Races - Chapter 1 - Halflings
Myths of the Halfling
Halflings can be found on almost all the worlds inhabited by demihumans and human-kind--and, in at least one case, have settled a world without any human or elven inhabitants. Though they resemble their larger human cousins in physical characteristics as well as geographic locale, the halfling race differs significantly in the common tale of its origin.
Whereas humans throughout the known worlds have countless legends, tales, and myths to explain their arrival and presence there, halfling cultures all share a common story: the Story of Littleman. Of course, the common tale is inevitably flavored with local custom--for example, the role of the goddess Yondalla varies depending on who's telling the story. Yet its core is always the same: the story of a small person wandering in the midst of chaotic, populous lands, facing a thousand difficulties and triumphing over them all through luck, courage, wits, and persistence.
The Story of Littleman
"There, Petrilly--be a dear child and fill my teacup. Surely thanks. Oh, and just a wee splash from the bottle to give it some character. Well done, lass."
"The story, Grandmother--tell us the story!" Eyes wide, the youngsters waited impatiently until the old halfling's tea was properly mixed. She sipped, and smacked her lips, and then began.
"Yes... the story of Littleman. But it's not just a story of the first halfling--it's a story of the gods, as well. The gods of the Big Folk and the Bad Folk, humans and goblins, who dwell up in the Seven Heavens and look out over the worlds and watch out for their followers."
"And Yondalla, Grandmother? She's there too, isn't she?"
"Mercy, child! Where else would she be? All you little ones know she's the great Protector of all halflings. Of course she lives there! In fact, the tale's not just about Littleman, but about Yondalla as well. But in those days, when our story begins, she was not yet our protector. Indeed, back then Yondalla was held by most of her fellows to be an unimportant goddess and was little heeded by the great lords of Human and Elf, Dwarf and Monster.
"Not that she was weak, or meek, mind you--quite the contrary. Yondalla was bold and brave, and quick to speak her mind when the gods met together in one of their great councils. But alas, since she had no faithful worshippers, her wise words were often ignored by the other gods, deities who boasted of their multitude of followers like peacocks showing off their pretty tailfeathers. Then, too, there was the matter of her size-gods are like too many people I could mention and are quicker to give respect to the huge and awesome than the small and clever, and Yondalla barely reached to the knee of many of the mightier lords."
"But, but, Grandmother...?" Kepli spoke tentatively. "Yondalla's a mighty goddess-- isn't she?"
"Aye, Sprout--that she is. But even in those days, many other gods already had the weight of worshipping legions to support them and cause others to listen to their words.
Yondalla had none, and thus many of the greater lords ignored her, especially after she was banned from their councils for a time . . ."
"But why would they do that to someone as nice as Yondalla?" Petrilly wanted to know.
"Simple, lass. She'd often heard various of the gods boast that they were the wisest, or strongest, or most popular deity of them all. One time when all the gods were gathered in council, she asked 'Which of you is the greatest?' Quickly the responses grew heated, and the argument that followed lasted for a long, long time; by the time it was over just about everybody was mad at just about everybody else. And they decided to blame it all on poor Yondalla for bringing it up in the first place--isn't that just like Big Folks?
"But it wasn't just that; her questions had gotten her in the soup before, and not listening to the big gods making long speeches and trying to impress one another was hardly punishment in her mind. I think it was more that she was tired of being ignored. It seemed to her that even those gods and goddesses who were her friends often treated her with condescension, as if her size meant she had no more sense than a child! Humph!
"Also, Yondalla is a kind and tolerant goddess. She admires kindness and generosity- -not traits that the other gods held in abundance. But remember, my little ones, Yondalla is also a clever god. She saw the power that followers gave to the other gods, and she determined that she would have followers of her own. Finally, the goddess decided there was nothing for it but to find some worshippers of her own."
"Kepli, the fire needs another log--Ah! there's a good lad.
