Luiren

Luiren was known as the small kingdom of the halflings since its population was almost completely comprised of the hin. It was one of the two large hin kingdoms in Faerûn, the other being the land of Delmyr. The capital city of Luiren was the coastal city of Beluir, in the longitudinal center of the realm. The nation was flooded and known as the Gulf of Luiren during the century that followed the Spellplague.

"Don't expect to find a bed big enough to fit you, though. The halflings don't have many spaces for someone of your size. The Luiren stout and the bouqthi make up for any lack in physical accommodations. Stout is a type of ale, not a type of halfling. Bouqthi is a delicious pastry made in Luiren. My mouth waters every time I think about it. The people are a friendly bunch in Luiren. You can have a grand time there, as long as you keep your hand on your purse."

- An old mage to his apprentice

Description
Luiren was a nation on the shores of the Great Sea, nestled between Dambrath and Estagund. It was known for its green forests and verdant lands and sprawling and winding irrigated farmlands. The hin were masters of agriculture and they culturally worked together to overcome even the most dire adversity. As such, food-growing was quite fruitful even in the rockiest and least verdant areas, where in use, growing Luiren's grape crops. Halflings lived in small communities. Their cities were called "burrows" as their structures were not just above ground but also extended into tunnels across the hills, all dug out by families who lived within. Many of the taller structures in halfling cities were for the use of visiting "poor tall people" and those non-hin who elected to live in halfling communities.

After the Spallplague and the relatively short land recovery period, Luiren returned to its state of being a rural land. Hin were not in rush to rebuild big cities and enjoyed living in pastoral communities and market towns as the population slowly recovered. The calamitous strife did leave a long-lasting mark on Luiren. It taught halflings to "improve" their infrastructure, building wider and better bridges and roads.

Settlements
Luiren cities and towns had one third of all its buildings being collections of small caves with halfling-sized entryways. The subterranean homes with no windows helped hin control the sweltering temperatures. These structures were called "halfole." Communal buildings and places that served travelers typically stood above ground and had more tall-folk-friendly designs.

The furthest of Luiren's settlements is Deepburrow. It reached Upper Great Bhaerynden through a deep ravine that ran across the city in the Toadsquat Mountains' shadow on their northwestern side. Underneath, Deepburrow had access to extensive natural cavers that allowed halflings to mine and trade with the communities of the Underdark.

Geography
Luiren was a hot coastal country with about of coastline on the Great Sea. Most of the coastal area was made up of plains, but heavy forests took up the northern, northeastern, and western areas. The land of Luiren was a lowland with a large and deep Hambone Bay at its southern end's center. It was bordered by the Toadsquat Mountains to the north with the long Traders' Way ending in Luiren. A large forest called the Lluirwood encircled the farming lowlands within its band of thickly forested land that stretched for over  from east to west with its eastern part being a lush wet jungle. South of the Toadsquats was the Southern Lluirwood that closed off the country's western border. Between the Lluirwood and the Southern Lluirwood, on Luiren's western border was the Ammathvale, a small open valley, spanning roughly. Luiren's major wetland was the Mortik Swamp, on the Krenalir Peninsula, to the Hambone Bay's south. An elongated Isle of Quelthiir, a 100-mile-long and 10-miles-wide large sandbar, with low hills and sea grass with only the occasional stunted tree was considered part of Luiren. It sheltered the bay from the Great Sea's storms.

Climate
During the summer months the temperatures in Luiren could exceed. The summer heat and humidity were hard to handle by those not used to the south. Thankfully, constant breeze from the Great Sea made Luiren summers tolerable. Winter months were characterized by heavy downpours that made land travel and trade hard. Most caravans paused their terrestrial routes during the three rainy months. However, summer rains were beneficial for Luiren's fruit crops.

Flora & Fauna
Lluirwood was a wild forest of monstrous dangers of predatory and environmental nature. Luiren had a significant population of ebony trees. The region also had plantations of many fruits, including oranges, lemons, bananas, papayas, passion fruits as well as pineapples. All could be found between Beluir and Chethel. Rhubarb plants grew in the southern part of the Lluirwood. But not all trees foudn in Luiren were harmless vegetation. The dreaded dark trees inhabited the Shining South ever since they were created circa 1100s DR and they could be found in the Granuin Forest of Luiren.

Terrifying creatures known as the tall mouthers hunted for their favorite food – halflings, in the border wilderness of Luiren. A popular hin saying "he got mouthed," that meant an adventurer perished, was inspired by the tall mouthers.

