Phil Flowerforge
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Phil Flowerforge is the dwarf baker of Eldwythe who raised the small dragon Briochebane in secret in the back of his loaf-shaped bakery, having stolen the egg from a hoard during a brigand career he had hoped was behind him. He confessed to the party in session 12 when Caelumn showed his draconic scales mid-bead-of-sweat, offered 100gp + 12 cinnamon rolls for retrieval (with Ruin privately extorting +20gp), and reappeared dramatically in session 15 with a smoke bomb and the line “Follow me if you want to live!” [3], saving the party from the Aurelian patrol that had just decapitated Ruin. Phil parted ways at the Eldwythe sewers mid-point with Briochebane, naming his contact Hett Varn at the White Lantern Shrine as the party’s next destination.
Overview
Phil Flowerforge runs Phil’s Bakery in Eldwythe — a loaf-shaped wooden building with a brass bell over the door, sunlight through small windows, and a sweet-bread aroma that masked, for many months, the unmistakable presence of a small dragon. His “trade secret” — until session 12 — was that his pastries were toasted with dragon’s fire. The dragon was Briochebane, and the egg had been stolen during Phil’s brigand days from a hoard whose owner is unknown.
Phil is one of the campaign’s clearest demonstrations of how an apparently incidental NPC turns out to have been load-bearing. He confessed to the dragon in s12, was paid for retrieval in s12, and then in s15 emerged from the woods with a brigand-grade smoke bomb and a contact in Aurelia’s bureaucratic underbelly. The party’s exit from Aurelian-occupied Eldwythe was Phil’s gift.
Appearance and demeanour
A dwarf, of working-baker build. Sweet-pastry-and-flour aroma in the bakery; sweet-pastry-and-smoke-bomb in the woods. Demeanour reformed-criminal-on-his-best-behaviour. He is openly affectionate with Briochebane in a way that makes his prior cover story (“just a baker”) implausible in retrospect.
His parting line in s12: “Just like any good bread, he’s crusty on the outside but soft on the inside.” (s12)
History / role in the campaign
Session 12 — confession
After Hugo saved Edith Applegarth from a fire at her confectionery, the party traced a half-eaten cinnamon bun in the grass behind her shop to Phil’s Bakery. Phil denied knowledge until Caelumn showed his draconic scales mid-conversation; Phil broke into a sweat and confessed. He had stolen a dragon egg in his brigand days. He had funded the bakery with the haul. He had raised the hatchling, Briochebane, in secret. The dragon had grown; Phil had been struggling to keep him indoors; Phil suspected Brioche may have caused the fire (or escaped and was now loose in the woods east of town).
He offered 100gp total for retrieval. Ruin negotiated a private side-deal: 20gp upfront and a dozen cinnamon rolls in exchange for not snitching to law enforcement. Phil agreed. He gave the party a sack of warm cinnamon rolls as bait for Brioche.
Session 15 — the smoke-bomb rescue
After the Aurelian chain-master decapitated Ruin in the clearing outside Eldwythe, Phil arrived from the woods, pitched a thick black smoke bomb between the party and the Aurelians, and shouted:
“Follow me if you want to live!” — Phil, [3]
He led the survivors across an hour of wet-earth running into the Eldwythe sewers via a small cellar door not the main gate. He revealed his backstory openly:
“As you know, I used to be a brigand and I had all kinds of unsavoury business all over Eldray… that’s where I came upon Brioche and decided to settle down in this nice little village.” — Phil, [4]
He named his Aurelia-side contact: Hett Varn, a red-headed dwarf with forehead goggles, who lives in a safe house in Ashward of Aurelia and meets travellers at the White Lantern Shrine roughly half a day’s travel from Aurelia (direction not explicitly named on-screen — likely a coastal waystation on the freight road approaching the city). Code phrase: “Phil sent us.” He gave the party a written note for Hett.
“His name is Hett Varn… He has a small safe house in what can only be described as the side of Aurelia, where the normal dock workers and the tanners live… I think your friend with the horns is going to have a bad time.” — Phil, [6]
He noted, before parting, that he had a stash deeper in the sewers — including a Hat of Disguise (which the party found in s16). He left at the sewer mid-point with Briochebane in tow.
Relationships
- Briochebane — the small dragon Phil raised from a stolen egg. Phil and the dragon are visibly attached. Brioche woke from Uncle Nibblecheek’s mind-control on hearing Phil’s name and being fed a Phil-baked brioche-bun [7].
- Edith Applegarth — fellow Eldwythe confectioner. Phil suggested visiting her for caramel.
- Hett Varn — Aurelia-side contact and Phil’s reason for confidence the party can survive the trip.
- The party — saved them from Aurelian execution; gave them their next destination.
Notable quotes
“I had enough coin to fund this bakery. … I’ve been raising my little dragon — I call him Briochebane — behind closed doors just these recent months.” — Confession, [8]
“Just like any good bread, he’s crusty on the outside but soft on the inside.” — On Brioche, s12
“Follow me if you want to live!” — [3]
“I used to be a brigand and I had all kinds of unsavoury business all over Eldray.” — [4]
“Give him this note and tell him that Phil sent you.” — [9]
Disposition toward the party
Friendly. Saved them at considerable personal risk. Travelling separately with Brioche as of s16 to keep the dragon out of Aurelian sights.
Status as of session 16
Alive. Off-screen since the s15 sewer parting. Travelling with Briochebane, heading (per Phil’s own statement) toward “Arcanvis or Belkris… or maybe Wurmbow” [10]. Reward unpaid; the party considered the rescue equivalent payment.
See also
References
- ^ Session 12, line 707-740 — Confession to the party; Briochebane named; 100gp reward.
- ^ Session 12, line 730-740 — Ruin's private 20gp + dozen-cinnamon-rolls side deal.
- ^ Session 15, line 448 — Smoke-bomb rescue; follow-me-if-you-want-to-live moment.
- ^ Session 15, line 590 — Brigand-past confession: 'all kinds of unsavoury business all over Eldray'.
- ^ Session 15, line 655-695 — Names his contact at the White Lantern Shrine (transcript spells the name as Het Van and the code phrase as Phil sent you).
- ^ Session 15, line 655 — Inline citation.
- ^ Session 14, line 972 — Inline citation.
- ^ Session 12, line 739 — Inline citation.
- ^ Session 15, line 695 — Inline citation.
- ^ Session 15, line 611 — Inline citation.