Village Customs

”Hey now, four hearts is for all you know. Now let’s share out those cakes.”

Halflings will often summarize a custom or expectation with just a few words, and use them in reminders to each other. Here are the customs most universal across all the villages of Halfington.

“Four hearts is for all.”

Villagers certainly have their own property. This is my dress, my house, my plates, and my apple tree. If I pick my apples, I might trade some for your pears or give them as a gift. But for larger endeavors, it’s different.

Bread is an excellent example . Planting wheat, harvesting it, processing it into grain, and every other step involved in making bread generally involves a lot of people. Other races might keep track of who put how many hours into the work, negotiate whose work is the most valuable and then calculate who gets how much. Halflings see this as a terribly boring, tedious, uncomfortable practice that should be avoided.

Instead, if four people (four hearts) or more are involved in a task, then it’s expected that the results go to the village store and are shared alike.

Similarly, constructing the buildings of the village are a group project, and their products are shared among all.

“No King of the Halflings”

In truth, there isn’t a Queen, or a Chief or a Mayor or a Sheriff, either. In fact, no one is in charge of the village. Decisions are made by consensus, at public gatherings. There isn’t formal voting (how tedous!) if someone cares enough to object to doing something, even after further discussion, it doesn’t get done.

“Don’t blame me, I Stood Aside.”

There’s a difference between “I don’t want to do it” and “no one should do it.” In some conversations, a villager will agree to “stand aside” — they’re publicly saying that they don’t agree, won’t keep the group from moving forward.

“Children’s eyes see better things”

Important village decisions always welcome children in their processes. Some take this to mean that their inquisitive nature create ideas that adults would miss. Some take it to mean that the watching actually makes the thing better because adults tend to be on their best behavior when children are present. And some understand it to mean that the patience of children will put a limit on how long adults can go on.

If all children are tired of it, it’s probably time to move on. Or at least take a break for snacks.

“Move your Mug”

This is a phrase meaning to take your turn (or share) or pass it up. It originated in the way that many villages share out their beer (whether root or barley variety), but has come to be used in any situation where people are waiting on someone to decide if they want a share or not.

In a village beerhall, there are two shelves. One begins empty, and the other full of the mugs of villagers, each with their name inscribed. The beertender will pull draughts of beer as villagers arrive. When a halfling has finished their beer, their newly empty mug will be put onto the second shelf. No mug on the second shelf will be filled until all the mugs of the first shelf are gone.

Anyone uninterested in a drink can simply “move their mug” from one shelf to the next. If someone has not noticed that they are among the few remaining mugs, then this phrase is called out to remind them.

Similarly, say a block of cheese is being shared at elevensies. A halfling might ask another “anyone need to move their mug?” in order to confirm before cutting a second slice.