In the common room of the Hammer & Tongs, the fire was low, and the inn's bard had put away his lute for the night. Like the other patrons who linger so late, a band of halflings had come in stave off sleep, which in recent weeks had been heavy and dreamless.
The halflings had left their home behind a long time ago in search of adventure.
They had traveled for many moons to reach the city at the border to the Badlands.
The city was quiet, or as quiet as any city can be; the harvests from the fields of the Agenor Veld had started to fill the markets; and the militia protecting the whole of the Conclave remained as strong as ever. Yet no one seemed to dream.

And so the halflings sat and watched the fire's embers while the innkeeper sweeped up the scraps of the day.

A clang from the street outside startled the halflngs and the lone innkeeper. The halflings turned to peer through a window, but the dim light cast from the room revealed little. The sound rang out again, followed by a fainter noise of metal and treebranches scraping against stone.

The innkeeper went toward the open door of the inn and glowed out at the darkness. "Hold now," he rumbled. "You wake the dead with your noise."

There was no response, but the scraping sound grew louder. Hefting his broom, the innkeeper stepped out into the shadowed street.

The band of halflings hailed the innkeeper and offered to confront the noisemakers. With a shrug, he returned to his sweeping, and the halflings stepped outside.

At first they saw nothing, but once their eyes adjusted they noticed a huge silhouette farther down the street. It looked like a ancient lumbering tree... Right in the middle of street.
To the halflings supprise the tree moved forward, dragging it's roots along the flagstones. As if sensing the halflings gaze, the figure moved towards them, and as it came closer, the halfling band noticed mutiple smallframed beings amongst the branches of the huge living tree.

"Good to see some fellow Hobbits in these parts", a voice from amongst the branches said.

And as the light from the inn fell upon the tree, the Halfling band realized that there where several halflings sitting amongst the treemans branches.

"We return from a tournament in the Chaos badlands, where many of our fellow halflings has fallen to the twisted beings of chaos", the halfling said with dissapointment in his eyes.

"We come to town seeking replacements for our Blood bowl team".

That day the halflings began to dream yet again...