Halfling Tattoo Practices
Upon the bridge of a halfling’s nose lay three distinct tattoos, in a subtle shade of green, that symbolise that halfling’s birth date. The top is the day, the second is the month, the bottom the year.
Halfling ears are notched along the sides a maximum of six times each. This shows his relative skill with communal arts, dancing and singing. Singing is the right ear, dancing the left. Having no notches means you cannot dance without tripping up every few minutes and singing that you cannot remember any or sing in any key. Six is the highest one can attain and it shows skill unrivaled for that halfling’s generation.
He then has a tattoo upon each shoulder blade, god symbols. Each Halfling chooses two gods when they reach the age of eighteen to be their patrons. These god’ symbols are then tattooed upon the shoulder blades of the halfling. What Gods these normally are will be covered in the religion section.
Next comes the spinal aging tattoos. Small circles tattooed every year up a halfling’s spine to indicate their age. The circles stop at fifty, as this is the point at which their culture decides that life starts degrading, and so they try and keep themselves feeling this age, in any way they can.
Halflings will often have other tattoos put upon their chests that are extremely detailed and depict great achievements in their lives. Examples are marriage, great political successes and reaching the age of manhood/womanhood.
Upon the backs of each hand are the heritage tattoos. These show who the halfling was born to, the right hand depicting the mother’s family, the left hand depicting the father’s family. The gender of the halfling depends upon which symbol is passed on to their children. A mother will pass on her mother’s symbol, whereas a father will pass on his father’s. In this way a family name will barely ever die out. The last name taken by the halfling is also dependant upon what gender the halfling is, however both names will be included, one as a middle name.
Around the ankles are the Halfling’s chosen names, of which there are always two.
Halfling Clothing Practices
Most halflings do not wear shoes, their thick soles and hairy feet provides protection from rocks and their ilk, as well as minor cold. Shoes are however worn if a halfling ventures into snowy areas or desert areas, the prior being much too cold and the latter being too hot. As halflings do not define themselves in castes, they wear much the same clothing no matter their wealth or social prowess, the only difference being the quality of materials used to make such items.
Generally, a halflings clothing consists of only four base pieces. Their underwear, a simple flax shirt, some trousers, normally with suspenders, and a cloak. Other clothes are often worn, such as an overcoat in the colder climates. Trousers legs and shirt sleeves are often rolled up if the weather is reasonably nice. Other items are worn as suits the specific halfling, but something impractical and just for looks is not often worn by the non-sedentary groups, every little weight being a disadvantage.
Halfling Religious Practices
Halflings generally worship a main pantheon of three gods. Sallana, Jax and Shalherana. These gods worship the three main aspects of their lives that they believe most important. Sallana shows the innate love for most things in Altera. Jax shows their willingness and love for tricks, games and scams. Finally Shalherana is worshipped due to their love of nature and skills with farming, which they believe will be lost if they do not continue to worship her.
Many a religious ceremony is focused around fertility and life, the largest of which is the planting of the seeds. This event occurs at the beginning of spring every year, and continues for a whole week before it's end. During this time lovemaking is prevalent and many marriages occur, as well as the sacrificing of old livestock to bless the fields with new life. Upon the final day of this week all the sacrificed livestock, and the remainders of the harvests that are not stored, are cooked up in a huge feast that any visitor can partake in and eat.
A halfling praying to Shalherana.
Stories tell that upon birth, every halfling child is blessed by a night out on top of the hill the burrow is built upon. They are given a blanket and a bottle of milk then left to gaze at the stars. No halfling child has ever died from this, as upon this night it is said Shalherana and Sallana bless it with life and love, that warms it throughout the long night. In winter this still occurs, although a small fire is lit to guide the gods.
Halfling Race Opinions
Halfling's generally have an affinity with elves, their appearance being similar and their cultures sharing many connections also. This bond is strongest felt among Forest elves, as they share a similar philosophy in the worship of nature.
Earthspawn are feared greatly, they can be almost three times as tall as a halfling and three times as wide. A halfling could hide behind an Earthspawn's leg with ease, if you could persuade one to get anywhere near which is an extremely difficult task.
