The Ghostwise Halflings
- NPC Subrace -
Regions: Chondalwood, Ghostwise Halfling.
Racial Feats: Blooded, Survival.
Racial Prestige Class: Warsling Sniper.
The ghostwise are easily the most uncommon of the three subraces of halfling living in Faerûn. They are elusive and do not welcome strangers to their lands. Instead, they prefer to pursue a nomadic way of life within their adopted homeland, the Chondalwood, associating mainly with those of their own clan. Those who seek out the ghostwise most often fail to achieve their goal; the fortunate among them live to regret their intrusion into hin territory.
HistoryThe history of the ghostwise halflings is detailed in the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting (see page 196).
OutlookThe defining characteristic of the ghostwise halflings is their reverence for and devotion to their clans. Family is important to most halflings and halfling communities, but the ghostwise hin regard the familial bond with a degree of respect some might call obsession. Following their self-imposed exile from Luiren and resettlement in the Chondalwood, the ghostwise congregated into groups demarcated along family lines. Those hin without surviving family joined one of these groups. As the hin pursued their quest for atonement, their clan system evolved into the all-encompassing social structure it is today.
Ghostwise Halfling CharactersMany ghostwise halflings are barbarians, but rogues, druids, rangers, and clerics are also common.
Favored Class: Barbarian. As clannish nomads, ghostwise halflings have little need for society's trappings, but the barbarian's skills and class features are essential to survival in their forest homes.
Ghostwise Halfling SocietyBecause clan is the focus of the ghostwise culture, it is not surprising to find it the central factor in their society as well. The wanderlust that is one of the most readily discernible traits of both the lightfoot and strongheart subraces still survives in the ghostwise, but on a more limited scale. The nomadic wanderings of the ghostwise clans are confined almost exclusively to the Chondalwood and its environs, where the few remaining survivors of the Ghost Wars settled after departing their native homeland of Luiren.
Each clan of ghostwise halflings has adopted a segment of the Chondalwood as its territory. Clan territories vary in size from less than fifty to several hundred square miles. The clan travels together as its leader directs. A number of factors influence exactly where the clan travels within its territory, including the presence or absence of hostile creatures and the relative abundance of game. There is ample room in the vast forest for all the ghostwise halfling clans, and so their territories are only loosely defined.
Many clans designate a natural feature - a distinctive rock, a lightning-struck tree, a stretch of a particular stream - as the center of their territory and base their wanderings on their relative distance from this place. Some clans carry a tiny portion of this central feature with them as they travel, to reinforce their spiritual connection with their territory and their homeland. Such tokens might take the form of clay vials filled with stream water, small leather pouches filled with dirt from a specific spot, small bits of rock broken from a boulder and worn as a necklace, or even a bit of tree bark carried in the hallowed end of a deer's antler.
Among these clans, such tokens are considered a sacred charge: To lose or misplace one is a mistake requiring that the transgressor atone in a manner designated by the clan leader. If the halfling who makes the error is a cleric or druid, the penance is assigned by a representative of his faith. The act of atonement - often a quest or other dangerous mission or errand - must be completed successfully before the halfling may obtain another portion of the clan's central feature. Willfully destroying a clan token is a grievous crime, punishable by exile (a fate far worse than death in the culture of the ghostwise halflings). The only permissible use of the tokens is when a member of the clan falls in battle. In that event, all nearby hin who share the same tribe as the fallen scatter their tokens, be they wood, water, or stone, around the corpse. The hin believe that doing so calls the attention of He Who Must Be and ensures that no fell spirits will disturb the body of their fallen clan member until it can be attended to properly. The ghostwise hin clans cremate their dead rather than inter them.
While clans keep to themselves, they do not shun one another when they meet in their travels. Instead, they exchange news and information about the forests' conditions and creatures. Indeed, the matriarchs and patriarchs who lead the clans often meet formally to discuss matters of mutual interest and importance. Multiple clans cooperate for the purpose of mutual defense when they are threatened by a common enemy, whether it be a band of destructive humanoids or a marauding band of trolls.
Language and LiteracyBecause of their peculiar racial talent (telepathy), the ghostwise hin do not learn tongues other than their own with as much frequency as other races. The matriarchs and patriarchs of the various clans are apt to learn, in addition to their native language, Chondathan and Sylvan, while clerics and druids most commonly express an interest in Sylvan and sometimes Gnoll. The typical ghostwise clan member, however, speaks only those languages that the race receives automatically (Common, Halfling, and regional).
No ghostwise are literate, except for individuals with player character classes other than barbarian.
Abilities and Racial FeaturesGhostwise Hins have all the halfling racial traits listed in the Player's Handbook (see first post) except as follows:
Ghostwise Halfling Magic and LoreMost ghostwise halfling spellcasters are clerics or druids - sorcerers and bars are rare, and wizards more so because so few ghostwise regularly use a written language.
