The Smithy

The misshapen lump of pig-iron looks of place on the well-appointed desk. She picks it up and turns it over in her hands. Though far from the foundry floor, she feels the hot air against her skin, and hears the pounding of the forge hammer and the shouts and calls of people at work. Though not inherent to the echo, she feels a swell of pride - the same pride, she knows, that her late husband felt when this echo was formed.

Just down from the dockyard, an enormous brick edifice towers over the surrounding buildings. The walls are ever warm to the touch, and on overcast nights, a warm glow is cast over the town, the deep red-orange light reflected back from the clouds centred over the fortress-like structure. The lettering over the wrought iron gates declare this to be Chartwell & Smith Ironworks - but the locals simply refer to it as the Smithy.

The ironworks were strongly backed by the Smith family, thus giving it its nickname, with one of family becoming the co-founder whose name now adorns the gates alongside that of the industrialist who spearheaded the project. Construction on the ironworks began some 25 years ago, and hasn’t stopped since, even after the furnaces were lit for the first time. Backed by investment from Leeds, every few years sees the completion of another expansion to the ironworks and another new set of houses, and with them a new set of faces to the Little Avoning. This has had a notable impact on the town. Though the proportion of workers at the Smithy is still only a tiny fraction of the town as a whole, the number of non-locals and their families moving into the area is unprecedented. Some are integrating well, while others are struggling to find their feet in a culture quite different to that which they left behind in the city.

The majority of the iron produced by the Smithy is shipped off again to factories further south, with demand increasing steadily in the new industrial age, and it is the money from this which pays the salaries of the foundry workers. And of course there are knock-on effects across the town, with more construction work, more work at the docks, and a little more demand for everything across the town - with, importantly, the money to pay for it. For those paying attention, it is clear that the Smithy has been an economic boon to the town: a fact that the industrialist Mr William Chartwell is never shy of speaking about at length.

Or rather, was. Mr Chartwell was not a permanent resident of Little Avoning, spending much time doing business in the city. Word reached the town earlier this year that he had caught an illness and sadly passed away. Rumour has it, however, that his wife, Mrs Chartwell, will be taking over the affairs of the Smithy and, moreover, that she will be attending this year’s festival in his stead.

If you would like to play a character with a strong connection to the Smithy, here are a few ideas - though this list is by no means exhaustive.

• Many workers are required for the day-to-day operation of the ironworks. These jobs generally involve intensive physical labour but few specialist skills beyond those which can be picked up on the job. While many of the workers moved into the town specifically to work here, but that's certainly not true of everyone. The Smithy is also old enough now that a new generation may even be taking up the tools alongside their parents.
• Machinists and foremen are less likely to be locals due to the additional skills and training required, though it is possible that a promising apprentice may have been taken on from the local population.
• Co-founder Smith is the most influential person who lives on-site. They make decisions about longer-term projects at the Smithy and keep in contact with their industrialist partner Chartwell. (You are welcome to claim Smith as your PC if you would like. Note that Chartwell is not a permanent resident of the town, and is reserved as an NPC.)
• The blacksmith of Little Avoning does not work directly for the Smithy, but the presence of the ironworks may be changing the way they operate their business - exactly how they feel about this is left to the player.