Interlude 2.1: The Bridge

A stone cliff stands above the rough black sea, a place where land ends. If someone were to fall down the chances of surviving that fifty meter fall are low - not that it would matter considering that there is no place to climb the cliff again anywhere in sight to both sides.

There is only one building that breaks the monotony of the landscape - a titanic, 200 meters high tower built at the very edge of the cliff. It is a bridge tower that holds a bridge with dozens of steel chains - a bridge that goes out over the ocean. In a distance of six or seven hundred meters the guards standing at the bottom of the bridge could see another cliff where the strange bridge ends on another land.

The bridge itself is somehow segmented and does not make for easy passing with its mixture of wooden beams and straining gears everywhere. Some of the holes in the bridge look as if they are only there because the beams were extended and under normal operations they would be closed.

On one of the three roads leading to the tower a small caravan approaches. Three carts drawn by oxen are accompanied by two dozen wanderers and a few riders on horses or ponies - some of them look like guards, others as if they were regular travellers and still others as if they belong in a city and not travelling around.

One of the tower guards approaches the first cart. "Sorry, you have to turn around. Walraven and Logronal have drifted away too far. The bridges are on their final extension and carts can no longer pass them."

Beside the simple-clothed driver of the first cart sits a man in much better but still robust clothing. He is the merchant who owns two of the three carts and heads this caravan. "What? Two months ago the bridge was still in the middle sections. You can't ask us to turn around, my wares will have only limited value if they don't get to Logronal."

"You won't get your carts over the bridge - if you want to pass you'll have to abandon them here."

Another trader (on foot) guiding two ponies packed with wares approaches from the caravan. "And what about ponies? Can they make it?"

"Only if they can jump one or two meters - and if they don't make it or break a leg that will be on your own risk, we can't guarantee anything."

"Hmm - OK everyone, I'm going to try it - if anyone not making it has commissioned trade that has to go to Logronal I'm willing to take it for a discount. I can't take everything because I can't overload my ponies, so I will only accept the offers with the best discounts."

At that the three merchants of the caravan go to the side and begin haggling. The guards remain standing at the carts while the other travellers now approach the bridge guard. The first one is a fighter in a plate armour leading a group of four other and rather diverse people - obviously an adventuring party even if they are one person short of a full party. A woman in robes and two men in leather armor are watching the fighter, while a drider uses this time to check if the packages on his torso and on the pack horses are secure.

"What is the bridge fee for five people and two pack horses? Or for one adventuring party?"

The Guard answers "no group discounts, every person or horse or pony pays 10 copper."

"WHAT? A regular fee would be 40 copper for an entire party of six including up to three pack horses? That's what we'll pay!"

"Then you won't get across the bridge - the fee is non-negotiable."

Grumbling the fighter falls back to his friends to discuss the situation. Three thin children in clothing that isn't much better than rags approach them, and the oldest one asks "Sir Marken, does your offer and our agreement still stand?"

"Theoretically yes, Briar, but we can't pay for your bridge passing. Especially since the bridge guard does not give an adventurer discount. If you travel with us, as long as we don't find a sixth adventurer you can go into dungeons with us as a helper with zero loot if you carry our equipment and any loot we find for the experience share, and get two days of meals for every dungeon dive we do. But you have to find a way to pay for the bridge or you can't accompany us."

"But we can't stay here - we are orphans that have been thrown out of the town we grew up in, we have no one to pay for any apprenticeship fees and if we want to be accepted in any other town without something to show, they would force my sister into a profession that we don't want her to do."

With this Briar glances to a woman standing a bit apart. She is for all practical purposes nude as the tiny parts of jewelry she's wearing doesn't really cover anything. While she appeared to be in deep thought she still hears that comment, but only slightly shakes her head about this, making her green long hair move a bit in the wind.

Another small child in rags comes running and whispers something into Briars ear. She is not human like the first three, but half beast-kin, with a cat's ears and a tail and some traces of fur on her head and around her body. She points to the group of merchands while whispering. Briar looks as if a weight is dropped from his shoulders.

