A Fieldwarden.
To outsiders the Moot looks like a safe and happy land. The extent to which that’s true is due to the Fieldwardens.
Overview[]
These Halflings patrol the borders of the Moot, keeping away threats and unwanted outsiders. They are skilled skirmishers who use their intimate knowledge of the Moot to maximum advantage. They prefer to attack from ambush, using their superior skill with missile weapons to neutralize the size advantage of their foes. Since the Moot shares a border with Sylvania, the Fieldwardens have particular expertise in dealing with the living dead. More than one band of zombies has been brought down by a fusillade of slingstones from determined Fieldwardens.[1a]
A Halfling of the People[]
The Fieldwarden is an esteemed figure in the halfling community. Empire folk may fret about the constant threat of heresy and invisible "enemies within", but halflings are a peaceful and easygoing folk with little concern beyond what the tavern has on the board for supper. Halflings live uncomplicated lives with simple tastes and an appreciation for the status quo. Chaos and disorder are to be avoided at all costs, and Mootlanders look to their vaunted Fieldwardens to maintain cherished continuity.[2a]
When not attached to a border patrol, a Fieldwarden's primary responsibility is to simply walk about the community and present a friendly and visible presence. Other times, the Fieldwarden is called upon to fill just about any job imaginable, from mending fences to helping at harvest time. The Fieldwarden knows the names and faces of every halfling family in his area, as well as the type of baked delectables they put out with tea. It’s a great honour for a halfling household to host a Fieldwarden to a Bakeday meal, and the wardens are often booked for meals months in advance. These dinners sometimes evoke friendly competitions between hosting families as they attempt to outdo each other with increasingly elaborate menus.[2a]
The Border Patrol[]
When the Mootland was granted to the halflings by Emperor Ludwig the Fat in 1010 IC, it was the Emperor’s intention to grant his beloved halflings a secure homeland within the borders of the Empire so they would not require their own standing army. But Emperor Ludwig could not foresee the rise of Vlad von Carstein and the Vampire Counts of Sylvania. While the Moot still relies heavily on the Empire for protection, the defense of the Sylvanian border is a task now bestowed upon the Fieldwardens. The primary areas of concern for the Fieldwardens are the Altern Forest and the stretch of border that edges on the Haunted Hills.[2a]
Fieldwardens are posted to the border on rotating schedules, so no single regiment is exposed to the stressful and distasteful duty for longer than one week a month. On their first posting to the border patrol, novice Fieldwardens are always attached to road patrols travelling through the Altern Forest. The Altern Forest is a particularly active front against the Undead, and greenhorn Fieldwardens are almost guaranteed an enemy contact with a zombie at minimum. Border patrols along the Haunted Hills are another matter entirely, and only the most battle-hardened Fieldwardens are posted there. This area is a bleak landscape of stunted vegetation and rocky hillocks crowned by the ancient burial mounds of long-dead barbarian tribes. The taint of Dhar stains the land, and draws the vile practitioners of necromancy to the area like a moth to flame.[2a]