No matter where you go, there you are.
Times of This Halfling
In the simple rolling hills west of the Silverwood I was born. Not to an Elfish family with speed and grace. Not to a Dwarven family of strength and courage. Not even one of those Humans who seem to be sprouting up everywhere. Not me, I was born into a nice quiet Halfling family, close to the earth and at one with nature. Of all the races of this known world, I believe only the halfling has been successful in living, without destroying the world around them.
Now, I am not complaining about the other races, they all have their purpose in this world. In fact I have been studying them, I am constantly amazed by how different we all seem, yet the same also. My father, Herron, often told me that is why I will never become a good farmer. I guess he was right, after all, at age 16 I left home to see the world.
Now looking back, a 16 year old halfling running away from home to see the world, is not what I would call a good idea. Having never met another race or a dishonest person, I am lucky to be alive. It took me all of one day to find myself tied up in a bag being carried off to be someone’s dinner. As luck would have it, the first member of another race that I met, (thinking him a dwarf), turned out to be a gnoll. Let me tell ya, it is hard to get a conversation going with a creature that wants cook you. As I was making my peace with my god, I heard some screams. When the bag opened up to show me the sky, I found the gnoll dead and a long thin woman looking down at me. Instantly I knew this had to be one of the humans I had been told of. Nope, she introduced herself as Loriana Lightfeather, youngest daughter to Pothar Lightfeather, a lord of the Elven land I was intruding upon.
Loriana was and still is the sweetest woman I have ever met. She took me in to her world, and began teaching me more about life. It is amazing how much them elves learn, did you know they live very long lives? Soon I became smitten by her, yet how could a simple halfling make a wonderful woman like her happy. I was invited to stay in their family home as long as I wanted. Deciding it may be a good idea to learn more of life before going on my own again, I became a common fixture in the Lightfeather home. After a year of learning about the elven society, I decided to become a part of it instead of a guest.
Then began the next chapter of my life, learning to be a soldier. Yes halflings can be soldiers. And after seeing all the paintings and being told of their bravery in battle, I decided to model my fighting style after dwarves. I found that Loriana’s brother, Corthiar, was delighted to teach me. He actually traveled with dwarves for 20 years. Hum..., the axe. This took some time. But determined I was. With a few cuts and a lot of swelling I actually learned to fight ok. I also became good friends with Corthiar, who invited me to become a member of his house guard. He informed me that I may be a respectable fighter for my size, but my size and bravery would benefit his family well. Having no intentions of disappointing my friends, I accepted.
Soon my dreams were coming true. The House of Lightfeather is not an all-powerful family, but it had a decent standing in the elven community, and Pothar’s opinion was often sought when it came to making treaties. I got to travel with him on many a trip, to meet many people. So far I have met humans, kobolds, gnomes, and an ugly creature they called a half-orc. This half-orc went by the name of Doth, and strangely enough we became friends. Doth was what they called a ranger, all I know is that he traveled to many of the same places and was always happy to see me. He would put me on his shoulder and tell me of his travels.
One day a chance to travel far came along, to the dwarven mines to the north. Pother was asked to come north and help settle a argument between these dwarves and a group of elves from a far off place in the East. Pothar took just me and two other guards with him as we headed North. He insisted that he didn’t want to take to many people with him, as to not insult the people he was going to meet. I did not understand this, but I doubt anyone would confuse me with a wise man. As we neared the dwarven lands, we stopped to camp for the night. I was to stand the last watch, yet it never came. During the night they came, we all got up and fought. Even I was impressed with the skill I displayed. They were too many, I killed six of them, and still could not see my comrades though the thick pack of intruders. I heard Pothar scream, then everything went black.
When I awoke, I was chained to a cave wall with an ugly green-skinned creature trying to pull my pants down. I kept my pants, and gained an amazing new collection of bruises to prove it. Even though I survived that encounter, I found myself afraid to go to sleep.
After three days of no food and water I am getting weak. I will try to get his weapon the next time he tries.
It is getting dark now, that seems to be when the scraggly one I now refer to as Stink Face, gets his nerve up enough to attack me. One way or the other I will be free of him tonight. Either he dies or I do.
For the first time I hear other voices, maybe Pothar has survived and is coming to free me. Stink Face is running out of the cave, he looked scared. I hope that Pothar runs him through....
I must be confused, I think I see my brother coming, no, it is not my brother it is a halfling though. Oh bless the gods, I am being saved!
Cause of death: saving the party from the lich Markus cast the lightning bolt at. Captured, and most likely, killed.
Posted by Jim on February 1, 2003, 09:52 | Korin’s Journal | XPCs