Please note I am not a bridge expert or engineer, this bridge is likely not at all plausible. Do not try to build at home.
History and Construction
The Siblings Bridge was built several generations ago and was a joint construction project between Bastion and Estrua to help symbolize their unity and to create a more direct trade route between two of their largest and most economically important cities of the time Old Darwyn and Baile. These cities would eventually be chosen as twin capitals, one for each nation, connected by the grand bridge that would be called The Siblings Bridge. Old Darwyn being the capital of Bastion and Baile being Estruas.
The construction of the bridge was a massive project, hundreds of engineers and workers from both Estrua and Bastion came together to tackle its creation. Many of these workers were specialists of magic known only to either Estrua or Bastion. For Estrua their druids helped shape wood and root for beams and structure points, and Bastion had their stone engineers, experts of design with the ability to shape rock into unbreakable pillars and foundations.
At the time, no other bridge of this scale and complexity had been created in either Bastion or Estrua and many questions on how to properly and safely build it had to be answered. Eventually, though, it was the engineering ingenuity of Bastion's stone engineers who came up with a unique plan to safely build the bridge.
They proposed that Bastion's workers would begin construction of the base pillars from the bottom of the canyon bed and build a wide and deep base anchored directly into the walls of the canyon sides. These anchors would be formed from the rock itself using a powerful rock-shaping spell known to only a few dozen Bastion stone engineers. Meanwhile, a team of druids from Estrua would use their magic to shape beams and pillars of hardened and entangled wood to span across the gap to act as a supportive bed of construction for the bridge proper and to have wooden pillars reach down to connect with the base pillars at the bottom of the canyon.
Once this had been completed, extra stone reinforcements could be added to the wooden pillars which would also be anchored to the walls of the canyon using a combination of the previous method. Long tendrils of flexible wood would stretch from each pillar at intervals and connect with rock-shaped anchors in the walls. Giving the pillars additional strength and allowing the bridge some additional flexibility in the strong winds of the canyon. Once this support system had been completed rock workers and artisans could build the pathway properly atop of the pillars. The whole process from inception to construction took nearly ten years and a workforce of a thousand citizens from both Estrua and Bastion.
Architecture
The bridge spans across the Amber Stone Canyon which splits up part of the border between Estrua and Bastion. It was built upon a dozen enormous pillars that reach down the canyon floor several hundred feet below. These pillars are constructed of amber stone quarried from caverns inside the canyon and druidicly grown and manipulated wood. These pillars are anchored at multiple points along the canyon walls by flexible wooden cables and stone anchor points, each meeting and affixing to a wide stone base. Which is also anchored to the floor and walls of the canyon at said base.
On the bridge's main footpath are various depictions of art, running along its walls and walkways. This art is primarily in carving form and shows various important figures and stories of both nations, the depictions are comingled and are not restricted to either nation's side of the bridge. This art is carved into the stone directly with accents of wood woven in for additional detail. About a dozen statues also sit upon the bridge, showing each side's rulers and several other people of importance.
The bridge has three main gateways, one on each side and one in the middle of the bridge, each with large timber doors that can be closed and barred. This feature was installed in the case of invasion from outside forces and was not intended to protect from one another. Though it has since been used for the latter.
The bridge is made of the same stone as the canyon, mined from deep below in underground quarries on either side of the border. The bridge's stone has an amber hue and is said to glisten in the sun when polished and cleaned properly. There are slight differences in the colouration of the stone, and if you look closely you can tell from which side of the canyon the stone was quarried from. It is also constructed of many wooden beams and structures, each of which were woven into place using the druidic magic of Estrua's druids. The wood was all grown for the main purpose of supporting the bridge, most of this wood is still planted in the ground and can be seen steeming from locations all along the Estruan side of the canyon.
Sadly, much of the artistry of the bridge has fallen into disrepair due to the ongoing
Trade Route War of the Central Corridor. Currently, it sits ashen in sight, as smoke and dirt have built up over the years of non-use, giving the bridge a sad and grey visage.
Lost Symbolism and The End of the Siblings Bridge
Before the war, Baile, which was the former capital of Estrua, and Old Darwyn, the former capital of Bastion, were connected by the Siblings Bridge that spans over the Amber Stone Canyon. The bridge once symbolized their unity and strength as close allies and brothers in arms. Citizens, especially of the shared capitals, strongly believed that as long as the bridge stood the strong connection between the two nations would persevere. Many treated the cities as a shared community, with families living and working between the two seamlessly. Travelling across the bridge in their daily commutes to live and work on either side without care or worry.
However, ever since the calamity befell Bastion and especially since the beginning of the conflict in the central corridors, the shared brotherhood that the bridge represented has been lost. The bridge has been left dormant and unused, with grime and debris strewn about it, its once grand architecture left to rot. Those who once travelled across it in their daily lives have been barred from its use, and in some circumstances cut off from their family, friends, and livelihoods.
Now, both nations have moved their capitals deeper into their respective territories, away from their shared borders and the bridge. As a result, the former capitals now stand as barely inhabited shells of their former selves, and both the cities and the Siblings Bridge have fallen into severe disrepair over the last four years. Though, some of the damage was dealt during the preceding decade and a half during Bastion's extreme weather pulse. Large contingents of soldiers patrol either side of the bridge to ensure that neither side gains an advantage over it. Though the remaining citizens of the cities are few, many of them still hold out hope that one day the two nations will reconcile and see each other as family once more.
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