Halflings—Haeghenti, Parrallian Tribes

Halflings—Haeghenti, Parrallian Tribes

History

The Haeghenti—named Halflings by humans, as well as others—are a widespread, prolific race of small humanoids. The Parrallian Halflings are named for the Parrallian Hills, which is the central landmark of their communities. It should be noted that such a term as “Halfling” is primarily a human one—which has since spread and been adopted by others as a term for the Haeghenti peoples. The Haeghenti peoples refer to themselves as “Haeghenti” as a race, and then by whatever tribal name that they may originate from.

Originally, the first Halfling immigrants to the Varanthus region came from lands far to the south-west, in regions of north-western Aghanda. Many centuries before, various Halfling tribes had migrated from northern forests in Maltainia down into north-western Aghanda, and began to spread out and create prosperous settlements—some communities were established in the more temperate coastlands and arid desert regions, while other proceeded deeper inland, and settled in dense, tropical jungles and dark, mist-shrouded rain-forests.

The Halfling tribes in the temperate coastlands and arid desert regions interbred and mixed with local communities of Malbari humans, while the tribes that lived in the tropical jungles and rain-forests interbred and mixed with black-skinned humans of the native Mbornu tribes. Eventually, after some years had past, several Halfling tribes from both of these environments joined together into a tribal confederation, and lived peacefully while attempting to integrate into more advanced economies of local kingdoms of humans. The Halflings had gained a darker complexion from their frequent interbreeding with the various human tribes, and then proceeded to intermarry with each of the different Halfling tribes in the confederation, which resulted in the all of the Halfling tribes gaining a smooth, darker brown complexion over time. After several centuries of the darker Halflings interbreeding with other darker Halflings, continuously, the ancient, pale-white complexions of the Halflings tribal ancestors from the northern lands of Maltainia had entirely disappeared, and had been bred out of the Halflings genetic composition. However, the tendency for lighter-colored eyes remained somewhat, which still results in an occasional Parrallian Halfling possessing lighter-colored eyes, such as blue-grey, or pale-green. The vast majority, however, are typically born with darker-colored eyes.

The Halfling confederation, however, gradually became the target of increasing slave-raids by humans, as well as suffering from increased incursions by monsters. The arrival of the Valloreans in the region, however, provided the Halfling confederation with a sense of hope, and new opportunities. After several years, the Valloreans had agreed to allow the Halfling confederation to migrate into the Vallorean Empire—though the Halfling tribes were required to migrate and settle in lands that the Valloreans had chosen. The Vallorean legions had in recent years prosecuted a vigorous military campaign in a distant border region, providing assistance to local barbarian tribes that were friendly to the Vallorean Empire. In the aftermath of the Vallorean expedition into the region, the new Kingdom of Varanthus had been established, and needed more immigrants and resources. Thus, the Halfling confederation was allowed to migrate into the Kingdom of Varanthus. The six Halfling tribes of their loose confederation decided to make the epic journey to the new land, in hopes of establishing new, prosperous communities safer from invasions, constant slave-raids by stronger tribes, and marauding migrations of savage monsters.

The small group of six tribes—the Noomhoggen, Nhamburi, Rhumaeggah, Mugheshem, Tahgishwah, and Ghanmori—settled into their new lands, and established several rustic communities. Several communities grew more rapidly than the others, and became towns.
The Parrallian Halflings were granted the area around the Parrallian Hills, and bordering the Nemeth Woods as a feudal fief to govern and administer as they desired, under the aegis of authority and ownership of the king of Varanthus. The Parrallian Halflings thus pay their royal taxes to the king of Varanthus, and must order their communities in accordance with royal decrees from the king.

Physical Appearance

Parrallian Halflings tend to be of slightly above average height and weight for Halflings in general, though the Parrallian Halflings are likely to be more broad-shouldered and muscular than other Halflings commonly encountered. Parrallian Halflings typically have skin of brown-bronze or brown-cinnamon in tone. Parrallian Halflings usually have hair that is of brown-black, dull-black or ebony-black in color. In general, Parrallian Halflings typically have eyes of dark-brown or hazel-brown in color, though some other colors are occasionally present. Parrallian Halflings have skin that is smooth and flawless, and beautiful, attractive features. The Parrallian Halflings typically have hair that is long, thick and flowing, as many Malbari humans possess, while many have hair that is very curly, often having the tight, kinky features of black-skinned humans from Aghanda.