Dwarves are laughed at. Why would any self-respecting race choose to spend their whole life digging up rocks? And those beards, their dwarven smell and the fact they spend most of their lives making weapons? Strange creatures is what the dwarves are seen as.
Humans, they are indifferent to, it all depends on how they first meet this race. They are generally seen as war-faring fools however, especially considering how much they fight over a hollow title.
Greylings.. The opinions on them are focused yet cover a few aspects. The main feeling is pity, a deep feeling of sadness at these sad, strange creatures. They are seen as lesser, twisted beings, lost to Grief, and many a halfling has tried to turn a greyling back, without any success. They are also hated and feared, the only race that the halfling's will take direct action against if a large clan is discovered (the fact that they are of the same stature also means it is the only fight they can hope to win).
Halfling History
The Halflings were once a very prosperous people. Living in their small towns and villages of large underground burrows, built into the hilled lands of Old Altera, they had a life of ease. Being good farmers, blessed by Shalherana in the way of plants, they prospered in this sedentary life. Growing faster than any of the other races it seemed as if they would become the dominant species of Altera. This would not come to pass, for the one known as Queen Grief rose up and brought the Armies of Naught down upon the peaceful halflings.
The Halflings were safe, for the most part, hiding out under the hills while the evil forces roamed above. However, this could not last either, for soon Queen Grief stumbled across a Halfling. His name is not known but it is known that he was twisted, corrupted into a foul being known as a Greyling. Short in stature and with grey-green mottled skin they were almost un-identical to their cousins except for height. With the first came many more, Queen Grief always looking for more to add to her armies. By the time the Siege of Port Silver had begun, almost a quarter of the Halfling race had been corrupted, and those who were not corrupted were permanently scarred by what they had seen done to their brethren. When, finally she was imprisoned almost a third of all the Halflings at the time were Greylings. These twisted creatures fled from the harsh hand of the Immortal Kings, down into the Hollows where they would dwell for another 1900 years.
The Halflings became a gypsy people, never staying still in once place too long, still fearing the mass changings that had occurred when Queen Grief had found a hobbit town. They began to tattoo themselves in their sadness, scarification rituals became commonplace and could last for days. Their pointed ears became the home of many rings and decorations, furthering their almost alien appearance. It became traditional for a young child to get their first tattoo, upon the backs of their hands, at age two, so it would grow with them. Soon the reason for the tattoos and scars became forgotten, but they carried on nonetheless.
Even before their fall the halflings were cunning, able to separate a rich man from half his wealth for a small wooden charm, carved in minutes (It must be said that none ever regretted their purchases, a show of the power of words when wielded by the right person). They never felt bad about these transactions, believing if they were stupid enough to be separated from their money by these means then they wouldn’t spend the money in a sensible way anyhow. After the fall they lost even more of their morals, trying to survive in almost any way they could find, be that cheating rich men of their money or trekking through the forests in search of that deer without which his family would slowly starve.
Many generations passed and the Halflings slowly forgot what had befallen them and yet they never stopped moving. Throughout the long years after their fall and before the Exodus there was no settlement, no land that they called their own. Their traditions never weakened instead growing stronger through the long years. They slowly lost their un-trusting nature, not nearly as quickly as they had gained it, but it was going. They once again became easy going, light hearted and even trusting.
Then came the Cataclysm, once again tearing apart the lifestyle of the Halfling. Although ten per cent of the total population of Altera made it through not even a hundredth of those were Halflings. Spread out in their long caravan chains they had no news about their imminent doom and so they fell to the raging fires of the Corruption.
The Halfling’s were not seen during the next 500 years. Still recovering from their grief and adjusting to their new world they hid away from the big-folk, hoping that if they had no contact with them then perhaps, maybe, hopefully the Corruption would ignore them. They began to grow again, and at the end of the 500 years heard of the ‘Exodus’. They were prepared this time, and they all travelled to Port Silver, camping outside the walls, waiting for the Grand Portal to be built, waiting for it to be opened. When it did open they were the first through and they scattered through the land, not waiting to help the big folk through. They still did not settle until they stumbled across the perfect location. Large hills, situated at the bend of a river. News spread of this place and soon the population began to grow. From a humble single home made for 10 it became the centre of their world, from where they could trade, grow their food and just live peacefully. And so that is the current state of affairs, the Halflings finally living in peace, safe from most, if not all danger.
