Laythe found herself surrounded by a half a dozen figures. They were dressed in ragged clothing, dirty, and they definitely did not look friendly. The bandits had their swords drawn as if they considered her to be a threat. They were definitely did not look like the romantic bandits of songs and tales. If she got out of this, she would not sing such anymore.

It had all started when she had heard about an overgrown path to the city of Frethe. The city was in many ways her last chance to get enough coin to last the winter. Her travels had lead her through a number of smallish towns and villages. There was little at any of them. Frethe had one of the larger harvest faires. Unfortunately, it took almost two weeks by the main road and she would not have gotten to the city until almost the end of the faire. That would be a disaster.

She did have a surprise for the attackers. She brought her hands up and brought a hornpipe up to her lips. At first it looked like they might attack her but after a moment they identified her as a minstrel and no threat. As she played, first one began dancing. A second one joined in a moment or two later. One by one, all of the others joined the dance.

As the young minstrel continued playing, the bandits continued dancing around her. They were all caught in the Faerie Dance. Hatred and anger was clearly visible in their eyes. Still, the bandits had no choice. Playing this long was tiring but the dancing was even more tiring to those trapped in the song. Suddenly, she ended the music. The bandits collapsed around her. One tried to raise his head but could not even do that.

A little tired herself, the young minstrel gathers her skirts around her and walked away. It should be a few hours before they recover but it would be best to be as far away as possible.

The Faerie Pipe is a fairly plain looking instrument which appears to be made from light colored wood. Around the mouth piece is bone. The instrument has small holes similar to a flute and widens at the mouth piece and bell end also widens as well. Carved into the instrument is a line drawing of a Puck playing a hornpipe. Unlike some magic items, the hornpipe does not appear to be indestructible and there are several scratches in the finish of the instrument.

Believed to be a fairly recently made magic items, the Faerie Pipe is still quite a powerful magic item. It has a single enchantment which is unknown except for among the Fay. A special song, known as the Faerie's Dance can be played, and a victim will be forced to dance as long as the player continues to play the hornpipe. They will dance around in a circle based on where the player was when they were first caught by the magic. No matter how exhausted the victim is, they will be unable to stop dancing. The playing of the dance is only limited by the player's endurance.

When the music stops being played, suddenly all of the exhaustion will completely catch up with the victims. If the victims of the dance have been dancing for a significant portion of time, they will collapse after the music is finished. It is thought that if a supernatural being was to play the instrument, they can literally kill a victim with exhaustion.

The maker of the instrument never revealed the secret of how he made the instrument. There is no wizard spells which seem to similar to the magic of the instrument. There are a few rumors that a a faerie is trapped in the instrument although most scholars discount the idea. Another suggestion is that the reed in the instrument is the wing of a faerie.

Powers:

Gives base 60% "Play Musical Instrument" skill roll or +10% to those who have the skill to play a Hornpipe (Use flute skill.)
Those with the skill to play the instrument are considered to play at professional level.
Faerie's Dance:
Can be cast up to three times per day. Saving throw is 16 or better with standard bonuses towards magic applying. As well, bonuses towards Faerie Magic applies. The area of effect is a 30 foot (9.1 meter) radius. It compels the victim to dance until the enchantment is canceled. The victim is fairly helpless, -8 to strike, parry and dodge, and can perform no other skill/function other than dance.
The dance is extremely exhausting, equal to running at a full sprint although effects do not catch up with the dancers until the song stops being played (or the player walks outside of the distance where the dancers can hear the music.)
For every fifteen minutes dancing, there are the following penalties:
Speed -2.
Initiative -2..
Strike, Parry, and Dodge -1.
Damage -2.
Also has a 10% of collapsing for every fifteen minutes of dancing when the dance stops. Maximum of 98% chance of collapsing with bonuses to coma and death for high Physical Endurance. (Has 2% chance of death for every hour of dancing - bonuses against coma and death also apply.)
Recovery takes one hour for every fifteen minutes of dancing.

[ Palladium Fantasy® is a registered trademark owned by Kevin Siembieda and Palladium Books Inc.]

By Kitsune (E-Mail Kitsune).

Copyright © 2009, Kitsune. All rights reserved.