Campaign guide plight of the tuatha (1) 25

Campaign Guide
second chances to those too weak to survive, half orc culture
must act the same if they are to survive. Full blooded orcs live
high upon the peaks of the mountains in one of the harshest
landscapes on Aeliode, far past where humans may survive
for long. Half orcs reside lower down the mountain acting as
a barrier between their full blooded kin. When directed by
their priest’s omens, half orcs will leave their mountain home
to raid the surrounding area for pillage. But they soon feel the
pull of the mountain calling them back to its rocky embrace.
Even those half orcs born and raised in human communities
feel this pull throughout their adult life.

Arts
Compared to many other races, half orc art is relatively simple
in design and form. Simplicity does not mean poorly crafted,
just a departure from the need for overly complex line work
found elsewhere. Bone and stone make the majority of the
materials used by half orc artisans, though other pieces of
animals, such as fur or blood (for dyed textiles) can be seen
in use. Themes most often depict animals, hunts, or strange
swirling patterns symbolic of winds. Those half orcs raised in
human communities often create blends in theme will often
try to blend the materials and themes from both their human
and orcish culture often resulting in haunting imagery.

History
Half orc’s tend to care as little about the past as they do the
future; instead they are moved more by instinct. As such
not much is known about their past. One might as well ask
a bear the history of its kind as ask the half orc. All that is

known is that for as long as the Stadji Mountains have risen
from the Avitian plains, half orcs have come.

Halfling
The lithe and tone bodies of these nomadic horsemen
share much with the magnificant steeds they breed. Years
of endless travel has made the halflings natural athletes.
Generations of hiking has toughened their feet while the
sun of the endless plains has turned their skin a deep nut
brown. Their movement is poetry.
Physiology
Short in stature and wiry in build, halflings are well suited
to the nomadic lifestyle they embrace. Most halflings have
cinnamon-colored skin and their hair ranges from dark black
to light brown. Slightly pointed ears emerge from rounded
faces. Aside from the thick hair on their heads and upon the
tops of their feet, halflings have little other body hair. Beards
when grown, are light and sparse.

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Society
Halflings found in this region of Aeliode travel in tight-knit
family groups. It is said that in far off lands, halflings reside
in great numbers within large kingdoms. But in this area of
the world communities are mobile and typically number
in the hundreds.
The halflings are well known for their mounts, be they
horses, deer, or hounds. They take great pride in their animals and have bred them to outperform most other mounts
of their kind. On the rare occasions when a halfling community is roused to battle. they will ride their larger horses

three-to-a-mount in special saddles with one halfing guiding
the beast while the other two attack their enemies with bows.
Since most halflings tend to travel in the more southern regions of Aeliode, they typically feel the need to wear
minimal clothing. Most clothing that they do wear tends
to be either wool or leather and is well suited for a traveler.

Arts
Because of their nomadic lifestyle, halfling art created to
be both portable as well as pratical. There are very few
examples of artwork created for its own sake. Most items
that are used on a daily basis, however, have images carved
or painted somewhere upon them.
Not all art has such an obvious pratical use however.
Halflings have been known to create huge images upon
the plains they travel by piling rocks into long lines. The
patterns often cover acres of land so the images are unrecognizeable from the ground. These complex and beautiful
patterns, the halflings say, are for the gods above.

History
The halflings have spent most of their lives traveling,
hunting and living on the great plains of the Tuatha.
Throughout their history they have had a relatively neutral
relationship with the humans who have controlled the
eastern portion of the continent. There have been minor
skirmishes and wars between individual halfing tribes and
human clans, but no more-so than the tribes and clans
have fought against themselves. It wasn’t until the Avitian
Empire arrived that the halflings had to deal with war and
combat on a societal scale. The newcomers were not taking
control of land from individual tribes, but from all tribes

indiscriminately.
The halflings, though having their traditional territory
pushed back somewhat, have remained a strong and powerful race. Most tribes have an uneasy peace with the Avitian
newcomers. Several have formed alliances with the Tuathan
humans who have suffered the most in regards to lands and
life lost to the Empire.