Halfling Weaponry
Although a mostly peaceful race the Halflings have developed weapons their own size to protect them against any possible attackers. Mostly they are smaller versions of human and elven weapons, although they have other weapons which are more common among only their race. These are mostly non-lethal fitting in with the halfling’s view of the world as a place for life, not death.
Half-Cane
The half-cane is innocent in all appearances, and mostly used as a walking stick. However, a simple mechanism contained within extends a tiny blade, only a few inches long from the end. It is used by travellers that want multi-functional items as to save space. Due to the length of the blade it is mostly non-lethal serving instead to injure the foe enough so the halfling can make it’s escape.
Sling
The sling is used by halflings due to the fact it is lightweight and almost any object can be used as ammo. The fact it is long ranged also helps, as it allows the halfling to stay in a safe position while still dealing with enemies that it may come across. Unless large objects are flung it struggles to kill anyone, instead a headshot will likely knock the opponent unconscious.
Halfling Housing
The rather sedentary halflings will conform with their old traditions of digging into the side of a hill and holing up there for the rest of their lives. These burrows often expand deep into the hill and many families can live in one.
Those who move around however are users of caravans drawn by horse. Excessively coloured and made as good as they possibly can be. A caravan such as this will be passed down to the eldest child who doesn't already own one (halflings esteem women just as much as men, as fighting is not at all important to them) when both parents die.
To save on space bunk-beds are used often and even the parents who live in these caravans will only have about twice as much room. These caravans serve nearly all purposes except from cooking and needing to go to the little knight's room. Tables that fold down from the walls and folding chairs that hang from the roof while not being used are all but essential for this small space living solution. Food is stored in the undercarriage, the ceiling is a mess of tins, pots and pans and the roof is piled high with goods to sell. Often an especially prosperous halfling family will have a separate wagon and horse, filled with goods that are less precious. As halflings are rather small creatures this solution works wonderfully. For humans the caravans would have to be abnormally large and for the Earthspawn unimaginably huge.
Upon the bridge of a halfling’s nose lay three distinct tattoos, in a subtle shade of green, that symbolise that halfling’s birth date. The top is the day, the second is the month, the bottom the year.
Halfling ears are notched along the sides a maximum of six times each. This shows his relative skill with communal arts, dancing and singing. Singing is the right ear, dancing the left. Having no notches means you cannot dance without tripping up every few minutes and singing that you cannot remember any or sing in any key. Six is the highest one can attain and it shows skill unrivaled for that halfling’s generation.
He then has a tattoo upon each shoulder blade, god symbols. Each Halfling chooses two gods when they reach the age of eighteen to be their patrons. These god’ symbols are then tattooed upon the shoulder blades of the halfling. What Gods these normally are will be covered in the religion section.
Next comes the spinal aging tattoos. Small circles tattooed every year up a halfling’s spine to indicate their age. The circles stop at fifty, as this is the point at which their culture decides that life starts degrading, and so they try and keep themselves feeling this age, in any way they can.
Halflings will often have other tattoos put upon their chests that are extremely detailed and depict great achievements in their lives. Examples are marriage, great political successes and reaching the age of manhood/womanhood.
Upon the backs of each hand are the heritage tattoos. These show who the halfling was born to, the right hand depicting the mother’s family, the left hand depicting the father’s family. The gender of the halfling depends upon which symbol is passed on to their children. A mother will pass on her mother’s symbol, whereas a father will pass on his father’s. In this way a family name will barely ever die out. The last name taken by the halfling is also dependant upon what gender the halfling is, however both names will be included, one as a middle name.
Around the ankles are the Halfling’s chosen names, of which there are always two.
Halfling Clothing Practices
Most halflings do not wear shoes, their thick soles and hairy feet provides protection from rocks and their ilk, as well as minor cold. Shoes are however worn if a halfling ventures into snowy areas or desert areas, the prior being much too cold and the latter being too hot. As halflings do not define themselves in castes, they wear much the same clothing no matter their wealth or social prowess, the only difference being the quality of materials used to make such items.
