Ruined Bridge

The Ruined Bridge is an old stone bridge on the road from Flotsam toward Aedirn, deep in the Flotsam Forests in The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings. For years a local troll kept it in repair and collected tolls from travellers in return, an arrangement that suited everyone. Then the troll took to drink, the repairs stopped, and the bridge began to crumble.

The troll still lives in his lair beneath it, and he is the only living troll Geralt meets in Chapter 1. He is not a simple monster, though. His drinking started after evil men killed his wife, and he has been drowning his grief ever since.

In The Witcher 2

The bridge is the centre of Troll Trouble, which starts with a troll contract on the notice board in front of the Flotsam inn. On the way to the bridge, Geralt can rescue a man from three nekkers and hear the troll’s backstory. The troll attacks on sight, so a fight is unavoidable, but when he is beaten down he surrenders, and Geralt can either finish him or listen.

Killing him and reporting to Louis Merse collects Loredo’s bounty. The better story comes from helping him. Geralt tracks down the men responsible for the death of the troll’s wife: her head ended up with the craftsman Sendler, who bought it from a man called Dmitri. A lackey in the tavern gives away Dmitri’s hiding place at the Lobinden cemetery, where Geralt deals with him and his men. Back at the bridge, Geralt tells the troll his wife has been avenged and returns her head to him. Chorab, the mayor of Lobinden, pays for the help.

Good to know

• Yrden plus heavy attacks is the recommended way to handle the troll in the unavoidable fight.
• You can also win the head from Sendler by beating at least four players in Poker Face: Flotsam.
• Giving the troll his wife’s head earns the diagram for Hunter’s Armor.
• The troll’s tongue is one of the ingredients for Melitele’s Heart, which you get if you kill him, win the head from Sendler, or buy it from Cedric.