"Yondalla left the Seven Heavens and came to the Worlds Below, where she searched for a long time, looking for the perfect worshipper. But it was a long, hard search: most of the folks she came across already had gods of their own. She could have tried to steal away the other gods' worshippers, of course, but that would have meant trouble, and it was never Yondalla's way to stir up trouble when there was an easy way of avoiding it.
Other folk had no gods, but watching them Yondalla saw that they were cruel and savage, hurting one another for no reason. She wanted followers she wouldn't have to scold every ten minutes, and decided to continue her search.
"I don't know how long she searched--my old grandmother used to say it was 'a day and a year and a year and a day'--but surely it was a long weary time. Then one day she saw Littleman sitting on a riverbank, fishing, and at that moment her search was over."
The old matriarch stopped. There was a long, thoughtful pause as her audience considered the story. Unnoticed, Pedderee refilled the venerable halfling's empty cup. Finally Kepli broke the silence: "Grandmother? Where did Littleman come from? What was he doing before Yondalla found him?"
"Ah, child, who knows? Remember, this was in the Bad Old Days, before our folk had farms, and villages, and shires of our own. Back then we were scattered like mice when the owls are out. Each family kept to itself and had its own hidden burrow. It was a hard life: sneaking, and hiding, and getting by on gleanings and scraps, always listening for enemies at the door.
"But Littleman, he wasn't afraid like the rest. He used to boast there wasn't a monster in the whole forest he couldn't outsmart, and he proved time and again that his quick wits were more than a match for brute strength by leading enemies into trap after trap as they chased him, until finally they'd given up and decided to leave him alone. Thanks to his carrying on so, his folk were safer than they had been in a long day, for none of the Bad Folk wanted to mess with any halfling they came across, in case it turned out to be Littleman.
"Yondalla watched Littleman for a long time and decided she liked what she saw. Here was a potential worshipper who was clever, brave, kind-hearted, and full of mischief. Best of all, he was just the right size. So one day she revealed herself to him and made him a bargain: if Littleman would gather all his scattered people into villages and communities, in return for their worship Yondalla would protect them from all their many enemies and give them a life of plenty and peace.
"Now, Littleman thought this over and decided it sounded fair, so he said 'Done!' And from that day to this, Yondalla has watched over our folk and guarded our prosperity, and we have been her people."
"And Littleman, Grandmother? What became of him?" Pedderee asked.
"Why, child, she sent him on his wanderings, to all the worlds where any of the small folk lived," chuckled the white-haired matriarch. "But that's a tale for another night."
A General History of the Halfling Race
The myth of Littleman is repeated in virtually all halfling cultures of the mortal realms. However, the details of the story differ with every teller. In some versions of the
tale, Yondalla creates Littleman out of essences she has stolen from the humans, gnomes, dwarves, and elves. In others, she said to have created halflings long before Littleman's time but then left them alone for an age to see how they'd turn out, like a farmer who plants seeds and then leaves them be until the young plants have sprouted. Others give no explanation of how halflings came into the world but simply start with Yondalla's
meeting with Littleman.
All versions agree, however, that before recorded history began, halflings were a shy and fugitive people living as hunter-gatherers on the edges of civilization, hiding in isolated burrows from the humanoids and monsters that preyed upon them. The civilized
races--elves, humans, dwarves, and gnomes--took little if any notice of them, while to the humanoids they were merely tasty, if elusive, meals. Then, for reasons which these races have never fully understood, the small folk suddenly came out of hiding, gathered together, and created small agricultural settlements for themselves across the face of the known worlds (the halflings themselves attribute the impetus to their mythical cultural hero, Littleman, and the goddess Yondalla). At any rate, it is clear that halflings arrived on the scene after humans and well behind the longer-lived dwarves, elves, and gnomes. The halflings seem to have made a point of not competing with the brawnier neighbors, instead selecting regions of lowland or dense thicket which they industriously drained and cleared, forming the pastoral shires inherited by their descendants.
