A bard, with his lute strapped to his back, walks into teh Prancing Pony early in the morning and finds the room nearly empty. Barliman Butterbur walks up to the table rubbing his eyes.

"Good morning," Barliman says, "How can I help you?"

"Could you use another bard for the bar?"

"We always have a few taking turns on the stage but more entertainment is always welcome."

"I'm Declan."

"It's nice to meet you. I'm Barliman."

"You look like you need some rest."

Barliman laughs, "That's the one thing I'll never get."

"I'm certainly getting better sleep now that I'm out of Angmar."

"What were you doing in Angmar?"

"It was just by chance that I came across the hillmen taking supplies to Augaire," Declan says. "I had no where else to go so I followed them. Everyone could use a good song. It does much to raise the spirit."

"It certainly does that if the way the people in this bar acts when our bards start to sing."

"I suspect that may have a little to do with them being drunk."

"That certainly helps," Barliman says.

"I've been writing a new song to celebrate the good luck I found in Angmar."

"What good luck is that?"

"I had been traveling to try to learn the fate of my grandfather," Declan says. "He was an explorer that decided to search for lost relics of the north lands. After recieving one strange letter he just disappeared."

"Did you find him in Angmar?"

"I didn't find him but I do now know what happened to him."

"If you didn't find him are you sure you know what happened?" Barliman asks.

"It lines up with the cryptic letter he sent us. He found a tomb enhabited by a powerful spirit. I'm no warrior and know nothing of spirits and magic."

"It seems a lot of dark spirits are waking up."

"It makes avoiding areas where the dark lord once had power a good idea," Declan says. "My grandfather was simply unlucky when he took shelter in the cave that held the spirit's barrow."

"Bad luck seems to follow us all in these days."

"The spirit my grandfather found put people to sleep and pulled them into its own world. All those that came near the barrow was labeled a thief. Everyone taken there was turned into shades to be his slaves. My grandfather held onto enough of his mind to help the adventurers that found the tomb. After they had defeated the spirit, Nightmare it was called, my grandfather and all the other shades were allowed to move on."

"One less spriit in the world is good news," Barliman says.

"I just wish it was stopped before my grandfather was caught by it."