In the city of Corregal, sword fighting is a way of life - unless you're a girl. While young men compete for prestigious positions within the ruling Houses, young women have to rely on others to protect them from the dangers lurking in the streets...
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Bright Bridge
Long ago, this was a private bridge that led from Cille street on the south shore to a palatial estate on the High Bank. The owners, who loved showy displays of their wealth, had the bridge enchanted as a party trick: the paving stones on the bridge light up in different colors when stepped on, a frippery that delighted anyone coming to dine at the estate. Unfortunately, the enchantment, along with similar extravagant expenditures, led to the collapse of the family's fortunes. When the House fell to ruin, the estate was split up between its neighbors, and the bridge became public property. Today, it's a novelty, a bridge that goes nowhere, visited mostly by adolescents playing games of tag in the dusk. No one even remembers the name of the family that built it.
The Waterfall
The mage Renisse claimed to have have no memory of raising the structure known as the Waterfall. A witness to the event recorded this: "I saw Renisse come out of their room just at sunset. They seemed in a daze, and did not acknowledge my greeting. I realized that they were caught still in the web of dreams that Thest sometimes weaves o'er his devotees, and followed to see what might come of this state. Renisse led me far from the Gate House, over the heights of the High Bank, to the most northerly districts of the city, where the banks of the Aris are rocky and wild. Renisse came right to the edge of river...and stepped off! I cried out in alarm, but it seems I need not fear, for where Renisse stepped, the water rose up to meet them. All the way across the Aris, Renisse walked upon a bow of water that rose and plummeted beneath them. Only when their foot touched solid ground upon the far shore did Renisse seem to wake from the Dream that carried them. I saw them blink, and then stumble, and then fall upon the ground. Concern for my fellow drove any thought of my own safety from my mind, and I dashed onto the new bridge myself, which had remained even after Renisse's Dream was done. It held my weight without issue, and indeed, even now it still stands, and shall perhaps stand until Thest desires its end."
It's said that crossing the Water Bridge at sunset will ease those suffering from bad dreams, while catching and drinking a cup of the water that spills from the magical construction will grant a vision of prophecy. It is sometimes also called the Bridge of Dreams or Thest's Bridge.
White Crescent Bridge
Spun like a cobweb over the highest point of the river gorge, many people are surprised to learn that the White Crescent Bridge was built entirely without magic. But in fact it's the work of two very determined engineers who used only the most practical methods to construct their filigree structure across the sky. Magic was only used several years after it was complete—an enchantment meant to keep birds from roosting on its heights. While the bridge is sturdy enough to hold a person, no one wanted to keep climbing up there to clean away all the droppings.
Sira's Bridge
In the months leading up to the Liberation, there was much tribulation in Corregal as the Tazani overlords demanded more and more of the people under their dominion. Illness and starvation were common among the poor, and there were more poor people every day. In the midst of a particularly harsh and cold winter, the consecration of a new bridge built by the leatherworkers' guild should have been a moment of merriment and celebration for the cityfolk, but the grim appearance of the Keeper who came to perform the blessing cast a pall upon the event. She had spent the night tending a sick child, who passed away only hours before the blessing was supposed to take place.
Wracked by grief and anger, the Keeper poured all her emotions into a prayer so powerful that everyone could feel the magic stirring the air around them. Some people fled, fearful that she meant to tear the bridge down around them, but those who stayed witnessed a more gentle miracle instead. The clouds parted overhead, sunlight warmed their cheeks, and a breeze carried the scent of fresh blossoms to them. Even now, more than thirty years later, stepping onto the bridge is like stepping into an early summer day—no matter what the weather in the rest of the city, Sira's Bridge is forever summer.
Ghost Bridge
There are are a few stories that explain how the Ghost Bridge came to be, but the favorite goes back to the Age of Kings, when the mage Esgir loved King Thail of Evreme. To prove his devotion, he used his power to raise a bridge across the river Cille, a great palace rising over it, and at its heart, a Wild Gate, a pathway to the empyreal realm of the Broken God. When the Eresti came to destroy the Gate, King Thail marshaled his armies to defend it, but lost his own life in the fighting. Mad with grief, Esgir retreated to the Gate and pulled the palace and bridge down around himself, killing most of the Eresti in the process. All that remains is the Ghost Bridge, a shadow out of time, appearing only under the silver light of the full moon.
They say you can visit the Ghost Bridge when it appears, but anyone lingering after moonset will be trapped there until the full moon rises once again.