Spells and SpellcastingLike the wild elves, ghostwise halflings sometimes add extra components to their spells to further emphasize their connection to the land. Thus they take the Primitive spellcaster feat.Ghostwise halflings favor divination spells that help them safely learn about threats beyond their land, and illusion spells that keep them well-hidden.
Ghostwise Halfling DeitiesThe ghostwise acknowledge and give due respect to all the deities in the halfling pantheon. Each clan, however, tends to adopt one specific halfling deity as its patron and venerates that power above all others. Because of their nomadic lifestyle, the ghostwise hin do not build permanent temples to the gods. Rather, they maintain small shrines throughout the Chondalwood and carry symbols of their clan's patron with them as they wander the reaches of the forest. Two deities are of special significance to the ghostwise: Sheela Peryroyl and Urogalan.
The Green Children, as the clerics of the Watchful Mother are called, encourage the ghostwise clans to maintain a harmonious relationship with their woodland home. They do their best to ensure that the hin treat the forest with the respect it deserves. The druids among Sheela's clergy are frequently at odds with the more aggressively militant druids dwelling in the Chondalwood and warn the clans that associating with such individuals could lead the ghostwise to commit the same grave error for which they are still trying to atone.
Worshipers who select He Who Must Be as their patron deity are more common among the ghostwise than among the other halfling subraces. During their long period of atonement, the hin of the Chondalwood looked to Urogalan for guidance, and they strove to be worthy of his final judgment. To this day, adventurer and travelers venturing through the great forest speak of the disturbing sounds they sometimes hear in the forest depths: quiet, somber chanting and drumming that rises and falls throughout the length of an eveining in eerie counterpoint to the natural sounds of the wood. Even those who recognize this noise as the ghostwise hin ceremony in honor of Urogalan find it distributing.
Relations with Other RacesMost ghostwise hin would prefer not to have relations with other humanoid races unless it's absolutely necessary and clearly to the benefit of the clan. Encounters that cannot be avoided must be tolerated with as much patience as the clan can muster, and they do not bother to mask their distrust of outsiders. No ghostwise halfling will, under any circumstances, abuse or attack a guest who has the sanction of the clans matriarch or patriarch: To do so would be an unforgivable offense against the clan's honor. All the clans give a wide berth to the nation of wild elves that lies within the Chondalwood. The hin don't know a great deal about the elves, and they don't want to. For their part, the wild elves respect the ghostwise desire for privacy and leave the clans to their own devices.
The hin do sometimes seek out adventuring parties that enter the Chondalwood, however, particularly those that seem intent on exploring one of the many old Chondathan ruins that have been swallowed up by the ever-expanding forest. The hin have learned through bitter experience that such expeditions frequently unleash havoc on the wood and any nearby clans in the form of whatever horrors were waiting quiescent beneath those ruins before being stirred up by adventurers. Certain clans, particularly those that have suffered because of the blunderings of adventuring companies, sometimes attempt to prevent an y further difficulty by intercepting and harassing expeditionary groups. Clans that boast a company of nightgliders among their number often assign some of the mounted warriors the task of discouraging intruders from entering any ruins or dungeons located within the clan's chosen territory.
This is not to say that all ghostwise halfling clans share identical racial likes and dislikes. Some clans get on well with many groups of creatures living in or near their territory. But on the whole ghostwise halflings are wary first and accepting only after experience has taught them that a particular group of outsiders can be trusted.
Ghostwise Halfling EquipmentGhostwise clan camps have all the variety of gear that one would expect from a nomadic culture: tents, hunting weapons, religious icons, and so on. Almost everything a ghostwise halfling owns can be carried on his back.
Iconic Item: Ghostwise halflings construct and set footsaw traps to both protect the Chondalwood from intruders and ensnare food for the clan.
Animals and PetsIn addition to the giant owls ridden by the nightgliders, ghostwise halflings also associate with several other types of creatures found in the Chondalwood.
Dire Bats: A few adventuring parties who have returned recently from expeditions to the deeper parts of the Chondalwood have claimed that they were attacked by groups of ghostwise halflings mounted not on giant owls but dire bats. According to these rumors, the bat-mounted hin were of a particularly aggressive and hostile demeanor, giving rise to the speculation that perhaps not every trace of feral bloodlust has been extinguished among the ghostwise clans.
Tressym: The ghostwise hin consider these strange creatures to be emblematic of cunning and stealth, much as the lightfoot halflings admire the fox. Ghostwise halfling sorcerers and wizards sometimes select these winged felines as familiars. Occasionally, a tressym allows itself to become the animal companion of a good-aligned ghostwise druid or the partially domesticated associate of a clan matriarch or patriarch.
Source: Forgotten Realms: Races of Faerûn