Paybridge
Paybridge is a city that lies within the Grand Duchy of Canyndor, in the Surcounty of Ilkweir. The city lies on the south bank of the Yarrow River and is so named due to its impressive stone bridge that spans the wide river, the city also has one of the most extensive inland harbours in the region. Many river sailing ships stationed there are used to patrol the river, often breaking up illegal ferry operations that would take money away from the tolls collected on the bridge.
Much money is made from the toll bridge as it lies on a major trade route between the northern and southern territories, especially as the Yarrow widens to a significant span after the Anttegra Lake, where the only nearby viable ferry crossing is allowed to operate. Paybridge and the surrounding province have long been granted special rights relating to overland travel, meaning that the bridge is the only legal route to cross the Yarrow for many miles upstream and downstream. It was seen as a beneficial boon to grant the local Proviss due to the potential benefits of the wharves of Canyndor, as this restriction to river crossings made travel by riverboat more financially viable.
History
The area that comprises the current city of Paybridge was once little but farmlands and unkept marsh, and remained as such until the Ardic tribes came to settle within the western edges of Doria. Due to the tensions that arose between the Ardic settlers and the Doric natives (generally led by the King of Canaan), the Ardic people came to employ fortifications along the outskirts of their territory and upon critical trade routes. A large stone tower near the city of Paybridge, known as Ylaspjo Tower, was one such fortification. Built by Durnhul the Builder of Bolot, this tower fortification is now a crumbling ruin, much of its once impressive edifice put to use within the city that lies to its west. The tower, despite its long decay, had once been the centre of a ramshackle wooden fortification that would be the home to the Pouritta Family, loyal bannermen of the Maijalans. That was until the outbreak of the Succession of the Suns conflict between the great houses of Ilkitala and Maijalan, during which Valtteri Kincrusher would burn the fortification and the surrounding structures, opting to build a new fort to the west near a popular seasonal fording spot of the river.
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