Pi'illoper
- “I am the foremost living expert on Pi'illo culture. You may call me Pi'illoper! Pi'illo-ed to meet you!”
- —Pi'illoper, Mario & Luigi: Dream Team
Pi'illoper is a Beanish character who appears in Mario & Luigi: Dream Team. He is a self-proclaimed expert and enthusiast on Pi'illo culture who resides in Wakeport, his house containing several Pi'illo-related artifacts in its basement. He wears a blue coat and has a mask of the Pi'illo symbol covering his face. Mario and Luigi confront Pi'illoper because he has Bedsmith's pillow, who is the only one that can build the Ultibed.
History
Mario and Luigi first meet Pi'illoper on the second floor of his house after defeating Wiggler and Popple. Pi'illoper first questions Mario and Luigi about their Pi'illo collection before showing them his own. After Mario and Luigi showcase the five Zee Parts, an ecstatic Pi'illoper quickly opens the Warp Pipe on the first floor to his collection. In the basement with Pi'illoper's collection, Starlow claims that all of these artifacts can be found in the Pi'illo Castle, hurting Pi'illoper's feelings. Pi'illoper immediately pulls out Bedsmith's pillow. Prince Dreambert announces that it indeed is Bedsmith, and Pi'lloper is incredibly excited to meet a Pi'illo in real life. Dreambert convinces Pi'illoper to give Bedsmith's pillow to him so that Mario and Luigi can free him. Pi'lloper in starstruck excitement suggests that Dreambert can even have HIM, which is politely declined.
Pi'illoper is later encountered inside Dreamy Wakeport where he warns Mario and Luigi that hitting the two blocks not only releases the nightmare chunk, but also a gigantic guardian. He claims that many have tried to free the chunk, but none have survived because of the guardian that protects it.
The Legend of Pi'illo Island
The Legend of Pi'illo Island is a series of volumes written by Pi'illoper describing the Pi'illo race, including their culture and the reason they were supposedly wiped out. Each volume can be found in Wakeport, with the specific locations next to each volume number.
Volume 1 (Hotel District: Middle Building, Ground Floor)
[Peaceful Island, Folk of Mystery]
Soft winds ever blow across Pi'illo Island, whispering of lore and legend... A strange people once made their home here, and it is said they were possessed of a mysterious power. What power, you ask, intrepid reader? The power to slip through the veil that separates the real and dream worlds. These were the Pi'illo folk for whom this island is named, and under their care, it was a flourishing paradise. But time laughs at mortal works, and now old ruins dotted about the island are all that remains. What fate befell the inhabitants of this island? How did their line falter? Whence came their hidden end? Consider these humble writings an attempt to record all that is known of the Pi'illos... and their end.
Volume 2 (Hotel District: Middle Building, Ground Floor)
[Prince Dreambert]
The Pi'illos were at the peak of their prominence, and they were led by their young ruler, Prince Dreambert. The youthful leader's crowning achievment had been the construction of Pi'illo Castle, a monumental edifice. Though cast in stone, the structure embodied the cultural and artistic sensibilities of Dreambert's people. As any visitor can attest, the castle still reflects both the prosperity and peaceful nature of the Pi'illo prince. But it reflects more. For it is said that somewhere within is a strange room... A snapshot of Pi'illo culture. By sleeping in this room, the legend claims, one dreams of Pi'illo enemies and can revel in their defeats. The Pi'illos were a tranquil people, to be sure...but the prince bid all soldiers hone their skills in this room. Did young Dreamberrt have a premonition of evil times? Did he foresee that some fell thing would one day come with ruin in tow?
Volume 3 (Hotel District: Western Building, Ground Floor)
[The Nightmare Begins]
History teaches that time and again, across the aeons, good will always be eventually beset by evil. Evil soon came for Pi'illo Island as well. As evil born of foul parents. Its mother was corruption; its father, base cunning. It flapped into being and all trembled! For it was the evil mage-king of bats, and its name was Antasma. None know in what dark den it was born or what nightmare byways led it to Pi'illo Island's shores... But once it came to roost on the island, the fate of the peaceful inhabitants was set in stone. Though they knew it not, their sandy footsteps now trudged down the path of their own destruction.
Volume 4 (Hotel District: Western Building, Ground Floor)
[The Two Stones]
Why had the evil Antasma come? The answer: stones. For the Pi'illos had ever guarded two precious stones. The first was called the Dream Stone. Embedded within this wondrous stone was all the power of beautiful dreams. There was another: the Dark Stone. And within this slept all the power and danger of the world's nightmares. Both stones held a terrible strength, for they could fulfil the desires of whoever held them. Antasma looked upon the Dark Stone with ravenous eyes and decided it would be his and his alone... By insidious means and black arts, he spirited the Dark Stone from the sanctuary where it slept. But he would not go unchallenged. Dreambert discovered the plot and led many Pi'illos to confront Antasma. They surrounded the stolen stone, but the fiend would not yield, and the battle was soon joined.