Lurien was home to a small-numbered and reclusive humanoid species known as "marshwiggles," or sind. As name suggested, sindar lived in Luiren's and Veldorn swamplands. They avoided contact with outsiders and were known to rig complex alarms against outsiders in their habitats. The species was uninterested in trade or travel with other cultures.

Government
"As important as the Prince of Luiren," was a famous sarcastic saying Luiren. There never was a prince or a single ruler in the land. The land of Luiren and its approximate population of 840,000 was ruled by theocrat Faran Ferromar circa 1372 DR in a political system that could only be described as peaceful anarchy. Unlike other nations of the Realm, Luiren lacked central government. The number was reduced to just over 600,000 by the late 15 century DR, following the flooding during the Spellplague and the subsequent struggles after the waters receded.

The nation had little to no governmental or civic agencies simply because they were not needed, not wanted, and no hin would even be interested in working in such an organization. Each hin settlement governed itself independently from the wider nation. Each town had a mayor and a council of Elders, even though even these positions were not universal across Luiren. Elders were willing citizens older than 90 years old in charge of decision-making in the settlement, elected a mayor from their number, and selected the hin wardens to serve the community.

Laws
Luiren had a code of laws but it was open to interpretation. The only universally prosecutable deeds in the land of the hin were capital crimes. There was no established punishment for certain crimes. Thieves could be sent out into wilderness with their possessions confiscated or con artists could have their scams turned against them in a very ironic matter. One of the aforementioned capital offenses was murder of a halfling. Murderers were dealt with with harsh swiftness – with a noose and a tree.

Culture
Most outsiders had a perception that Luiren was a slow-moving countryside of greenery, pipeweed smoking, happy rotund halflings, ripe for conquest. Even though there was much truth in the bardic stories, travelers to Luiren were often surprised to find the locals adventurous and bold and not just the fat and quiet halflings one could find elsewhere. Hin of Luiren enjoyed "turning tables" on "poor tall people" who visited the realm. They intentionally provided tall guests with small furniture, gave them lodgings in buildings with low ceilings, and liked to talks loudly as slowly as if the tall people were mentally slower than the short folk. Many tall folk often took advantage of the hin and in turn, halflings threaten the the same. However, visitors who were polite, friendly, and open to spending their coin, were treated well by halflings of Luiren.

Luiren and had no upper class. The closest thing to what other regions considered upper class were wealthy merchant clans, or chakas. Almost the entire population of the nation consisted of lower class and a staggeringly large percentage of middle-class. All halflings of Luiren lived comfortably. Middle class hin were artisans, bakers, merchants, and similar professions.

Halflings of Luiren spoke Luiric and were talented woodcarvers. Hin were culturally polite even to those they disliked, even if an arrow in the back was later due. The most prominent cultural events in Luiren were its many festivals, especially the grand festivities in spring and fall. The annual spring festival celebrated the end of the three-month winter downpour and reopening of land trade. The fall festival was a three-days-long engagement that took place after the seasonal harvest is done. Outsiders thought the fall festivals to be the wildest celebration they've ever seen where "the food and drink fall from the sky."

Gnomes were thought to be busybodies by the halfling of Luiren. Dambraii human nobles were considered to be dimwitted and arrogant, while "as smart as a human," was sued and the direst of all hin insults. Hin thought people of Durpar to be sneaky scoundrels and Halruaans to be silly men who were ready to buy dirt as long as the label said "spell component."

Halflings in Luiren liked to proudly derive their family names from their occupations. Such family names as Brewer, Vintner, or Carver, were common.

Fashion
A stereotypical halfling schoolteacher in Luiren would wear a simple and proper combination of a long and black divided skirt, a bright and stiffly starched button-down long-sleeved blouse with a tall white collar. Long haired teachers kept their hair in severely tight buns.

Halflings of Luiren had a peculiar popular hair fashion, they tightly tied a single lock of hair with a ribbon.

Cuisine
"Only the baker makes the bread right," was a respected phrase in Luiren. Cooking was a highly regarded skill in Luiren, with wealthier individuals keeping a professional cook on the payroll and some becoming gourmet chefs themselves. Social custom dictated that a hin had to feed their guests well, invited or uninvited, and taste sensations or new culinary inventions could make their creator rich as they swept the country and became much in demand at festivals and other social gatherings. "Only the baker makes the bread right," was a respected phrase in Luiren.

