Small Wonder: Rise and Fall of the Halfling King

Small Wonder: The Rise and Fall of the Halfling King

Written around 550 LCY

This book details a kingdom that arose far to the south in a land then known as Eyore around the year 340 LCY.

The history starts much further back. It details how there were many races of demihumans in the area, including many halflings that had always called the hills, fields, woods, and glens of Eyore home. In the ancient past there was an equilibrium, a balance to the region. Eventually the halflings and their shires dotted the whole region but the dark things that live in Ddera began to see the villages as ripe for exploitation. There shires increasingly became the targets of raids and other disruptions.

The history of the halflings in the region goes through a dark period until a halfling hero named Childeric gathered and trained many of his family, friends, and cousins to rise in defense of their realm. The account details how Childeric had been affected by the wanderlust earlier in his life and had been caught up in a number of wars in the human realms. The things he learned there allowed him to organize the shires of Eyore to defend themselves. When the borders of the shirelands had been secured from the regular incursions of terror, the halflings crowned Childeric king.

This was the beginning of the end. Childeric married and had children but within five years of declaring the kingdom of Eyore, his wife was ‘afflicted with a terrible curse.’ The account is unclear on the nature of this curse. The account describes the region’s prosperous growth and flourishing until this point. Trade routes were secured to nearby areas. The book sympathises with Childeric but also details how he lost interest in management of his kingdom in seeking care and comfort for his wife and child. The kingdom descended into chaos and disorder. Trade and contact with realms outside of Eyore dwindled to naught.

Reliable records from the region are lost to all scholars the author was able to consult. The author speaks of how the true cause of the fall of Childeric and Eyore is not known. Some scholars believe a single account that was recorded around 430 LCY that spoke of the devastation of lands southwest of Denagoth at the hands of a lizard king. The author finishes off writing about how the region could be ripe for both historical research and plunder.