Pathfinder Chronicles - Gazetteer - Asamnet

cities, adopting human customs, seeing to the common
needs of humans as cooks, entertainers, and menials. It’s
easy to take them for granted.
Even if the world doesn’t pay much attention to
half lings, half lings are always paying attention to the
world. Half lings are inveterate opportunists. Unable to
physically defend themselves from the rigors of Golarion,
they know when to bend with the wind and when to hide
away. Yet a half ling’s curiosity often overwhelms its good
sense, leading to chronic bad decisions and narrow escapes.
The other races of Golarion consider half lings lucky since
they so often escape by the skin of their necks, but the fact
is that the half lings themselves are to blame for putting
themselves in such dangerous situations. It’s not that the
half lings don’t know any better—it’s that they simply can’t
help themselves.
Half lings claim no cultural homeland and control no
settlements larger than rural assemblies of free towns.
Far more often, they dwell at the knees of their human
cousins in human cities, eking out livings as they can
from the scraps of larger societies. In most places, this
casts them as underlings and menials. In the diabolical
Empire of Cheliax, it casts them as slaves. Here, half lings
are known as “slips,” half-men worthy of scorn and
contempt. Slips, in the lingo of the trade, are less effective
workers than humans but last longer, maintaining an
unparalleled optimism and willingness to endure. They
rarely revolt, seldom struggle overmuch, and get along
with the master’s children. Only their physical weakness
keeps their cost reasonable.
Despite their curiosity-driven wanderlust, half lings
possess a strong sense of house and home. A half ling
takes great pride in his domicile, often spending above
his means to add to the common comforts of home life.
This domestic sensibility makes them ideal servants,
butlers, and cooks; half lings themselves see no shame in
such tasks, with even indentured or enslaved half lings
taking pride in their work.
Gazetteer: Characters
Even the most dutiful servant tires of his work eventually
and longs for the wider world. Half lings constantly
measure get-rich-quick schemes and opportunities for
adventure and crime against the safety and protection
of their current situation, but when the right chance
comes along, they snatch it with a moment’s notice. The
suddenness with which a half ling decides to abandon one
life for another often takes other races by surprise, but the
half ling is always looking, always calculating. He leaves
only when the moment is right, but he almost never lets
that moment pass him by.
Half lings stand just inches shorter than gnomes
and make up with bravery and optimism what they lack
in stature and strength. The bottoms of their feet are
naturally covered in tough calluses and the tops often
sport a tuft of warming hair. Many prefer to wander the
world bare-footed. Most have almond skin and brown hair,
tending toward black as one approaches the Inner Sea.
Emotionally, half lings embrace nonexclusive extremes.
They’re easygoing but excitable, prone to laziness but
frenetic when roused. Ironically, their greatest strength is
their perceived weakness—if half lings can count on one
advantage it’s that they’re continually underestimated.
Half-elves
Of all the common races, elves and humans have the
longest bond. In ancient times, the elves warred against
their feral human cousins, eventually abandoning the
world to human brutality on the eve of Earthfall. Many
elves remained in the isolated parts of the world, and
as humans developed society, art, and magic, the elves
watched from the shadows. In time, they reached out in
friendship to the developed humans, and old enemies
became friends—even lovers.
It’s not difficult to imagine why elves and humans
breed together. To a human, an elf
represents an unattainable beauty.
Elves, with their height, slim
Chelaxian
The distant, bastard descendants of Azlanti refugees spread throughout southern Avistan
as if entitled to the land by the gods themselves. Sharp-featured with dark hair, dark eyes,
and pale skin, Chelaxians differ from their duskier Taldan cousins due to widespread
intermixing with pale-skinned Ulfen raider-merchants in the distant past (from whom they
also gained the legendary Chelaxian wrath).
Chelaxians are best known for their pride and ambition, possessing a sense of
entitlement that has followed them through history. They tend to sneer upon
savagery and respect strong authority. Quick to be offended and slow to
forgive, Chelaxians hold grudges longer than most other humans. They
are most common in the current and former holdings of the once-vast
Empire of Cheliax, including Andoran, Galt, Nirmathas, Molthune, and
the southern reaches of Varisia. Most speak Taldane.
1
7