Wednesday, 6 April 2011
E is for Eastender Bridge
When I started the A to Z challenge, it was tempting to begin with "A is for Altdorf." I instead chose an equally important character in the WFRP fiction: Archaon, The Everchosen and Lord of the End Times.
However, as the challenge continues, as "A" before it, some of the entries will appear obscure by even the simplest of measures. This is true of Eastender Bridge.
Over a year ago I blogged about an NPC (non-player character for those visiting) I called the Bridge Boatman, inspired by the descriptions of the London Bridge in the 17th century. Bridges of old were sturdy constructs, but engineering was a heady mix of math and a lot of "did it work last time? Yes. Ok, do it again." This often resulted in over building of piers and piling, often choking the flow of water where bridges provided crossings.
This choking of water often led to flooding as the bridge often became an obstruction in swelling rivers during seasons with lots of rain or a hazard to travel as the piers and starlings channeled the river through narrow passages. Passing under these bridges became known as "shooting the bridge." The Eastender Bridge is such a bridge.
Eastender Bridge is the first large bridge encountered by travelers entering Altdorf from points east in the Empire. Large starlings protect numerous piers and create the first opportunity for characters on the river to part with gold or risk shooting the bridge.
While not detailed in any manner in any official sourcebook, we get a possible idea of the size and composition of the bridge in Mad Alfred's Key to Altdorf and Adolphus Altdorfer's Gazetteer. However, we can take important notes from history to add our own details to the Eastender Bridge, and all bridges of Altdorf. Three likely features found on all of Altdorf's bridges would be:
Any bridge on water, especially any of significant size, would house mills and pumps. Mills to process all sorts of grain and other commodities and pumps to service municipal needs of all primitive sorts, each powered by waterwheels of varied size, ownership and repair. One can imagine both types on the Eastender Bridge, appearing in the distance as a clockwork under the bridge near the shoreline.
Now go find adventure on the river, and bring gold, you're likely going to need it on the River Reik in Altdorf.
However, as the challenge continues, as "A" before it, some of the entries will appear obscure by even the simplest of measures. This is true of Eastender Bridge.
Over a year ago I blogged about an NPC (non-player character for those visiting) I called the Bridge Boatman, inspired by the descriptions of the London Bridge in the 17th century. Bridges of old were sturdy constructs, but engineering was a heady mix of math and a lot of "did it work last time? Yes. Ok, do it again." This often resulted in over building of piers and piling, often choking the flow of water where bridges provided crossings.
This choking of water often led to flooding as the bridge often became an obstruction in swelling rivers during seasons with lots of rain or a hazard to travel as the piers and starlings channeled the river through narrow passages. Passing under these bridges became known as "shooting the bridge." The Eastender Bridge is such a bridge.
Eastender Bridge is the first large bridge encountered by travelers entering Altdorf from points east in the Empire. Large starlings protect numerous piers and create the first opportunity for characters on the river to part with gold or risk shooting the bridge.
While not detailed in any manner in any official sourcebook, we get a possible idea of the size and composition of the bridge in Mad Alfred's Key to Altdorf and Adolphus Altdorfer's Gazetteer. However, we can take important notes from history to add our own details to the Eastender Bridge, and all bridges of Altdorf. Three likely features found on all of Altdorf's bridges would be:
- Drawbridge
- Mills
- Pumps
Any bridge on water, especially any of significant size, would house mills and pumps. Mills to process all sorts of grain and other commodities and pumps to service municipal needs of all primitive sorts, each powered by waterwheels of varied size, ownership and repair. One can imagine both types on the Eastender Bridge, appearing in the distance as a clockwork under the bridge near the shoreline.
Now go find adventure on the river, and bring gold, you're likely going to need it on the River Reik in Altdorf.
Posted by at 7:04 AM in d10
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Eastender bridge is special to me: I hate the name! It is too much an homage to the Eastender TV series for me to ignore, unfortunately ...
Still it's a minor quibble. It must say I love your posts about bridges! They are evocative of adventure and high paced action. I can easily see an entire adventure set on one of the bridges of Altdorf after reading this.
My own story about Eastender bridge comes from a session where chaos cultists were escaping on a barge, passing under the bridge, going north. The Zealot PC was in a raging frenzy and declared that he wold throw himself off the bridge, to land on the barge and wreak havoc! He got in a good position and hurled himself out into the air ... and promptly rolled badly, falling screaming into the water next to the perplexed cultists, who were unaware of being chased ...
Somehow my WFRP campaigns are full of those kind of stuff.
/M