The Angler

**The Tale of The Angler:**

When the town was still new and growing, around 1851, the mayor, Edward Pennel, endeavored to build a water tower. The plot of land next to the lake was chosen and they began construction. During the digging the laborers accidentally opened an ancient aquifer, not wanting to change course, construction continued on the site. However progress was constantly halted as workers were disappearing for days only to find bits of their shredded clothing or belongings in the lake. With this the sheriff, Linus Scott, launched an investigation, taking several men to the site and discovering a horrible truth. Out by the tower one of the men, Abraham Taylor saw a faint glow in the water. Intrigued, he approached the water's edge and bent down to examine it closer. The light flickered out and a maw full of pointed fangs erupted from the water sinking into Taylors throat dragging him under the water. The sheriff caught the only glimpse of the creature that night as it was dragging Taylor under. It was dark and slimy, with ridges across its face, it had a massive jaw and inky black eyes, its frame pulsed and grew after consuming Taylors flesh. The men saw its outline in the water swim towards the water tower. Knowing it was moving to the aquifer to finish feeding, the sheriff ordered the men to destroy the base of the water tower with dynamite thus sealing the creature away. As the demolished tower’s rubble fell, the creature let out a piercing scream that echoed across the lake.

**The True Story of The Angler:**

The newly elected mayor, Edward Pennel, not wanting to repeat the mistakes of Thomas O'brien, the previous mayor who was run out of the town for poisoning the water supply, wanted to modernize the town with a water tower. The construction site was picked for the aesthetic value over the functional one, as a way to show off his accomplishment. During the digging of the base the crew unearthed a small cave under the lake, construction continued however. Despite two workers disappearing during construction, it wasn't until one of their body’s was discovered that the sheriff, Linus Scott, began an investigation. Incorrectly presuming that there was a murderer at the water tower, he got a group of able bodied men to help capture the criminal. Pennel, recognizing the disaster the tower was becoming for his political career, saw this as his chance to get rid of it and asked the sheriff to destroy it. Once at the water tower the men split up to find the killer. The sheriff paired up with Abraham Taylor, a laborer on the water tower. Taylor saw something in the water and when he investigated it an alligator jumped out and attacked him. Scott, being a man who was born and raised in a small lumber town in northeastern America in the mid 1800s had no idea what an alligator was and essentially just saw a monster pull a man under water. The other men heard this and rushed over, seeing the wake created by the alligator swimming back to the small submerged cave, they ran to the water tower and rigged the dynamite to the base of the water tower. If the explosion didn’t kill the animal then the bits of sharpened wood and steel falling on it definitely did. The cave was resealed and the men returned triumphant. The exaggerated story was spread by the men at first and was kept alive by the wives of fishermen to deter them from staying out late fishing. Once the news of the newly discovered anglerfish spread to the town it was adopted into the story to make it scarier and explain why Taylor may have been distracted.