This is my take:
Rhul-thaun
And so I found myself learning about a folk that I had never heard described even in rumors. These halflings are an ancient people— in fact, they gave me a new measuring stick for “ancient.”
-- The Wanderer
Like all of the other major humanoid races of Athas, the rhul-thaun are the descendants of the rhulisti. While all of the other races have changed and mutated radically, the rhul-thaun closely resemble the rhulisti in almost every respect.
The present-day rhul-thaun retain some of their ancestors’ knowledge, although much of it is buried in the rituals and traditions that govern the rhul-thaun society.
Personality: The rhul-thaun look upon the world much as the rhulisti did: all life is sacred, and nature is a force to be respected. So extreme have these notions become that most rhul-thaun venerate the elements as unknowable and uncontrollable forces.
Even though they look upon the random, indomitable forces inherent in the world, the rhul-thaun seek at least a thin veneer of reason to give the appearance of control. To accomplish this, and to preserve what was left of their ancestors’ knowledge, they devised a complex set of rituals, one for virtually every conceivable event and activity in their lives: greeting, meals, dressing, trade, war, dance, and all aspects of life requiring relationships with others.
Physical Description: Rhul-thaun are small with light and nimble bodies. The average height for rhul-thaun males is 3 feet, while females are an inch or two shorter. Light of bone and build, the physique of the people of the cliffs is sinewy and tough. Their skin is fairer than that of most Athasians and appears to be smooth and wrinkle-free throughout most of their lives.
Rhul-thaun hair color is black or brown, but rare individuals are blond or, more rarely, red heads. A typical rhul-thaun has virtually no body hair other than on his head and the presence of facial hair on other races would probably cause them to believe that person to be an animalistic, monstrous, or barbaric individual. Eye color varies greatly, with green, gray, and brown being most common.
Relations: The Jagged Cliff dwellers almost haven’t made contact with the exterior world. With a few occasional kreen attack from the grasslands or a occasional pyreen who comes to visit, the rhul-thaun have no notion of what happens beyond the Misty Border of their domain. When they meet other races of the highlands, their reactions can vary from curiosity to fear, since nothing in their myths or legends can prepare them for such encounters.
Alignment: Rhul-thauns tend to be lawful, in general good or neutral. Their devotion to repetition of familiar rituals gives them the assurance that they are imposing order on chaos and allows them to conceal their own feelings, hidden behind the mask that formality provides.
Rhul-thaun Lands: On the western end of the Glowing Desert, the land drops to form a fertile ledge on the edge of the Jagged Cliffs. Primeval forest surrounds a large lake and a lush clearing where the halfling city of Thamasku resides. Thamasku is formed from the porous, almost-organic stone of the ancient halflings and shaped by those members of the community who still possess at least a small fraction of the power once wielded by the nature-masters.
Religion: Despite their universal passion for ritual, the rhul-thaun know no gods. While nature is revered and respected, the rhul-thaun seldom worship its attributes—except for a rare few. These individuals follow the paths of the elemental priests who pay homage to the power of the forces of earth, air, water, and to a lesser extent, fire.
Some venerate the memory and promises of High Lord Rhan Thes-onel. Indeed, he has become a minor deity of a sort. They wait for his return with the fanatical assurance that he will bring with him a purpose for his people.
Psionics: They have long recognized the existence of psionics and many individuals have displayed natural mental powers. Those with powers learn to use them subtly, when alone, or not at all. None have ever done an in-depth study of the nature of psionics or learned the secrets of the Way—most likely, none ever will.
Magic: Arcane magic remains a mystery among the rhul-thaun. Their culture entered its cloistered isolation before the power of sorcery was developed so the vast majority of rhul-thaun continues completely ignorant of the power of magic, its effects, and its practitioners—the words wizard and magic are not even in their language. When they experience the power of magic, their response is to react with horror.
Language: The language of the rhul-thaun is directly descended from the speech of the ancient rhulisti. Time has modified the language, but it still sounds like its forbearer. Both are breathy, elegant tongues, pleasant to virtually every ear. To represent the breathy forms of the spoken language, an “h” is often inserted between a consonant and vowel when words are written.
Names: Names are determined in a special naming ritual known as rhin-noss, the Rite of Beginning. O Rhul-thaun names are usually formed by combining two existing words to describe that which is being designated. For example, those in charge of keeping law and order are the vher-elus, or lawkeepers.
Male Names: Bal-orean, Bal-olech, Del-omihn, Dhev-ovaun, Rhan Thes-onel, Ser-ogoth, Thar-osul, Ther-onos.
Female Names: Cal-adek, Fen-aghoun, Hiv-anad, Yihn-aruth, Wir-avios, Tel-amen, Val-agoth, Vher-asach.
Clan Names: Bein, Glahr, Taen, Sul.
Adventures
Many of the rhul-thauns are curious to discover what lies beyond the Misty Border. Even though they have great difficulty to understand the language and practices of the “horizontal dwellers”, their natural curiosity enables them to learn and interact with others.
Rhul-thaun Society
The significance of ritual is deeply rooted in the culture of the cliff dwellers and ceremonial behavior is ingrained into every aspect of rhul-thaun life. Everyday activities, communications, economics, special events, and even lawmaking involve highly developed protocols. In fact, the ritualistic movement defines the rhul-thaun, so greatly has it shaped their societal and individual characters that it cannot be separated from either of them.
Their need for structure is intense, and their interpretation of the world’s design is centered around the steps they take to define and control it. Their culture, based on ideas they don’t truly understand (life-shaping), involves rituals designed to organize and interpret the world in their own terms.
