The Earthy Peoples

This is a brief overview of the last of the demi-humans who can serve as player characters (dwarves, gnomes and halflings) have not been covered yet, in terms of their place in the cosmology of the Valley of the Old Ones.

The Dwarves and Gnomes are among the oldest races to live in the Valley.  Their presence dates back to before the cataclysm that sundered the Seely Realms from the world.  It is unclear why they are separate from the rest of Faery, but it is so.  For a while, before the establishment of the Old Ones, the Dwarves and Gnomes were the only peoples living.  The Father deity of the Dwarves, known simply as The Krung, was responsible for building the framework of the world - it's mountains.  Out of the rocks of the mountains, the Dwarves were originally formed.  The shield bearer of The Krung, who is simply referred to as Mika, smoothed the land between the mountain spines and the flat plains by forming hills.  Out of these came the Gnomes.

As the Dwarves and the Gnomes began working the gifts given to them, they inadvertently awakened the elder elemental gods who brought forth the Old Ones.  As the myth recorders from Parn Tandalorn are apt to point out, eventually the Old Ones vanished, and gave way first to the Storm King tribes.  These became so numerous that they threatened the Earthy Peoples and also the Faery Peoples.  There was a war, with the Elves and Dwarves on one side, and the massed tribes of the Storm King on the other.  Something happened - none alive today know what it was, but the Dwarves never showed up at any of the battles.  In the end, the Elves capitulated, and agreed to stay to their own forests.  The Dwarves (and Gnomes) were not part of the treaty, but fled to the mountains and hills from which they were born.

The Halflings, on the other hand, are of an unknown origin.  There is no indication that they dwelt in the Valley in the time of the Old Ones.  There is also no indication that they dwelt in the lands to the West, from where the Westroners came before they migrated into the Valley.  Today, however, there are small settlements and communities of Halflings spread throughout the Baronies.  The Halflings are not known to have any deities of their own, but rather make themselves comfortable in the Westron Church.