King’s Road Bridge
A toll of two cities.
The river is extremely wide and slow here, a thick muddy flow where it sometimes mixes with tidal backflow so close to the sea. A long wood-and-brick bridge spans the water, a timber and plaster building constructed at each end. A small tent city has spawned upon the road at either end of the span.
Not a true settlement, King’s Road Bridge is simply a bottleneck for travel to and from Endhome on the King’s Road. A customs-house manned by officials from Endhome stands at each end of the bridge, and collects tolls from travelers and traders at whichever side they first enter. Southbound tolls are sent periodically to Courghais, and northbound tolls are the property of Endhome. The toll collectors are thorough and not known for their speed, so camps of caravans waiting their turn tend to spring up, as the wait can extend for several days in the busiest parts of the trade season.
From time to time when there is heavy rain upriver, the river around the bridge overflows, leaving the bridge standing 50ft from dry land. During such times, every local in possession of a boat comes to the bridge in hopes of getting work ferrying a caravan across the swollen river. The toll collectors can do nothing more than watch as their revenue travels cross-river on the improvised ferry system.
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