Even though we have suffered much, and the Bridge has been taken from us, I still carry hope that one day we will be able to drive the Corrupted from its ramparts.\n\nI still recall the wonder when I first set eyes upon the bridge that crossed the Great Cleave. If there was every proof of the architectural skill of those who came before – the bridge quelled all doubts. It is a feat of engineering, something that could be said to rival the wonders of Europe and the East - if only others could see it.\n\nI've surveyed the bridge, both when I arrived, and from a distance later on – it is with great sadness we had to say farewell, to retreat, but I and the other settlers… it was too dangerous to remain within its shadow.\n\n-D. Prieto, Queensport Engineer

The High Span

The Bridge seems a continuation of the Ancient roads that cut the isle. The massive pillars that support it suggest it was built to carry heavy cargo, most likely the great stone blocks that compose the Ancient ruins – for we discovered a temple on the Eastern side, complete with the great statues seen elsewhere on the isle. \n\nThe temple is not safe to explore, however: Wolves, seemingly of frost (!), stalk amongst the standing skeletons of the temple – yet I do not know which is worse, the wolves or the skeletons: the skeletons seem to watch us silently, their bone and armor perfectly preserved, spears in their hands of bone. Perhaps they once Bridge guards in times past. Now? They guard it in death.\n\nAs with the other Ancient structures I've surveyed, the Bridge seems a cross of mortared stones and pillars of rock that seemed to be shaped seamlessly from a single, great block of stone. How the Ancients constructed such marvels is a mystery – either they had armies of laborers, or, especially in the case of the uncut stone, perhaps a means of shaping the mountains and the canyons to their will, perhaps using the power of the Isle itself? \n\nWe may never know their mysteries, and with the Corrupted and the other creatures now atop the Bridge, we may never be able to uncover its secrets – if we survive at all.\n\n-D. Prieto, Engineer

The Survey

We underestimated them – we assumed the Corrupted cunning, yes, but in the back of our minds, we considered them our lessers, barely capable of speech, and still clinging to the garments of settlers of old. We saw them as nothing more than the same shells we had seen to the South – the Withered we eagerly cut down as we harvested what we could from the isle.\n\nThis arrogance has cost us the Cleave. \n\nThe Corrupted used the winter against us – as they always have, I now see. They don't feel the cold stabbing at them, it does not slow their march. And worse, the day they fell upon the Great Bridge, they proved capable of not just cunning, but tactics: they used a winter flurry to mask their approach on both roads leading to the Bridge, and even if the watch had time to call out, their voices were lost in the storm. The Corrupted then set upon the remaining soldiers – but none of them did they cut down. Instead they pinned them, shackled them, and carried them away – where? To the North, perhaps. If so, they did not remain there long – within a season, they had returned, the sight of which nearly broke us as we caught sight of our lost men and women upon the Bridge, side by side with the Corrupted.\n\n-D. Prieto, Engineer

Cold Fruits of Winter

The sight of them is like a knife to the heart. Losing the Bridge was a blow to our morale, but what occurred not soon after nearly pushed us to retreat from the Cleave entirely.\n\nThe entire season, the Corrupted still commanded the Bridge, but as the season ended, they were joined by others – and among their number, we saw our own brothers and sisters. They were standing guard as they had before, but this time, they stood not against the Corrupted – but with them. \n\nI still watch from afar, a single spyglass to pierce the storm. And when I raise the spyglass to see what lies there upon the Bridge, I see their commander, staring back at me, her eyes like two burning coals in the hollow of her face.\n\n-D. Prieto, Engineer

Grey Sister

I know not what to make of recent events – there are rumors of strange occurrences to the South, blue lights along the lanterns of the roads, and even the dead walking, azoth burning in their chests. I would have passed this off to rumors and wild tales…\n\n…had not the Bridge been touched by the same madness.\n\nI was watching through the spyglass when I saw the first of the Corrupted struck down, its head split from its shoulders – at first, I thought it was only by imagining, perhaps spurred by hope – but no, there was fighting upon the Bridge, another group perhaps, but it was certain – they were attacking the Corrupted!\n\nI sought another vantage point, but the sight gave me hope – I moved swiftly so I could see the battle play out, but this may be the turning point in our efforts!\n\n-D. Prieto, Engineer

Counterattack

At first I thought the fighting on the Bridge was perhaps a counterattack by another company, or a drunken dare by Merchand and his thugs (who have long boasted they could take the Bridge in their undergarments) – it was neither.\n\nMy heart froze colder than the surrounding frost as I saw skeletons, spheres of blue light burning in their chest, slowly marching the span of the Bridge – and when the Corrupted launched themselves at the attackers, the Ancient Keepers did not fall back but met them head-on: the Corrupted were ruthlessly cut down, their remains cast from the Bridge as they dissolved into ash, leaving only their weapons to fall to the stones below – in moments, the Ancient Keepers had taken half the Bridge, seemingly uncaring of the numbers of the Corrupted.\n\nI see now it was fortunate we had not staged the same assault, for the Corrupted had been prepared – for us, perhaps, but not this. In response to this unexpected attack, reinforcements swarmed the Bridge like ants, Corrupted erupting from hidden places in the surrounding rocks to drive back the Guardians – but to no avail.\n\nWhen the sun fell, the Bridge had once again changed hands – and the Corrupted were no longer its master. The blue fire in the chests of the Guardians lit the top of the Bridge now, marking it as their own.\n\n-D. Prieto, Engineer

The Ancients Awaken

The wintry advance towards the Shattered Mountain filled with Corrupted forces

Prieto's Notebook Chapter - NWGuide Database of Lore

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