Halfling

A race of humanoids found primarily in Votrane. They are for the most part a barbaric people, living in tribes and shantytowns in wild places, such as the Fire Territories, the Soundless Lands, and the Pantir Rainforest. These halfling tribes wander their respective lands, occasionally fighting with or raiding other tribes of humanoids or nearby villages. These halflings worship Lords of the wild, strength, and war. A curious trait among these halfling tribes is that no matter where the tribe is based, tattoos are still a large part of halfling culture, even becoming a religion for some tribes. Tattoos are given to halflings as medals of honor, war trophies, and so on. Magic is also sometimes bound to these tattoos. At the least, this grants the halfling the ability to cast minor spells. But halflings with many magical tattoos become a unique sort of warlock. The art behind these tattoos is a secret that is only granted to one halfling per tribe, and its apprentice, and the secret of this is closely guarded. There are also some halfling tribes that have been assimilated into nearby civilizations, namely into the Traol Empire and Liniston.

Halflings are short, only growing to about 3 to 4 feet tall, but otherwise look like humans. Halflings are also dextrous and charismatic. Battle tactics of halfling tribes will often involve acrobatics and trickery. Ancient tribal practices have made some halflings resistant to poison. Some halflings also have telepathic abilities. It is unknown exactly how these abilities came about, possibly from a Lord or from the tattoos. Halflings tend to be determined, confident to the point of naive or reckless, and quick to anger. As the saying among the tribes goes, “A cowardly halfling starves. A strong halfling survives” Most halflings have some form of combat training, whether it be with the exotic weapons of the tribes or through military training in the cities halflings can be found in.