The Barons, the Bridge, and the Troll

 

Ralph von Konigskamm is haggard man, always fretting with his collar and rubbing his knotted brow. He is pursued by a crowd of clamoring petitioners, creditors, and relatives. 

 

The royal commission was supposed to be simple: build a bridge over the river Wurm and get the lucrative toll rights in exchange. But work has ground to a halt. The masons and labourers refuse to go near the bridge. Worse, they're demanding compensation for those of them eaten by the troll which has taken up residence underneath the half-finished bridge. None of the baron's men are up to the task so he's hired you "professionals" to take care of it. 

What the baron's secretary knows : 

 

The troll has been there for a week and a half now and has killed (and presumably eaten) five workman, one draft horse, and a shepherd boy.

 

What the workmen know : 

The troll's a huge and nasty thing that can hurl a man like he was sack, but worse, it's sneaky. Likes to hide in the river so you think its not around. We'd like to bury our fellows' bones if you could retrieve them.

Before you can leave the baron's estate a coach attended by burly guards pulls up and out steps Maximilian von Damesburg resplendent in foppish finery, come to pay his "respects." He and Konigskamm hate each-others guts.

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An imperial highway runs along the river Wurm. To the south of the bridge site, an alcoholic ferryman move goods and people across the river with the help of his two sons. They are happy about the troll, as it means continual traffic for themselves. To the north, a rickety wooden bridge crosses over a stagnate, weed choked tributary. This was the trolls old lair and the fishermen who live thereabouts can tell you it was nuisance. They remember a "red haired man" being about recently.

Highway Encounters :  

1. d4 drovers and their flocks of sheep/goats/hogs
2. Wandering monk
3. d6 pathetic highwayman 
4. Tax collector and d6 bodyguards
5. Cloth merchant w/cart and d6 helpers
6. Traveling wizard

Workman's huts lie abandoned, tools littered about. Nearby is a pile of dusty masonry blocks waiting to be used. The river is wide but slow with numerous shallows and sandbars. Four stone piers rise out of the water like rocky islands. The span across is only half-built, a maze of wooden scaffolding marking out the future arches.

 

The troll lurks in the shadow of the scaffolding between the second and third piers, picking its teeth with the bones of dead masons. It is huge, warty, and mossy-backed. Despite its size it is surprisingly nimble, clambering up the scaffolding with ease and slipping beneath the water with the faintest of splashes. It is arrogant but wary, always with an eye out for tricks. "Awful little things don't play fair." It moans while rubbing at old scars. Demands a toll (whatever looks most valuable on your person) or a life from anyone trying to use the bridge or cross this stretch of the river by boat. Grabs victims and twists them till they pop or rips off their heads with its shark-like maw.

 

In the troll's lair--a weedy sump below the third pier--are the gnawed bones of several workmen and a sack containing its hoard: 150 silverpieces, a magnificent (if moldy) feathered cap, a golden necklace, and a barber's mirror.

 

If the troll is goaded into conversation it is quick to complain about the unfinished state of the bridge and to bemoan the "redbeard" who convinced it to move its lair with promises of loot and fat merchants to eat.

 

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Waldmann is an agent of von Damesburg. He is stout, cunning, and has a fiery red beard. Three well-armed lackeys ride with him. The troll was his plan. He will shadow the players, spying on them from a distance and making inquiries where they have passed through. If possible he will try to bribe them. Failing that, he will sabotage their plans--in indirect and plausibly deniable fashions.