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Halflings are one of the major races of Nora. They are a small sea fairing race centered in the Nicoboan Islands. They sail through the seas and up the rivers playing their ocarinas to seek plunder. They are rebellious, clever teams who operate outside the restricting bureaucracy of modern life.
Many halfling individuals hire themselves as mercenaries. Halfling ships are usually willing to take passengers for a hefty price. They are regarded as the fastest sailing vessels in the land, and some of the most reliable.
Certain Halfling traditions know how to bypass the borders of Aremia.
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History
During the Age of War, bands of halflings fought a fairly successful guerrilla war against the rise of undead known as the Onslaught, and they formed small units and rowed swift boats. The halflings began a strong bardic tradition as they had no means for libraries aboard their sea vessels.
At the Battle of Crying Waves in 3 PI an Aran mercenary fleet assisted the League of Free Peoples to defeat Elknor's navy.
Culture
Halflings are proud and fierce warriors, typically fighting with small sabers. Halflings tend to be very argumentative. They maintained a neutral outlook, truly caring only about themselves and their own.
Making a contract, or bargain, with a member of the ara is a very serious affair that is steeped with formality. They are also renowned to be fierce negotiators and the chances of coming out with an advantage after making a business agreement, or any agreement, with a member of the ara are slim.
Halfling traditional religion is based around the worship and pact-making with beings called Otha spirits. There are nine major Otha spirits, each with numerous and sometimes contradictory divine profiles.
Halflings often play dominos.
Hodun Necromancers
see hodun
The traditional companies condemn the unholy practice of hodun necromancy. The typical ara sees it as the perversion of the very thing they fought to hard against during the Onslaught.
Curu Halflings
The curu are a race of degenerate halflings and are known to be cannibals. Legend says they are possessed by the spirits of ancient evils.
They 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. These connections make it hard for them to establish productive relationships with other races. For example, halflings place little emphasis on the individual; each haifling 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 haiflings 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.
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.
Agogwe
In Zamunda, agogwe avoid cities and other sources of human civilization. Agogwe are fearsome warriors, and those that know them best often describe them as “humanoid weasels.” They possess long, curved claws. They use the claws to burrow through the earth and construct temporary shelters for themselves. As a nomadic culture, they do not build permanent settlements. the agogwe crave hand-to-hand combat, and rarely use weapons. They prefer to attack from ambush, tearing away at foes and then retreating back into the bush.
Song'o
Song'o are reclusive, dark-skinned halflings who live in Mademba.
Most Song'o live in Mademba, though there are some minority communities scattered throughout Nibomay and Mabwe. A mysterious bureaucracy rules the Song'o in Mademba. This bureaucracy is so complex that even the Song'o have only a cursory understanding of its rules. Song'o in other lands obey local laws.
Organization
The halflings (also known as ara) live in separated family companies called guani. In most places, a halfling guan is led by a Cacike, a title which may or may not be followed by the halfling's first name. Cacikes are wielders of wild magic and, though they tend to be calmer than an average ara, when in battle they are uncontrolled fury. Halfling companies are usually communist in behavior and individual ara have little that they would not share with each other.
Appearance
Halflings usually style their hair in their notable dreadlocks or tight braids to keep out moisture from the sea air. They also wear bright multi-colored bandannas and, when raiding, paint their bodies with a red dye called bija. Halflings do not wear shoes on ship, but many halflings raised in Nora do wear shoes while on land, preferring tall boots. Islander halflings wear no shoes either on ship or on land.
The rank of a halfling can be determined, among other things, by the number of earrings called Tatagua, (typically ear and nose, with a chain in between for higher ranks) a man or woman has and the number of medals the have on their honor chain.
Another little known facet of aran culture is that both genders go topless while at sea, and out of sight of the mainland. Presumably all of their passengers know this eventually, and keep silent either out of respect/moral outrage, or for more prurient interests. This fact alone may account for why passage on a halfling ship is frequently so costly.
Names
Women do not take any form of the husband's name upon marriage. Boys take their father's surname and girls take their mother's surname. Later a "salt name" is given, such as "Running Wave" or "Wild Winds" which typifies the ara in some way.
Halfling names are like human names with a gender specific given name and a surname. It is common for both males and females to have a name derived from Common that is a title or, for females, describes something pretty, often a flower.
The surname is usually taken from either the city the halfling was born in, a company name (if in existence) or a name in Common that denotes or alludes to a profession.
- Male Names: Adric, Alwan, Amadom, Amani, Aray, Arcus, Busta, Canard, Casim, Chante, Clester, Daevon, Duron, Ennis, Erskine, Ferric, Ghana, Jolice, Judge, Keenan, Kendrick, Keyair, Kian, Kojo, Lasil, Major, Radd, Reggis, Reshay, Rhashan, Serek, Shan, Sidell, Terell, Umar.
- Female Names: Adelaide, Aiesha, Althea, Amarika, Aurelia, Ayana, Butterfly, Chemier, Cozzie, Cyiarra, Daisy, Dashay, Duchess, Ezola, Fawn, Grace, Jade, Kalise, Kea, Kiyana, Kolonda, Koyana, Laketta, Mia, Mylandra, Odessa, Ordena, Raca, Raven, Sakina, Shantair, Tasiya, Tauni, Tawanda, Vondra, Zara, Zekia, Zola.
Shoal Halflings
In the greenwater parts of the sea, those middle areas between land and true bluewater deep ocean, there can be found communities of shoal halflings, a subrace of amphibious half ling folk. Capable of breathing both water and air, shoal halflings dwell in the waters that lie between sandbars off a coast. Their homes are constructed of natural building materials along the bottom of these areas. The homes themselves are constructed as domes that end up covered in sand and coral, disguising them quite well.
Shoal halflings are a freckled tan, allowing them to blend quite well with sand patterns in the shallows where they dwell. Their hair is dark, ranging between a deep black to a dark greenish hue, and their eyes tend to be bright blue. Other than a slight webbing between their toes and fingers, shoal halflings can easily pass for normal halflings.