So you've made a
Bow or blade,
You've taken it to war,
A smaller prize
Inside it lies,
For truly less is more.

Halfling Ditty

Halfling Alchemist

Splinter - All Splinters except the Burning Lands

Set - Promo - Special Airdrop Exclusive

Class - Range-attacking Halving Sorcerer

Size - As the name implies, Halflings are just under half the size of humans, with heads that come up to the belly of an average man. They do not move with the grace of Elves, and they do not possess the grit and brute strength of Kobolds, so they were immediately underestimated when they entered the battle arena as a new warrior card to be summoned. However, the Halfling Alchemists very quickly earned the respect they have since been given by what they are able to do to their enemies, no matter the size. Rather than seeing their short stature as an obstacle, they regard it as a divine blessing, and rather than looking up to their peers, they force them down to halfling level through their complex sorceries.

Lifespan - The only Halfling Alchemists who are summoned to tournaments are young, or at least they have the appearance of being young. The preachers of the Halflings claim that through their halving arts, they have discovered anti-aging secrets that extend their lives to far more than doubling. The only reason that the Dragons have not attempted to steal these secrets (so far) is that they are still skeptical. Once they have witnessed the first generation of Halflings outliving human, naga and Dragon, the Gloridax will certainly show more interest, but not enough about the small race is yet known.

Weapon - Halflings use weapons of all makes and styles, but they are all half-sized. This is not done simply out of necessity to meet their size. Many of the Halflings are strong enough to wield full-sized swords or crossbows, but none can argue that they would be better off doing so. Like their tools and people, all Halfling weapons are halved by Alchemists through a sacred rite of Aether Shen. The performing of this ritual doesn’t only decrease the size of a weapon to half, but increases the weapon’s power exponentially. There is not a single scientist in the Splinterlands who has uncovered how this process actually works, but there is no denying that the halved swords of Halfling knights can easily lop the leg from a mountain troll in a single swing. It is a verifiable fact that the halved bows of the Halfling archers can loose an arrow three times further than arrows loosed by the most skilled full-sized archers in the land. Their halved pocketknives can cut down trees, and you better not be anywhere near where one of their halved grenades is thrown.

Habitat - Halflings appeared in the Splinterlands only a few years ago, and most people first assumed they were refugees like so many others who had fled from the nameless conflicts on the other side of the world. As the Halfling people spread throughout most Splinters, it quickly came to be known that this was not the case. They were driven from their homes, but those homes were under the surface of the Raysco Range of Mortis, where they emerged from the Monster Mountain gate in a massive caravan. This was a migration of the entire population of Halflings from a place deep under the Planet’s crust called the Strite, where they had lived comfortably for countless generations. After emergence into Mortis, they first found the Dark Eternal city of Galzur. In exchange for an abundance of Halfling weaponry, the Dark Eternals there granted them passage on the black ships to anywhere they wanted to sail in the Splinterlands. The Halflings took the opportunity to split into many smaller groups and spread throughout the Splinters. Because of this spreading out of the people, it is now assumed that they have made a powerful enemy from the home of their origin and that they are still hiding from it. The Burning Lands is the only Splinter that has not allowed them to settle, due to its extreme overpopulation problem. Besides the Fire Splinter, they have settled in most corners of the Splintral world, causing few problems (if any) and enriching the world around them no matter where they live.

Diet - Halflings love to eat, and they are extremely adventurous eaters. This is why they have been able to mingle so easily with all populations of the Splinterlands. The cusinists of Draykh-Nahka adore creating dishes for them because they are as a result showered with praise. The chefs of ΛZMΛRÉ are endlessly amazed that the Halflings can eat some of the harshest plates available in the Water Splinter, and that they do it with a smile then request seconds. If you meet a Halfling Alchemist perchance in a pub or tavern on your travels, chances are he will be telling a story about some of the most delicious food he has ever tasted. No matter where they are from, cooks of the Splinterlands can agree that feeding Halflings is incredibly enjoyable. The only trouble is when they meet a cook who is exceedingly polite; a small group of Halflings can eat in quantities vast enough to deplete the winter food storage of an entire family in a week, and they’ll do it for the sheer love of eating. It is a truly marvelous phenomenon that they are all so trim and healthy.

Allies - Wherever they have traveled, Halflings have made friends. They have been especially well accepted by the Lyverian kingdom of Anumün, where builders have even created several three taverns in their size as a tribute of respect. These taverns are an amusing sight to behold as you walk down the Lyverian street and pass one, but they show people of all sizes a delightfully good time every evening. Of course, humans and larger creatures must crawl to get through the doors and hunch over to avoid hitting their heads on the ceiling once inside, but for most of them, the discomfort has been well worth the experience. A small group of Halflings has also befriended the Centauri of northern Anumün, a people that has kept to itself for a thousand years. They were taken into the court of Kron and welcomed, and some say the two races have shared valuable secrets with each other. In ΛZMΛRÉ, Halflings have settled in the air city of Anenon, where they have made friends with countless humans and mer. They are warned against going to the Archipelago however, because small creatures are easily swallowed there by monsters of the sea. In Draykh-Nahka, Halflings have been befriended by the upper class Gloridax scaled society, a sect that has always felt superior to all other races. Something about the humility and genuity of the Halfling people has won the hearts of even the Dragons. A clan of Halflings was even permitted with permission and blessing of the Order of the Silver Shield into Khymeria, where outsiders are rarely welcome to settle.

Enemies - There are very few people throughout the Splinterlands who doubt the sincerity and goodness of the Halfling people, especially in light of everything they have already done for the Splinters. The Goblins of Anumün are the largest example. The city of Gobson will not allow Halflings into its walls. Because Halflings can now be found throughout Anumün and they have the support of nearly every other race, they are treated by the Goblins with decency, but Goblin leadership does not trust them. Rock Gobson, the current patriarch of the Gobson family, believes that no refugee people would ever appear so helpful and friendly unless there was some large and unspoken problem. Some Gobson engineers know that together the two races could invent incredible things, but Rock forbids them from collaborating. Since the Burning Lands did not accept passage of the Halflings into their lands, rumors have begun there, leading several races of the Burning Lands to develop a distaste for the Halfling people. In Sskah City, where the Serpentines dwell, even speaking of Halfling Alchemy is worthy of a curse and a spit onto the ground. It is difficult to say whether they hate the Halflings themselves, or the practice of making things smaller, which the Serpentines struggle to understand. In Draykh-Nahka, not everyone is as fond of the Halflings as are the Dragons. The Naga leadership of the United Gloridax, especially the Empress Suam Khepri, keeps a close watch on them through her High Council.

Pastimes - Halflings take great joy in everything they do, whether it is a day of toil or an evening of drinking in the pub. A walk through nature is endlessly fascinating to them, and having the opportunity to be a card in the sacred tournament battles was one of the greatest honors ever bestowed upon their people. It is clear that the Halfling people have lived in a limited world of underground for a long, long time without ever knowing the boundless beauty that existed in the wider world of the surface. They are philosophers and dreamers, intellectuals and craftsmen. They always keep themselves busy, but all their business is ever-so-slightly speckled with a fear that none of them can fully hide. The fear is that their most difficult times have not yet come, that their fight is far from over.