Bilbo Baggins was a hobbit, and a very prosperous one at that. He lived behind a perfectly round door, painted as green as an emerald, and the shininess of the gold brass knob was frequently remarked upon by visitors and passersby; hobbits value comfort and take pride in their homes, you see, and Bilbo's hobbit hole under The Hill was something to be praised. His gardens stretched over his land and the bright flowers provided a pleasing sketch of purples, pinks, reds, and blues to any who bothered to look over at The Hill, only to be matched by the vivid hues of his wardrobe, for which several rooms of his hole were dedicated. Hobbit holes aren't untidy, and Bilbo Baggins was very conscious of that, dusting the mantle and shaking the rugs out on a daily basis. Even in winter! Snow is no excuse for dirt in the welcome mat, mind you.

Now this particular hobbit was held in high repute around those parts, because, brave as he was to buy his seed cakes from Mrs Turner (she was a bit more than 'off'), Bilbo Baggins stayed put in the Shire and did not have any adventures outside of cleaning out his sink drain once a month, and that in itself was a very hazardous quest. It is a wonder that Bilbo's adventurous side had managed to stay dormant for such a long period of his life, because his mother had been the famous Belladonna Took. Now, that name may not mean anything to you or to me, but to a hobbit, it meant everything. Rumor had it that somewhere higher up on the Took family tree, someone must have taken a fairy wife. That, dear reader, is absurd, but any hobbit that knew the Took family could attest to the fact that there was something a little queer in their make-up, for every so often, a member of the family would just pick up and go on an adventure! But, maybe that was where Bilbo Baggins of Bag End got his grit and determination to stick with the adventure that he had not chosen, but rather that had rolled directly into his lap...