Uncle Nibblecheek
| Uncle Nibblecheek | |||||||||
| Uncle Nipplecheek · the chocolate man · Nibble Dickhead | |||||||||
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Uncle Nibblecheek is the toothless, candy-obsessed hag who lives in the Candy Cottage east of Eldwythe. He eats only candy and people-turned-into-candy; the Bubblegum Halfling’s line “he eats nothing but candy. And the people he turns into candy” [2] describes the cottage’s economic model neatly. The party defeated him in session 14 by bluffing past him in disguise (deception 18, persuasion 18) into approaching the unconscious Caelumn and Vasquez to lift the Gummy Mummy’s curse, then forcing his surrender with a Vasquez grapple and a Briochebane breath weapon. He lifted all curses and transformations as terms of exit. He is still alive in his cottage, presumably plotting.
Overview
Uncle Nibblecheek — also “Uncle Nipplecheek” by the Bubblegum Halfling’s pronunciation, “the chocolate man” by Caelumn, and “Nibble Dickhead” once in Caelumn’s notes (s14) — is the hag who runs the Candy Cottage east of Eldwythe. He is toothless. He eats only candy and people who have been turned into candy. He has been in the cottage long enough to remember a young Edith Applegarth visiting him and striking a bargain that delivered her brother to him (per the children’s storybook found in his rock-candy library, [6].
The party encountered him directly in session 14, after Caelumn’s coin-grab from the Gummy Mummy’s sarcophagus had cursed both Caelumn and Vasquez with a 3d6-max-HP-per-day-until-death curse. The party’s only realistic option was to bluff him into lifting it himself. They did. He lifted the curse, attempted to mass-charm all four bluffers in retaliation (only Caelumn failed), and lost the subsequent fight when Vasquez grappled him to the ground while Briochebane burned through his chest. He pleaded mercy, surrendered, lifted every transformation and curse the cottage had inflicted on the party, and let them leave with Brioche.
He is still alive in his cottage as of s14, and the party did not kill him. Future hostility is likely.
Appearance and demeanour
Toothless, green-skinned, in a stained baking apron. Dives between sugar-pots in his kitchen. The cottage’s ingredients line includes “chocolate toads, glittery jars of still-fluttering Gosma wings, and other bizarre-looking ingredients” (s14). He is a hag-class NPC with multi-attack melee, a mass-charm spell with disadvantage, and chocolate-cockatrice summons from the barn.
His demeanour, when bluffed, is gruff-paternal: the new-recruit pitch Ruin delivered (“workers feed him for a lifetime, corpses for a day”) matched a saying he treated as his favourite [7]. When pleading, he pleads earnestly:
“Wait, wait, wait. I’m sure we can find out something. I’ll turn your friends back into normal people and you and the dragon can leave.” — Uncle Nibblecheek, surrendering, [8]
He is genuinely missing his teeth. His dentures, the Bubblegum Halfling confirmed in s13, are required for him to eat [2]. The candied apple with dentures embedded that Caelumn looted from his rock-candy study [9] is therefore presumed to be his teeth, and were originally retained as leverage. Per the DM, the dentures were returned to Uncle Nibblecheek before the s15 backpack snare — the leverage was discharged with the return rather than lost in the smoke flight.
History / role in the campaign
Sessions 12-13 — referenced
Session 12 introduced the Candy Cottage without naming Nibblecheek by name in the on-screen scenes; the recap canon names him in the s13 Bubblegum Halfling confession [2]. The storybook discovered by Caelumn in [6] depicts a young Edith Applegarth visiting the cottage and “betraying her brother” — the page is the campaign’s main piece of evidence on the cottage’s longevity.
Session 14 — encountered, bluffed, defeated
Bubba Walker was preoccupied with the third piece of candy from the s13 bargain and did not engage. Ruin’s thaumaturgy opened the kitchen door. Terry and Ruin approached Nibblecheek as “new recruits” — Terry holding Caelumn’s looted crooked broom and a rambling cover story about being one of the new recruits “fresh out of the oven, sir” [10]. Ruin pitched the business case (deception 18, persuasion 18):
“I think ultimately, as a business plan, you and this entire establishment would benefit from them being workers… give the baker a candy, you feed him for a day, get his enemies turned into his workers to produce candy for him, and you feed him for a lifetime.” — Ruin, [11]
“Yeah, that is my most favorite saying. That is true. Yeah. Very well. Lead me to them. Brioche, stay here. Be a good dragon.” — Uncle Nibblecheek, accepting, [7]
Nibblecheek lifted the curse from Caelumn and Vasquez. He then attempted to mass-charm all four bluffers with disadvantage on the Wisdom save. Vasquez succeeded (Mage Slayer feat held in reserve, then unused because the natural roll was sufficient). Caelumn failed and became Nibblecheek’s eternal servant.
