The Piper of Hamelyn

The Piper of Hamelyn is a figure of real world legend folklore from Hamelin, Germany. He also exists or existed in the Masque of the Red Death and the Ravenloft (Product Line) campaign settings. The Pied Piper was first mentioned in Ravenloft canon in the short story Tales of Ravenloft:Nocturne, which details his coming to Ste. Ronges to rid it of the rats that infest it. His activities on Gothic Earth prior to his disappearance and the legacy he left behind is discussed in A Guide to Transylvania.

Biography

According to the Legend of the Pied Piper, medieval folklore of the German town of Hamelin holds that the ratcatcher known as the Piper of Hamelyn used his magical pipe to rid the town of its plague of rats by leading them into the sea to drown. When the townspeople refused to pay, he allegedly used his magical music to take away the children as he did the children. In one version of the legend, the Pied Piper brought the children into the Transylvanian town of Brasov through a secret underground passage. There, he gifted the children with musical instruments and special abilities in return for spending their existences spreading good to counteract their parents' transgressions. Subsequently, various households adopted the children. On Gothic Earth, a Neutral Good qabal of musicians and spies against the Red Death traces its lineage to those children taught by the Piper. The members of this qabal call themselves the Heirs of the Piper

Regardless of the truth of the above legend, the Piper apparently somehow wound up in the Demiplane of Dread. (A character coming from Gothic Earth is not totally unique. Other sources have indicated the possibility of characters and even lands from Gothic Earth appearing in the mainline Ravenloft setting, such as Odiare originally coming from Italy.) In the year 722 of the Barovian Calendar, the piper of Hamelin offered his services to the mayor of Ste. Ronges to rid the town of its great rat infestation. His efforts ended badly with his death under the teeth and claws of rats as a consequence of the interference of Jacqueline Renier.

Noncanon Information

The Pied Piper is detailed more in the Pied Piper netbook article in the Undead Sea Scrolls 2002.