Female Parrallian Halflings are often attractively plump, with voluptuous features, and broad, curvaceous hips. However, more than a few female Parrallian Halflings are just as likely to be athletic, lean, and muscular. Male Parrallian Halflings are typically broad-shouldered, muscular, and athletic. Parrallian Halflings typically have large eyes that are very expressive; their eyes are usually round—though many have eyes that are almond-shaped. Parrallian Halflings typically have slightly large, rounded and flat noses, full lips, and round faces.


N.B: Player Characters are encouraged to review the Parrallian Halfling Character Tables, below.

Parrallian Halflings are small in stature and less powerful than larger humanoids, and have a -1 penalty to Strength at character generation. Generally, Parrallian Halfling characters are quick, graceful and agile, and gain a +1 bonus to Dexterity at character generation. Furthermore, Parrallian Halflings are gregarious, sensual and irrepressibly charming, and gain a +1 bonus to Charisma at character generation. In addition, the Parrallian Halflings are typically attractive in appearance, and gain a +1 bonus to Comeliness at character generation.

Parrallian Halfling Character Ability Summary
-1 Strength
+1 Dexterity
+1 Charisma
+1 Comeliness

Parrallian Halfling Character Tables

Parrallian Halfling Character Table: Skin Tone
Dice Roll/Skin Tone
01-20%: Brown-Olive
21-50%: Brown-Cinnamon
51-80%: Brown-Bronze
81-00%: Ebony-Black

Parrallian Halfling Character Table: Hair Color
Dice Roll/Hair Color
01-30%: Black-Brown
31-60%: Black-Dull
61-00%: Ebony-Black

Parrallian Halfling Character Table: Eye Color
Dice Roll/Eye Color
01-60%: Brown-Dark
61-70%: Brown-Hazel
71-80%: Brown-Golden
81-86%: Brown-Pale
87-90%: Grey-Blue
91-94%: Grey-Pale
95-97%: Green-Hazel
98-00%: Green-Pale

Parrallian Halfling Height and Weight Tables

Male Parrallian Base Height: 4’2”--5’0” (4’0” + 2d6”);
Average Height: 4’6”
Male Parrallian Base Weight: 80-130 pounds; (70+6d10);
Average Weight: 100-lbs.

Female Parrallian Base Height: 3’10”--4’8” (3’8” + 2d6”);
Average Height: 4’2”
Female Parrallian Base Weight: 50-100 pounds; (40+6d10);
Average Weight: 70-lbs.

Politics

The Parrallian Halflings are ruled by a High Chieftain, who is served by a tribal chieftain, elected from the tribal councils of each Haeghenti tribe. In Haeghenti society, however, the High Chieftain is largely a figurehead leader. The High Chieftain is respected, and handles foreign-policy issues—but it is the tribal chieftains that hold real power. The tribal chieftains take counsel from each of their respective tribal councils, and it is in this process that the real decision-making for tribal policies is essentially formed. The High Chieftain reflects the majority consensus concerning whatever particular topic of debate that the tribal chiefs and their councils debated about. The High Chieftain lives in a grand hall at the capitol, and has his own entourage of bodyguards, retainers, and concubines. The High Chieftain does, however, hold some political power, in the form of counsel, as well as casting a deciding vote should the Chieftain’s Council be deadlocked in a 3 to 3 vote, for example, and they are unable to fully decide some matter or another. In such a circumstance, the High Chieftain’s vote becomes politically significant.

The Haeghenti tribes are generally peaceful, though passionate about preserving their freedoms, lands, and independence. The Parrallian Halflings have organized the “Parrallian Confederation” as a political term for their tribal union, especially as it concerns humans, and the larger Kingdom of Varanthus, which the Parrallian Confederation is a member, ally and vassal state. The High Chieftain and his various nobles serve as the tribal representatives and ambassadors of the Parrallian Confederation at the court of Varanthus.

