out_of_town [Echoes]

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> Martin Fisher trudges along the top of the dam, rod in hand. The old echoes of bygone catches are familiar memories for him: the searing strain in someone else's arms, the racing heart inside another's chest. Today the fishing was not so good. 
> 
> It never seems to be these days...   

====== The Ruins and the Gallows ======

The gallows were once, for a brief period in the 17th century, located inside the town. This decision was quickly reversed; the build up of horrendous echoes in the place was too much for anyone to bear. The gallows were swiftly moved to be next to the ruins of the local abbey, which was sacked by King Henry VIII when he dissolved the monasteries. The dissolution was violently imposed, and as such the abbey was too full of unpleasant echoes for anyone to use the building, leaving it to fall into disrepair. Although many of the abbey's echoes have faded from long abandonment, the current proximity to the gallows makes it an unpleasant place to be. 

{{ :abbey_photo.jpg?400 | photo of the arches windows in a ruined medieval abbey on a sunny day}}

Some people have taken advantage of the unpleasantness of the place to set up a black market. All sorts of forbidden goods can be found here, especially stolen objects, but to those in the know it is the sort of place where the taboo against selling objects with echoes is frequently and cavalierly broken, both selling objects //for// the echo and selling objects //despite// the echo. 

====== The Great Avoning Dam ======

The Great Avoning Dam was constructed in 1703 with investment from the Leeds Waterway Company, who own and operate it to this day. It is undoubtedly the town’s greatest engineering achievement, however it remains controversial among its people to this day. Located just outside town, the earthworks may be hidden from view by the rolling hills but they shape the town as much as they shape the river's course. 

{{ :original_northerly_dam_c._1890.jpeg?400 |a sepia-toned historical photo of a embankment dam}}

Although the dam brought stability, ending the regular flooding of the area and allowing the town to prosper from the improved navigability of the river, it is also blamed for a loss of wildlife in the area, destroying the rich fishing the town once enjoyed and driving its heraldic beast, the Toasty Mink, to extinction. The fact that the company employs operators from the city rather than the local area has meant that town inhabitants rarely think about the dam much. 

====== The Moors ======

Although technically common grazing land, the moors are mostly uninhabited except for sheep. They're a good place to be alone, and a good place to get lost. The howling wind over the heather can be eerie and unsettling; stories have been told about the "Moor Lady", a ghost who snatches children who wander too far away from the watchful eye of the community.

====== The Cemetery ======

The Little Avoning Cemetery is located a ways downriver from the main town. It would be a peaceful place if it weren't for echo sense, through which visitors can find a build-up of years of intense grief and bittersweet memorialisation. Some find the cemetery a good place to mourn and remember, surrounded with the memories of mourners from many years past. Others find it overwhelming, and try to avoid it whenever possible.

{{ :cemetary.jpeg?400 |photo of several gravestones under a tree}}