For all of his forty two years, Beneger's Shire was a land of peace and tranquility.  If a minstrel were trying to write a song that told what a Hobbit was, they could have easily looked to him for inspiration.  For Beneger, nothing was serious; nothing that is except food and good drink.  One of three children in a family that is known for nothing in particular, Beneger loved three things above all else;  the Shire, food, and practical jokes.  If ever there were any reputation attached to his family at all, it was for his jokes.  Beneger loves playing practical jokes on people and has become very accomplished at sneaking around silent and hidden in order to pull them off.  There was the time he snuck the ten toads into the town hall meeting in Hobbiton, the time he re-arranged the gates for the Summer Festival Horse races (sending the horses toward Little Delving instead of around the track they were supposed to be on), and of course the time he set off the fireworks 'inside' the Green Dragon.  Those are some of his bigger pranks, but most of his pranks are smaller and on a more personal level.  So accomplished had he become at sneaking around and pulling such pranks, those who had to deal with him the most (that would be the Bounders) actually wondered if they shouldn't recruit him into their ranks. The higher ranking officers worried at such an unstable element within their ranks.  When not pulling pranks, he farms.  He loves to grow things, and especially things he can eat.  He is also quite the cook in his small corner of Hobbiton.  He can drink like a fish when he chooses to, prompting his closest friends to suggest he join the Inn League.  But so far the League won't have him.  Like the Bounders, they are a bit too scared of what pranks might be visited upon them if they let him in.  Finally, he has developed an affinity for high places and the views he can enjoy from them.  It is not at all uncommon to find him on the highest roof in the area looking down at the people below, or just taking in the view.  And so he has spent the vast majority of his life mildly toiling away in his gardens during the mornings and early afternoons, drinking with local friends in the evening, and splashing in jokes and pranks whenever he can.

But this carefree life came to an end as he walked home late one night from an evening at the Green Dragon.

He had passed the last of the town's buildings heading up the hill toward his home.  It was a vendor's hall and he was just closing up.  Beneger waved to him and slurred, "Good night."  He had stumbled a bit further up the road when he heard a cry.  He looked back and in the distant torchlight he could see the vendor on the ground.  He wasn't moving.  Towering over him was a rider all in black, one of the big folk.  Something was clearly wrong.  He started to go back when the rider started up the hill toward him.  Something in the rider made him stop.  He backed into the bushes along the side of the road and hid, thinking too late that if the rider had seen him he would be cornered.  Behind him was a steep drop down to cultivated fields.  He wanted to help his fellow hobbit.  He didn't like the idea of them being mistreated by the big folk.  But this was no ordinary big person.   There was a pall over this one, an overwhelming sense of dread.  It came up the hill and stopped as it came even with him.  Beneger was one of the best when it came to sneaking about, but all his skills proved useless this night.  The rider simply sniffed the air and then turned toward him.   A few short steps and it was towering over him now.  It hissed...  A terrible whisper filled with menace, and as it spoke Beneger could swear the night actually grew darker in its presence.

"Shire...   Baggins... " it hissed.

Of course there wasn't hardly anyone in Hobbiton who hadn't heard of the Baggins's, especially after that great disappearing act at the Birthday party.

"I...  I...  I don't know any Baggins..."  he stammered.

The rider leaned in closer.  It was at this point that Beneger noticed the things crawling out of the earth all around him.  The creepy and crawly and slimy things, as if summoned and called.  All but petrified with fear, he did the only thing he could think of.  He crossed his fingers, closed his eyes, and fell backwards down into the fields below.  Landing in a heap, it took all of a second for him to determine he'd made it okay.  Then he was up and running.  There was no thought of sneaking or hiding.  He ran faster than he ever knew he could.  How he got to where he ended up he can't remember to this day.  He only remembers a blur.

The next day there were several investigations underway by the Bounders.  At the top of the list was the death of a vendor on the outskirts of Hobbiton, beheaded just outside the door to his business as he closed.  Second came the numerous reports of riders in black in the Shire.  Finally, there was the broken window in the basement of the Green Dragon.  Later that day, Beneger was able to link all three together.  He came voluntarily to the Bounders and related his tale of the night before, of how he ran and was too afraid to turn for home because the rider was between the two.  It was Beneger that broke the basement window and hid out in the basement until dawn broke.  He apologized profusely and swore to pay for the damages.  The Shiriff of Hobbiton realized he was looking at a very different Beneger this day.  This was not Beneger the drunk or Beneger the mischief maker.  This was a hobbit who had stood in the shadow of some terrible evil, an evil that had been stalking the Shire for some days now.  It had changed him.  And now, instead of the bounders coming to Shiriff and asking if they should recruit Beneger, Beneger had come of his own accord and asked to join.

"I know I'll need training and stuff," he said.  "And I know I've caused you guys a lot of trouble in the past.  But...  I love the Shire.  You know that.  And...  Well...  It just doesn't seem like the Shire I know when things like that are on our roads.  I've heard some of the stories told at the Green Dragon recently.  The rumors from Bree.  Something is happening.  Something very wrong is going on out there in the world and it's started to creep past our borders.  Please...  I want to help."