Species Name: Hauflin, Halflin, Halfling, Hin, Desert Halfling, Athasian Halfling
The Desert Halflings are from Athas in the Shattered Reality Dimension, left behind after Takhisis' failed invasion of the Beyond Heroes reality. They have taken to Earth's deserts while they try to determine what to do with their lives.
Type: Humanoid
Physical Traits: Halflings are muscled and proportioned like humans, but they have the faces of wise and beautiful children. Both males and females wear their hair in long, unkempt manes, aside from priests, who usually shave their heads; otherwise, their bodies are completely hairless.
Height: 3.5 ft
Weight: A Halfling weighs 50 to 60 pounds and is virtually always in peak physical condition.
Abilities: Nightvision equal to normal sight. Halfling characters have high resistance to magic, and poisons and thus receive a +4 to all saving throws against magical attacks, poisons, and diseases.
Mobility: Legs
Sensory Organs: Visual
Communication: Vocal
Reproduction: Sexual
INT: 3D6, WIS: 3D6, STR: 2D6, DEX: 4D6, CON: 4D6, CHA: 3D6 -1, MR: 2D6, HPs: CON +D8
Orbit/Climate: See Earth
Feeding Habits: Strict carnivores, Halflings tend to view all animals, including humans and their ilk, as lunch.
Lifespan: Halflings live to be as much as 120 years old, but once they reach adulthood, their features never succumb to their years its very difficult for an outsider to determine a given Halflings age.
Technology: 2
Culture: Standard. Diversified mix of kind and evil people. Beyond the Ringing Mountains are jungles that flourish in rains that never reach the tablelands or the Sea of Silt. There life is abundant, the foliage thick and untamed. The undisputed rulers of these jungles are the Halflings. Halflings possess a great deal of racial unity. Though divided politically into separate villages and communities, Halflings have great respect for their race as a whole. Political differences between them are settled wherever possible peaceably, through ritual and custom, most often under the direction of their clerical leaders, the shaman witch doctors. On a personal level, Halflings relate very well to one another, well enough to have built a considerable culture rich in art, song, and other expressive communication. However, they tend to rely heavily on their culture for communication, a culture that both parties in a conversation are assumed to understand. It is difficult or a Halfling to compensate in conversation for a listener who isn't intimately familiar with Halfling culture, and as such they easily become frustrated with outsiders. Depending upon how official a meeting is, outsiders often have to take great pains to learn local customs merely to communicate with the Halflings in question. Of course, Halflings who have travelled widely outside their traditional jungle home have a much greater tolerance of those with a lack of Halfling culture; so much so that they can communicate easily and without frustration.
Halfling culture is fabulously diverse, but difficult
for other races to comprehend. A complete history
of their culture, if such a thing existed, would speak
volume upon volume of complex social change, inspirational
clerical leaders, and in-depth personal
studies of the Halfling and his duty to his jungle
home. Conspicuous in their absence would be references
to great wars of conquest or tremendous monetary
wealth-the yardsticks by which other races
measure cultural success. Halfling culture cares for
the individuals inward being, his identity and spiritual
unity with his race and environment. Their culture
does not provide for more traditional values,
and vices such as greed and avarice are particularly
discouraged.
Oddly, the richness of the land may be disturbed
and examined, even used for a Halflings own gain.
However, those riches belong to the land and, in the
mind of the Halfling, should never be moved away.
For instance, nature intended a spring to bring water
only to a certain area. To move the water through
irrigation to some other area is not what nature had
in mind. Similarly, an archaeological find in the jungle
that yields a great pile of gold and metals is an
event that shouldn't be tampered with-the gold
might be used to raise a spectacular series of clerical
buildings on the spot, but it should not be carted off
to some other location.
Halflings introverted
nature means they subtract one from their
initial Charisma score. However, Halflings are possessed
of tremendous speed and agility, and so add to their initial Dexterity
score. Being generally open-minded,
rather than becoming abrasive or combative, Halflings
tend to be curious and, at times, utterly confused
by the behaviour of others.
To quell their own confusion, their curiosity demands
that they attempt to learn many of the customs
of those they confront on the outside world.