Combat re-erupted when Briochebane flew out of the kitchen behind Terry. Nibblecheek shouted “Grab that dragon!” [12]. Brioche breath-attacked Nibblecheek. Vasquez grappled Nibblecheek to the ground (contested: 9 vs 13). Hugo cut down two chocolate cockatrices summoned from the barn. After several rounds with Brioche melee-striking, Nibblecheek pleaded mercy and surrendered.
Negotiated terms: Vasquez asked for clean exit including reversion of all candy-transformations (Vasquez taffy form from s12 was reverted) and the Bubblegum Halfling restored to a normal halfling. Nibblecheek complied. The party left.
Relationships
- Edith Applegarth — childhood bargainer. Storybook records a young Edith handing over her brother to him.
- Bubblegum Halfling — long-term captive worker; restored to halfling form in the s14 surrender. Whereabouts unknown.
- Bubba Walker — household guardian, preoccupied with candy.
- Briochebane — kitchen assistant under mind-control; freed by Terry’s brioche-bun.
- Gummy Mummy — Nibblecheek’s own creation, “the selfish prince that was once cursed by Uncle Nipplecheek” (per the bubblegum halfling, [13].
- The candy goblins — workers in his taffy room, killed s12. Nibblecheek’s complaint: “killed my goblins, do you know how long it took me to find those?” [14].
Notable quotes
“If you bring me at least three kinds of candy, then you can get into the kitchen.” — (delivered through Bubba Walker as the cottage’s policy, [15]
“Yeah, that is my most favorite saying. … Lead me to them. Brioche, stay here. Be a good dragon.” — On Ruin’s worker-vs-corpse pitch, [7]
“Wait, wait, wait. I’m sure we can find out something. I’ll turn your friends back into normal people and you and the dragon can leave.” — Surrender, [8]
Disposition toward the party
Hostile but rules-following. He surrendered when grappled and Brioche-burned, lifted all curses on receipt of his life, and let the party leave. He has been told they killed his goblins, took his broom (still gone, lost with the s15 backpack snare), freed his bubblegum captive, and stole his dragon. The dentures (which the party originally retained as leverage) were returned to him before the s15 backpack snare per the DM. Future hostility is still the safe assumption — the broom, the goblins, the captive, and the dragon are all unmade.
Status as of session 16
Alive in the Candy Cottage. The party did not kill him; he did not pursue. The Aurelian occupation of Eldwythe in s14 may complicate any return. No outstanding leverage: the candied dentures were returned to Nibblecheek before the s15 backpack snare per the DM, and the broom is gone with the rest of the snared backpack contents.
See also
References
- ^ Session 12, line 220-1325 — Referenced as the cottage's apparent owner; not seen.
- ^ Session 13, line 1842 — Bubblegum Halfling describes him: 'eats nothing but candy. And the people he turns into candy. ... lost his teeth a long time ago. Can't really eat anything without his dentures'.
- ^ Session 14, line 470-851 — Encountered; bluffed by Terry and Ruin; lifts curses.
- ^ Session 14, line 851-1056 — Mass-charm Caelumn; combat re-erupts; Vasquez grapples; pleads mercy.
- ^ Session 14, line 1270-1288 — Surrender; reverts all transformations and curses.
- ^ Session 13, line 1206 — Inline citation.
- ^ Session 14, line 835 — Inline citation.
- ^ Session 14, line 1270 — Inline citation.
- ^ Session 13, line 1225 — Inline citation.
- ^ Session 14, line 470 — Inline citation.
- ^ Session 14, line 834 — Inline citation.
- ^ Session 14, line 1044 — Inline citation.
- ^ Session 14, line 443 — Inline citation.
- ^ Session 14, line 839 — Inline citation.
- ^ Session 13, line 901 — Inline citation.