Origins: Unknown
Languages: Common (dialect)
Life Expectancy: 100 years
Age of Adulthood: 22 years
Adult Height: 2.6 feet to 3.4 feet (Approx. 0.79 to 1.0 meters)
Adult Weight: 35 to 70 pounds (Approx. 16 to 32 kilograms)
Religion: Unknown
Status: Unknown
The folk popularly known as Halflings are the smallest of the Common People (which excludes the Fae), standing roughly half the height of an adult Human, full-grown, somewhere about the size of such a figure's child. Halflings tend to be round of feature, sporting robust frames, and large eyes that, though tending toward hazel and brown, can come in most any color. Halfling hair is usually curly, often kept neat and short - in both men and women - most often of soft autumn or honey tones. Facial hair usually remains about the cheeks and chin, and is generally thin and downy, unless allowed to grow for a long time (when it becomes thick and curled like the rest). Most Halflings - even athletes - have little muscular definition; despite this, many are quite limber and fit, and Halflings are known to be the foremost acrobats of the mortal races. Halfling flesh varies like their hair, usually ranging about a mildly tanned version of the peach-tone common to humans, elves, and dwarves. Halflings tend to possess an abundance of body hair - even atop their feet, which are known to often go unshod. Such a practice, coupled with the halfling's natural dexterity, allows them great inherent capacity for stealth, a trait that has earned them a sinister reputation in some locales.
Halflings usually reside in large, extended households, or small nuclear families whose extended family is not far away. Names tend to be polysyllabic, family names often consisting of compound words or titles in the common tongue, while first names are usually just as long, with the Halfling generally adopting a shortened form or nickname (also called "half-name," for its popularity amongst the halflings), derivative of the original. Thus, Deryburgs Thistlewhistler might be known as "Dery", "Dere", "Burgsy", "Reebee", or even "Froggy", if there happened to be an incident early in life that merited such. Halflings are often proud of their families, and each one's respective traditions, and are fond of gatherings that call together the most distant relatives under one name and one roof.
Halfling society is considered rather isolationist and, to an extent, it is. This is partly from the desire not to be bogged down in international fiascoes that all too often occur (which is the perceived reason), but is also due to the self-sufficient and self-contained nature of the halfling society, joined with the particular nature of the people. Halfling society is often seen as simple, bucolic, and detached from the rest of the world, and this, to the Halflings, is exactly how it should be. As a people, they are not known for being concerned about anything in the world but their own community, which in turn has them labeled as bumpkinish, self-interested, and lazy. The Halflings care not a whit what they are called. It is not that they are so wrapped up in their own affairs that they ignore the rest of the world; it is that they take a very different, longer view than most - something most scholars regard as far more Elven than Human. Above all, the Halflings are a patient people, their calm and passiveness allowing them to reflect on their comfortable lives and the wild world without in equal peace. Much of Halfling history is not chronicled directly, but can be extrapolated from contemporary writings on other topics. Halflings tend to record what most consider to be trivialities - minor items of life that don't really affect the whole world one way or another, but can affect one life quite a bit. This emphasis on the individual is, firstly, relatively unique, and, second, permits for a philosophy that recognizes that throughout all the wars and upheavals and battles, the world at large maintains rather the same overall face and structure, but if Farmer Millertaggar had a phenomenal crop this year - well, that splendid thing could be once in a lifetime.
The language spoken in Halfling communities is actually a rough dialect of the common tongue, colloquially called "Glenner" or "Dalee," but given no official name in its own words (and usually referred to as "Halfling" in non-Halfling texts). Its distinct similarities to the current form of common suggest that contact between the Halflings and those that they left behind was never completely severed. Most Halflings speak both the standard common and their own branch, which employs the common alphabet. Halfling contributions to modern society are countless, including much of the Common tongue, the calendar (both an older version and the version currently in use), textile and agricultural techniques, and much more.
Halflings are fond of conducting trade with the surrounding lands, especially with the rural Goblins, with whom they find some philosophical accord. Among the most popular Halfling export is the pipe weed grown only in their land (of which they are particularly fond), which commands a high price, along with their fine textiles, spices, and breads. As much as they respect the Elves, their abilities and the numerous contributions to the world, the Halflings sustain general concern that the western people often stretch too far and strive for too many great things that are not meant for mortals. To a lesser extent, this goes as well for the Humans, upon whom Halflings look almost as wayward younger siblings. There is an intensity to Drow, Trollish, and Orcish society that Halflings cannot abide, and they generally prefer to avoid the company of members of those races. Despite such predilections, Halflings do tend to try to be amicable toward all people.
Thanks to Cristlefir for this information.