Kingsport 1844: Congregational Church
- At August 30, 2021
- By Great Quail
- In Call of Cthulhu
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23) Congregational Church of Kingsport
100 Hill Circle, Central Hill. Est. 1699/1790
We went out into the moonless and tortuous network of that incredibly ancient town; went out as the lights in the curtained windows disappeared one by one, and the Dog Star leered at the throng of cowled, cloaked figures that poured silently from every doorway and formed monstrous processions up this street and that, past the creaking signs and antediluvian gables, the thatched roofs and diamond-paned windows; threading precipitous lanes where decaying houses overlapped and crumbled together; gliding across open courts and churchyards where the bobbing lanthorns made eldritch drunken constellations…I saw that all the travellers were converging as they flowed near a sort of focus of crazy alleys at the top of a high hill in the centre of the town, where perched a great white church. I had seen it from the road’s crest when I looked at Kingsport in the new dusk, and it had made me shiver because Aldebaran had seemed to balance itself a moment on the ghostly spire. There was an open space around the church; partly a churchyard with spectral shafts, and partly a half-paved square swept nearly bare of snow by the wind, and lined with unwholesomely archaic houses having peaked roofs and overhanging gables. Death-fires danced over the tombs, revealing gruesome vistas, though queerly failing to cast any shadows. Past the churchyard, where there were no houses, I could see over the hill’s summit and watch the glimmer of stars on the harbour, though the town was invisible in the dark.
—H.P. Lovecraft, “The Festival”
A) History
The most elevated building in Kingsport—aside from the Strange High House—the Congregational Church is a stark, colonial affair constructed from wood and painted a blinding white. Built in 1699 and funded by Kingsport sea captains, the church was originally named St. Michael’s and was dedicated to the Church of England. Its location was selected for more reasons than the view. Central Hill is riddled with underground tunnels, an extensive labyrinth that leads to the subterranean shore where the Covenant worships the Green Flame. Although the original Bons pêcheurs de la flamme viridienne were composed of Catholics, Anglicans, and Protestants, these parochial differences paled under the cold light of their true god. (See “Background Part 2—The Kingsport Cult” for details.)
Having barely survived the witchcraft hysteria of the 1690s, the Covenant quietly rebuilt its ranks in the early eighteenth century. In 1717 a Sixth Degree Initiate named Rufus Cheever was named rector of St. Michael’s. As rumors of necromancy and Satanism began swirling around this new generation, the Covenant was betrayed by Cheever’s own vicar, a “goode Christian” named Solomon Palm. Kingsport’s new mayor was a zealous young Puritan named Ebenezer Hall, and he took his responsibilities very seriously. On the night of the Covenant’s traditional Winter Solstice Mass in 1722, Eben Hall assembled an armed mob and stormed Central Hill, arresting the cultists as they filed from the church. Although some escaped into the tunnels—including Abner Ezekiel Hoag and a young Isaiah Tuttle—the Covenant was effectively crushed. Twenty-two “witches” were imprisoned, St. Michael’s was purged of “Satanick influences,” and the crypts were sealed with bricks and mortar. While awaiting trial on Kingsport’s new prison ship, the “diabolical” Father Cheever and twelve of his followers committed suicide. The remaining men and women were declared guilty of witchcraft, and spent the rest of their lives rotting on the Gravesend. The Covenant went into a period of remission, its surviving members gathering at sea on clandestine ships and accessing the caverns through Laird’s Cove.
Change In Denomination
For several generations, St. Michael’s continued holding Anglican services in an increasingly Congregationalist town. In 1776, Patriots stormed the church and destroyed the British royal coat of arms. A few stubborn Loyalists fought back, but were soundly defeated, then tarred and feathered for their efforts. The victors read the Declaration of Independence from the pulpit and rang the bell until it cracked. A week later the deacon was found hanged from the rafters, and town’s remaining Tories abandoned Kingsport for good.
