The Singing Dales
The Song of the Valley
The halflings of The Singing Dales are expected to move around a lot. Dale halflings consider themselves all to be family, and they're always open and willing to help each other, no matter the distance. There are small villages scattered across the riverbanks, and they're never silent. The shape of the land and the relative lack of trees creates a miles-long acoustic chamber, which the halflings put to work. As a halfling of the Dales grows, they are expected to learn to play a flute, and when they reach adulthood, to make their own. The traditional coming-of-age ritual for a Dales halfling is to send a young adult halfling to a nearby village to bring whatever trades or talents they've cultivated to their neighbors, or simply to experience another village's life. While they are away, the flute is used to sing back home down the valley, where the melodies they've been learning since childhood serve as a language, and the unique flute they've created serves as a voice their family will recognize. After that first expedition, they may come and go between villages as they please, and while some will use their flute only to communicate to their loved ones who have sojourned away, other Dale halflings become frequent travelers, moving along the river to fish, to perform in inns, or simply to provide a helping hand where it's needed.Family Ties
Halflings of the Rivenglades and The Singing Dales have nearly identical family traditions. Halfling family units are large. The youngest of the families are tended to by the older siblings, aunts and uncles, and grandparents; they are expected to take on these roles themselves as they grow, caring for their own children and the elderly who cannot care for themselves anymore. Couples and individuals who are without these family units for whatever reason are almost always adopted into other families. Traditionally, everyone involved in a merging of families changes their last names, combining them to represent their acceptance of those not tied to each other by blood. This happens even when a single child is adopted.Blessed Guardians
Like in the Rivenglades, halflings born with natural druidic magic are considered blessed by the earth itself. In the Dales, however, druidic halflings are not trained in chapels. Rather they are expected to travel with an older druid who is trusted by the family and can provide enough mentorship to start them on the path of druidic magic, but the child must finish that journey of their own volition. Sometimes this means continuing in their mentorship, but usually it's expected to be private meditation and communion with the land so the young druid can find where they connect with nature the most, whether it be in the waters, the plants, the animals, or even the flames. In both The Dales and The Glades, blessed halflings are not forced to walk the path of druidic warriors and healers, but a halfling bearing these gifts and not using them to aid the villages might get quietly disapproving looks from their neighbors.Pictured: The riverside villages of The Singing Dales are surrounded by highlands.
Languages. Halfling, Common
Government. Dale halflings look to their elders for leadership, but the population of their villages change often as people come and go at different times, and that's as much government as they have.
Demographics. The Singing Dales are almost entirely inhabited by halflings, but they're not unwelcoming. They're not nearly as used to strangers as The Rivenglade villages have become, but halfling hospitality is nearly infallible.
Military and Defense. Skilled druids travel between the villages of the Dales, offering their protection and services. Sometimes these druids settle down into a particular village. Either practice is accepted by the communities.
Economy. Dale halflings live communally, perhaps even more so than Rivenglade halflings, as Dale halflings travel between villages, sharing their goods and services and receiving the gifts of their neighbors in return. They are mostly self-sufficient, although there are very little magical or luxury goods passing between the Dale halflings. If there were, they'd need to be imported, but there's very little demand for exotic commerce.
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