The following is a halfling's-eye view of New Halas housing, that will be available with the release of GU56. There will be a more complete preview of GU56 "soon", but I wanted to give folks some eye candy while I struggle with mental molasses while writing it.

The below housing images are of the "3-room" home. You can also check out the "1-room" starter home here.

"But you can't just pack up and move to some forsaken frozen wasteland on a whim, Mum! How will we get cooki- ... I mean, Qeynos just won't be the same without you! And you'll hate the cold!" Silverleaf, the wood elf flower vendor, was the most upset that she'd ever seen him in all the years of being his customer, but Mum wasn't sure if he was more upset over losing a regular customer, or mourning the loss of freshly-baked goodies that she always dropped off when she visited his shop.

"Pshaw, Silverleaf. Wi' how they're finally streamlined travel a bit an' such, it will be easy enow tae visit often, lad. It isn't as if ye'll ne'er see me, or my baking, again. I jus' need a change o' scenery frae a bit."

Niami knew that her sudden decision to move to New Halas was confusing and upsetting to folks who seemed to feel that she (or at least her cooking) was an important fixture in Qeynos, but the moment that she'd heard of New Halas, she just had to go. She'd likely have been doubting her own sanity, if not for an old note she had recently found inside a diary written before the Shattering:

Meek Guinders an' th' rest o' th' residents o' Rivervale must hae thought I was crazed. My fourth rank o' training as a Cleric o' Mischief was barely completed afore I donned th' patchwork leather armor I had crafted, grabbed a fire beetle eye, an' headed frae Halas. Mind ye, looking back, mayhaps it was a tad crazed tae do that run at such a tender age, as th' trip was more than a little hair-raising afore I e'en reached th' Karanas! Howe'er, when th' wanderlust hits one o' us, there's nae arguing, an' if ye're reading this, know that I am telling ye as I was told by th' generation afore me ... Homebodies we may be, but at least once in our lives, in each an' every generation, th' need tae uproot an' move tae th' most illogical o' places seems tae o'ertake us. Do nae fight it - embrace it - an' help spread Mischief an' Laughter throughout Norrath as ye go!"

She smiled winsomely up at Treeleaf, patting his arm gently. "Anyway, lad. I be following an auld family tradition. Mayhaps I'll e'en pick up some new recipes up there frae ye tae sample on my next visit! Wi' how th' Coldain were cut off from us frae so long, there's sure tae be some lovely variety tae th' dishes!"

Eventually, with several more reassurances that she'd visit soon, and bring some baked goodies with her, she exited the little shop and headed for the Ambassador in Qeynos Harbor. She had many errands to run while the movers were packing her home for her, but starting her citizenship change was her top priority. Thankfully, the new citizenship process was quick and painless, and she finished the rest of her tasks in short order.

While she felt a bit odd being bundled up from head to toe as she left the warmth of Qeynos, by the time her griffon landed in New Halas, she was grateful for the extra warmth -- and doubly so when she first laid eyes on a Coldain dwarf. "Och, this may take a wee bit o' time tae get used tae, but it will be worth it!"

Her excited eyes took in everything as she climbed from the landing area up to the city, and while she was eager to get settled in her new home, she couldn't resist playing tourist.

Mithaniel Marr had a lovely monument to his sister...

... and of course she needed a closer look!

She had to peek at the mage area

... and the shops

... musn't forget the crafting area!

She remembered to drop off her citizenship note!

and eyed a fancy bit of forge work

Finally, she gazed in wonder at her new front door

Eventually, she stopped ogling the smith's muscles long enough to pick up the keys to the 3-room home that she'd purchased, sight-unseen. She'd been expecting it would be about the same size as her home in Qeynos, and was a bit surprised when it turned out to be much, much larger than expected.

She couldn't complain, though, as it had so much loving attention to detail in every portion of the house that she was going to have months of fun filling it with suitable furniture, building a loft, and so on.

Lovely ornamented wood, cut stone floors, a picture window with an absolutely amazing view, and so much more. Mum was in heaven.

This was home.

The picture window

Looking into the house, from at that window

You call it under-stairs storage, Mum calls it big enough to sleep in!

That window above is just begging to have stained glass placed in it!!

The honey botanics runner is just perfect for the upstairs hall

Are these built-in-shelves big enough? :D

The rime brazier in the hearth will do until the andiron shipment* arrives

Her old cramped kitchen setup doesn't fill the new space! (she's building a loft above it for food storage now)

The new Paineel tub** is perfect for washing veggies!

• *Sometime in the next week, the New Halas housing vendors will be carrying andirons with logs on top of them. Domino was kind enough to link us lit and unlit versions, but they are not yet available. (They will be available before New Halas is released to the other servers, never fear!)
• **The tub is one of two new red glowie rewards that will be available with GU56. The other reward, a polar bear head trophy, is pictured in one of the shots of inside the house. More details and images will be available in a few days with my more details GU56 crafting & housing preview.

This is just an appetizer, folks, of the lovely stuff that is currently on the Test server that is due to be released "later this month". A meatier crafting and housing preview of the rest of the GU56 offerings will be written and released later in the week, but Mum is still wading through some serious mental molasses. Once she figures out which packing crate her brain stowed away in, a more detailed article will be available, but hopefully this eye-candy will tide you over until then! ... BUT, if you need still more housing goodness, you can eyeball the New Halas Starter Home, too!