The smell of pipeweed and the sound of merry laughter drifts from the open door of the Inn of the Prancing Pony. It is a Highday, and like every Highday, Barliman Butterbur has opened his  common room to guests from lands near and far to sample his beer in exchange for coin, conversation, and a promise 'not to go up into thin air, thank you very much!'

This week's (May 23, 2025) hook:

Buckland’s Thrimidgeday approaches—and Bree is abuzz with excitement!

Many Bree-landers plan to attend the festivities on the invitation of Meriadoc the Magnificent himself. But it is not the Bree-folk alone who have been invited to the Hobbits’ Thrimidgeday… the whole of Middle-earth seems to have received an invitation! Dwarves, Elves, and Men of distant lands descend upon Bree as never before… and every one of them has come Mr. Barliman Butterbur’s way! The Prancing Pony is full to bursting with guests. Indeed, the inn is so busy that Barliman has no rooms to spare, and many of his guests are left to sleep on benches in the common room and parlour (a source of great shame to the proud Mr. Butterbur).

On this Highday, the Pony common room is full of strange voices and stranger tales, as foreign guests abandon their rooms (or well-pillowed benches!) for beer and conversation. Yet, as seems to be the way of things at the Prancing Pony these days, these guests quickly find their beer and conversation disturbed. An anxious Barliman Butterbur paces through the crowd, muttering things like, ‘Went right out of my head it did!’, and beseeching any guest who will hear him to, 'help get me out of a spot of trouble!'

‘You see,’ Barliman explains to those who stop to listen, ‘I promised Mister Brandybuck I’d send him some papers and letters and books and that sort of thing his way! I’ve got loads of it, too… old books Nob’s chewed up and spat out again—including a bit of dear old Prescott’s pretty poems!—and, oh, what have we got here? ledgers and Dwarf-books and all sorts we’ve got no use for at the Pony! But the thing is, stranger (bless my beer, I’ve forgot your name!), I intended to send the stuff by the Little Folk’s post last week when their little messengers came round… and, well, dear, oh dear, wrong as winter, I forgot to! Now I’ve got to find just the right dependable sort to get these books and that to Mister Brandybuck. And quick, lest he think I’m ungrateful for all that he did, fighting the witches of the east and the kings of the south in the War!’

It will be a wonder if Mister Butterbur can find “the right dependable sort” to get his lore to Buckland before Thrimidgeday with the amount of time he wastes to talking. But, then again, as the old phrase goes, stranger things have happened in Bree!

Please note that this week's hook ties into the 'Thrimidgeday' event, happening at the Buckland Faire on Sunday, May 25 at in 1:00 PM server-time . We encourage any and all players who plan to attend this event to stop by the Pony and explore what their character may be up to in the days preceding the Thrimidgeday. For more information on the Thrimidgeday event, check out our event posting here: 'Thrimidgeday' - A Story-based RP Celebration at Buckland Faire | The Laurelin Archives.