Story: Quickling History
The term, Halfling was coined when Elves discovered what appeared to be smaller versions of themselves, roughly half the size of an average elf, with perfectly proportioned limbs. Despite the similar appearance, they had odd habits that set themselves apart from their taller cousins. They lived lazy, peaceful lives.
It was about the time the Halflings gained their name, that the tall, goat legged, race known as the Urisk were placed under a terrible curse. The origin of the curse was unknown however as a result, if they ever stopped moving completely for even a minute, they would die. For equally unknown reasons the generations of Urisk that lived at the time blamed the Fae Folk for it, and there were bloody feuds between some of the Fae Folk and the Urisk. Although the Fae Folk were strong, or magically gifted, the Urisk had a speed that was incomparable, and gave them the advantage.
In spite of their advantage, slowly the Urisk slowly succumbed to their curse, dieing out as they slept. It was only those who could train their bodies never to stop, ingraining it into their very beings. These Urisk would tap their feet, fingers, or other body parts as they slept, it was the only way to remain sane and keep on living. In time, some Urisk grew tired of the constant bloodshed and ‘settled down’ in a remote valley.
While the rest of the Urisk battled themselves into extinction, those who settled down encountered the Halflings, and over time and intermarriage the resulting race was somewhat smaller and slower than the Urisk but was still taller and faster than a Halfling; this new breed of people were called the Quicklings. Although Quicklings did not have the legs of an Urisk (appearing more as Halflings), they were free from the curse. In time, the Halflings that populated that valley died out, as did the remaining Urisk, so all that remained were the Quicklings.
The successive generations of Quicklings for the most part forgot their heritage and forgiven the Fae Races (mainly due to forgetting why they were made in the first place) and named the valley to which they had lived for generations: Quickling Crossing. The successive Human wars that covered the Lensmoor continent did not touch their isolated valley and they felt no need to involve themselves save the few who made the choice to venture out into the world.
Taking to their Halfling heritage they have a playful, trickster streak in them, but drawing from their Urisk side, they do so really, really fast.
In time, after the destruction of the human capital of Old Lensmoor, the gods declared that all the races of Lensmoor would join together and help the humans build a New Lensmoor; countless Quicklings answered the call and left their valley and became a permanent part of the greater Lensmoor community. That is why in modern times it is not uncommon to see a Quickling adventurer out and about.
