Eldwythe

Eldwythe

Eldwythe Town

Location

Status Active First seen s12 Last seen s20 Faction Aurelian forces

Eldwythe is the small self-sufficient village between Umbrafall, Arcanthys, and Aurelia where the candy-cottage arc was set (sessions 12-14) and the Aurelian persecution arc began (sessions 14-16). Timber houses, mossy steep roofs, smoke from stone chimneys, axes thudding beyond the tree line: practical, direct, and politically uninvolved until the Aurelian forces occupied it in session 14, within about two days of the party leaving for the cottage ^[49], posting wanted posters of all five party members at the gates ^[3]. The party fled into the Eldwythe sewers in session 15 under Phil Flowerforge’s smoke-bomb cover. By session 20 the Aurelian occupation of the town itself had lifted (banners gone, market reopened, local wardens at the corners), though the border checkpoint on the Eldwythe bridge at the channel’s southern end still stood and the party crossed out of Aurelia only as hired caravan guards ^[9][10][12].

Overview

Eldwythe is a small, self-sufficient town that lies “kind of like in between” Arcanthys, Umbrafall and Aurelia and so has no jurisdiction of its own ^[13]. It is practical and politically uninvolved, the kind of place that bakes its own bread and asks no questions, until the Aurelian forces decided otherwise.

The party spent little time in the town itself. They arrived in session 12 to find Edith’s Confectionery on fire, traced a cinnamon roll to Phil’s Bakery and Phil’s confession that he had raised the young dragon Briochebane, and followed a candy trail east to the Candy Cottage. They came back from it to an Aurelian occupation with wanted notices for all five of them, fled through the Eldwythe Sewers, and in session 20 crossed the town again after the occupation had lifted.

Geography and appearance

Timber houses with steep, moss-covered roofs line a dirt road packed hard by wheels and hooves, with smoke drifting from stone chimneys, axes sounding beyond the tree line and the smell of fresh-cut pine and warm bread. Life there seems “practical, direct and uncomplicated” ^[1]. A palisade surrounds it, with a gate ^[14]; the town stands beyond a large channel, reached by the Eldwythe Bridge from the south ^[8]. The road to Umbrafall leaves from its western edge ^[10]. Edith’s Confectionery sits at the tree line in a squat log building, and Phil’s Bakery is shaped like a loaf of bread, with a brass bell on the door ^[1][15][16]. The Candy Cottage stands an hour east through the woods, and the sewers run beneath the town.

Inhabitants

• Phil Flowerforge, the baker, who left with Briochebane in session 15 ^[17].
• Edith Applegarth, the confectioner, whose fate under the occupation is unknown.
• The Bubblegum Halfling (Asger), Edith’s lost brother, killed by an Aurelian archer in session 15 ^[18].
• Townsfolk, who formed a bucket brigade at the confectionery fire ^[19].
• Local wardens, who by session 20 police the streets and do not help the Aurelian soldiers on the bridge ^[10].

Government / control

Self-governing in session 12: “not very political”, keeping out of the way of Umbrafall, Arcanthys and Aurelia ^[20]. In session 14 the Aurelian forces held it in white-and-gold banners and pale tabards, searched every cart, and posted notices describing all five party members at the gate ^[14][21]. By session 20 the occupation of the town had lifted, though the checkpoint on the bridge was still Aurelian ^[9][10].

Notable features

• Phil’s Bakery, with its dragon-fire-toasted pastries ^[16][22].
• Edith’s Confectionery, saved from burning in session 12 ^[23][24].
• The Candy Cottage, east in the woods, Uncle Nibblecheek’s home ^[25].
• The sewers, entered through cellar doors on the edge of the walls ^[26].
• The teamster’s yard, where Laura Bennett stables her wagons and where the party took its long rest in session 20 ^[27][11].
• The forest clearing, a couple of hours out on the road, where the party made its retreat camp in sessions 14 and 15 and where Ruin died ^[28][29][30].

