Canonfire!

Thu Jul 29, 2004 5:01 am Bridges of the Flan....

I"m just curious..can anybody give me some info on the bridges of Flan..what kind they are? Are there any massive bridges...?? I know that with technology limited it is quite hard to build bridges spanning huge rivers...I'm just curious about the bridges used...and if tolls are used and how much..
thanks for the help..

Thu Jul 29, 2004 5:49 am

Well off the top of my head, the only Canon bridges I recall are Critwall Bridge (site of the famous Battle during the Greyhawk Wars) in the Shield Lands; the Red Span of Redspan in Tenh and Zagyg's Bridge over the Selintan Gorge in the Domain of Greyhawk.
The last (IIRC) is a high and almost certainly magical single span over the gorge.

Can't recall any other place names with "bridge" in them, but I'd be surprised if they didn't exist.

P.

PS - oh and of course, the Span of Longbridge and the small humpback bridge over the Bergard river at Bergardbridge, both in LG Onnwal - but, by common consent, thay don't really count as Canon.

Sun Aug 08, 2004 2:23 am

Devouring Bridge (Iuz the Evil)

Wed Aug 11, 2004 4:37 am Great wooden bridges

Hi there,

Wow, this is what I like about this forum. We discuss a world in depth and one of the most striking and valid questions is about basic transit. That's actually pretty cool. Anyway, I suspect that there are several wooden bridges and certainly some stone bridges. I doubt that there are iron bridges, but I could be wrong. I don't think it would be out of character for a city or community on very good terms with dwarves to have a strong wood or stone bridge over a sizeable river. Tolls are most certainly incorporated into the maintanance and tax code, but probably only over the busiest bridges or roads.

I like to imagine a bridge similar to the one in the war movie "The bridge over the River Kwai." This is just my take and I could be waaaaaay off, but that's how I run my campaign. Oh, by the way, I think it's very interesting that the great city of Greyhawk, center of trade and commerce, has IIRC, no mention of any great bridges near it crossing the Selintan (sp?). Then again, I could be wrong Smile

Wed Aug 11, 2004 4:44 am

Actually there is two bridges over the Selintan. Woesinger mentioned Zagig's Bridge. But this one iirc is closer to the city proper while the one over a gorge is the gnomish bridge near Grossettgrotel(sp).

Sun May 22, 2005 7:41 am New Bridge!

The Marklands and Iuz the Evil maps show no brdges over the Velverdyva.

But the module map in "Throne of Iuz", in Dungeon of Jan. 2005 clearly indicates a bridge spanning the Veverdyva north of Highfolk, as part of the trade road that goes up the valley.

The module text makes no mention of the bridge, so it may have been invented by the cartographer. Given the size of the Velverdyva, such a bridge would likely be a great feat of dwarven engineering and/or elven magic.

Hmm. Cartographer-canon by Mike Schley.
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Sun May 22, 2005 2:31 pm

I just assumed organized sedintary countries would contruct simple bridges to encourage trade and troop movements.

Especially the Oeridians who seem quite adept at road building, GK and its former provinces all have generally superior road networks.

Just curious, water transport was also very popular, given the wealth of rivers and coastline can anyone make an educated guess how often bridges were constructed in the medieval period?

Just a thought...

Sun May 22, 2005 5:32 pm

Bridges were quite common in medieval times. Despite the great utility of river transport, bridges simply provide too many benefits not to be built where possible.
They are, long term, more cost effective and faster than ferries, and safer and more reliable than fords.
You can put shops on top, and waterwheels underneath.
If you can bridge a river of a certain size, you can almost always make sure ships can pass under it, building a drawbridge if absolutely needed.
Of course, I'm a big fan of bridges. I think the Javan should be bridged, by Flen and probably by Hochoch, and maybe further south. And I advocate that the Sheldomar could be bridged at Niole Dra, though others react violently at the suggestion. So I think there should be a lot of bridges out there.

Sun May 22, 2005 11:37 pm

In the Flanaess, the map shows many rivers provide national boundaries, could security be a reason for the lack of bridges within GH?

Personally I feel the monetary advantages of trade would be of more value then the dubious defensive role of a river especially in a magic society.

Mon May 23, 2005 2:57 am

I agree with the idea that bridges should be somewhat common, even large ones spanning the big rivers, however, I usually don't assume the Flan (or Suel or Oerids for that matter) built the big and/or old ones. That's what Dwarves are for Happy

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Mon May 23, 2005 2:16 pm

We finally agree Chatdemon Happy

No self-respecting Dwarf would be caught in a boat when he could walk...

Mon Sep 05, 2005 10:40 am

While the period when Daern was active is disputed, IMC many of the great bridges of the Flanaess bear her stamp--bridges ridiculously distant and not necessarily built during the same period. Whether this means that Daern's symbol was not original, or that others later imitated her sigil is unclear.

Tue Sep 06, 2005 12:49 am

It's possible that members of her cult use the sigil on their works? Kind of like a Flanaessi masonic symbol. It'd be interesting to look at Daern's cult in that light - a kind of esoteric mystical society like the Freemasons (though perhaps with less silly handshakes and nepotism).

Tue Sep 06, 2005 5:30 pm

Here's another:

In Saga of Old City, Gord and Chert "marveled over the Highbridge, which spanned the Duntide River just below Rel Mord." (p. 283)

That Gord marveled over the Highbridge suggests that it is more grand (in some way) than any bridge in the City of Greyhawk. This makes sense to me because I attribute to the Great Kingdom at its height the architectural skills of the Roman Empire at its height. Nyrond would have benefited from that skill (quite apart from magical or demi-human assistance).

Thu Sep 15, 2005 8:04 pm Re: Bridges of the Flan....