Some hin, particularly in the priesthood, learnt to elevate their cooking skills to create healthy stews and nutritious soups which could aid in the natural healing process, or even cure diseases such as measles, malaria, or even more deadly strains such as smallpox or the plague. Some magical diseases could be cured, though such soups were not effective against either mummy rot or lycanthropy, nor the common cold. The secrets of such cooking were closely guarded and it was rare for any outsiders to be taught the skills necessary, which were could take years to master. Luiren spring cheese was said to be a key ingredient in some of the recipes. It was also used to make molten cheese fondue.

Among some of the foods native to Luiren was Harelveauplum sauce sweet, spicy, and acidic condiment cooked with plums and thello-fruit.

Apart from hearty foods and sweet confections, hin of Luiren knew how to brew and distill and liked strong drinks. Luiren Rivengut was a notoriously strong distilled and aged clear whiskey favored by many hin of Luiren and beyond. Luiren also produced fine ale which was exported as far as the city of Westgate and quality stout, found as far as Cormyr. Luiren's Best was a rare export but it's quality and scarcity made it well sought after as far north as the City of Splendors, Waterdeep. Oldest Ancient Stout was an accidentally uncovered libation, sealed in an ancient flask, found in Luiren by an industrious hin some years before the late 14 century DR. The stout was unspoiled and the recipe for the drink was found along the flask. With time, the drink became a valuable commodity produced only in the hin nation.

Some of the pother local specialty foods included dried apricots, salbread – a type of crusty travel-bread made with lemon and orange peel and bouqthi – a popular rhubarb sugared pastry beloved by locals and visitors alike. There existed hundreds of bouqthi recipes and each was though to be the best. Arguments over bouqthi often led to fisticuffs among halflings.

Religion
To no surprise, halflings of Luiren worshiped Yondalla's Children, the hin pantheon, including Arvoreen, Brandobaris, Cyrrollalee, Sheela Peryroyl, Urogalan, and Yondalla Despite not being very religious folk, hin also venerated Silvanus, the Oakfather, and Shalamora, who was Tymora in her halfling aspect – the most prominent deity in Luiren in the early-to-mid 14 century DR. Following the Time of Troubles, specialty priests of Arvoreen and Yondalla started appearing in Luiren, but remained quite rare for several years that followed.

Trade
"Luiren Rivengut. Best whiskey there is."

- Harper "Bard" Olive Ruskettle

Lurien had wide-reaching trade-relationships. Among the hin nation's Shining South neighbors, merchants from Luiren often were found along the Halruaan sea shores. Food items were the main export from Luiren in Halruaa. Imported goods were arriving to Luiren via the Trader's Way route and by sea, including goods and traders of Dambrath. Him merchants were fiercely competitive and ruthless in their dealings with Dambrath, from where goods from Luiren traveled across Faerûn.

Luiren was a major exporter of fruits, vegetables, and other produce, sending out thousands boat-fulls of goods out to the rest of Faerûn. Much of produce consumed across the Sword Coast came from Luiren. Luiren was also known as a major exporter of foodstuffs like Luiren spring cheese, salcake, alcohol, such as beers, fine ales, stouts, and overly potent Luiren Rivengut. During the century of the Spellplague, survivors of the flooding were known to create and export spiced cheeses. Fruits like bananas were often sold to neighboring nations of Durpar and Halruaa.

Luiren was known for its pottery as early as the 900 DR. Halfling pottery was known for its utility, decorative pots and dishes adorned with lapis and malachite were rare. Such decorative items were traced to a certain period in Luiren's history circa 750-830 DR. Brown-red clay pottery created outside that century was bottom-heavy and generally simple in design. They were glazed in ochre or bright green finish. The hin of Luiren also produced ebony wood, exported as far as the Hordelands.

Halfling artificers from Luiren received gainful employ in the nearby wizardly nation of Halruaa where their sharp minds and small hands were invaluable when handling tiny gears of clockwork devices. In the late 14 century DR, they were employed by the nation's Queen Beatrix.

Luiren was among several other welcoming southern countries where types of traveling entertainers often wintered, may taking on several month-long performing contracts, some art and craft jobs, or other "winter jobs."

Commerce
Luiren did not have its own currency. The country had several currencies of the Shining Lands in rotation: Durparian vellim, Dambraii shebs and crints, and Halruan electrum skie. However, bartering was the most common form of commerce with no need of currency. Many hin could spend years without seeing a single coin.

Defenses
Historically, ancient hin tribes of southern Luiren used a unique type of weapon called spindle-disks. The weapon was constructed using rock crystal shaped into two razor sharp disks about a human finger's size. The two crystal disks were put on a string and flicked towards the opponent, making the disks spin forward to deal damage and then roll back towards the halfling. By the mid-14 century DR the weapon was mostly forgotten about apart from being described in books.