History in the campaign

Session 11: Owlbears and the Soulbinder

Main article: Session 11

Eldwythe was the party’s destination, two days’ walk from Umbrafall, “where the dragon is” ^[31][32]. A family taking grain there by handcart warned the party to keep its magic out of sight near Aurelian territory ^[33][34]. The DM described it as a self-sufficient town between Arcanthys, Umbrafall and Aurelia, with no jurisdiction of its own ^[13]. The party never arrived: three owlbears attacked its camp on the way.

Session 12: Eldwythe and the Candy Cottage

Main article: Session 12

After the owlbear camp the party walked about two hours to an orchard, where Thomas Feld said the town stays out of the politics of the three powers ^[35][20]. Roughly an hour and a half on, it reached Eldwythe and found Edith’s Confectionery burning ^[1]. It put the fire out ^[23], traced the cinnamon roll to Phil’s Bakery, and heard Phil admit that he had raised a young dragon ^[22]. The party followed a candy trail east to the Candy Cottage ^[36][25].

Session 14: The Gummy Mummy and Aurelian Eldwythe

Main article: Session 14

Coming back with Briochebane, the party found white and gold banners on the palisade, soldiers in polished mail and pale tabards marked with the sunburst of Aurelia, and notices with a crude likeness of each of them: “unlawful possession and obstruction of divine inquiry” ^[14][21]. The soldiers had been there less than the two days since the party left ^[37]. They covered every exit and Phil’s bakery lay near the middle of town ^[38], so the party fell back to the clearing ^[29].

Session 15: The Death of Ruin and Althea Joins

Main article: Session 15

The hunt that began at the gate reached the clearing outside the town. An Aurelian patrol chasing Althea beheaded Ruin with a chain and took the Egg out of Caelumn’s backpack in the smoke of Phil’s smoke bomb ^[39][40]. Phil led the survivors not to the main gate but to a cellar door on the edge of the walls, and down into the sewers ^[26]. He left them there, with a note for his contact in Aurelia ^[41].

Session 17: New Hands, the Black Mask’s Renegotiation, and the Rimeclaw

Main article: Session 17

Nessa, a fisher whose boat had been wrecked by weather, said she was taking her children to Eldwythe ^[42]. Hugo warned her that the Aurelians had been “heavily occupying it at the moment. Or at least they were”, but might have gone, though some guards had been there ^[43].

Session 18: The Wyrm Falls, the Catfish Escapes, and Mike Dies on the Road

Main article: Session 18

Caelumn told the Aurelian patrol that carriages on the road had spoken of trouble in Eldwythe ^[44]. The patrol answered that it was well aware and that the matter had been handled, the arcane heretics chased away, and the land was once again pure ^[45].

Session 19: A Penitent Priest, an Unmade Leash, and the Pixie in the Dark

Main article: Session 19

Eldwythe was the first stop on the DM’s land route to Velkris: Eldwythe, Umbrafall, Mirestrand ^[5]. Caelumn set the heading back towards it with the hope that it was “still not under Aurelia control” ^[6]. By the end of the first day the party was “a little bit closer to the bridge leading over to Eldwythe” ^[7], and a fey ambush at its camp stopped it short of the town.

Session 20: The Man Who Was Always Here

Main article: Session 20

The party crossed the still-Aurelian Eldwythe Bridge as hired guards to Laura Bennett ^[8][46], and found the town de-occupied: doors replaced, pale squares where Aurelian notices had hung, the market open and local wardens at the corners ^[10]. The DM confirmed that the party had “left Aurelia” ^[12]. It rested in the teamster’s yard, where Terry gave Harvo’s song back to the world and regained a point of Charisma, and rode on towards Umbrafall ^[11][47][48].

Status

As of session 23. Post-occupation, and not revisited since session 20. The banners are gone from the town and local wardens police it, but the bridge checkpoint is still Aurelian-held and still screens travellers for heresy ^[9][10]. Edith Applegarth’s fate under the occupation is unknown.