After the Revolutionary War, St. Michael’s was deconsecrated and shuttered. In 1800 it was purchased by Congregationalists, who had outgrown their original church on Lafayette Street. With funding from the Illsley and Tuttle families, the damage sustained during the shelling of Kingsport Harbor was repaired and the church was extensively renovated. Gothic windows were installed, and a towering new steeple boosted its elevation an additional thirteen feet. The bell from the Lafayette church replaced the one cracked by Patriots, and in 1804 the “new” Congregational Church of Kingsport opened its doors. Influenced by the resurgent Covenant, the crypts were re-opened with somewhat less fanfare, and once again the church became the center for the Kingsport Cult. In 1818, the original bell was recast by none other than Paul Revere & Sons. The so-called “Lafayette bell” now resides at the Illsley Shipyard, installed in the engine house of the Liberty Bell Hose Company.
| Lovecraft’s Protean Church The church on Central Hill was famously introduced by H.P. Lovecraft in “The Festival.” Unnamed in the story, its denomination is never stated. It’s mentioned again in “The Silver Key.” Speaking from the year 1926, the narrator indicates that the “old white church had long been torn down to make room for the Congregational Hospital.” Lovecraft scholars such as Philip Shreffler and Donovan Loucks believe that Lovecraft modeled his fictional church on St. Michael’s Episcopal Church in Marblehead, while others suggest the Second Congregational Church on Mugford Street. In Ross’ Kingsport: The City In the Mists, the church was founded as a Congregationalist church in the seventeenth century, and was torn down in 1908 to build the hospital. White Leviathan infuses Chaosium’s church with exaggerated historical elements borrowed from St. Michael’s in Marblehead. For instance, Patriots did assault the real St. Michael’s, but nobody was hanged, and it remained firmly Episcopalian. In Chaosium’s Kingsport, Eben Hall’s raid effectively destroyed the Kingsport Cult, which spiraled into decline and never recovered. Obviously that’s not the case in White Leviathan! |
B) Personalities
The Congregational Church is open most days from 7:00 am to 7:00 pm, with services every Sunday morning. The majority of its congregation and clerical officials are good, honest Christians, and would be appalled to know their church harbors a coven of witches. Like any other church, it hosts its share of baptisms, weddings, funerals, charity drives, Temperance meetings, and so forth. While its most famous congregant is Judge Return-to-Dust Whicher, the ranking ecclesiastic is Reverend Thomas Jane Ruggles.
Reverend Thomas Jane Ruggles
Age 46, Nationality: American, Birthplace: Kingsport 1798. Kingsport Cult: Third Degree Initiate.
| STR 45 | CON 70 | SIZ 65 | DEX 55 | INT 65 |
| APP 4550 | POW 80 | EDU 70 | SAN 20 | HP 13 |
| DB: 0 | Build: 0 | Move: 6 | MP: 16 | Luck: 60 |
Combat
| Brawl | 55% (27/11), damage 1D3 |
| Dodge | 50% (25/10) |
Skills
Accounting 35%, Art/Craft (Preaching) 75%, Charm 5%, Credit Rating 45%, Cthulhu Mythos 30%, Fast Talk 50%, History 40%, Intimidate 65%, Kingsport Cult 35%, Law 60%, Leadership 60%, Library Use 60%, Listen 60%, Natural World 35%, Occult 50%, Persuade 80%, Psychology 55%, Religion (Congregationalist) 85%, Renown 40%, Sea Lore 10%, Spot Hidden 70%, Stealth 10%.
Spells: Doigt de Malheur (Implant Fear), Eucharistia Viridi [Baptism/Communion], Flesh Ward, Obscurcir la Mémoire (Cloud Memory), The Omen Seal (Elder Sign), Parler Suif, The Voorish Sign
Description
An energetic middle-aged man with stern features and beetling brows, Reverend Ruggles is the public face of the Congregational Church. He’s also a member of the Kingsport Cult. Being only a Third Degree Initiate, the Reverend still believes that Covenant doctrines are meant to be taken allegorically, and would be surprised to discover their true plans. Despite having been immersed in the Green Flame, Ruggles considers himself an honest Congregationalist, and follows his esoteric calling with the same joyless Calvinism that informs his Sunday sermons. While this lack of imagination has stifled his advancement, the Covenant considers Ruggles a “useful idiot,” and continues to manipulate the Reverend from behind the scenes. Ruggles is terrified of Judge Whicher, whom he treats with the same fawning obsequiousness that he expects from his own flock of commoners.
