Halfling Hand
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The Hand are an ancient set of fraternal organizations that are tremendously important in halfling culture and society. Five of the six Hands date back to the breaking of the Wolfen-Khan and the assimilation of the halflings and the youngest Hand, the White, dates to the founding of the Alexandrian faith in the first century FI. These societies transcended the old blood and clan lines and helped bring cultural unity to the scattered halfling tribes. Membership in these societies is very selective: perhaps one in ten halflings belong to a Hand. It is also a great honor and members of a Hand are usually respected members of a tribes' leadership.
- Black Hand: Scorpion Clan
- Blue Hand: Hospitaliers, Smugglers, and War Profiteers
- Red Hand: Dog Riders and Harriers
- Green Hand: Druids and the Druid-Adjacent
- Golden Hand: Merchants and Carnival Circuit Runners, Diplomats
- White Hand: formed in the first century of the Alexandrian church by early halfling missionaries. Alexandrian clerics, evangelists, healers, acolytes, theologians, etc.
A halfling tribe - River and Road both - is almost always run by a member of one hand or the other. Usually the demeanor of that leader's hand will determine the nature of the tribe's operations. Obviously Golden, Blue, and White Hands are the most represented among leadership positions. Tribes run by the other Hands are not unheard of, but are usually situational. The Black Hand do not operate openly, and are not even spoken of openly by the superstitious. Even in the rare cases where a Black Hand leads a band they usually do so under a cover identity or through a false-front cutout leader of a different Hand. A Red Hand-led band, for example, would basically be a skirmisher cavalry army. Usually not sustainable, but many may spring up in times of crisis or from time to time as small roving mercenary groups. The Green Hand almost always prefer to operate as advisors, though in a crisis they might be looked to as a steady hand to see a tribe through difficult times. The Green Hand are also usually the go-to for placeholder or closely-contested leadership bids as any group of halflings large enough to have a leadership crisis almost certainly has druids who are widely respected.