Most halflings hail from the Forest Ridge, a mysterious and legendary jungle said to crown the Ringing Mountains. Halflings live apart from other races, divided by their stature and odd customs, but no one can deny their bravery and cunning. The savagery for which they are feared masks a deep and abiding reverence for the natural world and an uncommon connection to the land’s spirits. Halflings live throughout the Tyr Region—some as slaves, others as mercenaries, and still others as raiders. Regardless, all halflings look to the Forest Ridge as their homeland.
The halflings are an ancient people; according to their myths, they are among the oldest in the world. Once stewards of all the land, the halflings retreated when dark magic came to power, and they built a civilization at the roof of the world. Over the ages they have forgotten much of their learning, but they remain a spiritual people, and their connections to the natural world are the strongest of any civilized race in the Tyr Region. These connections make it hard for them to establish productive relationships with other races. For example, halflings place little emphasis on the individual; each halfling is merely part of the overall race, which itself is part of a much larger organism—the world. This view makes it nearly impossible for halflings to deceive or betray one another.
Halflings see all creatures as potential sources of sustenance. After all, living beings compete to survive, and halflings think nothing of eating their enemies, for doing so ensures their own survival.
Halfling Backgrounds
Your people are feared and misunderstood across the Tyr Region, and you find the ways of the so-called “civilized races” arbitrary and confusing. They call you a savage, but at least your people don’t confine one another in cages or submit to the rule of defilers.
Nature’s Protector: You commit your life to protecting the few natural resources left in the world. Is this task inherited from a predecessor, or did you assume the burden on your own? How do you protect nature? Do you guard a particular site, or do you watch over all lands through which you travel? In your mind, what is the greatest threat to nature?
Hunter: Your people believe that all creatures are either predator or prey, and you consider yourself to be the consummate predator. You eat what you kill, including vermin, beasts, and humanoid enemies. To do otherwise is wasteful; one must respect nature’s bounty. How do you justify this behavior to your companions? Do you hide this custom, or revel in it?
Renegade Mercenary: You have turned away from the old ways, abandoning your people to find your fortune in the lowland cities. Deemed a renegade by your kin, you sell your skills to merchants, sorcerer-kings, slave tribes—anyone who meets your price. Why did you break from your people? Do you feel guilty for having done so?