The Goblin Winter- A Tale of the Halflings of the Flinty/Good Hills

This was inspired by events described as happening in the Shire in some of Tolkien's stories. In writing it I debated locating it in the the Flinty Hills as I did or in the Good Hills, so I have two versions. Thus the weird title.

Flinty Hills Version: A major event in the history of the Halfling communities of the Flinty Hills. In -109 the Halflings of the Flinty Hills swore allegiance to Almor II and all his descendants. The head of the most prominent clan was granted the title of Baron of the Flinty Hills. The bearer of that title recieves it from his sire and he serves as the spokesman for and representative to his Human sovereign for the Halflings of the Flinty Hills. He also acts as an advisor and aid to the Laird, who is responsible to all the clan heads and village mayors of the Hills for the performance of those few duties required by the post. The Halflings themselves prefer a more democratic rule and elect a Laird every three years. Halfling villages and clan holds are fairly self-governing so neither position has much in the way of real duties. That all changes when under threat, and so at such times, amongst the Halflings of the Flinty Hills, all eyes look to the Laird and Baron for guidance and leadership. Such an event happened in 179 when Caldni Vir, Prince of the North Province drove the Goblins and Orcs from the lands between the Teesar Torrent and Rakers. As any who know those races can tell you, one Orc or Goblin tribe is never happy to welcome another, especially if they are seeking refuge. This being the case, rather than fleeing to the Rakers where their cousins dwelt, the humanoid tribes of the land soon to be known as the Bone March fled west into the Flinty Hills where, mistaking the nature of Halflings, they thought would be easy pillage and slaughter. The Winter of 179 had been particularly harsh and the Harp River, flowing between the Flinty and Blemu Hills, had frozen so that the humanoid crossed it easily and began sacking the eastern communities before any warning could be sounded. In a short time however, the alarm was raised and the war banner passed from village to village. Farmers and grocers, innkeepers and blacksmiths brought out little-used weapons and armor, and quickly gathered east of the village of Perraroya, which the humanoids were swiftly approaching. When the horde reached the plain below the town they were surprised to see ranks of Halflings gathered on the slopes above them. Confident with their success at slaughtering unprepared farmers and their families the Hobgoblin warchief, known to us only by the name of Snotnose given him in a satirical Halfling song commemorating the event, ordered his troops to charge up the slope. They were almost to the Halfling lines when the defenders began rolling heavy barrels covered in flaming pitch down on them. This was followed by several volleys of arrows and slingshot and then a charge down the slope into the confused and panicking humanoids. As their ranks broke and they began fleeing the field en mass, the Baron Foday led his small force of armored cavalry into Snotnose's guard, where according to the song the Baron cleaved the Hobgoblin warchief from "top to nape". The few humanoids that survived the battle fled north toward the Rakers, never to be seen again. The skin of the Hobgobin's Warg mount is to this day worn as a cloak by the Barons of the Flinty Hills.

Good Hills Version: While many peoples of the Flanaess celebrate the 4th day of Needfest as the return of Pelor, when the days begin getting longer again, the Halfling communities of the Good Hills have another reason to celebrate it. To them it commemorates the most significant event in their history, the Goblin Winter.
In -360 the Tooka Halfling tribe, having migrated into the Flanaess to escape the effects of the Twin Cataclysms on their homeland in the far west, turned south into what was coalescing into the Kingdom of Keoland. While the lowlands had been settled by Humans, the hills along the eastern bank of the Javan River were relatively uninhabited, except for a few groups of Gnomes in the southern hills near the Dreadwood. So the Tooka clans settled in what they named the Good Hills. When Keogh of the Rhola established the Kingdom of Keoland in -342 CY the chieftains of the Halfling clans swore allegiance to him and promised to hold true to all of his descendants. Keogh, well pleased with his new subjects granted the chief of the tribe the title of Baron of the Good Hills. Even today the bearer of that title receives it from his sire and serves as the spokesman for and representative to his Human sovereign for the Halflings of the Good Hills. Though today the Halflings themselves prefer a more democratic rule and elect a Laird every three years, the Baron also acts as an advisor to the Laird, who is responsible to all the clan chieftains and village mayors of the Hills for the performance of those few duties required by that post. Halfling villages are fairly self-governing so neither position has much in the way of real duties. That all changes when under threat though, and at such times, amongst the Halflings of the Good Hills, all eyes look to the Laird and Baron for guidance and military leadership.
Such an event occurred in 276 CY when a particularly brutal winter drove a number of Goblinoid tribes down from the Jotens into the lowlands. There, united by a brutal Hobgoblin war-chief, and mistaking the peaceful nature of Halflings, they thought they would find easy pillage and slaughter. As stated above the Winter that year had been very cold and harsh, and the surface of the Javan River, flowing between the Jotens and Good Hills, had frozen solid so that the Goblins crossed it easily and began sacking the western communities before a warning could be sounded. In a short time however, the alarm was raised and the War Arrow passed from village to village. Farmers and grocers, innkeepers and blacksmiths brought out little-used weapons and armor, and quickly gathered in the town of Flen, which the humanoids were swiftly approaching. When the horde reached the plain below the town on the 4th of Needfest they were surprised to see ranks of Halflings gathered on the hill above them. Despite this and confident from their success at slaughtering unprepared farmers and their families, the Hobgoblin war-chief, known to us only by the name of Snotnose, given to him in a satirical Halfling song commemorating the event, ordered his warriors to charge uphill. They were almost to the Halfling lines when the defenders began rolling heavy barrels covered in flaming pitch down on them. This was followed by several volleys of arrows and slingshot and then a charge downhill into the confused and panicking humanoids. As the ranks of the Goblinoids broke and they began fleeing the field en mass, the Baron Foday led his small force of armored cavalry into Snotnose's guard, where according to the song, the Baron cleaved the Hobgoblin war-chief from "crown to nape". The few humanoids that survived the battle fled back west into the Jotens, not to be seen again for many decades. The skin of the war-chief’s Winter Wolf mount is to this day worn as a cloak by the Barons of the Good Hills.
So now, each year on the anniversary of that battle, the Halflings of the Good Hills gather for celebration and feasting. Every town and village holds a pageant which reenacts the events of the battle, though in less bloody fashion. “King Snotnose” and his “Goblin warriors” are soundly “beaten” with bundles of switches and brooms until they flee the festival grounds, abandoning their “Warg mounts” - constructed of branches, bark and dead leaves. Those are used to stoke a huge bonfire. The celebrants then eat, drink and dance around the fire long into the night, and as those who know Halfings can well tell you, sometimes into the next morning.