Amphibious Bridge of the Gluttonous Princess

This bridge spans a vast lake, so large the opposite coast can’t be seen with the naked eye. The bridge is made of stone with waist-high walls on both sides; it extends out from the coast a quarter mile before disappearing into the water. As you walk out over the water the walls get higher as the bridge slopes downward into the lake. Torches flicker on the damp, moldy walls and cast odd-moving shadows. The tunnel stretches out into the darkness, seemingly defying the laws of nature.

As you walk, the tunnel slopes up and down, turns left and right, and branches off, although any branches either dead-end or loop back to the main tunnel. In some stretches, massive glass windows show the black water of the lake—but at some times it looks like the black of the night sky, twinkling stars in the distance and perhaps a moon, surface rippling. Monstrous eels with gaping maws and sucker-stomachs cling to the glass and threaten to break through.

Gelatinous Cubes and deadly slimes haunt some halls; others contain the abandoned domiciles of long-forgotten inhabitants. Some apartments look undisturbed, as if they haven’t been lived in for years. Others are from a much older time, doors obscured by thick cobwebs, containing strange and wonderful secrets. Other chambers appear as though they were vacated recently and in quite a hurry, plates of food left half-eaten, tea kettles still steaming, bloodstains on the ceiling.

In one extremely large, round chamber the domed ceiling is painted blue with fluffy white clouds and a sun with gaping black eyes and a beaming smile. The chamber smells of excrement and has lush, green grass sprouting from the floor; various pipes stick out slightly above the grass. Marble tombstones show odd names, their inhabitants’ birth and death dates hidden by the overgrown blades at their base.

Of late, a strange threat has moved in. A demonic alien princess has sought a comfortable home in search of new mates. She has a distended belly, silky flowing hair, and a smile that stretches from ear to ear. Her voice sounds of beautiful music, a harmonious cacophony of instruments and lyrics that sounds different to each person listening. Anyone she finds worthy she weds in an unholy ceremony, mates with them, and then eats them. Her appetite is unending and her tastes are varied. The princess is the scion of a royal family; there is an extraplanar gate at the bottom of the lake which leads back to the ritual room of a sorcerer’s tower in a citadel in her home plane. She is here to gain power before she can return and find a new mate of her own kind. She will eat them, too, but not until she is powerful enough to do so.