Council of the Wise is a contract that always almost works for me. Not sure what it is exactly, but it always ends up stalling out a bit. This deck though, has been one of my most successful decks to utilize Council of the Wise!
Key Concepts:
I have found that Council of the Wise decks live and die on card draw. you need to keep replenishing your events so you always have the money/card/threat when you need it. For that reason, Pippin is going to keep your hand as full as possible as will Campfire Tales, Daeron's Runes, Deep Knowledge, Drinking Song and Peace, and Thought
Resources:
The only character I have found that runs out of funds often in this deck is Pippin. As quickly as possible, he needs either Magic Ring, Resourceful or (hopefully) Red Book of Westmarch. Once he has a new source of income, your budget should not be a problem. The flexibility from Council of the wise lets you get the money to the characters that need it in a timely fashion.
Hopefully this deck will give you a fun new version of a classic Hobbit lineup to play with! It rarely runs exactly the same way twice, but it always has options open for what to do!