Deep halfling

Deep halflings are a subrace of halflings.

History
At some point in their racial history, some of the surface-dwelling halflings allowed their curiosity to lead them into the depths of Golarion's fabled Darklands. Some of those who ventured into the caverns of Nar-Voth or deeper into the realm of Sekamina, eventually decided to stay in the Darklands. Forming small communities, primarily among the dwarves, these halflings were changed over time by the circumstances and weird energies of their new home. Though they retained their essential halfling nature, they took on some of the characteristics of their dwarven hosts. Now, after many generations, deep halflings have a culture that is a reflection of both their surface ancestors and their dwarven neighbors. However, just as many dwarves make their living on Golarion's surface, deep halflings have begun to recognize the benefits of spending time above ground. Deep halflings are also not immune to the wanderlust to which all halflings are prone, and while exploration of the surface world isn't without its hazards, it is far less dangerous than the lightless tunnels below. Even the legendary halfling luck is put to the test in the lands of Sekamina and Orv.

Appearance
Like their surface cousins, deep halflings stand just shorter than gnomes, though they tend to be shorter and stockier than surface halflings.

Psychology
Deep halflings are something of a contradiction: optimistic and lucky folk who chose to live among the often dour dwarves, who would rather make their own luck. They retained much of their halfling personality traits through generations of life underground, but picked up several traits more common to dwarves.

Emotionally, like surface halflings, deep halflings embrace nonexclusive extremes. They are easygoing but excitable, prone to laziness but frenetic when roused. Even deep halflings are easily underestimated, however, and they take advantage of that fact as much as, if not more than, their cousins above.

Deep halflings know as well as anyone how dangerous their homelands are. They also know that, by comparison, the surface world is quite tame. As such, deep halflings on the surface tend to underestimate the threat posed by many creatures and will often take unnecessary risks, even moreso than surface halflings.

Culture
Most deep halflings still live among the dwarves of the Five Kings Mountains. They blend into these communities as seamlessly as surface-dwelling halflings blend in among humans.

Religion
As halflings usually adopt the religious beliefs of the societies with which they merge, most deep halflings have come to worship Torag, Gorum, or Abadar. Halfling nature cannot abide the terrible drudgery espoused by worshippers of Droskar. Among the more traditional halfling deities, the worship of Desna has also remained strong among the deep halflings.

Relations with other races
Deep halflings get along well with most races, though they share the strongest affinity with the dwarves, having lived and often fought side-by-side with their stout cousins to protect their communities. Still, halfling optimism is indomitable and often flies in the face of dwarven stubbornness, leading to occasional friction between the two cultures. Similarly, it is that optimism that allows deep halflings to give members of most any race or culture a chance to prove their worth as friends or allies. Deep halflings rely on their "luck" to keep them out of too much trouble if their initial openness turns out to have been a bad idea.