings are quick to extinguish any activity, object, or life that they feel is useless. The struggle to survive below the Earth makes Deep Halflings focused on only what they need. Art is rarely seen in Deep Halfling towns and music rarely heard. All actions are taken for the betterment of one’s self or the town. This mirthless life makes many question whether the origin of Deep Halflings is natural or if something more sinister is involved.
Location
Halflings are found throughout Cimmeria with different concentrations based on their subrace. Crafterton is the main location for Rock Halflings. Nomingburg is the main location for City Halflings. Outside of those two cities there are many halflings that operate trade caravans, small businesses, or independent nomadic communities. Most of these enterprising halflings are Forest Halflings. Removed from most of Cimmeria are the Deep Halflings which primarily live in the Underdark under Western Cimmeria.
Relations with Other Races
Halflings are a congenial people that get along with most other races. Halflings move easily between communities of humans, elves, and dwarves. When a traveler comes to a new town they can count on having a warm reception at any business operated by a halfling. Surprisingly, halflings are able to build positive relationships with orcs, goblins, and giantkin as well. These relationships are centered on mutually beneficial trade. Halflings bring goods and materials from the civilized communities of Cimmeria to those living on the fringes. The main exception to this is kobolds. Halflings and kobolds both put family first, but halflings see kobolds disregard for all other life as a perversion of the broader love they have for the natural world. Halflings draw steel against kobolds rather then break bread with them.
Common Deities
Halflings worship all the Olympians with Hestia, Demeter, and Hermes as particular favorites. Hestia is loved by halflings due to her association with home, comfort, and cooking. Similarly, Demeter’s blessing of the harvest is necessary for many of the hearty dishes that halflings prepare. Halfling propensity for athletic achievements for their size makes Hermes another favorite. This is in addition to Hermes position as the patron god of thieves and merchants, professions that many halflings engage in.
Some halfling subraces also have additional gods that are favored in their cultures. Rock Halflings’ penchant for forging and technical contraptions brings them close to Hephaestus and Athena. Hephaestus for the forge and crafting. Athena for the complicated design process for any clever clockwork machine built in Crafterton’s factories. Deep Halflings place Hades higher than most other deities. Deep Halfling homes within the Underdark make the Lord of the Underworld a required benefactor in their lives.
Place in Adventuring
Halflings are more likely to operate businesses that serve adventurers than to go on adventures themselves. Running an inn, a tannery, or a jeweler’s shop are where adventurers will usually see halflings. Halflings that become adventurers are usually rogues or arcane magic users. Their small size and natural talent for remaining hidden make halflings experts in the scouting that is inherent to the rogue position in adventuring parties. Additionally, halflings tendency to tinker with mechanical devices is beneficial in the rogue profession. Halflings innate nature magic makes them quick studies in arcane magic professions. A few halflings become druids as well, but their love for the comforts of civilization prevents many from following that path.
If you were paying close attention to the different races of Cimmeria you would notice that gnomes are one of the “Big D&D Races” that is absent. I didn’t feel that gnomes were sufficiently different from halflings to have them be separate races. Gnomes still exist statistically in Cimmeria with the Rock Halfling subrace intended as a stand-in for typical gnomes and the Deep Halfling as a stand-in for Svirfneblin. Gnome also still exists as a word within Cimmeria, but it is used as a pejorative term for halflings of all kinds.
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