Contested Ground Studios

[Marcus]

The wash used to be part of a larger brough, but has long been thought of as a seperate place, the buildings crumbling or fallen, waterlogged and slim growing on brickwork and iron.

The name comes from an unusual event. For an unknown reason, this area, 2 times a day suffers a tide. The waters flood up drowning out the frst story of houses within short minutes. The flow of water is so strong it has worn away the foundations and many of the buildings have collapsed, even now it's not uncomon for some wall or building to break and fall.

The water takes hours to drain back down slowly receiding over 10 hours. Only to come pouring back in 2 hours later.

The rise of the water can be an amazing sight, and people have been known to travel here just to watch it. As waves, water spouts, and bubbling cauldrons sweep across the wash.

During those times when the waters are high, the wash is a quiet whispering place, of slow eddies and gentle swirling waters.

[Malcolm]

Does anyone live in this place? I can see a small, but dedicated, community of people who live on rickety little houseboats that float up and down with the tide. At low tide, they are beached on the old streets and pavements. At high tide, they are free to move around, perhaps scavenging, maybe water farming.

Interesting.

Cheers
Malc
_________________
The worn sprocket on the singlespeed hub of CGS

"If the concrete and the clay beneath your feet
Don't get you son
The avenues and alleyways are gonna do it
Just for fun"

[Marcus]

I'd originally thought the place would have no one living there, due to the violent nature of the incoming tide, with it's water sprouts, whirlpools, riptides, bubbling cauldrons, waterfalls from out of the buildings (basically a water sprout shoots up inside the building then comes pouring out the windows in the upper lvls to form the "waterfall" effect).

I wanted it to be a dangerous place at those times for anyone still within the wash area. - I could envision characters trying to run/swim through the raising waters to safety as the tide came in.

I suppose there could be a group of people living there, who have found a way to stay safe during those 10 to 30 minutes the incoming tide takes fill up the wash. Maybe they have found the few "safe areas" where the waters are in eddies which their boats can withstand as the water rises - probably inside some hollow buildings perhaps. Or even have somekind of crane system built into the upper floors, where the boats move into as the waters drain, and are winched up to the 2nd or 3rd floors, above the high tide mark, and then once the incoming tide has become safe are relowered back onto the waters.

The reason for visiting the wash include, purely to see the spectacular incoming tide effect - a tourist attraction if you will. And it's a good place to scavange for items that the tide has brought in (from where these tides bring the items is unknown just is why the tide happens).

The reaons I was toying with that caused the tides, were a malfunctioning water pump network, which is supposed to regulate water levels in the canals and city, but this particular part is damage and so causes too much water to be forced through the pipes, which long ago fractured, causing the waters to flood up into the wash, and then slowly drain back down and into the canals.