Culture

The Parrallian Halflings have two primary cultural traditions that affect their cultural and political attitudes. One cultural tradition belongs to the farming tribes—the farming tribes are from temperate coastal lands, as well as arid desert regions where the tribes had mastered intensive farming and agriculture. The farming tribes had developed intensive crops and orchards, as well as raising larger herds of animals, and increased the mastery of various crafting professions.

The farming tribes tend to be insular, conservative, and cautious. The farming tribes are primarily sedentary agriculturalists, herdsmen, craftsmen, and merchants. The farming tribes are generally peaceful, though reclusive and uninterested in the troubles and concerns of outsiders. The farming tribes are protective of their herds, farms, and villages however, and zealous in organizing a well-armed militia, and launching fierce raids against their enemies.

The other cultural tradition belongs to the nomadic tribes—the nomadic tribes are from dense tropical jungles and tropical rainforests, where the tribes had established many small villages and encampments throughout the region, typically connected by numerous rivers and lakes. The nomadic tribes spent a majority of their time hunting and gathering, migrating along the rivers and marshes while rotating the areas that they hunted, and the areas where they gathered fruits and plants. The various nomadic tribes also came to rely upon boats that they used to travel throughout the rivers and marshes, hunting, foraging, and trading.

The nomadic tribes tend to be friendly, outgoing, and bold. The nomadic tribes are active, restless, and dynamic, eagerly hunting the surrounding regions, as well as gathering fruits and plants, and trading with other peoples they encounter in their travels and migrations. While generally peaceful, the nomadic tribes can be savage and bloodthirsty against their enemies, and have a long tradition of sacrificing captured war prisoners to their gods, as the nomadic tribes believe that the gods can be nourished and gain special strength by receiving the blood and souls of captured enemies. The nomadic tribes have ancient customs and traditions of embracing fierce warfare against their enemies, and are eager to launch raids into enemy lands to punish their enemies with death and to also take booty and plunder. The nomadic tribes are eager to explore new lands, creatures, and peoples, and are fearless and adventurous raiders, explorers and merchants.

The Parrallian Halflings are a confederation of two groups of tribes, and have spent many years synthesizing the two cultures, mixing the two cultures and religions together, and creating something new and different from either, while remaining familiar at the same time. The two groups have learned from each other, and vigorously engaged in cross-pollinating each other with new ideas and ways of thinking, new customs, and new traditions, to form a dynamic, united, and intriguing hybrid of the two original cultures. The Parrallian Halflings generally love their farms and herds with great passion, though many also love the exhilaration of hunting and wandering the wilderness, as well as using their boats and barges to travel the local rivers and lakes, hunting, raiding, exploring, and trading with friendly tribes and communities along the journey.

Economically, the Parrallian Halflings embrace a mixed economy, using both barter systems and coin-based systems. The Parrallian Halflings raise various crops of grain, as well as a variety of orchards, from apples and plums, to almonds and walnuts. The Parrallian Halflings also grow blackberries, strawberries, and raspberries, among others.
The Parrallian Halflings have also developed several important industries, such as weaving, wool, fishing, as well as woodcarving, textiles, bee-keeping, and ranching.

Parrallian Halflings embrace a monogamous marriage custom, though divorces are relatively easy to obtain, and remarriage is entirely acceptable. There is no stigma attached to divorced or remarried members of the society in any way. Premarital sex is not only expected, and the norm—but encouraged through both private custom, as well as tribal, communal customs where adolescents of both sexes are expected to participate in various fertility rituals that celebrate the tribal fertility and pay homage and thanks to the gods. There are also rituals that celebrate the adolescent’s transition into adulthood, and sexual unions and ritual orgies are a common feature in such tribal celebrations and rituals. Parrallian Halfling marriage customs are noted briefly below:

Monogamous; Loose, Informal, Concubinage

Loose: People involved have varying expectations of absolute sexual fidelity and exclusivity; mistresses, lovers, and so on are fairly common, and generally accepted.