Volume 5 (Pi'illoper's House, Ground Floor)
[The Great Battle]
The Pi'illos were fundamentally a peaceful people, and they held to this tenet as best they could. However, with their land and culture held hostage, their fury grew terrible and they fought without mercy. At Prince Dreambert's command, the Pi'illos hurled themselves into the fray in an all-out attack on Antasma. None would permit Antasma's dark designs to come to fruition, even if it meant their own lives were forfeit. For all knew that the Dark Stone, that nightmare in crystalline form, must never be used. Yet even when the battle went ill, no spirit quailed, for the Pi'illos knew they had a powerful ally. The power of this ally was without equal. And it stood with the Pi'illos. It was the Zeekeeper. The bird of legend.
Volume 6 (Pi'illoper's House, Ground Floor)
[The Feathered Guardian]
Legend has it that the Zeekeeper was a bird of enormous girth who watched over and guarded people's dreams. It was massive, draped in iridescent feathers, and terrifying when roused in the defense of the righteous. The great bird lived in quiet peace as it watched over the island dwellers, but in battle, it was dire. From its mind's eye, the Zeekeeper could launch a Wakebeam, a weapon of unimaginable power versus evil. This weapon bedevilled Antasma in battle to the point of despair. And so, with the help of their mighty ally, it looked as though the Pi'illos would prove the victors at long last. As he looked upon the field of battle, Prince Dreambert awaited his chance to execute one final maneuver. Little did he know, however, that his plan would lead to utter ruin.
Volume 7 (Pi'illoper's House, Ground Floor)
[The Wise One's Gambit]
As he listened to reports of the battle, Dreambert mulled over courses of action. "How can we do the most good? We must defeat Antasma, but how can we ensure this danger never returns?" To answer his question, the prince called forth one of his subjects. It was none other than Eldream. Long-lived and wise, he knew all there was about the island and dreams. Eldream was also the only Pi'illo who had befriended the animals of the island, with whom he shared kinship. Prince Dreambert, in close counsel with this wise and ancient advisor, concocted a secret plan. The plan was this: to seal Antasma deep within a dream...forever. But could the evil one be eternally imprisoned in the dark, ethereal pit known only as Dream's Deep?
Volume 8 (Kylie Koopa's House, Ground Floor)
[The Nightmare's Dream]
The Pi'illo attack continued unabated. With the Zeekeeper's support, they brought Antasma to bay. At Eldream's bidding, the beasts of the forests rose up and they, too, surrounded Antasma. So relentless was the assault that Antasma clasped the Dark Stone fast to his chest, muting its powers. From his vantage, Dreambert saw this and knew the time had come. He would set his last, desperate plan in motion and attempt to seal Antasma away forever. If it succeeded, Antasma could never cross the dream border. Dream's Deep would be his prison. Such was the course that Dreambert and Eldream had settled upon in their extremity. However, just as the portal to the world of dreams yawned open and Antasma's doom was nigh... Something truly terrible happened.
Volume 9 (Kylie Koopa's House, Ground Floor)
[The Final Struggle]
Antasma was slowly swallowed by the closing portal to the dream world, and Dreambert sensed victory at hand. But it was not to be. Catastrophe loomed, felt first by the creatures of the forest that Eldream had called. They abandoned their circle of containment around Antasma and began a frantic retreat. Eldream noticed something was amiss. He opened his mouth to cry out a warning, but just at that moment... A faint sneer appeared on the lips of Antasma, hated and accursed. Using all the terrible strength left in his vile hands, the mage-king of bats crushed the Dark Stone. His fell body had already been swallowed by the void. Now, last of all, his fist slowly disappeared, and Antasma was lost to the depths of the dream world.
The Final Chapter (Kylie Koopa's House, Ground Floor)
[The Dream without End]
The portal to the dream world closed on Antasma, and the Pi'illos seemed the victors at last. But the Dark Stone had fragmented, and now the nightmare chunks fell from the sky, shimmering in the darkness. The soft bodies of the Pi'illos began hardening into stone, and one by one they collasped onto the grass. Before long, neither victors nor the fallen stood on the field of battle. Only silence remained. Who knows how much time has passed since that dark day? None know, but know this last: When all movement on the plain had ceased, a single rabbit appeared. It bounced like a stone in the surf and then seemed to find a Pi'illo it knew among the fallen many. Then, as if to protect the Pi'illo, the rabbit lay against the stone, closed its eyes, and slept. From then on, nothing marked the passage of time on the island but the silence of the stone Pi'illos.
Author's Postscript (Pi'illoper's House, First Floor)
Buh huh huh huh huh! Oh hello, loyal reader! It is I, Pi'illoper, your humble author and bed lover, wrecking the fourth wall to add a word! As my imaginary friends know, I have always had a great passion for the noble Pi'illos, and it led me to self-publish these little screeds! Some might call it fan fiction... I snort at that! How much fan fiction has TEN volumes? Huh? Not many, I'd bet. Did you read them all? Buh huh huh! Not to toot my own horn here, but who'd imagine I could write a masterpiece with such a dearth of historical materials? Which reminds me, my imaginary lawyers advise me to assert that this work is not affliated with Pi'illo Castle or any official Pi'illo anything! All this humble author hopes is that you might read these and gain a greater appreciation for the Pi'illo folk, be these tales real or imagined!
