Eldwythe Bridge

The Eldwythe Bridge is the Aurelian border checkpoint at the southern end of a bridge spanning a large unnamed channel south of Eldwythe town. At dawn in session 20 the party found it hung with white Aurelian banners, canvas awnings and long wagon queues, its guards searching carts, checking papers and asking heresy-screening questions before letting travellers cross ^[2][3][4]. The party passed by hiring on as guards to the merchant Laura Bennett, who put their names on her manifest, and thereby “left Aurelia” ^[6]. The checkpoint remains Aurelian-held even though the town of Eldwythe beyond it is now free of the occupation ^[3][5].

Overview

The Eldwythe Bridge is an Aurelian border-control post at the southern end of a bridge across a large, unnamed channel on the southern approach to Eldwythe town. It is the gateway out of Aurelia: once across, the DM confirmed, the party had “left Aurelia” ^[6]. The party reached it at sunrise in session 20 and crossed it as hired guards on a merchant’s manifest.

Geography and appearance

Eldwythe appears “beyond a rather large channel”, with white Aurelian banners hanging from the bridge. The checkpoint stands at its southern end, and the road the party needed leaves from the far side of town towards Umbrafall ^[2].

Layout

• The queue and approach. The road widens as it nears the bridge. Freight wagons queue beneath white canvas awnings while guards check papers, open the occasional crate, and wave most travellers through after a few questions ^[3].
• The freight lane. On the right, beside the main queue, three covered wagons wait in a separate lane. The merchant Laura Bennett works between them, and a board on the lead wagon advertises for guards from Eldwythe to Umbrafall ^[3].
• The clerk’s post. A clerk at the gate questions each traveller on the manifest in turn ^[4].
• The far bank. Beyond the bridge stands Eldwythe, where “the Aurelian banner seems to be gone from the town itself” ^[3]. The Umbrafall road leaves from the town’s western edge ^[5].

Inhabitants

The Aurelian guards and the clerk, who are unnamed; and the caravan queuing to cross, among them Laura Bennett ^[3].

Government / control

Held by Aurelian forces, who search carts and ask heresy-screening questions of everyone who crosses ^[2][8]. Beyond the bridge the town’s own wardens do not help them ^[5].

Notable features

• The heresy question. Each traveller is asked whether they have “ever or presently been in contact with a heretic” ^[8].
• A gate that outlasted the occupation. The checkpoint is still Aurelian, but Eldwythe behind it shows the marks of an ended occupation: replaced doors, pale squares where notices were torn from the walls, a reopened market, and local wardens at the corners ^[5].

History in the campaign

Session 19: A Penitent Priest, an Unmade Leash, and the Pixie in the Dark

Main article: Session 19

The bridge was the party’s road back from the Aurelian farmland. Asked for the quickest way to Velkris, the DM said they were closer to Eldwythe, so the quickest path ran through Eldwythe, Umbrafall and Mirestrand ^[1]. At the end of the first day’s walk they were “a little bit closer to the bridge leading over to Eldwythe” ^[9].

Session 20: The Man Who Was Always Here

Main article: Session 20

After the interrupted night the party was still about half a day’s way from the bridge ^[10], and reached it at sunrise after marching through the night ^[2]. Rather than risk a search it hired on to Laura Bennett, who put its names on her manifest ^[3][11]. At the gate the clerk asked Caelumn his name, where he came from and was going, why he was leaving Aurelia, whether he carried restricted goods, and whether he had been in contact with a heretic. Caelumn answered the last with the execution the party had watched, and the whole caravan was waved through ^[12].

Session 21: The Hand That Points North

Main article: Session 21

The bridge appears only in the DM’s recap of session 20, which recalls how the party “moved to the Eldwythe Bridge, where you were kind of stopped at a checkpoint”, met Laura Bennett there, and was hired by her for 50 gold ^[7].

Status

As of session 23. Aurelian-held, and not revisited since the party crossed it northbound in session 20. The channel it spans is unnamed.

See also

• Eldwythe
• Laura Bennett
• Umbrafall

References

1. ^ Session 19, line 289-290: The quickest road back towards Velkris runs through Eldwythe; the party draws a little closer to the bridge by the end of the day (L1063).
2. ^ Session 20, line 374: Dawn arrival; Eldwythe beyond a large channel, white banners on the bridge, checkpoint at its southern end, carts searched under canvas awnings.
3. ^ Session 20, line 417: Freight lane, papers checked, occasional crates opened, most travellers waved through; the banner is gone from the town beyond, and the Umbrafall road leaves the far side.
4. ^ Session 20, line 539-551: The clerk's interrogation of Caelumn (name, origin, destination, restricted goods, heretic contact) and the whole caravan waved through.
5. ^ Session 20, line 553: Past the checkpoint the town of Eldwythe shows the marks of an ended occupation.
6. ^ Session 20, line 696: Crossing the bridge, the party has left Aurelia.
7. ^ Session 21, line 32: Referenced in the DM's recap of session 20 as the checkpoint where the party met Laura Bennett.
8. ^ Session 20, line 549: Inline citation.
9. ^ Session 19, line 1063: Inline citation.
10. ^ Session 20, line 321: Inline citation.
11. ^ Session 20, line 478: Inline citation.
12. ^ Session 20, line 539-553: Inline citation.