Emerald Halfling Facts

10 Facts About the Halflings of the Emerald Shire

1. Emerald halflings revere the aged and equate their long live with wisdom. It is considered bad luck for an Emerald halfling to refuse the request of an elder and is not uncommon for the oldest residents of a village to hold court, either at their home or at a local tavern or general store, to dispense advice to those who seek it.
2. Emerald halfling divide the day firmly by meals. First come morning tea, followed by breakfast. Then comes lunch followed by afternoon tea. Following that is a midday snack and then dinner. Finally, there is a final snack before bedtime. Skipping just one meal is considered a loss. Only having three meals in a day is an utter tragedy.
3. Emerald halflings are great believers in celebration. Births, deaths, marriages, birthdays, graduations, homecomings - all are an excuse to have a gathering with plenty of food, song, tale telling and more food. Most Emerald halflings have a fund set aside in case they have to throw a party on short notice.
4. Emerald halflings are big believers in being prepared. This isn't to say they aren't capable of spontaneity. They simply believe that the best way to make spontaneous happenings successful is to be prepared ahead of time for any occasion. As a result, many Emerald halflings are packrats, never throwing anything away so they'll have whatever is needed for whatever may come.
5. The Emerald Chef's Guild exists to hire exceptional Emerald halfling chefs out to the rich and the noble throughout Krystallos. Chefs register with the Guild, who tries to match each with a client based on factors such as specialty dishes, experience and even personality. Contracts are signed for a specific length of time and the Guild arranges for transport to the client at the start of the contract and back home at the end. Often, the chefs send most of their earnings home. Much of the Shire's money come from these chefs.
6. Emerald halflings aren't particularly well-suited to bows as weapons. However, almost every halfling child gets a sling as a toy at the time they can walk. Most practice and, as a result, almost every halfling is a capable slinger. Halfling villages don't have militias but dozen or even hundreds of residents, all armed with slings, can be a formidable deterrent to bandits or slavers.
7. Many of Krystallos' greatest healers have been Emerald halflings. Knowledge of herbs and extracts for healing goes hand to hand with knowledge of herbs and extracts for cooking. In addition, John the Barber, the Icon of Emerald famed for pioneering the science of anatomical study, was an Emerald halfling and the Cult that continues his work is based in the Shire to this day.
8. Halflings who pursue the study of arcane magic find they are especially skilled at spell that manipulate probability, able to jinx their enemies or bring good luck to their friends. Some say this is a natural outgrowth of the natural luck that many halflings seem to have.
9. Emerald halflings prefer not to wear either shoes or socks. The bottoms of their feet are naturally hard while the hair atop their foot is thick and chafes if stuffed inside sock or boot.
10. Halflings find themselves the unfortunate target of Cartel slavers seeking easy prey to funnel into the underground slave market. Many halfling "servants" among the rich and powerful in Krystallos are actually slaves captured from communities on the northern edge of the Emerald Shire.