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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Charlaquin" data-source="post: 8177208" data-attributes="member: 6779196">That’s true. Remember, halflings were initially lifted wholesale from Tolkien and expanded upon later. Tolkien used them to represent the agrarian class, so it wouldn’t have worked for them to have empires or nations. They had the shire and they were content with that, and to Tolkien that was incredibly wholesome. That’s also why, by the 3rd Age of Middle-Earth, humans who lived much further from the Shire than Bree weren’t even sure hobbits existed as more than fairy tales. Because they weren’t looking to make a big impact on history, they just wanted to get by, day by day on their farms, and enjoy little comforts.Now, myself, I explain halflings’ lack of cultural monuments or powerful institutions as a product of their enslavement. They couldn’t exactly build an empire for themselves while they were busy being forced to build one for their human captors. And after slavery ended, its generational effects continued to keep them down. Maybe, in the wake of the latest societal collapse, they’ll find the opportunity to build something great.As for gnomes, they’re the Hidden Folk. They might very well have a great nation, but if they do, it’s kept out of sight. Maybe underground, maybe in parts of the forest that are inaccessible to bigger folk, maybe it’s even in (or partially in) the Faewild, or the Underdark, or both.</blockquote>