Losthome

The halfling clan of Losthome is organized like a typical halfling clan of the jungles beyond the Ringing Mountains. There is a clan-head (Zivlil) who leads the clan on their hunts, decides where the clan will travel, and otherwise rules over the halfling band, but there is no tribe chieftain for the clan to turn to in times of difficulty. Zivlil does not believe himself to have the power or experience to become a tribe chieftain and remains loyal to the unknown successor of Mogg-lul, somewhere beyond the Ringing Mountains. Zivlil is a consensus builder who tries to achieve a harmonious compromise among his band. Zivlil's status comes from his magical and psionic ability as much as his age. He is a competent and rather active leader (from a halfling perspective). Emergencies have forced him to direct his band more firmly than halflings would normally tolerate. His quick thinking, however, has more than once saved the entire band, so the halflings continue to support his rule. There is little more of a hierarchy. Halflings try to support one another, believing that building a community and individual spiritual growth is more important than achieving worldly dominance of any sort. Thus, there are few struggles for status within the halfling hierarchy. New slaves are quietly integrated into the clan, provided a fair share of the clan's goods, and made a part of the community. However, leaders are often selected for specific tasks. These leaders are either appointed by Zivlil or selected by a consensus of the group which must accomplish the task. Such leadership positions are transient, lasting only as long as the task at hand, and leaders are selected for their applicable knowledge and skill rather than any formal hierarchy. When the task is complete, the leader returns to being a simple member of the clan. Thus far, there are only enough halflings to form a single clan (albeit a large one), but there has been some discussion of founding a true halfling village and promoting Zivlil to chief.

The halflings of Losthome are primarily hunter-gatherers, searching the forest for food, shelter, and the necessities of life. The Crescent Forest is not as fertile as their homeland jungle, so the halflings are forced to travel over a wider area (covering over 40 square miles). They are careful not to remain in one place for very long, and they restrict their hunting to avoid depleting the population of the forest. With the clan getting larger, they have begun to strain the ability of a given area to support them. The halflings are forced to migrate on a regular basis to avoid depleting the resources of any particular area and to reduce the risk of being captured by the templars. Zivlil has proposed that the clan turn to raiding to supplement the food provided by the forest. While it is true that the halflings see no harm in robbing a group that intrudes on their territory, they live in an isolated area of the forest and such intrusions are rare. Thus, to raid the clan must leave its normal foraging area, go into the desert, and raid a caravan. This suggestion has met with some resistance. In halfling society, raids are undertaken by clans of halflings who have offended their chief or another clan. The halflings of Losthome do not wish to stoop to behavior seen as punishment in their homeland just to survive. The reality of their situation has allowed this idea to gain some acceptance, however, and the clan has conducted an occasional raid. Halfling caravan raids are an amazingly wild affair. The halflings always strike from concealed positions – a hidden canyon, a copse of trees, or simply from holes where the halflings have buried themselves in the sand. They attack from several directions at once on a signal from the clan leader. They focus on stealing animals (and people), but they will take nearly anything in the caravan until the leader calls off the raid. Zivlil has ruled that no non-halfling should know of their existence, so each time they raid they strive to kill or capture all of the intelligent beings in the caravan. These they eat, either immediately or over time. Generally, the caravan warriors are killed during the raid while the rest are kept alive to provide fresh meat for later. Thus far no one has escaped to tell the true identity of the raiders; the city-states note the absence of slave bodies in the remains of the caravan and blame Salt View.

Losthome's origins begin in the city-state of Gulg and the oba Lalali-Puy. In an effort to expand her control of the Crescent Forest, Lalali-Puy sought to develop a corps of forest raiders who could assault the lumberjacks and settlers of Nibenay, blunting the Shadow King's advance into the forest and allowing her forces to work unseen. While her templars were certainly up to the task, she wanted a new weapon to strengthen her hand against the Shadow King's army. She therefore struck a deal with Mogglul, to provide scouts and guides in exchange for obsidian, which she planned to purchase from the mines of Urik. When Mogg-lul died, the scouts who had arrived in Gulg saw no point in continuing this effort. They could not see how their sacrifice benefitted their chief if he was dead. The oba imprisoned the halflings while she attempted to forge a new pact with Alu, a charismatic shaman who had assumed leadership of the tribe. Alu had advised against the agreement in the first place and was certainly not about to support it now. The oba decided her only alternative was to invite her captives to aid her. Those who volunteered would be given their freedom and the rest would serve her in captivity. The plan was doomed to failure. While several of the halflings agreed to assist the oba, most just wanted to return home. The captive halflings were stealthy enough to easily evade their templar handlers. One of the first escapees was Zivlil. In early trials of the halfling-slaves, Zivlil psionically overwhelmed his handler, fled into the forest, and slew a half-dozen templars with a sling before vanishing into the wilderness forever. As the trials continued and more halflings fled into the Crescent Forest, Zivlil offered them traditional halfling hospitality, sharing his food, water, and knowledge of the Crescent Forest with them as he would with members of his own tribe. Soon he had accumulated a following of nearly 20 halflings, and the refugees began to form a clan. The clan has continued to grow. Thus far, the templars have tried hobbles, bribery, threats, and many other methods for controlling the halflings, but to no avail. Recently they have begun a new approach, striking off one of the halfling's feet before releasing it into the wilderness. This slows the halfling sufficiently to ensure that the templar can keep up, but halflings so treated soon die in Gulg captivity. Should Zivlil hear of this practice, the full force of the anger of the clan may be turned toward Gulg.

