Lightfoot halfling

Lightfoot halflings were the most common type of halflings seen in the world, in large part due to their famous wanderlust, which set them apart from the relatively sedentary ghostwise and strongheart halflings. Lightfoots were most comfortable living alongside other cultures, even adopting their cultural practices, right down to their deities.

Description
A typical lightfoot halfling stood around and weighed around. Their skin colors ranged from light pink to slightly reddish or bronze, and their hair color was typically auburn, brown or black.

Males usually wore their hair short on the sides, often with a mullet or bowl cut. Facial hair among males was relatively rare, with most sporting sideburns or the occasional beard, though it was more common in extremely old halflings. Females rarely allowed their hair to grow beyond shoulder length. When not adventuring or entertaining others, halflings preferred simple, well-made clothes that were comfortable to wear yet looked attractive.

Personality
Lights were among the most affable and good-natured of halflings.

The impression a lightfoot halfling always tried to project was that of a mirthful, friendly individual who was always interested in making new friends. Sometimes this light-hearted attitude was genuine, but other times it was a facade to lull people into a false sense of security so that they might reveal secrets that would benefit the halfling. Halflings were extremely social towards their own kind and tended to form neighborhoods within cities they inhabited, both for companionship and for mutual protection. While not exactly greedy, halflings did enjoy wealth and respected the power and pleasures that it could bring. However, they were careful not to let greed compromise themselves or their society. In addition to information gathering, many halflings became collectors of different objects, ranging from mundane items like books or weapons to more exotic interests such as artifacts and other ancient secrets.

Spellcasting
Lightfoots societies did not invest in magic nearly as much as strongheart halflings, but there were still many spellcasters among them. In terms of spells, lightfoots tended to favor those that offered great mobility &mdash; expeditious retreat, fly, and haste to name a few &mdash; or those that weakened their foes. Evard's black tentacles and a variety of spells with polymorph-effects were also common among their spellcasters.

Lightfoots that specialized in travel-based magic became known as Hin Wandermages. In addition those previously listed travel spells, Hin Wandermages typically knew the following &mdash; air walk, endurance, ethereal jaunt, etherealness, find the path, freedom of movement, gate, mount, open/close, phantom steed, plane shift, refuge, shadow walk, teleport, teleport without error, teleportation circle, transport via plants, water breathing, wind walk, and word of recall.

Combat
Lightfoots preferred to fight defensively and were skilled in the art of stealth. They tactics were similar to elves, though they emphasized being concealed and taking cover more than mobility, taking shots at their foes from afar. Due to their skillset this sub-race of halflings were often bards, rogues, and warsling snipers. Though the profession of a fighters was equally encouraged and even took to being adventuring druids. Warslinger snipers were typically the first line of defense for their communities.

Equipment
Lightfoots often wore studded leather armor. They typically fought with longswords as well as light crossbows, shortbows, and slings of masterwork quality. They often fired skiprocks from their slings, though were just as likely to toss them by hand. Due to their size, there were many weapons that lightfoots could not wield effectively.

In terms of magic items a lightfoot could often be found in possession of a bag of holding, a carpet of flying, Heward's handy haversack, hornblades, and the bird-variation of Quaal's feather token.

Tallfellows
The tactics and weaponry of tallfellows were largely similar to those of other lightfoots. However, they were also known to fight with spears, and small lances. With these weapons they favored taking porcupine-like formations. They often served in armies as light lancers or horseback archers, typically mounted atop ponies or very rarely dire wolves.

History
Most lightfoot halflings in the Realms could trace their lineage back to a tribe that ruled a great kingdom in the land of Luiren.

In -62 DR, the war chief of a lightfoot tribe in the Luiren forest of Lluirwood allied with a strongheart hunter named Chad against the land's local ghostwise. This culminated in the Hin Ghostwars. Many within the tribe were horrified by the actions taken by Chad and his fellow stronghearts during this conflict. Thus, following the Hin Ghostwars the members of this tribe and a majority of Luiren's lightfoot population emigrated all across the North, Northwest, and Northeastern reaches of Faerûn. Some scholars speculated that they were unable to find a specific area to call their new homeland, over time culminating in their race's penchant for wandering.

In 1371 DR, sages studying the halfling diaspora in Calimshan speculated that tallfellows had elven ancestry. In evidence of their theory, they cited old elven records from Wealdath that told of runaway halfling slaves who took refuge in the Darthiir Wood and merged with the elven communities there-in for several generations before eventually leaving to found their own.

In 1372 DR, a group of lightfoots living in the Underdark city of Deepburrow allied with gold dwarf spelunkers to map out an underground passage between the city and the Great Rift.

Varieties
Tallfellow halflings were lightfoots native to the planet of Oerth and Greyspace. On Toril they were only known to be found in Calimshan and a fertile stretch of land in Damara known as the Halfling Downs.

The builds of tallfellows was rather rare among halfling races, as well as other lightfoots. They had light bones, slimmer bodies, as well as fairer complexions and hair. They also typically were taller, growing to heights of. Their feet were covered in sparse hairs.

