H is for Holmfirth

This small town is the major halfling settlement in the Kalurst Hills. It is well-defended, boasting several guard towers and a small curtain wall. The halflings are a disciplined, military group who are friendly, but do not suffer fools well. The town's mayor is Robinia Longfoot, a stout woman whose cherubic face and smiling manner hides the warrior underneath. The halflings of Holmfirth and the surrounding villages are experts at farming in the hills, and also herd goats and sheep.

Yes, there are halflings here. Because it started out as a D&D campaign world, and there have to be halflings. It's like mountain ranges; they're going to be there, so just accept it. I haven't introduced them in the books yet, and I haven't decided if I will. They can be there without showing up in any of the writings, after all.

So, what makes these halflings different from bog-standard D&D halflings? They're not sneak-thieves, for one thing. The archetypical halfling in gaming is great at sneaking and gets bonuses to Dexterity and thieving abilities. And they suck at being fighters, limited to 4th level in the original rules and the 1e Players Handbook. So, pretty much every halfling ever played in D&D is either a straight thief or a fighter/thief, because that's the only way halflings can be useful in the game.

Further, halflings as envisioned in D&D have always been homebodies, rural folk who avoid adventuring and danger. Adventurers were seen as not right in the head, straight out of Tolkien. Either that, or they go the way of Dragonlance halflings, aka kender, the most annoying creatures in the known multiverse except for Dragonlance gnomes.

Well, my halflings are a bit different. Sure, they're still good at the thieving stuff, especially the sneaking around. But that's not their main focus. The halflings of Meterra are warriors. They have to be, considering their neighbors; greedy dwares tot he east, grends, goblins and ogres surrounding them, and worse critters coming down from the mountains to the south. So, they use their innate sneakiness to its best advantage. They are, essentially, experts in guerilla warfare. Strike hard, strike fast, no mercy. Sounds like they'd fit right into Cobra Kai, doesn't it?

But they are noble spirits, with a strong sense of honor and courage in battle. They get along well with the Europeans, who have a similar martial code, although the halflings of Meterra have no problem with sneak attacks, ambushes, and the like, especially when defending their villages. Holmfirth is the largest of the halfling villages in the Kalurst, but it's not the only one. And while they don't have a central government like the humans do, the halflings of Meterra are quick to work together in the face of greater threats.