See also

• Phil’s Bakery
• Edith’s Confectionery
• Candy Cottage
• Eldwythe Sewers
• Eldwythe Bridge
• Phil Flowerforge
• Edith Applegarth
• Briochebane
• Uncle Nibblecheek
• Aurelia

References

1. ^ Session 12, line 501: Eldwythe arrival; smoke from Edith's confectionery.
2. ^ Session 12, line 501-740: Edith Applegarth saved; Phil Flowerforge's confession.
3. ^ Session 14, line 1556-1561: Aurelian occupation; wanted posters.
4. ^ Session 15, line 100-119: Ruin executed by Aurelian chain-master in the clearing outside Eldwythe.
5. ^ Session 19, line 290: DM names Eldwythe as the first node on the land route to Velkris (Eldwythe -> Umbrafall -> Mirestrand -> Velkris); referenced, not visited.
6. ^ Session 19, line 390: Caelumn voices the open worry that Eldwythe may still be Aurelian-occupied ('hopefully it's still not under Aurelia control').
7. ^ Session 19, line 1063: The party turns back toward 'the bridge leading over to Eldwythe'; camps a day short of it.
8. ^ Session 20, line 374: Dawn arrival at the Eldwythe bridge; white Aurelian banners and cart searches at the checkpoint's southern end.
9. ^ Session 20, line 417: The Aurelian banner is gone from the town itself; Laura Bennett's guards-wanted board on the lead wagon.
10. ^ Session 20, line 553: Post-occupation Eldwythe: replaced doors, pale squares where Aurelian notices were torn down, market reopened, local wardens at the corners who do not help the soldiers on the bridge.
11. ^ Session 20, line 655: The party completes its long-delayed long rest in the Eldwythe teamster's yard (a day and a night).
12. ^ Session 20, line 696: DM confirms the party has left Aurelia by crossing the bridge.
13. ^ Session 11, line 978: Inline citation.
14. ^ Session 14, line 1556: Inline citation.
15. ^ Session 12, line 667: Inline citation.
16. ^ Session 12, line 707: Inline citation.
17. ^ Session 15, line 609: Inline citation.
18. ^ Session 15, line 160-164: Inline citation.
19. ^ Session 12, line 587-592: Inline citation.
20. ^ Session 12, line 424: Inline citation.
21. ^ Session 14, line 1561: Inline citation.
22. ^ Session 12, line 739: Inline citation.
23. ^ Session 12, line 592: Inline citation.
24. ^ Session 12, line 599: Inline citation.
25. ^ Session 12, line 832: Inline citation.
26. ^ Session 15, line 573: Inline citation.
27. ^ Session 20, line 555: Inline citation.
28. ^ Session 14, line 1515: Inline citation.
29. ^ Session 14, line 1605: Inline citation.
30. ^ Session 15, line 119: Inline citation.
31. ^ Session 11, line 149: Inline citation.
32. ^ Session 11, line 191: Inline citation.
33. ^ Session 11, line 785: Inline citation.
34. ^ Session 11, line 837: Inline citation.
35. ^ Session 12, line 339: Inline citation.
36. ^ Session 12, line 818: Inline citation.
37. ^ Session 14, line 1566: Inline citation.
38. ^ Session 14, line 1625-1627: Inline citation.
39. ^ Session 15, line 111-119: Inline citation.
40. ^ Session 15, line 496-501: Inline citation.
41. ^ Session 15, line 693: Inline citation.
42. ^ Session 17, line 978: Inline citation.
43. ^ Session 17, line 979: Inline citation.
44. ^ Session 18, line 2013: Inline citation.
45. ^ Session 18, line 2014-2016: Inline citation.
46. ^ Session 20, line 478: Inline citation.
47. ^ Session 20, line 702: Inline citation.
48. ^ Session 20, line 817: Inline citation.
49. ^ Session 14, line 1562-1566: Inline citation.