This is not to say that a Halfling character will adopt
these customs. On the contrary, they will almost certainly
not, but a wide variety of experience is encouraged
by the clerical teachings of Halfling witchdoctors they see the customs of others as no threat
to their own and as a welcome chance to learn
through a different point of view.
The accomplishments that are normally held in
high esteem by other races are completely alien to Halflings. For example, tremendous booty from an
adventure might tantalize other races, but a Halfling
would, instead, be concerned with how his part in
the adventure will help advance Halfling culture, his
own knowledge or inner well-being the treasure
would not be a consideration for the Halfling.
Combat honour is a valueless concept to Halflings. In battle, Halflings resort to what others might call dirty tricks. Having strong ties to the land, Halflings are likely to create their weapons from organic sources. A popular tenet among Halfling warriors is that a weapon built from the same material as an opponent offers special advantages to the wielder. For example, a Halfling jalath’gak slayer might construct a dagger from one of the bloodwing’s talons. Halfling weapons inflict D4 or D6 points of damage. All but the renegade Halflings prefer small daggers, slings, and spears over forged swords. Halflings receive a +1 attack bonus with any thrown or sling-type weapon. They often use live agony beetles as sling bullets. Halflings occasionally coat their weapons with a paralytic poison.
Most Halflings, except the chaotic and more brutal renegades near the Ringing Mountains, share a common outlook on life. This universal perception results in considerable racial unity despite geographical and political separations. It is rare that one haling will shed the blood of another, even in extreme ideological confrontations. Other races find haling culture a difficult concept to understand. Ages of social and spiritual change from a plethora of inspirations have led to only one consistent conclusion – Halflings value most the abilities of the inner self as it harmonizes with the environment and the Halfling race. More common measurements, such as conquest and plundering. have no place with the Halfling.
Halflings are extremely conscious surrounding environment. They see the ruined land of the scapes and are sickened. They desperately try to avoid having similar circumstances devastate their homelands. This does not mean the countryside is unalterable, but simply that care must be taken to understand and respect what nature means to the life on Athas. The Halfling's meat-only diet means that Halflings see all living creatures more as food than as equals. This perception leads them to expect other races to feel similarly. As a result, at no time is a Halfling likely to trust any other member of any other species.
The villages of these essentially nomadic folk are each centred around a great stone pyramid, with a scattering of small stone buildings around it. The village is the residence of a chief and a few of his or her followers. The rest of the Halflings roam a well-defined patch of forest-land, though all the clans will gather at the village once every hundred days. Adept at negotiating all types of forested terrain, including dense swamps, thorny thickets, mangroves, and so on, Athasian Halflings utilize this natural cover to screen their villages from larger folk. A network of pathways, each less than 4‘ high, will pass throughout the huge, densely verdant forest. The only Halfling subrace to show any inclination for climbing trees, some Halflings of Athas even make their homes in the branches of particular types of forest giants. The homes of such a village are connected by hanging bridges, often leading down spiralling ladders to additional buildings on the forest floor. A more typical camp is located in a clearing beside a steady supply of clean water. A thorny barrier, grown like a hedge to a height of 10’ or more, protects the entire village except for a single, endlessly-guarded gate. Athasian Halflings thrive in terrain where other societies might have a hard time surviving. In part, this is because they are so self-sufficient, sharing many skills among the members of a single clan. Woodcarving, weaving, hunting and snaring, tanning, pottery, herbal medicine, alchemy (including the preparation of deadly or paralyzing poisons), farming and herding, jewellery, and featherwork are all common proficiencies among the Athasian Halflings. Though they will cautiously open trading arrangements with nearby cultures, whatever their race, these Halflings tend to conduct all transactions in a neutral location or in the other party’s community-foreign traders are not allowed into their villages. This arrangement is satisfactory to the other races as well, since these traders realize that they‘re taking their lives in their hands by venturing into the Halflings’ jungles-even large, well-armed parties are subject to raids and thievery by these Halflings.
Halflings of Athas will treat members of their own subrace from other tribes with respect, generosity, and friendship-even if those Halflings are accompanying enemies of the clan (a few renegade clans, however, refuse to recognize the common kinship, and travelling Halflings are advised to avoid falling into their clutches).
Government: Council
Population: 1,643,410 on Athas; 14,600 on Earth