Well before the swift Arowe reaches the top of the final, curving stairwell, he starts to make out an eerily familiar music. The tune is different and the musician, less well practiced but the tone of the instrument...
He recognises it; Panpipes! Just like the ones used by the stinky, Human Druid; Koenig in the tannery all those months ago, when he played them to summon hordes of filthy, disease carrying rats.
It's with a seething indignation, that Arowe remembers personally handing the magical instrument over to Sir Briefadel to sell for them. Worse, now he realises that the wretched Human never even found a buyer. Never even looked for one. He just bare-faced lied about it and kept the magical panpipes for himself!
Arowe grinds his pearly white teeth as he suddenly understands the why. Sir Briefadel had spent decades researching how to save his Mother and must have known, that to breach the tower's illusionary outer barrier, he needed a magical instrument. The double-dealing Human had probably been searching for one for years... He'd probably, secretly sent them all on that first mission just to retrieve it!
Despite his initial anger at this realisation, the tall Elf can't help but smile wryly at the irony of the situation. Their penultimate test as a Party is going to be a repeat of one of their first ones.
Rats!
Lots of rats!
Lots and lots of rats!
This time though, he and his friends won't be caught by surprise.
We've been played by Sir Briefadel like rats to the tune of the pipes.
ReplyDeleteHis plan didn't actually involve you being around to hear him play them but it's a very satisfying full circle sub-plot story completion regardless.
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