Halfling societies have developed among most of the lands that have seen significant human settlement. Sometimes the small folk live among the humans, sharing their cities (though many will be gathered in a well-defined "Halfling Quarter") or farming beside their larger cousins. More often, however, halflings will live in small enclaves on the fringes of human realms. As a rule, halflings do not display the urge to expand their frontiers that so characterizes humanity; they are on the whole an easy-going and unambitious people. Once every dozen generations or so some restless halfling will gather a group of like-minded souls and forge into wilderness to clear new lands, but like their ancestors they will avoid areas already inhabited by others (whether human, demihuman, or humanoid). There is no record of halflings ever invading an area for the purpose of driving its inhabitants out and settling there themselves, although they are adept at mingling with whatever inhabitants they find already there.
Halflings strive to form the most neighborly of societies wherever they live. The race has a gift for getting along with dwarves, elves, humans, and gnomes in all climes and environments. Lack of prejudice is a noted halfling characteristic--one which allows them to welcome all types of strangers into their communities and to mingle comfortably in the cities and towns of larger races. Typically, halflings will cooperate with their neighbors for the defense of a larger area. Thus they gain an alliance with larger troops, and the ally welcomes companies of superb missile troops.
The Gods of the Halflings
Like the universal story of Littleman, halflings have a common pantheon which undergoes a great deal of local variation. Community individualism runs rampant among halfling populations; thus, every village will honor the same gods but probably call them by a different name. Among the halflings of the Moonshae Islands in the Forgotten Realms, for example, Yondalla is known as Perissa and is held to have made Littleman on one of those faerie isles. Those halflings who live along the Sword Coast to the south of Waterdeep (not terribly far from the Moonshaes) refer to Yondalla as Dallillia and hold that her origins are as the village goddess of a small woodland community. The halflings of Lurien far to the south insist in turn that their land is Littleman's original
home. And of course each halfling pictures Yondalla as belonging to his or her own subrace (unlike Littleman, who is conceived of as sharing characteristics of all the subraces rather than belonging to any single one).
It's important to remember that this distinction extends farther than simply among the subraces. Halfling villages scarcely two dozen miles apart might each have a different name for Yondalla, and the citizens of each might believe that this goddess is a local deity, concerned far more with the single village than with the race of halflings as a whole.
This reflects an important fact of halfling mentality: the only really important things are those that happen close to home. They're far more interested in worshipping an immediate and beneficent deity--one whose responsibilities are to them, and no one else-- rather than an abstract goddess who is presumed to overlook the entire race. The remoteness of most human deities bewilders many halflings, as does the deference human worshippers show to their deities. It's not that halflings are irreligious; it's just that while they treat Yondalla and her companions with respect, they're far less in awe of her than is the norm between god or goddess and follower.
As halflings see it, they have a bargain with the gods: in return for their worship, the gods promised to take care of them. Halfling clerics exist to see that both sides of the bargain are kept--to remind halflings to give the gods their due and to remind the gods that they are responsible for the safety and comfort of their loyal followers. Although this sounds like a cold-blooded business arrangement, it is not: stories of the "Bad Old Days" remind all halflings of how much they owe Yondalla, and the average halfling feels both gratitude and affection toward her for her gifts.
In addition, halflings will worship a vast number of very specialized minor deities, variously called "the small gods" and "the thousand home gods." Each house commonly has a protector of its own hearth, often inspired by some matriarch or patriarch in the clan's history. The Homesteader who starts a small community might well be accorded a similar status in later years--that is, his or her spirit might be invoked on matters relating to the health and prosperity of the village. Littleman is widely viewed (by non-halflings) as a composite of a multitude of these forgotten cultural heroes into one archetypical figure.
Halflings are inclined to see evidence of these small local gods in many aspects of their surroundings. A patron deity of baking might be credited for the way a particularly good batch of bread comes out, for example; if the game is plentiful, the god of the neighboring woods (often pictured as a hare or fox) will be thanked with small offerings. Halflings who fish commonly revere venerable river denizens, such as an ancient and battle-scarred trout. In the latter case, a halfling who hooks or nets the great one will almost certainly let him go--you don't see mounted fish or animal heads on the wall of a halfling burrow!
