You are playing Nightmare mode.
While Bill Ferny is in the staging area, he gains: "Immune to player card effects."
The night deepened. There came the soft sound of horses led with stealth along the lane. Outside the gate they stopped, and three black figures entered, like shades of night creeping across the ground. –The Fellowship of the Ring
Begin with the standard quest deck and encounter deck for the A Knife in the Dark scenario.
Remove the following cards, in the specified quantities, from the standard encounter deck:
4x Shady Bree-lander
3x Weather Hills
1x Unwanted Attention
3x Pathless Country
1x Weathertop
Then, shuffle the encounter cards in this Nightmare Deck into the remainder of the standard A Knife in the Dark encounter deck.
Finally, flip this setup card over and place it next to the quest deck. Its effects remain active throughout the game, which is now ready to begin.