Brage individuals among Luiren's best often joined city watch, including the capital city's Beluir Watch, members of which were known for their alertness and courage. A typical member of the Beluir Watch served just for a few years before moving on to a different vocation, yet many stayed with the Watch for a life time. Those who served for five years were rewarded with enchanted cloaks of the Beluir Watch, each was inscribed with words of Yondalla, a halfling deity, in Luiric, saying "Lead By Example." Luiren shortbows were another enchanted item specific to the hin defenders of Luiren. These shortbow were ensorcelled with seeking magics.

Outside of the Beluir Watch, hin who kept peace and provided community with security were called warders, selected from pools of willing candidate by the local Elders. Wardens wore no identifiable uniforms and were capable fighters and thieves who defended locals from brigands and monsters. The only identifiable part of a warden's outfit was a simple brown hat with a single feather, but it could very in different villages. Most preferred ranged combat, avoiding bodily harm, using shortbows, slings, and darts.

History
"As the halflings in Luiren say, "From perils come pearls and power." I've seen my share of danger."

- Harper "Bard" Olive Ruskettle

Many hin in Faerûn believed that Luiren was the Small Folk's ancestral home and their rich oral tradition supported that claim. However, their true origins were not known. Scholars who researched luiren's archeology were able to determine that Luiren, nor other old hin communities were older than 12 centuries as of the 14 century DR. Halfling populations in Calimshan greatly predated the first evidence of Luiren's existence.

Luiren oral history passed from generation to generation talked about the founding of the hin nation, long before the City of Song, Myth Drannor far to the north fell. Halflings were said to had arrived by the Hambone Bay to a wild forested land that bordered mountains populated by ogres. This first hin community was forced to regularly defend itself from ogres' attacks. During that time, Kaldair Swiftfoot, later thought to be an avatar of Brandobaris, The Irrepressible Scamp, encountered an avatar of Vaprak the Destroyer, an ogre deity. Kaldair led Vaprak on a ten-day-long chase across trap-filled woodlands. Subsequently, Vaprak collapsed exhausted and Kaldair Swiftfoot proceeded to mock the lumbering avatar. Infuriated, Vaprak started throwing uprooted trees at Kaldair. This gave the nimble halfling an idea, he challenged Vaprak to uproot a tree not breaking a single root in the process. They bed on the forest that surrounded the land of the future Luiren. Vaprak went first and ripped a large tree out of the ground with its roots broken. Kaldair Swiftfoot, on his turn, simply pulled a young sapling out of the ground, gently revealing intact roots to the giant. Vaprak conceded and led his ogres away from the woods leaving the country to the halflings. And so Luiren was founded. Or so a story went.

Luiren's history was ripe with conquests. Over the many centuries of its existence Luiren was also conquered by Estagund, and once by monstrous inhabitants of Veldorn. All the conquests had one thing in common: conquerers always underestimated hin perseverance and natural knack foe mischief. In the, halflings of Luiren were quickly enslaved by a fellow Shining South nation of Dambrath under the leadership of the warchief Reinhar I. Many hin were carried away while the rest of the nation retreated deep into their burrows and remained largely out of sight, waiting the conquerors out. In a few years, Dambrath abandoned Luiren, retreating back to defend their homes from cultists of Loviatar. Eventually, most slaves escaped captivity and returned home while the rest remained within Dambrath, subsequently forging new lives there.

Some of the older historic events in Luiren included a period of time, long before the 14 century DR, when the country was almost wiped out by a secret invasion of doppelganger, by some accords, because halflings were too slow to work through their pastoral lives and secluded quiet hamlets. It was said that Luiren ended up hiring mercenaries and wizards to eradicate the quiet invasion and save the nation.

By the late 14 century DR, Luiren was a floursihng prosperous nation that enriched itself thanks to trade with Durpar, the biggest importer of halflings' goods. Through that relationship, Luiren sheltered itself from any potential conquest attempts by Dambrath.

Circa the, Sir Ardent Raphiel of Ravens Bluff was put in touch with elders of Luiren with the help of the city's Wizard Guild's Dean of Conjuration, Jerrod Korbandor. Hous Raphiel extended a job offer to hin immigrants working in Raphiel farmalands, by 1370 DR, several halfling families had already relocated to the Vast.

