Edith Applegarth

Start-class article · First seen: s12 · Last seen: s12
Edith Applegarth
Portrait of Edith Applegarth.
Character
StatusAlive
First seens12
Last seens12
FactionEldwythe civilian

Edith Applegarth is the elderly confectioner of Eldwythe, whose shop the party saved from a fire in session 12 and who offered ten gold each and a batch of desserts to whoever found the arsonist [22][21]; a half-eaten cinnamon roll led them to Phil Flowerforge’s bakery and his secret young dragon [34][25]. A scorched painting showed her with a boy, her brother, who “disappeared into the woods and never came home” [9]. In session 13 a storybook in Uncle Nibblecheek’s Candy Cottage said that as a girl she “betrayed her brother” by striking a bargain with the hag, and the party found him there as the Bubblegum Halfling, Asger [3][35]. He was restored in session 14 and killed in session 15 before the two could meet [36][37]; Edith has not been seen since.

Overview

Edith Applegarth is a small, elderly confectioner who has sold sweets in Eldwythe for fifty or sixty years, and whose caramel the orchard keeper Thomas Feld recommended on the road [7][8]. The party met her in session 12 when her shop caught fire. She became the party’s quest-giver, and the burnt shop held a painting of a lost brother whom, a session later, a storybook in the Candy Cottage said she had betrayed [9][3]. The DM has said that her betrayal of her brother is probably based on a real event, but that the storybook is not an objective historical record (DM ruling 41). The terms of her bargain with the hag are unknown.

Appearance and demeanour

A relatively small old woman who runs a squat log shop at the edge of the woods, where sugar burned thick and bitter in the smoke [10][11]. In the fire she was frozen behind her counter, “almost paralyzed”, and not happy at being carried out [12][11]. Once the flames were down she stood before the smoking shop and asked who could have “done such a rotten thing” [13]. She cheered up a little at the sight of the painting of her brother [14].

Relationships

  • Asger, the Bubblegum Halfling: her brother, who “disappeared into the woods and never came home”. He misses her and asks the party whether they have seen her [14][15].
  • Uncle Nibblecheek: the hag with whom, by the storybook’s account, she struck a bargain as a girl [3].
  • Phil Flowerforge: the baker whose cinnamon roll lay behind her shop. He sells baked goods and she sells sweets, and he denied knowing anything of the fire until Caelumn’s Insight roll caught him out [16][17][18].
  • Thomas Feld: the orchard keeper who recommended her sweets and asked the party to buy him a bag [19][20].

Disposition towards the party

Grateful and practical. She had little to give, and said so, but made the offer anyway [21].

Notable quotes

“That’s my brother. He disappeared into the woods and never came home.” — Edith (Nick, DM), [14]

“If you find out who sets fire to my store, I’ll give you ten gold pieces each and a batch of your favourite desserts.” — Edith (Nick, DM), [21]

History in the campaign

Session 12: Eldwythe and the Candy Cottage

Main article: Session 12

On the road Thomas Feld praised the old confectioner’s sweets [19][20]. In Eldwythe her squat log shop was burning with her inside. Caelumn opened the door and breathed cold into the flames, Hugo carried her out, and Vasquez organised a bucket brigade [22]. In the ruin Caelumn found a scorched painting of a young Edith with a boy, and a half-eaten cinnamon roll behind the shop that she said was not hers [23]. She offered ten gold each and a batch of desserts to whoever found who had set the fire [21]. The roll led to Phil Flowerforge, who feared his young dragon had done it; that was never confirmed [24][25].

Session 13: Bubba Walker and the Gummy Sarcophagus

Main article: Session 13

Edith did not appear, but the Candy Cottage told her story. In the tower study Caelumn read a children’s storybook which said that she visited the cottage as a girl and “betrayed her brother and struck a bargain with the hag that lives in this cottage”; its last pages were blank “because it seems the story isn’t over” [3]. In the basement the party freed a bubblegum halfling who asked whether they had seen his sister, Edith Applegarth. Caelumn, remembering the book, asked for an Insight check and found him sincere; Terry reminded the boy of the painting of her little brother, and he said he would love to see her but could not cross the woods alone [26][27].

