The Dow

The Dow
The Dow are the halflings of Keelport, a large coastal town, led by the Dowager Queen.

Location
Keelport sits at the mouth of the Gaill River on the Western coast of Tol, between the bayous of the ancient ___ Forest, and the fringes of human civilisation.

History
Long before The Exodus, when the Halfings still lived in relative unity, safely within the Boaetha Valley, a political power struggle saw halfling society rupture. Set adrift, the ousted followers would go in to found the important coastal town of Keelport.

When High King Aodhán died without an heir, both his pregnant wife Queen Alisha and his sister Prince Brèanna laid claim to the throne; Alisha as the Dowager Queen and regent to her unborn child, and Brèanna as a ready and able blood successor. After a prolonged political struggle, Brèanna successfully took the throne, becoming High King and subsequently expelling Alisha, who - with her followers - left the Valley. They journeyed down the Gaill River, out of the Valley, through the Pale, until eventually reaching the coast. Here, Alisha and her followers founded a settlement on the western side of the river estuary, on the outskirts of human settled territory. The settlement was named Keelport, after the slender boats they had used on their long egress from their home. In time it's people became known as the Dow, after the Dowager Queen.

Alisha passed her title of Dowager Queen on to her daughter, maintaining the claim as Queen of halflings. This has continued to pass on matrilineally.

As it grew, Keelport drew in human refugees from various wars, and especially in the aftermath of The Exodus claimed a great number of fleeing halflings dissaffected by the High King and the squalid conditions many found themselves in. The result is a mixed community of humans and halflings, living co-operatively under the rule of the Dowager Queens, far more culturally diverse and estranged from the dogma of the High King.

Their position on the coast meant they attracted the attention of traders, which also helped to build Keelport.

Dowager Queen
The Dow are ruled over by their monarch, the Dowager Queen, who claims to be the legitimate monarch of all halflings.

Culture
Their much earlier divergence from the wider halfling polity has resulted in a much more significant cultural drift from the rest of their brethren.

Things such as clothing, festivities, and laws are all very different to those of the Dùn Ail halflings.

Dow diet is far more based on coastal food sources compared to their inland kin, such fish, crustaceans, and seaweed. Nonetheless, they do still operate a number of farms in the land around the township.

Religion
Though still affirming belief in the entire halfling pantheon, they have come to focus their worship on different gods.