In events recent to the late 14 century DR, Luiren faced at least two major invasion attempts: one by a pirate fleet that tried to plunder the nation's coastal settlements, and the other came in the form of normal army of Shaar. Both invasions were stopped though similar means, as a force of Halruaan mages appeared out of nowhere to to destroy the invaders, only to disappear into the thin air just as swiftly and unexpectedly. Around the same time, the yuan-ti House Jennestas began abducting halflings of Luiren to perform unspeakable experiments on them, through a portal in the Southern Lluirwood that connected Luiren with the southern Black Jungles. Another short-lived strife came when a priest of Umberlee sent a fiendish dire shark to attack coastal towns in Luiren that refused to pay tithe to the evil goddess of the seas.

During the Spellplague of the, the entirety of Luiren was believed to be submerged in the Great Sea and was called the Gulf of Luiren. However, as it became known at a later date, halfling communities had survived as island redoubts. After the calamitous event ended, the waters began to recede and the stories of the land of hin's survival traveled north. The years during and after the flooding were tough for the nation. Many died during the century that followed the Spellplague. Even though Luiren largely recovered after the waters returned the nation to its former state, it still suffered from poor harvests from the salted soil across its once abundant farmlands. Firstly, hin were masters agrarians and they healed the damage relatively fast; secondly, generous halfling culture knew how to work together in face of adversity. By the late 15 century DR, Luiren's halfling gradually decreased salt in the soil by planting crops that bound and absorbed excessive salt, regaining the country's arable lands.

Rumors & Legends

 * An old hin farmer folktale claimed that albino halflings were touched by deity Auril, The Queen of Cold and Frost, which sometimes led to albinos being ostracized buy parts of rural hin communities.
 * Redcaps – evil fey creatures were know to inhabit the wilderness of Luiren. Halflings told fairytales that redcaps were hin who committed terrible crimes of betrayal and became cursed with murderous rage.

Notable Locations

 * Isle of Quelthiir: A desolate island off the coast of the mainland.
 * Luirenstrand: A bay in the Great Sea protected by the Isle of Quelthiir.
 * Lluirwood: A dense forest that encompassed the northern border of Luiren.
 * Mortick Swamp: The only swamp in the region that was inhabited by merrow and scrags.
 * Southern Lluirwood: A forest making up the Luiren/Dambrath border.

Notable Settlements

 * Beluir: The capital of Luiren.
 * Chethel: One of Luiren's most prolific mercantile cities.
 * Crimel
 * Shoun: A port town southeast of the Lluirwood.
 * Thruldar: A ruined city that was inhabited by ghostwise halflings.

Notable Inhabitants
Like in all other halfling communities, hin of Luiren consisted of three ethnic groups: hairfeet, stouts, and tallfellows. Within the halfling communities, this clarification was was nothing but pedantry and most halflings hand-waved the differences between the three or sage's question about hairfeet being identified as the original racial stock of the Small Folk that dated back to the hin of ancient Calimshan. Halflings who were residing in Calimshan in the 14 century DR had some anthropological evidence that stouts had some dwarven blood, and tallfellows were said to have some elven ancestry. One notable trait among all Luiren hin were pointed-ears. It was was genetically recessive and was virtually nonexistent outside Luiren, bred out in the very next generation after leaving the southern lands of the hin.

Gnomes were a rare sight in Luiren. Toadstool Mountains were home to several humble dwarven communities and the Lluirwood hid homes of some elves who had no interest dealing with their halfling neighbors.

Notable Organizations

 * Hin Fist was monastic order from Luiren in the mid–14 and 15 centuries DR.
 * Keepers of the Vigilant Guardian, the defenders of hin communities, usually clerics or ranger-paladins dedicated to Arvoreen, The Vigilant Guardian.
 * Marchwardens, hin scouts of Luiren that kept watch over the ogre populations and preventing invasions from the Lluirwood and the Toadsquats.
 * Shields of Yondalla, a paladin order dedicated to Yondalla.

Notable Families

 * Smokardin, the halfling clan, responsible for brewing Luiren's Best.

Notable Individuals

 * Binbollar Clambake, a halfling merchant of Luiren of some renown.
 * Foxilon Cardluck, a companion of Dwalimar Omen who left Luiren at a young age and eventually ended up aboard the Realms Master in the 14 century DR.
 * Gildmak Sholapur, the leader of the family that brewed famed Luiren stout.
 * Kro Downybeard, the proprietor of Downybeard Tobacconist in Waterdeep in the late 14 century DR, was an immigrant from Lurien.
 * Olive Ruskettle, a famous Harper agent and ally of the hero Alias of the Azure Bonds, claimed to had come from the land of Luiren sometime before the mid-14 century DR.

Interactive Map
An interactive map of Luiren. Citations can be found.