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Windhammer, Copyright Wayne Densley 2008 All Rights Reserved
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334
With one eye on the storm you ride, knowing full well that if it turns in your direction you will have to find shelter quickly. Storms in Northern Kalborea are not to be endured in the open, and it is a foolhardy man indeed that underestimates their ferocity. Fuelled by bitingly cold winds that sweep down from the mountains to the north, they collide with warm air on the plains and develop into monster storms that can literally pound the life from an unprotected traveller. In many cases leaving no trace of them behind.
As you ride forward you scan the horizon for any sign of shelter ahead. The storm is still some way off so it is not urgent that you find cover just yet. It will be prudent to keep an eye out though. At any time the storm could move your way and it will help to be mindful of what cover may be available. Your search immediately turns up something that strikes your interest.
Off to the right, spanning the remains of a dry riverbed, stands the twin spires of an old toll bridge. Toll bridges were common in centuries past, part of a network of taxing points established to draw income from the transport of goods and people. In most cases a bridge would be built at a strategic point on a river and then a tower would be constructed at both ends of its arch. These towers held the toll collectors who would extract a fee from merchants carrying goods and other trade items between the main cities of the Four Nations. Over time some of the bridges had become the foundation for much larger towns such as Miller's Crossing. Others, like this abandoned structure, had died along with the trade routes that used to connect the Stone Kingdoms with Kalborea and the Faeyen. In this case even the river had dried up, and in the afternoon light it stands as a strangely innocuous structure on these plains, two thin fingers pointing up out of the surrounding flatlands.
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Would you like to have a closer look at the toll bridge? If so, turn to section 360. If you would rather press on to the west, turn to section 312.
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This book, and its associated books and other documents in the Chronicles of Arborell series are the intellectual property of the author, Wayne F Densley, and all rights are reserved by him. Windhammer is best viewed at 1024 x 768 resolution. Any questions regarding the Chronicles of Arborell can be answered by emailing the author at densleyw@shoal.net.au
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Windhammer, Copyright Wayne Densley 2008 All Rights Reserved
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