Session 14: The Gummy Mummy and Aurelian Eldwythe

Main article: Session 14

Edith was not named, but the party meant to return her brother to her. When Nibblecheek surrendered and the transformations were undone, Ruin asked whether the boy was normal now, and the DM said he was a normal halfling [5]. The party meant to take “the Applegarth boy” home with the dragon [28], but at Eldwythe they found white and gold banners on the palisade, wanted posters describing all five of them, and everyone being searched [29][30]. They settled on sending the boy in alone to tell the baker what had happened and tell his sister he was safe [31][32].

Session 15: The Death of Ruin and Althea Joins

Main article: Session 15

Edith is not mentioned, but her brother does not reach her. When the Aurelian patrol attacked the camp by the lake, an archer picked the halfling as a relatively weak target, rolled a natural 20 and put an arrow about his own size through his skull [6]. The DM confirmed his death afterwards (DM ruling 42).

Status

As of session 23. Alive as far as is known, in Eldwythe, which was held by Aurelian forces when the party last saw it [29][33]. Her reward is unpaid, and no scene shows anyone telling her that her brother was found or that he died.

See also

References

  1. ^ Session 12, line 417-452: Thomas Feld recommends the old confectioner's sweets and asks the party to bring him a bag.
  2. ^ Session 12, line 501-624: Fire at the confectionery; Hugo carries her out; the painting of her brother; the reward.
  3. ^ Session 13, line 1206: Storybook depicting young Edith's bargain with the hag at the Candy Cottage.
  4. ^ Session 13, line 1876-1924: Her brother asks after her; the party cannot tell if he knows of the betrayal.
  5. ^ Session 14, line 1286-1288: The boy is restored to a normal halfling; the party plans to return him to the baker and his sister.
  6. ^ Session 15, line 153-164: Her brother is killed by an Aurelian archer's natural 20 (she is not mentioned).
  7. ^ Session 12, line 419: Inline citation.
  8. ^ Session 12, line 452: Inline citation.
  9. ^ Session 12, line 605-607: Inline citation.
  10. ^ Session 12, line 501: Inline citation.
  11. ^ Session 12, line 576: Inline citation.
  12. ^ Session 12, line 566: Inline citation.
  13. ^ Session 12, line 599: Inline citation.
  14. ^ Session 12, line 607: Inline citation.
  15. ^ Session 13, line 1876-1882: Inline citation.
  16. ^ Session 12, line 605-611: Inline citation.
  17. ^ Session 12, line 713-715: Inline citation.
  18. ^ Session 12, line 733-739: Inline citation.
  19. ^ Session 12, line 417-419: Inline citation.
  20. ^ Session 12, line 450-452: Inline citation.
  21. ^ Session 12, line 622: Inline citation.
  22. ^ Session 12, line 501-592: Inline citation.
  23. ^ Session 12, line 605-609: Inline citation.
  24. ^ Session 12, line 611-624: Inline citation.
  25. ^ Session 12, line 739: Inline citation.
  26. ^ Session 13, line 1876-1886: Inline citation.
  27. ^ Session 13, line 1919-1924: Inline citation.
  28. ^ Session 14, line 1404-1406: Inline citation.
  29. ^ Session 14, line 1556-1561: Inline citation.
  30. ^ Session 14, line 1577: Inline citation.
  31. ^ Session 14, line 1631: Inline citation.
  32. ^ Session 14, line 1660: Inline citation.
  33. ^ Session 14, line 1650: Inline citation.
  34. ^ Session 12, line 605-624: Inline citation.
  35. ^ Session 13, line 1876: Inline citation.
  36. ^ Session 14, line 1288: Inline citation.
  37. ^ Session 15, line 160-164: Inline citation.