A Treatise of Halfling Culture by Drago Jather

[Thomas_Not_very_wise]

A Treatise of Halfling Culture[/size][/b]
Written by Drago Jather
Edited by Adelia Tyrell



Greetings and well met, readers. I am Drago Jather, a halfling who has held the privilege of traveling over this Toril and meeting all accounts of my kind, the halfling. I've great interested in the peculiarities of Strongheart culture, the paranoia of the Ghostwise, and the utter adaptability of the Lightfoot. I shall give you a first person account of my travels.


Lightfoot[/size][/b]

Lightfoot are generally a nomadic people. Few spots in the multiverse have not been visited by halfling adventurers, businessmen, and travelers. Lightfoot are among the most adaptable of all the halfling races, traveling among humans and assimilating their ideas, such as wheeled caravans. Likewise, many humans have taken their share of halfling culture, such as the "blade dancer," a fighting technique  originally developed as a form of dancing. It requires two blades, and is defensively oriented, using a mass of whirling blades to prevent another blade from penetrating.

As lightfoot halflings travel the breadth of Faerun, they catalyze the exchange of ideas. They are quite literally the message hawks with little feet, doing business with all people everywhere.


Family Roles:

This tends to vary from caravan to caravan. Generally however, Lightfoot families are matriarchal. They trace their ancestry from their mother's side. It makes sense, considering most of our gods are female. Their leaders are referred to as Matriarchs, and her second in command is often her husband. This is a broad generality of the halfling family unit, and shouldn't be used to apply to all halflings. Indeed, these status may vary from town to town or caravan to caravan. I once came across a halfling village who followed Urogalan exclusively and cared for all the dead by a large town. Showing that lightfoot halflings are as varied as human kinds in our views, some would go as far saying that wherever you go, you're bound to find a halfling or two.


Religion:

Brandobaris is held in high esteem amongst the Lightfoot, as well as Cyrollalee, who tell her followers to seek respect and rank amongst the wider world of things. In fact, the oath of Cyrollalee has found increasing use among humans as well, for to swear this oath is to bind a contract to perpetuity, and to break it risks her ire.


Lightfoot Myth:

A unknown fact held by many is that the halflings believe in the first Death Knight, an undead knight corrupted by the powers of the Abyss who was created by Orcus, An Abyssal Demon Lord. Orcus promised him the power to gain vengeance on his wife who betrayed him with poison and dagger, and so this fell undead monstrosity gained his vengeance, and weeps perpetually as he serves his new dark lord.


Strongheart[/size]

Duty, athleticism, and commitment are traits that define a Strongheart. Centralized in the land of Lurien, these people are proud of their strong warrior traditions. The Strongheart are the warriors of the halfling race. Standing shield to shield against their foes, they constantly combat the evils that would harm halfling homes.

More sedentary than the Lightfoot, the Strongheart mainly follow Yondalla, Arvoreen, Cyrollalee, and Sheela Peryoyl. While they give thanks to all of Yondalla's children, they frown on the antics of the followers of Brandobaris and Tymora, thinking them like childish pranks and in general giving halflings a bad name in the broader scheme of things.

The history of the Strongheart is a painful one, they came into being after the Hin Ghostwar, where they invaded the lands of Chondlewood in order to purify the hearts of the Ghostwise who have been corrupted by Malar, the beastlord. They slaughtered men, women, and children, and some perhaps, still feel the guilt of their actions. This caused the nomadic people of the halfling to split, into the two races of the Lightfoot and Strongheart.

The Strongheart might be the lesser known and less populous of the three core halfling races, however they are the strongest when it comes to martial, cultural, and literate might. Many people are indeed surprised that halflings do indeed maintain a warrior tradition, and that this tradition has preserved the halfling race for several thousand years.



Ghostwise[/b]

Ghostwise are paranoid, distrustful, and do not communicate with other races. Information of them is scarce, and few know anything about them. There are myths and legends that they are able to communicate telepathically among their clan members. However, this myth remains unconfirmed.



Stargazers[/size][/b]

Mysterious, primitive, and unique, the Stargazers are sprinkled throughout the Archipelago. Their beliefs vary from isle to isle. On Ymph alone, there are two prominent Stargazer tribes, the one in the Starwood, and the violent ones of the Flayer Tribe.

Stargazers worship their ancestors, which could be a derivative of the Black Hound or Urogalan's beliefs. In order to maintain the strength of the tribe, they eat the dead in order to honor and free their spirits, while gaining their strength.

Another facet of the Stargazer belief is the maintenance of balance and harmony of life and the forest, which could be related to the religion of Sheela Peryoyl. They are fiercely protective of their forests and will attack those who threaten the forests and the balance in their woods.

Based on the tribal system, their leaders are known as Elders, perhaps because their leaders were once the oldest in the tribe. However, I observe those who have the best skills in leadership or the strongest personalities are elders.

The Stargazers both benefited and suffered during the times of the Netherese. They benefited by the technology of the telescope, which allowed them to gaze intro the heavens and plan advanced and sophisticated astrological charts and constellations. They believe each star to be one of their ancestors. Yet they suffered from a plague that was spread throughout the Stargazer population. This plague, known as Y'krish, wiped out an entire generation of Stargazer children, and nearly led to Stargazer extinction. A cure was eventually found, though the disease did appear again recently, infecting a young child of our colony. It was through the efforts of the Society that his life was saved, and this plague suppressed.

The Stargazers are perhaps even older than the Netherese civilizations, having a brilliant, and ancient oral tradition.



Stargazers (Flayer)[/size][/b]

Barbaric, violent, and corrupt, the Flayers worship the Brood, finding majesty in the Brood Keepers of the Isle, and their carrion eating dead. They immediatelyattack all who are not of their tribe. I have not spoken, nor have made an attempt to speak with them. While I see this as an oversight, I view them as a corruption to be exterminated.

However, I have found a Prophecy of theirs that goes as follows:

"...Let them Awoke the Great Sleeper for with his awakening will our tribe return to the forefront and the heretics will pay for their lack of faith in the brood..."

It seems they await us to awaken a god of theirs, and this god in his fury will lead them in destruction and in an orgy of death, slay those who did not worship the brood. Information pertaining to the Flayers is sparse indeed, however, thanks to Sky of the Society, a passage of another text was found.

"Bring us your unfaithful. Bring us your sick, poor and wounded. Let them bleed on the soil of this shrine for their imperfection. Let their blood leak through the ground to reach the maw of our creators."

I have speculations that the Flayer societies are led by "castes" in which the strongest rule the weak, and contests of strength are required to proceed through the hierarchy. I would further postulate that these Flayers do not eat their dead, but feed them to the Brood Keepers. When the Brood Keepers die, they eat them, and make use of all the non-edible components of it.

Another peculiarity is that I have never seen a Flayer under the sky, I have always encountered them in underground areas. I have no idea why this is so, but it is perhaps they are declaring themselves to no longer be of the normal Stargazers, viewing them as heretics of the Brood. This poses another question, are the Flayers a new development, or have they been there for as long as the Stargazers have?

The manner of this writing leads me to suspect these stargazers were corrupted by the Ilthyrii, the ancestors of the dreaded drow who also worshipped spiders. Yet these are mere suspicions, are have only circumstantial evidence.