The Hill Folk

Full Description
The Hill Folk are short, the tallest rechign four foot even. Some call them Halflings, as they are half the height of a man. The Hill Folk point out that they have never seen a man eight feet tall, though this opinion falls on deaf ears. They tend towards brown hair, and commonly have green, rgey, and blue eyes. Strangely, no Hill Folk have borwn eyes. Their noses tend to be round, sometimes becoming bulbous in older men. Their ears are also larger.

Hill Folk hands are small, and dexterous. They are well known for the quality of thier crafts. Hill Folk fabrics and garments are of the very best quality, and while there is little to none in the way of flashy glitter or gold, there is usually colorful embroidery, and such. Hill folk are very proficient in the making of cloth dyes, and just as proficient at keeping their secrets about them.

Unlike humans, most of the Hill Folk are content to spend their lives plowing the fields, drinking large amounts of Hill Folk ale, and generally living a quiet and peaceful life. Some of the youths rankle under the idyllic conditions and take up the adventurers road. These individuals tend to favor the rogue path, while a few strap on Dwarven gear and take up the sword, the crossbow, or the ax. Those who take up the ax are considered self-imposed exiles.

The Dwarven Legacy
It would not be discovered until nearly 800 years after the fact. The Halflings, also known as the hill folk are actually dwarves. Following the end of The Old World many dwarves undertook an exodus from the mountains, fleeing from the carnage there. The took up new homes far from the stone giants, wyverns, trolls, ogres, goblins, orcs, worgs, and dragons. They literally hammered their axes into ploughshares, exchanging the persuit of gold and violence in favor of safer living with the earth. Those Hill Folk who take up the ax are symbolically taking up their old Dwarven heritage, and forsaking their Hill Folk roots.

The Craft and the Crop
The Hill Folk are noticably silent when it comes to questions of faith. They generally pay lip service to whichever diety hold sway near their homes, but in their hearts they still cling to the silent god of the dwarves. Insteda of church and prayer, the slice of the plow through the earth, or the regualr swish-clack of the loom is their worship. As a result of this quiet devotion, the craft goods of the Hill Folk are considered to be some of the best that can be had. Their harvests are some of the best in the region, despite the secondary quality of Hill Folk arable land, and their small stature.

Old Reliable
The silent partner of the Hill Folk is the Hillock Pony, what the Hill Folk generally call a Ponk. These scruffy looking ponies are short, little taller at the withers than the Hill Folk themselves. This small stature belies their hearty constitution, easy to feed natures, and stubborness. The Ponk can subsist on grasses whereas normal horses require a higher calorie blend of grains to support their diet. These grey, black, or roan ponies can be seen pulling plows in teams of 2, or pulling the stout Hill Folk wagons to market in teams of four to even six.

The Market
The Hill Folk are no fools. They take as much of their crafts as can be spared and cart them into human communities where they get a good price for their goods. Among themselves, the Hill Folk barter and trade. They use the human gold to buy things they themselves cannot produce. Metal goods are primary, but books are popular. The Hill Folk are a very literate people, teaching their children to read at a young age.

The Hobbits of Aterrizar