Briochebane
| Briochebane | |||||||||
| Brioche · Brioche Bane · Brioche the dragon | |||||||||
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Briochebane is a gold dragon wyrmling with unusual red-gold coloring, raised in secret by the dwarf baker Phil Flowerforge from a hatchling out of an egg Phil stole during his brigand days. The size of a large dog, with cloudy white eyes when first seen on top of Uncle Nibblecheek’s wood-fired oven (mind-controlled, [2], Brioche was woken by Terry feeding him a brioche-bun from Phil’s bakery [4] and joined the party for the cottage’s resolution. Critically, his scales are gold-toned (not chromatic) - and the Egg did not resonate when Terry walked it past him [3]. The dragon Sevryn’s quest is hunting is not Brioche. The DM phrased it: “Sevryn’s magic may have misfired and accidentally sent you on the path to a golden dragon” [8]. As of session 16, Brioche is travelling separately with Phil Flowerforge.
Overview
Briochebane is a gold dragon wyrmling with unusual red-gold coloring, raised in secret by Phil Flowerforge behind the loaf-shaped facade of his Eldwythe bakery. He is the size of a large dog, with scales gold-toned and unusually red-gold coloured [8] - he is a gold dragon, not a chromatic one, so Sevryn’s egg quest does not target him. The Egg, walked through the kitchen by Terry, did not resonate [3]. The dragon the party came for is not the dragon they got.
He was first encountered atop Uncle Nibblecheek’s wood-fired oven, asleep, mind-controlled with cloudy white eyes [2]. Terry approached covertly with a brioche-bun left over from Phil Flowerforge’s bakery; Brioche woke with clear eyes, recognised Phil’s name, and accepted the rescue [4]. He breath-attacked Uncle Nibblecheek from behind during the surrender fight [5].
He is currently travelling with Phil rather than the party, to keep him out of Aurelian sights — a dragon and a tiefling-presenting Vasquez together would be a fatal combination at any Aurelian gate.
Appearance and demeanour
Small dog-sized gold dragon wyrmling with unusual red-gold coloring. Scales are gold-toned with the unusual red-gold cast - described as “reddish scales” by Phil who knew, and “gold with red” by Terry’s perception 21 in s14, both consistent with the canonical gold-wyrmling-with-red-gold framing. Cloudy white eyes when mind-controlled; clear eyes when free. Likes cinnamon rolls. Breath weapon: fire (recharge fail when used on the Aurelian chain-master in s15). Visibly attached to Phil Flowerforge - saddened in s14 by being kept from him while the Aurelian situation resolves.
Phil’s parting verdict, s12: “Just like any good bread, he’s crusty on the outside but soft on the inside.”
History / role in the campaign
Session 12 — confession and abduction
Phil Flowerforge confessed to harbouring Brioche when Caelumn showed his draconic scales mid-bead-of-sweat. Phil’s brigand-career egg theft, the bakery funded by the haul, the secret-room hatchling, the dragon-fire-toasted pastry trade secret. Phil suspected Brioche may have caused the s12 fire at Edith Applegarth’s shop, or escaped into the woods. The investigation followed a candy trail east; Brioche turned out to have been mind-controlled away by Uncle Nibblecheek.
Session 14 — rescue
Terry’s owl Earthwing scouted the Candy Cottage kitchen and reported a dragon “the size of a large dog… cloudy and white eyes” asleep on the oven [2]. When the party bluffed Nibblecheek into approaching the unconscious Caelumn and Vasquez in the basement, Terry used the gap to feed Brioche the brioche-bun from Phil’s bakery; Brioche woke with clear eyes [4].
The egg-resonance test: Terry walked the Egg past sleeping Brioche during the kitchen entry. The egg did not resonate. Combined with the red-gold scale observation - canon being a gold dragon wyrmling with unusual red-gold coloring - the conclusion was clear:
“It seems like Sevryn’s magic may have misfired and accidentally sent you on the path to a golden dragon.” — DM, [8]
Brioche fought against Uncle Nibblecheek alongside the party, breath-attacking him for 23 (half on save, [5] while Vasquez grappled. The party negotiated their exit and left with Brioche.
Session 15 — separation
After the Aurelian patrol arrived and Ruin was decapitated, Brioche flew in as a friendly NPC during the chain-master fight. His breath weapon’s recharge failed and he made no impact on the elite. After the smoke-bomb escape, Phil took Brioche aside and travelled separately into Eldwythe sewers toward Phil’s mentioned destinations (“Arcanvis or Belkris… or maybe Wurmbow”, [9]. Brioche is off-screen from session 15’s mid-point.
Relationships
- Phil Flowerforge — raised him from an egg. Visibly attached.
- Uncle Nibblecheek — kept him mind-controlled in the kitchen as a dragon-fire ingredient supplier.
- Sevryn — the off-target of his redirection. Sevryn’s magic was supposed to point at chromatic dragons; it pointed at Brioche.
- The party — rescued him; he travelled briefly with them; now travelling with Phil for safety.
Notable details
- The egg in Caelumn’s backpack (later stolen by the Aurelian chain-master in s15) did not resonate with Brioche, providing one of the campaign’s clearest mechanical clues that the egg is a passive absorber rather than a homing device.
- Brioche’s mother dragon — the source of the stolen egg — is unidentified in canon. Phil has not said what colour she was or which hoard he stole from.
Disposition toward the party
Friendly. Saved by them; protective of Phil; cooperative.
Status as of session 16
Alive, off-screen, travelling with Phil Flowerforge. Last in-fiction location: somewhere on Phil’s chosen route away from Aurelian-occupied Eldwythe. The party intends to take Brioche to Sevryn eventually to resolve the egg-quest misfire.
See also
References
- ^ Session 12, line 707-740 — Named by Phil in confession; raised from a stolen egg.
- ^ Session 14, line 179 — First seen mind-controlled atop Nibblecheek's oven.
- ^ Session 14, line 837 — Egg fails to resonate when Terry walks it past Brioche.
- ^ Session 14, line 972 — Brioche-bun breaks mind-control.
- ^ Session 14, line 1093 — Breath-attacks Nibblecheek for 23 damage, half on save.
- ^ Session 14, line 1293-1294 — DM: 'Sevryn's magic may have misfired and accidentally sent you on the path to a golden dragon'.
- ^ Session 15, line 590-611 — Phil parts ways at the sewer mid-point with Brioche.
- ^ Session 14, line 1293 — Inline citation.
- ^ Session 15, line 611 — Inline citation.