A full detailing of the most common halfling pantheon is detailed in DMGR4, Monster Mythology. The listing here is intended as an introduction, summary, and quick reference.
The small folk have a very matriarchal view of religion: all their primary deities are female. The goddesses are all concerned with the most important aspects of halfling life; the male gods are viewed almost as sidekicks, ruling over peripheral (if necessary) aspects of life.
The avatar listed for each deity is a temporary incarnation, the form in which that goddess or god is most likely to be encountered during play. Of course, these avatars are not intended as NPCs to be commonly encountered by the player characters--rather, they can be used as beings of more or less normal appearance but great, almost unlimited, power. Perhaps they appear to offer the PCs a warning or to suggest a course of action. Littleman has no avatar, being not a god but a legendary (and possibly mythical) folk hero.
The following are the great Halfling gods, universal to the race (though under many guises and names). The real force of daily worship, however, is much more likely to be directed to one of the "small gods," a locally famous deity who can influence the success or failure of mundane tasks and simple, creature comforts.
Yondalla the Provider (Greater Goddess) Yondalla is a goddess of nature, plants, and growth. She is viewed as the chief matriarch in the halfling pantheon, responsible for the race's creation and for blessing them with peace, comfort, and plenty. She is also viewed as the race's chief protector; although benign and gentle in most of her incarnations, with a wave of her hand she can age or wither any who have wronged her faithful children. Her symbol is a shield bearing a cornucopia, representing her dual roles as Provider and Protector.
Avatar: Yondalla appears as a proud, vibrantly attractive halfling with long golden hair, a skirt of forest green, and a stout wooden shield.
Sheela Peryroyl (Intermediate Goddess) The goddess of agriculture, nature, and weather, the image of Sheela is often mixed, almost interchangeably, with Yondalla herself; some hold that Sheela and Yondalla are different aspects of the same goddess. Just as concerned with preserving wilderness as tilling fields, she guards the balance between the two. Sheela is also held responsible for feasting and celebration and, perhaps most importantly, romance; her major festivals are held at harvest time.
Avatar: Appearing as a pretty young halfling maiden with brilliant flowers in her hair, Sheela is usually laughing and just generally delighted by life. Though she appears naive, even simple, she can wield great powers of nature magic.
Cyrrollalee (Intermediate Goddess) This goddess is the overseer of many of the mundane and day-to-day aspects of halfling life, chiefly concerned with the burrow and the hearth; again, some believe her to be a persona of Yondalla rather than a separate entity. Friendship among her worshippers is considered the highest praise one can raise to her name; she is most displeased with those who fail to display proper hospitality and good fellowship.
Avatar: Cyrrollalee often takes the form of a stooped halfling of indeterminate years, worn by poverty and work into a frail shell. In this guise, she often visits halfling burrows to see if the inhabitants are truly hospitable; woe to the family that turns her away!
Arvoreen the Defender (Intermediate God) A god of stern defense and aggressive watchfulness, Arvoreen is the patron of watchful diligence, not war. He is more serious than the typical halfling (or halfling deity) and serves as a reminder that the safety they currently enjoy was hard-won and can be easily lost.
Avatar: Arvoreen appears as a handsome young halfling warrior, muscular of build and generally very lightly clothed. He commonly carries a short sword and often a gleaming metal shield.
Brandobaris (Lesser God) This is the god of adventure (and misadventure), a favorite among halfling adventurers (especially thieves). He has a bawdy sense of humor and little sense of propriety. Brandobaris is always ready with a joke or a jug, yet he is such a friendly rapscallion that he rarely makes an enemy. He is a good friend of Garl Glittergold and Baervan Wildwanderer.
Avatar: In avatar form Brandobaris appears as a plump and jolly halfling. He's always very well-dressed and ready with a smart reply to any attempt at conversation.
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