After noon the Elven Coast Road turns a bit more to the north, and then continues straight. The Hills of Lareth are behind you, now. The land is sloping downwards gently before you.
Late in the afternoon the terrain turns marshy, and a half an hour later you come to a large river. Fully two miles wide you guess it to be, and it is spanned by a great, ancient bridge. Of dwarven construction it is, Arrrgh!, Brightaxe and Gonzo assure you, and it is in good repair.
At this end of it there is a small, stone house.
As you approach, several gnomes come scampering out of the house and block your way.
"Toll's five gold pieces to go across the bridge!" says one. "That's each!"
"Pay up and be quick about it, please!" says another.
Looking along the marshy banks on either side of the bridge abutments, you see that they are lined with gnome holes. There must be several hundred of the demihumans living here.
"At least he said please." says Jesse.
Occa says, "Five gold? Outrageous!"
He hands over five gold and then hurries on.
"My kind of people."
Gilstrock guffaws as he hears Occa say this. Aside to Pharian, he says out of the corner of his mouth, "Now I know why we didn't go lay waste to that thieve's guild. Mabye we should kill Occa next."
Darian looks at Valdar. "This is your quest we're on. Do they have a legitimate right to ask for a toll on this bridge? It's obvious they didn't build the thing."
Gilstrock is eyeing the small humanoid before him, flexing his right foot, and muttering, "Pay or drop kick, pay or drop kick, hmmm, what would Tommy Thompson do..."
"No, but they do the upkeep...at least part of it."
When he hears this, Gilstrock puts his foot down and says, "Aww, heck, let's pay 'em."
He pulls five gold pieces out of his pouch and gives them to the gnome.
With a bow and a flourish, he says, "Gilstrock the Mighty, at your service."
The gnome takes the money and bows deeply.
"Bob the Tall, at yours!"
"A Gnome with manners," Orlon grins as he pays his toll. "A rarity indeed."
Op Code, Phil and Oh Well follow suit.
Darian, though, persists.
"So, do they deserve the toll?"
Valdar rolls his eyes.
"Well. It's an awfully nice-looking bridge, don't you think? The stonework is in good condition, the cobblestones are swept, the approaches are tidy and well-maintained. What do you think? What are the alternatives? That we try to find another way across? That we head downstream through the swamp with our horses and wagons to the mouth and take the ferry across? Of course they charge, too. Or we could walk upstream for a few hundred miles to the first ford? Or, we could spend a few days and build rafts to get across. Or, would you prefer that we just kill the gnomes and cross...for the sake of five gold pieces?"
Valdar pays his toll and rides away from Darian.
"If you're that broke, I'll pay your way, Darian," says Tracy, and flips the gnomes 2pp.
Pharian rolls his eyes. "My treat," he says, rummaging through his bag for loose gold pieces.
"Pharian, that's not the point. We're all capable of paying the toll. I was just asking if they had the right to charge it."
The gnomes, who have been listening to Darian with growing irritation, suddenly act.
Two of them leap behind him, catching him at the back of his knees. The elf's legs fold up, and he collapses. Before he can react, the three gnomes have picked him up and tossed him over the side of the bridge.
Darian goes, "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
- and lands in the river with a splash.
"Try swimming across, buster!" they call down to him, as he surfaces in the shallows, muddy and spluttering.
"What law holds jurisdiction in these parts?" BrightAxe asks as he pays the 5 begrudgingly. "Since we're already inconvenienced, it might be worthwhile to make sure these earnings are getting taxed by the appropriate rulers."
"Noooo," says Pharian in despair, holding his hands over his ears.
Gilstrock pshawes at Brightaxe. "You're just as uptight a Darian!" he says.
He looks down to the elf in the water. "Yo! Darian! How's the water?"
Darian grins.
"A bit cold and rather shallow right here."
Without waiting for an answer, Gilstrock strips off his armor and dives off of the bridge into the water. "Woooo hoooo!" he calls as he goes.
"This is the wilderness," says Robert to Brightaxe, as he pays the gnomes. "No king rules here. It's everyone for themselves. But, these gnomes are providing a service...even if they charge through the nose for it."
"Thanks, Mister Black Armour!" says Bob. "It's nice to be appreciated!"
His tone is sarcastic.
"Speakin' of taxes," Gilstrock calls from below, his head popping up above the surface of the river, "have we paid all our taxes on all that loot?"
Gilstrock splashes Darian before resubmerging himself.
Salaam fails to hide his amusement and laughs when Darian falls in.
"Ah, your boyfriend seems to be lacking some smarts at times," he says with a smirk to Jesse.
"Well met, Bob," Salaam says as he hands over the five gold. "I am Salaam Benshel Thothemon, priest of Thoth, traveler of this world. Well built bridge you have, have your people been living here long?" he asks in conversation.
"Hundreds of years!" answers Bob. "We took over the south half of the bridge after the dwarves built it. Them damn hillbillies look after the north half."
"Bunch of bores, they is," says one of the other gnomes. "Like him!"
He points at Darian.