Generally, a halflings clothing consists of only four base pieces. Their underwear, a simple flax shirt, some trousers, normally with suspenders, and a cloak. Other clothes are often worn, such as an overcoat in the colder climates. Trousers legs and shirt sleeves are often rolled up if the weather is reasonably nice. Other items are worn as suits the specific halfling, but something impractical and just for looks is not often worn by the non-sedentary groups, every little weight being a disadvantage.
Halfling Religious Practices
Halflings generally worship a main pantheon of three gods. Sallana, Jax and Shalherana. These gods worship the three main aspects of their lives that they believe most important. Sallana shows the innate love for most things in Altera. Jax shows their willingness and love for tricks, games and scams. Finally Shalherana is worshipped due to their love of nature and skills with farming, which they believe will be lost if they do not continue to worship her.
Many a religious ceremony is focused around fertility and life, the largest of which is the planting of the seeds. This event occurs at the beginning of spring every year, and continues for a whole week before it's end. During this time lovemaking is prevalent and many marriages occur, as well as the sacrificing of old livestock to bless the fields with new life. Upon the final day of this week all the sacrificed livestock, and the remainders of the harvests that are not stored, are cooked up in a huge feast that any visitor can partake in and eat.
Stories tell that upon birth, every halfling child is blessed by a night out on top of the hill the burrow is built upon. They are given a blanket and a bottle of milk then left to gaze at the stars. No halfling child has ever died from this, as upon this night it is said Shalherana and Sallana bless it with life and love, that warms it throughout the long night. In winter this still occurs, although a small fire is lit to guide the gods.
Halfling Race Opinions
Halfling's generally have an affinity with elves, their appearance being similar and their cultures sharing many connections also. This bond is strongest felt among Forest elves, as they share a similar philosophy in the worship of nature.
Earthspawn are feared greatly, they can be almost three times as tall as a halfling and three times as wide. A halfling could hide behind an Earthspawn's leg with ease, if you could persuade one to get anywhere near which is an extremely difficult task.
Dwarves are laughed at. Why would any self-respecting race choose to spend their whole life digging up rocks? And those beards, their dwarven smell and the fact they spend most of their lives making weapons? Strange creatures is what the dwarves are seen as.
Humans, they are indifferent to, it all depends on how they first meet this race. They are generally seen as war-faring fools however, especially considering how much they fight over a hollow title.
Greylings.. The opinions on them are focused yet cover a few aspects. The main feeling is pity, a deep feeling of sadness at these sad, strange creatures. They are seen as lesser, twisted beings, lost to Grief, and many a halfling has tried to turn a greyling back, without any success. They are also hated and feared, the only race that the halfling's will take direct action against if a large clan is discovered (the fact that they are of the same stature also means it is the only fight they can hope to win).
Halfling History
The Halflings were once a very prosperous people. Living in their small towns and villages of large underground burrows, built into the hilled lands of Old Altera, they had a life of ease. Being good farmers, blessed by Shalherana in the way of plants, they prospered in this sedentary life. Growing faster than any of the other races it seemed as if they would become the dominant species of Altera. This would not come to pass, for the one known as Queen Grief rose up and brought the Armies of Naught down upon the peaceful halflings.
The Halflings were safe, for the most part, hiding out under the hills while the evil forces roamed above. However, this could not last either, for soon Queen Grief stumbled across a Halfling. His name is not known but it is known that he was twisted, corrupted into a foul being known as a Greyling. Short in stature and with grey-green mottled skin they were almost un-identical to their cousins except for height. With the first came many more, Queen Grief always looking for more to add to her armies. By the time the Siege of Port Silver had begun, almost a quarter of the Halfling race had been corrupted, and those who were not corrupted were permanently scarred by what they had seen done to their brethren. When, finally she was imprisoned almost a third of all the Halflings at the time were Greylings. These twisted creatures fled from the harsh hand of the Immortal Kings, down into the Hollows where they would dwell for another 1900 years.
