Halfling

Halflings are a sapient species who act as the caretakers of Eden in the Clarkwoods Literary Universe. Originally natives of Earth, they survived The Calamity in great numbers and were instrumental in seeing the surviving sapient species of the universe through The First Age. To thank the hearty halflings for their help in rebooting reality into its next iteration, the “gods” of Eden gave them the opportunity to live on in paradise as its primary inhabitants and custodians.

It was a deal which backfired spectacularly the next time the universe collapsed.

During the Second Age, the halflings were the victims of a ruse perpetrated by Oscar Diggs—the man who would become the first Wizard of Oz. As a result, halflings were forcibly displaced from the lands of Nunya, Nalké, Wonderland, and The Reek. Thus, for a time, they were the most persecuted people in Eden—despite all they’d done to keep it beautiful and bountiful.

Eventually the halflings re-established themselves as a species to be respected and reckoned with, but they would never again be as friendly and trusting as they had been in the early days of Eden. The tragedies of the Second Age rocked the species to its very core—and rewrote their DNA in the process.