Role-playing Suggestions
Remember to consistently take your height into account. Role-play the rhul-thaun culture: make ritualistic activities that other consider strange and possibly silly; see life, the forces of nature and even horizontal distances in a different way. Witness arcane magic with amazement and terror.
Rhul-thaun Racial Traits
• +2 Dexterity, +2 Wisdom, –2 Strength. Rhul-thaun have quick and nimble forms and purity of mind and spirit.
• Small: As a Small creature, a rhul-thaun gains a +1 size bonus to Armor Class, a +1 size bonus on attack rolls, and a +4 size bonus on Hide checks, but he uses smaller weapons than humans use, and his lifting and carrying limits are three-quarters of those of a Medium character.
• Rhul-thaun base land speed is 20 feet.
• +4 racial bonus on Climb checks: since they have lived on the Jagged Cliffs since before records were kept they developed an affinity with vertical thinking and positioning.
• +2 racial bonus on saving throws against poison and saving throws against spells and spell-like effects.
• +1 racial bonus on attack rolls with thrown weapons and slings.
• +2 racial bonus on Move Silently checks: Rhul-thauns are sneaky.
• Automatic Languages: Rhul-thaun. Bonus Languages: Bvanen, Pterran, Rhulisti, Thri-kreen.
• Favored Class: Rogue
Like all of the other major humanoid races of Athas, the rhul-thaun are the descendants of the rhulisti. While all of the other races have changed and mutated radically, the rhul-thaun closely resemble the rhulisti in almost every respect.
/nitpick: I'd change "all" to "most", unless you don't consider Thri-Kreen as a "major" humanoid race (yea, I kow, they are Monsterous Humanoids.... but I'd still adjust this accordingly)
Psionics: They have long recognized the existence of psionics and many individuals have displayed natural mental powers. Those with powers learn to use them subtly, when alone, or not at all. None have ever done an in-depth study of the nature of psionics or learned the secrets of the Way—most likely, none ever will.
I'd possibly explain that psionics are generally seen as a form of "Rajaat's Curse", and that people manifesting psionics are shunned. You do say that they learn to use them subtly, but you don't explain "why", which is the first thing that pops to mind when I read this.
Otherwise, this seems pretty cool.
Going to be awhile though before I start dwelving into the official lifeshaped project that I have planned though.
"Although numerous halfling adventrurers have dared to enter the land to the west and spy upon the activities of the thri-kreen, none of them have attempted to learn the insects' language."
..so I'd remove that language from the bonus language list.
I'd even suggest a possible mechanic that gives a penalty to the number of bonus languages, so as to keep with..
"Most of the halflings of the Jagged Cliffs do not speak any language but their own. Multilingual rhul-thaunians are extremely rare. Since their contact with the outside world is slight, there is little need to learn other tongues. In fact, the opportunity to study a language other than their own virtually never presents itself." (same book, same page)
Nice job on a straight conversion, but I've always felt that they need a bit more than that.
Right, with a set of rules for life-shaped creatures, the rhul-thaun could have other, more specialized advantages. But besides that, good conversion Brun01.
If you keep the languages you listed as is, you could also add Reggelid. But if you go with the recommandations of Squidfur-, don't. ;)
... how dare you!Actually, it wasn't worth my time to do a write up them. As you have illustrated with your's there is very little difference between them and your ordinary garden variety (read forest ridge variety) halfling. :D
Actually, it wasn't worth my time to do a write up them. As you have illustrated with your's there is very little difference between them and your ordinary garden variety (read forest ridge variety) halfling. :D
Hence why I wanted to wait and actually do them properly. ;)
It's all good, if you want simple go for it, what you have so far works.
I'm a bit amazed Sage hasn't tackled this one yet.
This is my take:
I removed the text -Jihun
I would like to suggest to put in the physical description that the Rhul-thaun sub race have pointy ears (similar to elf's) like those on the pictures in TWRotJC.
That would differenciate them from other sub race halfling (like those in the Tyr region)
Actually, it wasn't worth my time to do a write up them. As you have illustrated with your's there is very little difference between them and your ordinary garden variety (read forest ridge variety) halfling. :D
Rules-wise, I can agree with you, but since their language, culture and habits are completely different, I thought they deserved it.
You have quite clearly become inffected with Kalthandrix crazy ideas...
You have quite clearly become inffected with Kalthandrix crazy ideas...
I forgive you for saying that, because all true genius’s were misunderstood during their own times. You will come to know that my path is the One True way in time.
...Or the Hack'em Masters will find you and dig out the rebellious weed that taken root within your heart. With a spoon if needs be.
Rules-wise, I can agree with you, but since their language, culture and habits are completely different, I thought they deserved it.
You have quite clearly become inffected with Kalthandrix crazy ideas...
Culturally they are very different, yes.
Going to be awhile though before I start dwelving into the official lifeshaped project that I have planned though
Dwelve is not a word. Delve is a word and dwell is a word, but dwelve isn't. ;)
Dwelve is not a word. Delve is a word and dwell is a word, but dwelve isn't. ;)
Damn typos. :D
It's what I get for not running it through Word first.
Of course my Elves and Dwarves are Immortal, used their god and creator like a battery to power their lust for life and conquest, and travel between worlds to expand their Empire. :D
Maybe he's including dwelfs in his project :D
It would be a good contribution to the late, great Dawnstealer (late as in he's too busy with a life and such, not late as in he's dead
)Maybe he's including dwelfs in his project :D
That's a good way to get yourself mindwiped back to toddler status ...