Pirran Pipe

The Pirran Pipe is a magic flute that, when played, used to keep all evil out of the land of Pirra.

Pirra
In ancient times, over a thousand years ago, Pirra was a beautiful green island north of Deltora, then called the Land of Dragons. The Pirran Piper played the Pipe every day, so that the magic the Pipe produced would protect the land from evil and intruders. The people of the Land of Dragons could hear the music from the Pipe waving through the winds. No one knows when or how the Pipe was made.

One dark winter's night, Piper died, and a great competition was held to determine who would be the next Piper. However, it ended in a three-way tie between Plume the Brave, Auron the Fair, and Keras the Unknown as they all received an equal number of votes from their supporters. The testing went on into night fall and the Pipers played again and again, but each time the result was the same. Each Piper's supporters refused to back another and it seemed like civil war would break loose between the three groups. This was when the Shadow Lord, disguised in a hooded cloak, approached them and suggested that the Pipe be split into three pieces so that each contestant would be allowed a piece of the Pipe. Each group believed the Shadow Lord was one of theirs, as he had spent time with all of them, urging them to hold firm. The Pirrans were so angry and tired that they agreed and gave Plume the mouthpiece, Auron the middle stem, and Keras the endpiece. Afterwards, the Pirrans split into their three factions.

Because no part of the Pipe could be played in pieces, the magic that kept dark beings away from Pirra was broken. The Shadow Lord quickly swept in and conquered the land, transforming it into the Shadowlands. The people of Pirra could not get back to one another in time to repel him, so they used the last of their magic to command the earth to swallow them and escape from the Shadow Lord's evil. They arrived in an underground sea and settled on three different islands, which they named after the three candidates. Their descendants would become the Plume, Auron, and Keron tribes.

The Pirran sea
Many years after the fall of Pirra, the Auron tribe was divided into two factions: one that wanted to keep the memory of Pirra alive through magic and one that wanted to embrace the beauty of the caverns. This divide saw the latter faction expelled from the island of Auron, while the former—known as Dome Dwellers—took possession of the stem of the Pirran Pipe.

On the island of Plume, seven members of their tribe decided to venture up into the Land of Dragons. They took the mouthpiece of the Pirran Pipe with them. One by one, the seven Plumes (called goblins by the people of the Land of Dragons) were killed off, with the last one being crushed to death by a sleeping Jalis. He took the mouthpiece of the Pipe from the dead Plume and passed it through his family as a talisman.

The story of the Pirran Pipe and the fall of Pirra was recorded by blackbirds and told to Tenna Birdsong.

Cavern of The Fear
After the Shadow Lord was banished from Deltora, Josef, the former palace librarian, wrote in his journal that he needed to tell King Lief about the Pirran Pipe so that he could rescue the slaves in the Shadowlands. When he and his adoptive son, Ranesh, were welcomed back into the palace, he showed Lief the story of Pirra, which contained information about the Pipe.

The mouthpiece of the Pirran Pipe was passed down to Glock through his family. He showed it to Jasmine and Jinks, along with the various other talismans his family had collected. When he was killed battling Fear near the island of Plume, he gave his family talismans to Jasmine, and Nols, the new Piper of the Plumes, identified the mouthpiece. She gave it to the companions out of gratitude for Glock slaying The Fear.

The Isle of Illusion
After learning about the divide on the island of Auron, Lief, Barda, and Jasmine infiltrate the dome in order to recover the stem of the Pirran Pipe. They found the stem being held by a glass statue of Auron the Fair and guarded by Auris, the last of the dome-dwellers. They recovered the stem after Auris was killed by Arach and the Piper of Auron allowed the companions to take it for their quest.

The Shadowlands
When Lief, Barda, and Jasmine arrived on the island of Keras, the Kerons willingly gave the companions the endpiece, allowing them to reform the Pirran Pipe. Tirral, the Piper of Keras, played the Pipe for the first time in centuries and its music reached every corner of the Pirran sea. Afterwards, she traded the Pirran Pipe to Lief for use in the Shadowlands in exchange for the Belt of Deltora, which was secretly a fake created by Lief and Doom. Her son, Emlis, came with the companions, since none of them were musicians and could not play the Pipe to bring out its power.

Lief carried the Pirran Pipe with him through the Shadowlands, since its power would only be useful against the Shadow Lord if used in a surprise attack. After allying with the Shadowlands Resistance, Lief told them to start a slave revolt in the Shadow Arena and to wait for the Pipe's music as their signal. He played the Pipe during the reveal of the Conversion Project, but quickly passed it on to Emlis. His music attracted the attention of the Plumes, Aurons, and Kerons (who had banded together after listening to Tirral play the Pipe) and they combined their magic to rescue all the Deltorans.

Lief returned the Pirran Pipe to Tirral for the fake Belt of Deltora. She told Lief that the Pipe would be passed between the three tribes each year and played at morning, noon, and night, like in the old days.

Apperance
The Pipe is made of gold wood. It has fine decorations, symbols, and carvings on its surface.

The Pipe is made up of three parts, a mouthpiece, a middle stem, and an end piece, which can be separated and later put back together by screwing and unscrewing the wooden pieces. The pieces are very resilient, as the mouthpiece survived centuries of dust and wear inside Glock's family talisman without deteriorating.

Powers
Like the Belt of Deltora, the Pipe is made of old and ancient magic that is brought forth when played. The power of the Pipe depends on the musical talents of the player; a single note from an untrained musician is strong enough to keep those of evil will at bay for a moment, while a song from a skilled musician protected the land of Pirra from invasion.

Clutching the Pipe allows the user to feel more at ease. This power is similar to the Amethyst, from the Belt of Deltora, as it calms and soothes the user. This ability was used when Lief, Barda, Jasmine and Emlis tried to fight the feeling of despair which the Shadowlands provides.

However, even with its full power, the Pipe is not strong enough to drive the Shadow Lord from the Shadowlands and restore it to Pirra.

Pipers

 * The First of the Pipers: The unknown Piper of ancient Pirra. Passed away in her sleep.
 * Nols: Current Piper of the Plum tribe. As part of the deal between the three tribes, she would get the Pipe in turn ever three years.
 * The Piper of Auron: Current Piper of the Auron tribe. As part of the deal between the three tribes, he would get the Pipe in turn ever three years.
 * Tirral: Current Piper of the Keron tribe. She was the first person to play the reformed Pirran Pipe. As part of the deal between the three tribes, she would get the Pipe in turn ever three years.

Candidates

 * Plume the Brave: One of the candidates who were put to vote as the new Piper, when the former one had died. Plume's playing was so stirring that the crowd cheered.
 * Auron the Fair: One of the candidates who were put to vote as the new Piper, when the former one had died. Auron's music was so beautiful that her audience wept.
 * Keras the Unknown: One of the candidates who were put to vote as the new Piper, when the former one had died. Keras created sounds so haunting that all who heard them were rapt in wonder.

Temporary

 * Lief: King of Deltora. Lief borrowed the Pirran Pipe from Tirral in order to use it against the Shadow Lord and rescue the Deltoran slaves. He played the flute in the Shadow Arena, but quickly passed it along to Emlis.
 * Emlis: Son of Tirral and the best musician on Keras. He accompanied Lief, Barda, and Jasmine to the Shadowlands, since none of them could properly bring out the Pipe's magic. He played the Pipe in the Shadow Arena after Lief and held the Shadow Lord at bay long enough for the Pirrans to rescue the slaves. He played music of his own heart.