Deputy Tom's Guide to Ferrell

Nestled between the forests of T'Nanshi, the foothills of Deglos, and the rolling grassy plains of Toran Shaarda, Dubunat and Brekon lies the tiny nation of Ferrell. This peaceful little zone is little more than a large collection of hamlets built into the sides of naturally occurring grassy hills that roll through the area. However, it has remained steadfast and safe through out its entire 1800+ year history on Avlis.

Ferrell is a nation of halflings. Desiring the crisp clean air of the hill country, and the cozy comforting shelter of their housemounds, the halflings are very adept at keeping out of the affairs that churn around them. In a tiny area no more than a hundred miles from north to south, the halflings have managed to build hundreds of minor villages across the homey landscape. Some of these villages are quite small, consisting of no more than three or four housemounds clustered around a central walkway. Larger villages also exist. Kitanya Hill is one of the largest of them, consisting of several hundred housemounds, trading, and crafting facilities as well as major roads that lead to other places in Ferrell. Often, this place is regarded as the capitol of the low-profile nation, though such official distinctions are rarely regarded seriously in halfling society.

As a whole, Ferrell exists because many many halflings happen to live in that area, and few outsiders have ever come in to dispute the fact that they are a nation. Most goods are produced right on site within the village that consumes them, and any major resources such as metals or stone are often obtained from dwarven traders or halfing merchants in The Seven Cities. Aside from pipes, corn, and the occasional Ferrellian mellowsmoke weed, this nation does not export much, and it consumes very little.

On a smaller scale, Ferrell operates the way it does because of the halfling outlook. The majority of halflings are unconcerned with matters outside their own village. Their belief is that as long as each village can operate well on its own, and maintain reasonably favorable relations with all neighboring villages, there is no reason to think about matters beyond that. "Officially" there is a Council of Elders based in Kitanya Hill that tends to national matters, if there ever are any. However, the members of this council are rarely ever called upon to act in any political capacity. Most often they tend to their own personal lifestyles like all other halflings do. But they can act surprisingly swiftly if needed. On a local level, halfling life has many traditions and superstitions that keep the populace in order. They have very little need for petty laws.... nursery rhymes and songs about morality taught to them as children suffice just fine. Some larger villages will elect a Shiriff to oversee the safety of the inhabitants nearby, but these jobs are often just fillers and appellations given to yet another halfling with a comfortable lifestyle.