Kethira-720TR-Harn-Kaldor-Ternua
Ternua (keep)
The village of Ternua really has two reasons to exist. The most important one is that there is a bridge across the river there. The bridge sits where it does because the river narrows, making the construction less expensive. Because the bridge is there, caravans and traders cross frequently. And barges stop there. It is a crossroads. [1]
Before the bridge, cargo had to be barged across the river, and that could be done anywhere; Ternua isn’t a ford, just a place where the river narrows – and speeds up. [1]
The bridge at Ternua is stone, and far more recent than the Naniom bridge. Here, the water is about 60 yards wide and the span itself about 75. The place is important enough that the village is the home of Baron Verdreth, who holds it directly for the King of Kaldor. Tolls, of course, help pay for the maintenance of the bridge and its guards. A fairly standard toll, 1 silver penny apiece for people or wagons, a half-penny for carts and horses, a farthing for each ox. Oddly enough, locals don’t pay… [1]
The bridge has a fairly simple appearance shielding a more complex design. Four oval piers of piled stone break up the span into manageable sections. Only the middle span is really wide enough for the barges to pass through comfortably. A standard barge can fit through any of the spans but the vagaries of the current, and its speed, are reason enough for experienced bargemen to only use the center span. The bridge causeway is twenty feet wide and flat, about 15′ above the water providing about 10′ of clearance for the barges – enough even when the water is high. [1]
Flanking the center span are two wooden towers, rising fifty feet above the waterline, with guard posts and arrow slits. Rumor has it that siege engines are mounted there; the guards refuse to comment. More extensive towers are built at each bank, and there are covered walkways along each side that run the full length of the bridge to provide troops a way to move about without being exposed to enemy fire; it ruins the view for traffic, but this is a minor consideration. [1]
There are persistent rumors of some sort of pumping system to soak the outside of the towers as protection against flame attacks. [1]
The actual town of Ternua lies just downstream of the bridge with a population of around 400. There are no walls around the town. Ternua Keep itself is on high ground hard by the water with the town spread out on all three open sides between the river and low hills a quarter-mile beyond. There is a distinct open area between the village and the walls of the keep forming almost another commons area; the real purpose, of course, is as a killing expanse should the Keep come under attack. [1]
Ternua Keep is nearly as old as the various successive bridges there. It is a “motte-and-bailey” type structure, finished in 165TR by the Kingdom of Kephria a few years before conquests founded the Kingdom of Kaldor itself. Not surprisingly, the keep has been repaired numerous times; a bit more surprisingly, the repairs are obvious in the stone walls. [1]
The Lord of Ternua is Baron Tarmas Verdreth, a short heavy-set man of about 40 years, a bit less than five and a half feet and nearly 300 pounds. His hair is full brown without a trace of gray and his long hair is clubbed; he is notorious for both crudity and all the manners of a boor. That much is obvious; it is less obvious that he is in fact a capable Lord and far indeed from the fool he appears. Those who have designs upon his lands, or cross him in politics, or simply shake his hand, will likely lose the contest. [1]
His eye for attractive young ladies is well known, often watching traveling groups for such and inviting them to dinner “or after”. [1]
There is a smaller hamlet on the opposite side of the bridge, called South Ternua, also owing allegiance to Baron Verdreth. It is largely the domain of bargemen coming upriver with occasional stops by travelers arriving too late in the day to cross the bridge. Although there are some small fields there, the only businesses n that side of the bridge are an inn and a brothel, both with fairly low reputations. [1]