Halfling

If you are not a fan of long stories and accounts of history being told in painstaking detail, perhaps the lands where the Halflings dwell are ones you should avoid. As the the lore of the Half-folk would not be complete were it not to portray their love for lengthy story telling. The Haflings are a short, resilient, and hardy race of humanoids that prefer to dwell in their cozy under hill dwellings. Halflings are masters of horticulture, cooking, storytelling, and have a fondness for good tilled earth, a hearty meal, and the company of friends and family. It should also be noted that the Half-folk are also shrewd and cunning diplomats, negotiators, and orators. The Half-folk tend to keep to themselves, not wishing to meddle in the affairs of the "big folk". Though those Halflings that do travel the lands tend to do so as merchants or answering a call to spread cheer through song and dance. When addressing a Halfling it is typically polite to refer to them by their first name followed by their last. Halflings tend to not trouble themselves with worries of title, except of course for some Half-folks that consider themselves of high society.

Masculine Example: Theod Barleybagger

Feminine Example: Samatha Hopsack

The Half-folk of Vóreios hold kindness, compassion, and harmony above all things. Most Halflings wish to live a simple and humble life filled with love, laughter, and merriment amongst their friends, family, and fellow Half-folk. While Halflings are not inherently prejudicial against non-Halflings, they are typically suspicious of "big folk", especially if they come wandering through the Halfling Acreages. Most Halflings do not get to enjoy the company of the other races of the land and get most of their news of the world from word of mouth.

In fact, were it not for Bailiwicks Burrow being stationed at the most convenient means of crossing the Whiskycreek River, the Halflings would like dwell in delightful ignorance of the happenings of the world. As a matter of fact, when the Green Skin throngs came rampaging through the mainland it was mere luck they did not travel north through the Halfling Acreages. Had they, it is likely the Halflings would have likely been slaughtered. When the Half-Orcs eventually informed them of the events of the Orc and Goblin armies and the migration of the Elves, the most reaction that came from the Half-folk was, "...how exciting it were to see the Elf-folk coming across our humble Acreages! Those were good days indeed!" A rather charming take-away from the atrocities that were committed when the Orcs and Goblins occupied the Sutherland Moors.

The Halfling Acreages

The Halflings exist in what is considered an uncontested swath of land unclaimed by the Kingdoms of Men or Dwarves. By the time Men or Dwarves came to attempt to claim title over the land the Halflings were already well and established. Both the Dwarves and Men decided it was unnecessary to bring them any inconvenience or relocate.

Instead, both the Kingdoms of Men and the Great Dwarven Empire imposed a tax on the Halflings simply for their maintenance of the roads and bridges leading to and from the Halfling Acreages. The Half-folk are known for their cunning and diplomatic capabilities. To offset the new expenses incurred by these taxes, the Half-folks instated a tax on travelers coming through the city. This tax was initially meager, just to cover the expenses of the newly imposed tax. Overtime, the Halflings slowly started increasing the tax based on things such as how many wagon wheels, beasts driving the caravans, different taxes based on the type of product passing through, and even the number of passengers traveling with the caravan.

Regarding Taxes

This careless over taxation actually created a quick economic panic as prices began surging. It was not long after both the Kingdoms of Men and Dwarves convened and demanded the Halflings cease all taxation. This demand was not taken seriously and the resulting compromise was a repeal of some of the agreed upon more frivolous taxes and a representative for the Halflings within the courts of both the Kingdoms of Men and Dwarves. The agreed upon representative would be the present Mayor of Bailiwicks Burrow. However, rarely has any Mayor of Bailiwicks ever made the journey to Númenara' or Kharak-A-Ul'Dhak citing the travel to either as far to worrisome given all the conflicts ongoing. Most Mayors cite the issue of the Orcs and Goblins of a top concern despite their presence within the mainland having ceased for nearly a millennia. Instead the Halflings offer the courts of Men and Dwarves to make the journey to Bailiwicks.

An Honest Mistake

This offer has been rejected on every occasion except once by the Dwarves when several missing shipments of spirits from Kharak-A-Ul’Skhald’ung-Gorm failed delivery. After exhausting all resources the Dwarves came to the conclusion the Half-folk must have pilfered their spirits. The then Dwarven High King Thurgryn Ungrynson directly accused the then former Bailiwicks Mayor Donard Blubsack for the theft of famed Strongstout spirits. Mayor Blubsack denied this accusation, though it was hard to do so given the Mayor had poured himself and the High King's court, from a freshly tapped barrel, flagons of Strongstout mead with the Strongstout clan emblem emblazoned on the barrel. Mayor Donard then claimed they simply thought the barrels had been lost overboard or thrown away as they were not use to seeing barrels float down the Whiskycreek River. Despite the financial loses and severity of the transgression stealing drink from a Dwarf can carry, the whole matter strengthened the relations between the Dwarves and Half-folk. In fact, not only did the Halflings not have to reimburse the Strongstout clan for their lost profits, they were forgiven and granted an exclusive contract with the Strongstout clan selling them spirits for prices lower than being sold to their fellow Dwarves; as well as select specialty brews typically reserved only for Strongstout family.

The Whiskycreek River

For thousands of years the name of the Whiskycreek River which acts as a natural border for the Kingdoms of Men, the Great Dwarven Empire, and the Jøtun. Each sovereignty calling the river by a different name. However, the Whiskycreek River was once just called the Whisky Creek by the Halflings. This was of course before the Half-Folk learned the river was in fact a river and not a creek. The Halflings, not being an adventurous people, never cared to venture beyond the rivers confines and happily lived under their misbelief. Of course, upon learning the err of their ways, they began calling their mistaken body of water the Whisky River. This became too bothersome for the Half-folk to remember as the Whisky River had been a creek to them for ages. And so, the Half-folk, try as they might, failed to properly correct the waterways name, and those that traveled through the Halfling Acreages were told the rivers name was the Whiskycreek River. A charming slip of the tongue while trying to properly identify the body of water. And so, the charming colloquialism became the rivers name.

It should be noted that the Whisky River received its name initially because the Halflings for centuries had been plucking Dwarven barrels of spirits, most of which contained whisky, from the river. However, Halflings are not fond of water so their pilfering went largely unnoticed for sometime until they were able to develop more efficient means of collecting the Dwarven barrels. But due to the abundance of whisky that traveled down the river, the Half-folk simply called it the Whisky creek. Their love for whisky must have out grown their fears of water.

The Half-folk are not a religious people, though many are aware of the believed existence of the many gods of the different races. While it is not unheard of to find a Half-folk devoted to a god, most do not. Though a pious Half-folk is just as likely to worship a Dwarvish god as they are any other god throughout the world they have learned about through reading. Their religious preferences, if any, are unrestricted  though they tend to keep their piety to themselves.,