Onbridge
“We are standing on a bridge, not a town. Don’t look so surprised. We are. Brilliant construction work, let me tell you.”
The town of Onbridge is not strange in the sense that it has a bridge across the Yrtara, as do many other settlements on the riverbank. However, the town of Onbridge is most peculiar in that most of the town is built upon that bridge.
Trade route
The original bridge upon which Onbridge developed, was built to establish an overland trade route between the cities of Torbel and Hatfield. The upstream waters of the Yrtara are fast flowing, thus transport over water would only be possible downstream. Moreover, the upstream waters of the Yrtara or not only treacherous because of the fast current, but also because of large boulders which are hidden beneath the murky surface. Thus, to transport the highly sought after logs from the Miverlin Woods downstream and other goods upstream, an overland trade route including a bridge was necessary. In 1956, this bridge was built.
Merchant’s Bridge
Like along many trade routes, the Torbel-Hatfield trade route is lined with several Merchant lodges. These lodges, or guest houses, are usually a day’s journey from each other, so merchants and their cargos are protected from the dangers of the night. The bridge across the Yrtara was about a quarter of a day’s journey from the nearest Merchant lodge, and only had a single guard post for a building at the time.
The bridge across the Yrtara was positioned ideally not only for merchants following the trade route, but also for common folk to cross the river. Before, they used a few precarious wooden bridges, and thus this stone bridge was a proper upgrade. Soon, several merchants started to semi-permanently house themselves at the nearest Merchant lodge, and travel to the bridge each dawn where they would put down their stalls and try to sell their wares to the people crossing the bridge. The bridge then became known as the Merchant’s Bridge.
First permanent buildings
When, how and why the first buildings appeared upon Merchant’s Bridge are vague, but the how and why can be speculated. Business on Merchant’s Bridge was likely good enough for some merchants to be able to purchase holdings from the crown to build a home and shop on the bridge. Conversely, taxes from these homes and shops could be used to maintain the bridge.
Why the merchants decided to settle upon the bridge instead of next to the bridge is simple. As the saying goes; the waters scare the night. Malcrea do not live in the waters, and thus a river is relatively safe at night. And a bridge has only two directions from which the monsters can come stalking.
Bridges on a bridge
In just a few years Merchant’s Bridge grew, expanded both in height and width, and eventually became a town called Onbridge. Now, Onbridge is not a single street lined with houses on both sides. You could argue Onbridge consists of three main and two lesser bridges, or streets, crossing the Yrtara.
Over time, when the length of the bridge was packed with buildings and the width could not be extended further for most houses on the edge already hung precariously above the river, buildings started to go up. And with these buildings new streets and bridges came into being above the lower streets.
Merchant’s Road and other streets
The old Merchant’s Bridge is still recognizable in Onbridge as the main street crossing the river. This street is at least four carts wide and lined with tall buildings, mostly shops. Today the street is known as Merchant’s Road. Parallel to this street, on both sides, two other main streets cross the river in a more or less straight line. And, completely on the edges of the bridge, where the houses hang above the river, two small streets stick to the houses.
Owning Organization
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