The Halflings became a gypsy people, never staying still in once place too long, still fearing the mass changings that had occurred when Queen Grief had found a hobbit town. They began to tattoo themselves in their sadness, scarification rituals became commonplace and could last for days. Their pointed ears became the home of many rings and decorations, furthering their almost alien appearance. It became traditional for a young child to get their first tattoo, upon the backs of their hands, at age two, so it would grow with them. Soon the reason for the tattoos and scars became forgotten, but they carried on nonetheless.
Even before their fall the halflings were cunning, able to separate a rich man from half his wealth for a small wooden charm, carved in minutes (It must be said that none ever regretted their purchases, a show of the power of words when wielded by the right person). They never felt bad about these transactions, believing if they were stupid enough to be separated from their money by these means then they wouldn’t spend the money in a sensible way anyhow. After the fall they lost even more of their morals, trying to survive in almost any way they could find, be that cheating rich men of their money or trekking through the forests in search of that deer without which his family would slowly starve.
Many generations passed and the Halflings slowly forgot what had befallen them and yet they never stopped moving. Throughout the long years after their fall and before the Exodus there was no settlement, no land that they called their own. Their traditions never weakened instead growing stronger through the long years. They slowly lost their un-trusting nature, not nearly as quickly as they had gained it, but it was going. They once again became easy going, light hearted and even trusting.
Then came the Cataclysm, once again tearing apart the lifestyle of the Halfling. Although ten per cent of the total population of Altera made it through not even a hundredth of those were Halflings. Spread out in their long caravan chains they had no news about their imminent doom and so they fell to the raging fires of the Corruption.
The Halfling’s were not seen during the next 500 years. Still recovering from their grief and adjusting to their new world they hid away from the big-folk, hoping that if they had no contact with them then perhaps, maybe, hopefully the Corruption would ignore them. They began to grow again, and at the end of the 500 years heard of the ‘Exodus’. They were prepared this time, and they all travelled to Port Silver, camping outside the walls, waiting for the Grand Portal to be built, waiting for it to be opened. When it did open they were the first through and they scattered through the land, not waiting to help the big folk through. They still did not settle until they stumbled across the perfect location. Large hills, situated at the bend of a river. News spread of this place and soon the population began to grow. From a humble single home made for 10 it became the centre of their world, from where they could trade, grow their food and just live peacefully. And so that is the current state of affairs, the Halflings finally living in peace, safe from most, if not all danger.
Halfling Weaponry
Although a mostly peaceful race the Halflings have developed weapons their own size to protect them against any possible attackers. Mostly they are smaller versions of human and elven weapons, although they have other weapons which are more common among only their race. These are mostly non-lethal fitting in with the halfling’s view of the world as a place for life, not death.
Half-Cane
The half-cane is innocent in all appearances, and mostly used as a walking stick. However, a simple mechanism contained within extends a tiny blade, only a few inches long from the end. It is used by travellers that want multi-functional items as to save space. Due to the length of the blade it is mostly non-lethal serving instead to injure the foe enough so the halfling can make it’s escape.
Sling
The sling is used by halflings due to the fact it is lightweight and almost any object can be used as ammo. The fact it is long ranged also helps, as it allows the halfling to stay in a safe position while still dealing with enemies that it may come across. Unless large objects are flung it struggles to kill anyone, instead a headshot will likely knock the opponent unconscious.
Halfling Housing
The rather sedentary halflings will conform with their old traditions of digging into the side of a hill and holing up there for the rest of their lives. These burrows often expand deep into the hill and many families can live in one.
Those who move around however are users of caravans drawn by horse. Excessively coloured and made as good as they possibly can be. A caravan such as this will be passed down to the eldest child who doesn't already own one (halflings esteem women just as much as men, as fighting is not at all important to them) when both parents die.
To save on space bunk-beds are used often and even the parents who live in these caravans will only have about twice as much room. These caravans serve nearly all purposes except from cooking and needing to go to the little knight's room. Tables that fold down from the walls and folding chairs that hang from the roof while not being used are all but essential for this small space living solution. Food is stored in the undercarriage, the ceiling is a mess of tins, pots and pans and the roof is piled high with goods to sell. Often an especially prosperous halfling family will have a separate wagon and horse, filled with goods that are less precious. As halflings are rather small creatures this solution works wonderfully. For humans the caravans would have to be abnormally large and for the Earthspawn unimaginably huge.