"Yes, Shandy, tell him we agree - that will get us over the bridge."

After that, the five adventurers, the almost nude woman and four more people in different clothes (two seem to be workers based on their robust clothes, the other two seem to be independent adventurers) line up to pay their fees and begin to move out over the bridge. The four children wait for the trader with the two pack ponies to approach them.

The bridge guard standing near calls to the trader "Your ponies now look loaded to the max - I can guarantee that they won't make the jump with that load. I think you've been too greedy in your agreements with the other merchants."

"That's my risk, isn't it? But don't worry, I know what I'm doing." turning to the four children he asks "So it is agreed? If I pay your bridge fee, you'll work for me as helping hands until we get to the front of the gate of the next town or village?"

"Yes, we will - as long as we either get at least two hours a day to gather food on our own, or a meal from you if you need more work."

"That's reasonable. Let's go over the bridge. You'll take one of these bags each." The merchant pays the guard and they go out over the bridge.

While going over the bridge, they have to walk around a lot of holes that form a somewhat checkered pattern over the entire bridge. The children look down the holes because they never have seen a bridge like this and see guide-rails in every timber on those holes. The entire bridge can be extended like a telescope, with the holes being closed only if the bridge is short and getting bigger the more the bridge is extended. The bridge also gets smaller, from about twenty meters at the bridge tower it slowly gets down to about ten meters wide by the point that they are three hundred and fifty meters out - at which point there is a gap of two meters to the other half-bridge.

The ends of both half-bridges have four magic symbols each from which some glowing tendrils reach to the other end, connecting them with something that is stronger than steel ropes - but still strained to the max while the ends slowly move against each other. Each end also has one block with a ladder that goes up to a long timber that bridges the gap, but ends about one meter above the other bridge in the air. Due to the movement this springboard is sometimes almost down to the other bridge end, and sometimes up to three meters in the air.

Any half-decent humanoid climber should easily be able to get to the other part of the bridge on these half-meter boards, but the ponies have no choice but jumping the gap itself. Such a jump should be managable especially if they jump while their side of the bridge is higher, but even without any skills in riding or carrying it is obvious that the ponies are too loaded to make such a jump. But appearantly the trader had a plan.

"OK children, now is the time to earn your fees. Two of you will go over the timbers to the other bridge, one of you will stand at the ladder here. then you'll hand the packages from my ponies over to the other side. I'll throw what can be thrown as well, and the two on the bridge have to catch and place everything until my ponies can jump."

"If nothing is lost or damaged during this, each of you will get an extra meal today."

With that explanation, everyone starts to hand the packages over the timbers or throws them. On the other bridge one of the adventurers and one of the workers where waiting out of curiosity as to how the trader will handle the gap. They watch for a minute and then help securing the packages when one of the children has trouble with it.

It takes a while but then the ponies no longer carry anything and easily jump the gap on command, before they are loaded again. The group then continues along the bridge until they reach the other land. The guards on this side aren't human however - several Lizardmen and Orican are assisted by half a dozen skeletons.

The guard captain greets everyone "Welcome to the Land of Logronal and the People's Realm of Kaarg. There is no fee for travelling the land, but you are required to lodge in one of the waypoint inns while traveling through our country. The custom fees are included in the pay at the waypoint inns."

"Leaving the paths or camping outside is considered loitering and trespassing and will result in either a fine or indenture to pay the damages. You can find a map of Logronal at the towerwall there. Make sure you behave yourself everywhere, we do not like foreigners that damage our inns or our lands."

Everyone is assembled at the map, and the trader explains what they see. "There are several countries on Logronal, and they don't always like each other. The realm of Kaarg uses a lot of necromancy, if you don't like that you can go along this road to get to elven forests and cities in two or three days. If you're looking for honest work and don't have a problem with a militaristic society then you can go the other road through Kaarg and get to the border of the Dverolion Empire in about a week. And everything before that is the Country of Kaarg - very high magic use, not only necromancy but also some other schools of magic."

After some discussion the travellers form two different groups for travelling the two main roads from the bridge.