Munchkin
Munchkins are an ethnic group of halflings best known for their love of country. A proud, militaristic folk who colonized the eastern-most quadrant of Oz, the Munchkins became the fiercest defenders of their country out of necessity.
Since the days of the Second Age, the Munchkin’s neighbors in The Free Cities of Nunya, The Grand Duchy of the Garden, and The United Kingdom of Wonderland have continually encroached on Ozite lands. And though the other halfling ethnic groups—Gillikins, Winkies, and Quadlings alike—have no desire to be subjugated by other governments or peoples, they are quite content to leave the defense of their nation up to the patriotic Munchkins.
History
The Munchkins, like all halflings alive today, exist only in the land of Eden—a place all but inaccessible to other sapient beings, except during the Interregnums between iterations of reality. But before The Calamity which brought them to Eden, the Munchkins called Earth home.
Unfortunately, we know very little about this ancient history. Whatever the Munchkins were before their arrival in their new home, they have long since cast it aside. They consider Eden a promised land which it is their duty to protect at all costs. Their story, for all intents and purposes, begins with the end of one world and the start of something new.
Their great deeds during The First Age were instrumental in bringing about a swift and peaceful return to reality—for all but the halflings. In exchange for their services to their fellow sapient beings, the Munchkins—alongside the Gillikins, Winkies, and Quadlings—were offered the chance to stay on in Eden as stewards of the land.
The Munchkins are a generally content people, so long as non-halflings aren’t around. They debate loudly with their Gillikin, Winkie, and Quadling cousins about what do the next the time the rest of existence shows up to stink up the joint, but they otherwise keep mostly to themselves and to the beautification projects that are their way of keeping busy when there are no wars to fight.
It might surprise many who have met them on the battlefield, but Munchkins have a fondness for sculpture and gardening and architecture. They like building things far more than they like tearing them down. And yet, they are convinced that they alone are the best judges of what should be built, of what is beautiful, and what is not.
“Only those willing to die for a thing,” goes the Munchkin saying, “should decide whether that thing is worth fighting for.”
Short but strong, much like the muchkins themselves!
For your consideration, my submissions for the WorldAnvil Worldbuilding Awards 2024. (I've also included some of my favorites other worldbuilders.)
Thank you! Yeah, the short story writer in me comes out when I'm writing most World Anvil articles. I only occasionally go long.