"Hillbillies?? Humans in the south??" Salaam asks with interest. "God fearing folk??"
"Humans in the north! They look after the north half of the bridge!"
Jesse calls out, "Darian!" then looks at the gnomes. "That was uncalled for. Tracy had already paid for him. Very rude." the bard says to the gnomes.
Darian calls back. "I'm okay, Jesse. Just very wet and dirty."
Darian sighs and cleans the mud off of him by wading a little further out into the river. When he's clean, he heads back to the shore to join the rest of the group.
"Rude!!!???" say the gnomes in unison. "HE was rude to us, first!"
"He asked a question, that is all. He is not from around these parts, so he was wondering and asked. That is not rude. He was curious," replies the bard. "Had he said he was not going to pay you all, then, that would have been different."
"He was talking about us like we weren't here!" says Bob. "In these parts, that's considered bad etticate."
"'Do they deserve the toll'!" snorts another, parroting Darian's voice.
"Can we throw her in the river too, boss?" asks number three.
"Naw," says Bob, taking the rest of the party's toll money. "She's a girl."
Darian, exiting the river at this point, removes his boots and dumps out the water. "He has a point, Jesse. My apologies, Bob. So, what is the proper etiquette for determining if you're toll is just? Whispering amongst ourselves? I don't want to get tossed into any more rivers for asking questions, if I can help it."
Bob the Tall draws himself up to his full 2' tall stature.
"Consider the alternatives," he replies haughtily.
The other gnomes laugh at Darian and then run away.
Bob, with the money, runs after them.
Darian sighs. "One of the alternatives would have been to destroy you. That's why I asked the question."
Darian walks after the rest of the party, making sloshing noises.
A thought hits Who Knows.
"Do you mean to tell us that we likely have to pay another toll to use their half of the bridge?" Who Knows eyes the gnome. "What kind of a racket do you have going here?"
Bob the gnome stops and turns to face Who Knows.
"Waddayamean a racket??" he squeaks, arms akimbo. "We run an honest business here! If not for us this old bridge woulda fallen down years ago! As for them hillbillies...THEY'RE the ones runnin' the racket!"
Who Knows smiles, "Ever think of running for office Bob? You'd make a great prez. You have my vote." He digs into his pocket and gives the gnome 5 gp.
The gnome grins, for some reason taking Who Know's insult as a complement.
Orlon gives Valdar a weird look. "Why would you go through all that trouble? If we really didn't want to pay the toll, then we could just climb into our portable hole and have Stiff teleport us across the river. You sound like an engineer Valdar. Sheesh, get a life."
Valdar gives Orlon a strange look back.
"Well," he says, "I'm not the one with the problem about paying the toll. But you do have a point about using the hole. It would take a number of teleports to to do it, though. After all, there are 30 or so of us, plus horses, wagons and so on. I thought it would be more expedient to just shut up and pay. We have more important fish to fry than to concern ourselves with whether a bunch of gnomes are overcharging people to cross their half of a bridge. And we certainly can afford the toll."
"What are you talking about? I'm quite willing to pay the toll, as I have indicated. Darian's the one who doesn't want to pay it," Orlon glares at Valdar.
Darian sighs. "I never said that..."
Valdar glares right back.
"Then why were you directing your comments at me in the first place, Orlon? Take them to Darian!"
You proceed across the bridge.
After passing the midpoint, though, you notice that the condition of the structure deteriorates. The flagstones are cracked, the road is dirty, the abutments weathered. As you approach the north end, you see a ramshackle house with several men lounging outside of it. Getting closer, you see that they are clad in skins and old woollens. They come over to meet you.
"That's five gold pieces each t'leave th' bridge," one of them says in a surly tone.
Valdar, feeling rather narked after his minor altercation with Orlon, replies in an equally surly tone.
"We'll pay 5gp for the lot of us!"
The men regard the grey elf, and then the rest of you, numbering some 30 people, all heavily armed and accoutered.
"Errrrr...deal," the spokesman mutters.
"Pay him out of the community chest...in coppers," says Valdar. "Unless you want to discuss things further, Darian?"
"No, sir!"
You pay them 1000cp, which the men take, looking none too happy about it, and continue on your way.
Immediately on the north side of the bridge is another intersection. A lesser road heads west, along the banks of the Columbia River, while the Elven Coast Road continues to the north-northeast.
As usual, there is a signpost, here...
The Elven Coast Road: North: To Demon's Neck, Portsmouth and The Disco Dungeon.South: To Frisco, The Guardian Gates and Castle Tempesta.
West: To Koltalla and the Sea.
Valdar turns you west, for Koltalla.
"I have a contact in Koltalla," he says by way of explanation. "Hopefully, we can gain some information from him."
The forest on the north side of the river is less dense and dark compared to what you have traversed to this point. However, the riverbank is marshy.
Several hours after crossing Kolumbus Bridge, you make a camp for the night.
Once you are settled in and dinner is made, Orlon casts a commune...
Angst flits amongst the trees, now quite competent with his flying ability.