Informal: The culture has no strict requirements concerning divorce, and divorce is relatively easy and simple to do, with no social, religious or cultural stigmas for anyone involved. In addition, children born out of wedlock are not subject to being outcasts, and may be common and entirely accepted.

Concubinage: The culture embraces the custom of maintaining concubines for a married person, whether male or female. In the cases where concubines provide children, the children have some rights of inheritance. In addition, concubines have an official, legal and social status, and enjoy specific social, legal and inheritance rights.

Religion

The Parrallian Halflings worship a large and diverse pantheon of gods. Sages believe that within the oral traditions of the six tribes are clues hinting at a past time where some of the tribes were agricultural, and blended with other tribes that were nomadic. The Parrallian Halfling pantheon seems to be a synthesis of settled, agricultural deities, and other gods, of a barbaric, primitive, and mystical nature.

The Parrallian Halflings build temples of stone and wood in honor of their gods, though such temples are typically encircled by several groves of sacred trees. The temples always have a great pool within them, as well as a great stone altar carved with animal heads and other depictions of the gods in humanoid form. There is also always a great stone fire-pit, so that a large animal or humanoids can be sacrificed to the gods. The Parrallian Halflings hold various celebrations throughout the year, celebrating the different seasons, as well as particular festivals honoring the gods.

The deities of the Parrallian Halflings are briefly listed and described below:

Parrallian Halfling Deities

Emgahway—Emgahway is a supreme god, and leader of the pantheon, along with his wife, the “Great Mother” goddess, Dahshomnoo. Emgahway is a god of war, fire, mountains and strength.

Shuhmoggee—Shuhmoggee is a god of winter, wind, storms, rain, and the sea.

Ushnam—Ushnam is a god of trade, crafts, wisdom, knowledge and law.

Oohmoghwah—Oohmogwah is a god of dark forests, battle, courage, and hunting.

Saumaerik—Saumaerik is a god of the sun, fertility, passion, hope and joy.

Haaghishnah—Haaghishnah is a god of agriculture, domesticated animals, harvests, and nature.

Yomnaroo—Yomnaroo is a god of trickery, greed, ambition, trade, and journeys.

Nooghamnee—Nooghamnee is a god of darkness, disease, the night, and death.

Dahshomnoo—Dahshomnoo is a supreme “Great Mother” goddess, and wife to Emgahway. Dahshomnoo is a goddess of nature, storms, fertility, animals and rivers.

Dahnaroo—Dahnaroo is a goddess of love, friendship, marriage, honor and loyalty.

Meelah—Meelah is a goddess of fate, luck, gambling, poetry, knowledge and travel.

Soborhee—Soborhee is a goddess of the sun, deserts, passion, fire, art, and beauty.

Lahneemah—Lahneemah is a goddess of nature, animals, lakes, rivers, and spring rains.

Rhoonaydah—Rhoonaydah is a goddess of darkness, the moon, prophecy, magic and secrets.

Nhambeelah—Nhambeelah is a goddess of darkness, serpents, reptiles, passion, dancing, lust and magic.

Nahgheesah—Nahgheesah is a goddess of insects, death, disease, magic, and darkness.

Noobhellee—Noobhellee is a goddess of fertility, sexuality, lust, music, dancing, and passion.

Ahgheemah—Ahgheemah is a goddess of healing, knowledge, compassion, and wisdom.

Warfare

The Parrallian Halflings recruit their forces from all of the tribes, and form units of light infantry, skirmishers, and raiders. The Parrallian Halflings, while generally peaceful, are zealous in defense of their lands, and can be savage and bloodthirsty. The Parrallian Halflings typically coat their weapons with various toxins that cause agony, pain, weakness, and such, but seldom death, as the halflings enjoy taking captives for torture, sacrifice, or slavery.

Cultural Weapons and Armour

Halfling Cultural Armour
Leather Armor (AC 8)
Hide Armor (AC 8)
Studded Leather (AC 7)

Halfling Cultural Weapons
Dagger, Dart, Club, Sling, Handaxe, Shortbow, Shortsword, Javelin, Spear, Quarterstaff