City Image - Bridgedale AKA The River Wall

Bridgedale is the most magnificent walled city in The Marches. It is a sprawl on both sides of the Nargwal. The city continues to grow outside the city walls. The inner cities on both sides have three walls with the river closing the square. The walls are tall structures of masoned riverstones. The same multicolored round stones are used in almost every building in the city.

There are four wide bridges here, tall enough that river boats can pass under them. The first and last bridges are defensive in nature (though some traffic does pass over them); the center two are wide and thick with traffic. The center two actually have small shops built along the sides, some hanging over the edge of the bridge (seemingly precariously balanced)

The two outer bridges give the city its common name. These bridges are massive and tall. The side of the bridge facing the outside world is much like a castle wall. Between the various pilings (pillars from the base of the river bottom supporting the bridge) are porticulli (gates). The Portculli are large enough to reach the deep bottom when lowered, explaining away the tall bridge housings where the winches and portcoli go during the day. There are still weapons of war on the RiverWall bridges, though neither pirate nor invading army has dared risk an a river assault on the city in nearly a hundred and fifty years.

The buildings in this town are one to three stories tall. Most have a halfwall of stones (all dredged from the river), with paster and timber walls built on top of them. Even the few stone buildings have riverstones used as a decorative finish on a low wall or are used as trim pieces.

Roofs here are all stacked red tiles. There is no easy to access shale here, so the style found in other areas nearby were adapted to local materials.

All the wall are tumbled stones as well. There seems to be walls everywhere in Bridgedale. The old city is a maze of buildings and walls. The new city continues that traditions. It is easy to get lost here.

The roads are also riverstone, though not as smooth and as clean a stone as those used for walls and houses. The roadstones are generally flatter and less round than the ones used in walls and buildings. There are no sidewalks here, except by the docks were boardwalks are present. It is only the presence of morter that shows you where the road ends and the wall/ building begins.

One word of caution is stay off the streets in the rain. There are few places for water to drain away to here. The city is mostly paved. Thus all rain in the streets drain down to lower streets and into the rivers. In a quick hard rain, one can find oneself washed into the rising river. (The city both inner and outer has a drain system used for waste water and toliet water). The river rises and threatens, but has never flooded the town in its long history.