Rowen

"'Good faith, generosity, and hard work, my friends- these are the values by which we must live, if we are to prosper! Let not the glitter of freshly-shined swords and polished armor seduce you! I, for one, suggest you all throw your swords down onto the dirt, as I do now, so that they will dull and no harm will come to any one of us.'" - The Halfling Migrations

The Rowen were a halfling people who historically occupied the aptly-named Halfling Hills, east of the Northern Commons. One of the oldest groups to occupy Beurum, the Rowen people were present in the continent long before the First Era, though they moved around frequently before settling permanently in the Halfling Hills.

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The Rowen were among the first peoples in Beurum to possess written records and keep a stable calendar; a calendar that the entire continent would adopt by the Second Era. Early First-Era records described the Rowen as nomadic cattle herders that traveled the Northern Commons and the Boundary Hills. The Rowen moved between locations ritually, with their earliest writings being lengthy sermons praising fruitful areas.   By the Second Era, the nomadic lifestyle of the Rowen was increasingly under threat. In particular, the increasing numbers of Alois humans that roamed the Northern Commons began to disperse the Rowen in all directions. The warlike nature of the Alois, combined with the semi-pacifistic nature of the Rowen put the halflings at a disadvantage. Throughout the Second Era, some Rowen groups were outright destroyed by those who saw them as an easy target. Other Rowen individuals made their place among Trebai, Alois, and Eripean peoples, getting along well with humans who did not dispute territory with them.   Near the end of the Second Era, the only remaining large groups of Rowen individuals gathered in the then-named Red Hills, a land sparsely occupied by groves of treants and tribes of centaurs. Securing a small amount of land, leaders of the last few nomadic Rowen tribes agreed to form the First Rowen Republic, in an attempt to preserve the democratic nature of their traditional structure. The Republic, aware of the dangers surrounding them in the land, made efforts to build defenses and train the populace to protect themselves. Until the beginning of the Third Era, the Rowen gradually expanded as much as they could, attacking enemies as little as possible.   At the beginning of the Third Era, the Rowen offered financial assistance to the High Kingdom of Beurum during the First Dwarven War, but did not fight. During the war, the Kantaran Empire of Beurum seized an opportunity to try and conquer much of Beurum. The Rowen Republic was subugated under Kantaran control for the duration of what would later be known as the Imperial War. The passive nature of the Rowen allowed the Kantarans to consolidate their power to the greatest extent in the Halfling Hills. Though many Rowen gradually adopted Kantaran customs, some groups put up fierce resistance to the invaders.   Rowen leaders participated in the driving out of Kantaran invaders at the end of the Third Era, the conclusion of the Imperial War. The Fourth Era proved to be a largely chaotic time for the Rowen, with an array of different societal trends. Initially, the democratic government was reestablished as the Second Rowen Republic. More traditional Rowen, upset at how violent their people had become, left to form their own communities, while Rowen living far away from the Halfling Hills journeyed there to start a new life. Others among the group were frustrated with how easily the Rowen had submitted to the Kantarans, and pushed for a more centralized, more authoritative government. These individuals continuously overthrew republic leaders and established new "republics" which were becoming less and less democratic in nature. By the end of the Fourth Era, the Thirty-First Rowen Republic, actually an authoritative kingdom, was in power. This government entered the Rowen people into the Twenty-Year War, during which time they agreed to follow the command of the newly formed Trebai Ascendancy. After the war, the Ascendancy forced the Republic to remain under their control, essentially turning the Halfling Hills into an Imperial Province.