The halflings of Losthome have no permanent settlement. Their current hunting range is a rough forested circle some 15 miles north of Gulg, nestled against the eastern slopes of the Windbreak Mountains. This region is well watered with springs and runoff from water sources high in the mountains, and it is among the thickest and most impenetrable timber in the Crescent Forest. The halflings wander their hunting range, camping wherever they are when night falls, taking only minimal precautions to defend the camp. However, their natural ability to conceal themselves and their arboreal skills make it possible for a platoon of templars to pass right through such a camp without ever knowing the halflings are there. Each night, the clan hides high in the trees, resting in nooks and the forks of branches. They huddle in groups of three to four in each tree, and they are nimble enough to move directly from tree to tree if they are in danger.

During the day, this scouting system is also used as a perimeter watch for the clan. As the clan moves, the main body of the clan is surrounded by a ring of scouts that alerts the leaders to anything the clan encounters. Raiding and foraging groups use a similar structure, although there are fewer group members, so the scouts maintain a narrower perimeter. As a result, it is virtually impossible to surprise the halflings of Losthome. If attacked, the halflings fight primarily with bows, slings, and other range weapons. Some use wooden clubs spiked with obsidian, others have bone weapons, and a few have metal weapons taken from caravans. If the enemy has not yet closed, the bowmen will attack while the other halflings fade into the forest. If the enemy gets too close before it is discovered, the halflings fight furiously. If the halflings outnumber their attackers, they will gang up on individuals; if they are outnumbered, they will fight only until they can flee.

The halfling clan usually searches for a defensible hollow in which to camp. The primary features sought are a thick copse of trees, a source of water, and at least two escape routes. Over the years, Zivlil has found a number of such places, and at each the halflings have constructed a number of traps and signals to help defend them. The following map key shows a typical site; other sites may have a different mix of traps and a different layout.

The halflings of Losthome are strangers trapped in a strange land. They are unfamiliar with the world they find themselves in. As a result, they are secretive to the point of slaying anyone who discovers them in the Crescent Forest. The oba Lalali-Puy and her templars know about the halfling escapees. They feel the diminutive people must be falling prey to predators, and they have not realized that the halflings are banding together. The general populace of Gulg, however, is unaware that the halfings were even in the city, much less that they escaped. Nibenay also knows nothing of the escapees. There is some evidence in the caravans the halflings have raided (wounds on some of the bodies, gnaw-marks on the bones, etc.), but the templars and merchant houses have not yet realized what is going on. Should the Shadow King discover such a large slave community so close to his city, it is sure that a body of templars will be sent into the forest to get them out and bring them back to Nibenay – to become slaves again. The halflings have little contact with the other peoples of the Ivory Triangle region. They rarely leave their forest home and few people travel deep into the forest. They have occasionally sighted human raiders and thri-kreen packs on the edge of their territory. With the exception of some druids, the halflings have remained unobserved by all known peoples. Should they be discovered, most within the Ivory Triangle would have little concern for them. The city-states would feel that the halflings were a danger and try to drive them off. The slave tribes and elven nomads would view the halflings as simply one more reason to avoid the Crescent Forest. The gith of the Blackspine Mountains might view them as tempting victims, but that is quite a distance to travel for such a “paltry meal”.

Losthome is open only to halflings. No other race may join the tribe, as the halflings trust only their own kind. Any halfling who approaches, however, is welcomed. The halfling is informed of the status of the clan and is given a fair share of its goods. There are no initiation ceremonies or trial periods required of new members. The halflings trust one another, and even if a halfling is a wanderer in human lands, the halflings consider him one of their own. There is a period of adjustment, however, while the halfling establishes himself in the clan. During this time, the other clan members watch the newcomer carefully, assessing his skills and measuring him against themselves and the other members of the clan. This is not out of any sense of rivalry. Instead, it is a way for the clan members to make an unbiased appraisal of who is the appropriate halfling to assay any particular task. Skilled halflings may immediately find themselves in charge of one of the many projects which the clan must undertake to survive.