I was thinking more along the lines of "On the annual Riding of the Walls, when Broyan's Chariot reached the section of wall destroyed by the Crimson Bat, his horses faltered not, but ran across the open air as if the walls had never been damaged."
Not so much a "have the heroes fix the problem" scenario, as a simple background special effect. There can be lots of worry about the annual ride, which is proven groundless as there is evidently *nothing wrong* with the walls/city to a ritually-charged up team. I'm assuming there is a heavy ritual element to the ride, and that it *must* be completed or something *Really Bad*(tm) happens. Having "something bad" averted in this way is a big boost to the defenders. Hurray! The Bat didn't doom the city after all!
Of course, for true fun, give the heroes the chance/chore to "fix" the problem, only to have all their efforts visibly fail. They build a bridge to cross the gap and it falls down minutes before Broyan reaches it (or as he crosses it - falling below his horses hooves while they gallop on oblivious to the bridge or lack thereof); their spells fail (spectacularly) to take effect, etc.
On a related tangent, the previews of the new Van Helsing film have a Coach and Six leaping a broken bridge...
RR
It is by my order and for the good of the state that the bearer of this has
done what he has done.
- Richelieu
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