Some described their appearance as being very elven-like. Some sages on Toril, who studied those in Calimshan, speculated that they in fact had traces of elven ancestry. In addition, they were more perceptive than other lightfoots, in a similar manner to elves, though less athletic. They also had shorter lifespans, averaging 180 years.

Tallfellows tended to wear their hair long, sometimes with small caps that were brightly colored. They generally shunned footwear and they tended to wear clothes with yellow, brown, green, or tan shades, feeling that such colors allowed them to better hide within their woodland homes. Through the use of unique dyes they developed several vibrant shades of green.

Society
Lightfoots formed tight-knit communities, especially in the cities of other races. Their clans were made up of several extended families. Members of such communities often packed up and collectively moved together to locations that offered new or better opportunities. Some communities just moved regularly, embracing a nomadic lifestyle. They often kept foxes as pets, admiring their stealthiness and cunning, as well as large and powerful dogs.

Lightfoots often took up the profession of a craftsman, entertainer, or merchant.

Much like their kin, tallfellows tended to be entertainers (musicians) or craftsmen, engaging in jobs such as carving and pipesmithing. But they were particularly renowned for being skilled carpenters. Other tallfellows were known to work as cheese-makers, dairy farmers, hunters, loggers, scouts, sheperds, and stablemen. They tended to be better skilled at farming than stout halflings.

Diet
Much like other halflings, tallfellows were an omnivorous people. They loved halfling fare of breads, fruits, vegetables, and the concessional pheasant. They often foraged for berries, nuts, roots, and wild grain.

Homelands
Lightfoots typically lived in warm plains. They were, by nature, wanderers, and so could rarely be found tied down to one place for very long. Typically, lightfoot halfling clans moved from one area to another rapidly, staying in one place rarely more than a year or two. There were exceptions to this rule, however, and in spite of their curiosity and adventurousness, some halflings were drawn to their ancestral homeland of Luiren before its destruction. Others merely settled more permanently in some foreign land, usually human. Still, it could not truly be said that lightfoot halflings had any land of their own; instead, they called the whole world their home.

In terms of regions the lightfoot halfling were often found in the lands of Chessenta, Chondath, Damara, the Sword Coast North, and the Western Heartlands.

Tallfellows were known to inhabit temperate forests or hills, typically in above-ground inside spacious wooden houses with many windows. and sometimes in hollowed out trees. Like many halflings they tended to keep their windows open, in order to allow for fresh air, and tallfellow homes were often constructed in such a way to take advantage of areas where gentle breezes were common. They also typically had cellars for storage that they would relax in during hot summer days.

Languages
Lightfoots typically knew Common, Halfling. Those who spent lives wandering picked up many regional and widely spread languages. Some even knew how to speak Goblin. The majority of their sub-race as a whole were literate.

In addition to knowing Common and the Halfling language, tallfellows typically knew how to speak Elvish. Some tallfellows even knew how to speak Gnomish, Kentaur, and the language of Dryads.

Religions
Like other halflings, the patron deity of lightfoots was the goddess Yondalla. Her faith was popular among both sedentary and nomadic lightfoots. The latter also tended to favor the halfling god Brandobaris, as they considered his outlook on life to be realistic and good-humored. Cyrrollalee was widely popular in later generations, taking to her promises of a new homeland and greater respect from other races.

Out of all halflings, lightfoots were the most likely to worship gods outside of the halfling pantheon.

Tallfellows typically worshiped the halfing deities Arvoreen, Brandobaris, Cyrrollalee, Sheela Peryroyl, Urogalan, and Yondalla. Others were known to sometimes pay homage to individual deities of the Seldarine pantheon, such as those who lived in or near elven woods &mdash; they paid homage to Rillifane Rallathil.

Relationships
Due to their wanderlust nature, lightfoots could often be seen dwelling alongside other races. They were adept at fitting into most communities, including elven, dwarven, human, and gnomish. There they did their best to make themselves seem valuable and welcomed. They were most frequently found living in or around human societies, as the ever-changing nature of that race's societies allowed for easy exploitation.

Some lightfoots assimilated into the communities they settled in, partially or wholly adopting the local majority race's beliefs and views about the world. Those who spent their lives wandering often held an amalgamation of outlooks from the places they had been. But some acted antithetical to how one would expect of them, adamantly retaining their distinctive lightfoot point of view as they saw it as being what set them apart from other races and halfling sub-races.

Tallfellows particularly had very friendly relationships with elves on Oerth and elsewhere, greatly enjoying their company. Their attitude towards dark elves was generally neutral. Some tallfellows could even be found living in elven communities, or in villages close to them that engaged in active trade, while others lived close to humans. In at least one kingdom on Oerth, they even lived peacefully alongside stone giants.

Notable Lightfoots

 * Sengal, a feral lightfoot druid of Malar afflicted with the condition of werewolf lycanthropy.