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.
Earlier in The Second Age (the “present day” of the story I’m working on now), 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 and ended up as persecuted as they had been back on Earth.
Diggs’ thirst for power and control has become more and more apparent to Edenians as the era has worn on, and it is the backdrop against which the struggles of the present day—including the creation of a United Kingdom of Wonderland—play out.