The Bridge of Grimbald

The river is wild, cold and too deep to ford, and the only crossing in days of travel is an old, moss-grown stone bridge, the bridge of Grimbald. Whoever wants to cross must get past the one who lives beneath it, and in recent weeks no one has managed that unscathed.

Under the arches dwells the Bridge Troll, who devours everything that crosses without paying, and his hunger grows by the day. He is dull but sly in his own way, and above all: he heals with terrifying speed, so that every wound closes unless you use fire or acid. A merchant family stranded on the far bank waits in desperation for rescue.

You can choose how to play this: bargain over the toll, put a riddle to the Bridge Troll that he cannot solve, lure him into the river with a trick, or take the fight to him with torches and bottles of oil. Along the way you discover that the troll guards something beneath the bridge of Grimbald, something he considers 'his treasure'.

The twist: the Bridge Troll holds the bridge not out of pure gluttony, but guards a small troll whelp that hides beneath the arches, and his 'toll' is food for two. The climax plays out on the narrow bridge above the churning water: defeat or drive off the troll with fire, win the crossing with an airtight riddle, or strike a pact that lets both human and troll live, before the first traveler goes off the bridge into the deep.