Wanderkin

Wanderkin look like sturdy human children with pointed, elfin ears. Males average 3 feet 7 inches and 75 pounds, females slightly less, and adults rarely top 4 feet or 100 pounds. Their long hair, anywhere from sandy blond and brown to copper or red-orange, is braided and ponytailed and decorated with feathers, ribbons and flowers. Fair skin tans deep brown by midsummer, eyes are pale blue, olive, light brown or hazel, and from about age 40 fine wrinkles give them a wizened look. Their expressions are extreme; no one is happier or more miserable than a wanderkin.

They favor bright clothes, especially soft dyed and tooled leather, and carry staggering assortments of oddments in pockets and pouches: feathers, teeth, rings, string, tools, pet mice, odd twigs, foreign coins, jerky. Anything that could amuse a wanderkin for a few seconds is likely to end up in a pocket, whether or not its owner agreed.

Wanderkin fight with tireless energy and surprising tactics. They are immune to all fear, magical or not, save at +4 against spells and poison, and when alone and unarmored impose -4 on opponents' surprise rolls. Their best weapon is the insult: a creature taunted for a full round must save vs. spell or lash out recklessly for 1d10 rounds, suffering -2 to hit and a +2 Armor Class penalty.

They gain +3 to hit with slings and bows. Their signature weapon is the forked sling-staff, a springy wooden staff with a slingshot fork and leather pocket at one end and a metal-shod or fire-hardened point at the other. Slung, it deals 1d4+1 to small foes and 1d6+1 to large ones; swung as a staff, 1d6 to small and 1d4 to large. Most refuse armor heavier than leather or padded, wearing ring mail or studded leather only briefly. Lost in the wild, a wanderkin has a 50% chance of picking the right direction. Their inborn magic resistance, inherited from the way the race was made, bars them from wizard spells.

Families of parents and children share a small, lockless one-room house of whatever stone, timber, brick or thatch is at hand, cozy with cushions and wooden furniture. In their early 20s the young are seized by wanderlust and roam as far as they can until their 50s or 60s, when rooting sets in and they settle with a mate to raise a child or two, a cycle that has spread their communities across their whole continent. Couples rarely have more than two children and never conceive the second before the first leaves.

Their towns are near-anarchic democracies with few laws, since there are no evil wanderkin. They try any form of government and follow any leader while he stays interesting, which is rarely more than a few days, yet in a crisis they pull together into a formidable force. Would-be occupiers give up quickly: the fearless locals fight back, there is little worth looting, they make hopeless slaves, and they treat the invaders' belongings as a welcome economic boom.

Guests rarely stay a week, worn out by questions and pointless tales and often stripped of their belongings within hours. Outgoing, nosy and either charming or crude, they hate orders and are easily hurt by coldness, and never delay a pleasure. Fearless, curious and impulsive, they stay carefree in mortal danger and are forever poking into dark corners; one that acts sensibly is just aware that death would end all the fun. Some think evil beings are punished with an eternity of boredom.

They grieve terribly, sometimes for months, over the death of friends, family or innocents. To them pocketing things is 'handling,' not stealing; they have no sense of value, prizing purple glass as much as diamonds, and genuinely believe their excuses ('I found it,' 'I forgot I had it'). Yet being called a thief is a grave insult.

Most races find wanderkin intolerable, while wanderkin welcome everyone and find other customs fascinating. They will eat anything that looks edible and are excellent cooks. Their only trade goods are a golden, honey-flavored liquor distilled from sundews and a six-grain sweetbread tasting of caramel and cinnamon that stays fresh two months and equals two weeks' rations, though they usually sell them for worthless trinkets. They love odd pets, from cats and birds to toads and beetles, and prefer walking to riding.