Meeting Reverend Ruggles
The Reverend is brusque, and has little time for connies and their annoying questions. He’ll answer general inquiries about the church and its congregation, but questions about the “Kingsport witches” or the church’s colorful history receive an icy reply—“Those witches were justly exterminated a century ago by Eben Hall. Like cockroaches and Tories. Do you have any more foolishness, or may I go about my business?” He knows or cares little about Kingsport’s other churches, but mentioning the blind Preacher elicits a rattled sigh of frustration—“Humph. Calls that damp hovel a church, does he? God knows pretenders and false prophets, even when they preach to sailors, blockheads, and silverfish.” If the player characters are foolish enough to press Ruggles on the history of the Kingsport Cult, ask about mysterious “black casks,” or openly invoke a Mythos-related name, he becomes clearly discomfited, with a Psychology roll observing a tremor of panic passing across his features. The Reverend shuts down the conversation and tersely excuses himself. As soon as he’s free, he reports the exchange to Jacob Macy. See “Cult Pushback” for details.
Meeting Judge Whicher
Judge Return-to-Dust Whicher lives in a Georgian mansion on the West Side. Aside from Sunday services and noteworthy events, he rarely visits the church, and is unlikely to be encountered by the player characters. If the Keeper would like to include Whicher more actively in the scenario, he may be relocated here for a chance meeting, perhaps strolling the grounds, offering Ruggles a nuanced critique of his Sunday sermon, or quietly reading Francis Bacon’s Novum Organum in the churchyard. (See Whicher’s NPC Profile for details.)
C) Church Interior
There’s nothing inside the Congregational Church that seems out of place, and it seems in every respect a typical New England church. The interior is painted white, the peaked ceiling upheld by dark wooden supports rising from square columns bracketing austere, rectangular windows. The wooden pulpit is located inside an arched proscenium, and except for a carpet in front of the pulpit, decorations are kept to a minimum. The only thing out of the ordinary are the pews, which are painted white and feature unusually high backs. Although casual visitors are not permitted to pass beyond the pulpit, even if they do, they’ll find only the customary meeting rooms and offices of a thriving community church. The only locked interior doors are those belonging to the sacristy and to Reverend Ruggles’ office.
D) Snooping Around the Church
The Congregational Church is an attractive destination to any player familiar with “The Festival.” It’s also likely the characters are aware of its involvement in the Kingsport Cult, from the 1722 arrest of the St. Michael’s witches to the mysterious “black casks” transported from the Quiddity. So while Tobias Beckett is the player character most likely to snoop around, there’s bound to be some general interest in learning its secrets.
The church is unguarded at night, but a Stealth roll is required to remain unobserved by any nocturnal strollers. Two doors provide ingress to the church, and both require a Hard Locksmith roll to open. If a roll is pushed and failed, the lock becomes visibly damaged. A divination spell discovers the culprit the next morning, and a state of “Moderate Alarm” is immediately established. See “Cult Pushback” for details. (The Keeper is encouraged to inform players about these stakes before they attempt to pick the lock.) Once inside, the church may be searched with impunity. There are three locations of interest.
The Vault
Rolling back the carpet in front of the pulpit only reveals more wooden floor. Of course, this will be a grave disappointment to players who’ve read “The Festival,” and some unruly jailhouse lawyer may protest: “But there’s supposed to be a trap-door here, leading to the subterranean vault! What about the vault?!?” Well, the truth is: they are right, and there is a trap-door here. However, it’s been permanently concealed by Masque Banal. (See “New Spells.”) While there’s no plausible reason that a character would question this rug, clearly some players might believe they are being “tested.” If the Keeper wishes, she may allow a stubborn investigator to make an Extreme Power roll to see through the illusion. (Or she may just shrug and say, “What story was that again? The Carnival? The Festivus Pole?”) If the Masque Banal is penetrated, the wooden floor suddenly reveals the contours of a trap-door. A Spot Hidden discovers the grooves allowing the door to be opened, but it proves to be nothing more than a thin veneer covering a thick set of stone doors, sealed by a pair of antique locks. And each of these locks requires an Extreme Locksmith roll to pick. And if they are picked, it requires a combined Strength of 500 to lift the stone doors! (The Covenant gets around this because they know the magic pass phrase: “Light as a feather, stiff as a board!” Or, you know, whatever.)
As the Keeper may have surmised, Lovecraft’s trap-door is not intended to be opened by the player characters. Yes, beyond lies a secret passage; and yes, a spiral staircase leads to the subterranean cavern described in the story; and yes, that’s where the Covenant gathers for their unholy rites. However, it’s crucial that the player characters do not access this grotto and witness anything blatantly “unspeakable” during their stay in Kingsport. White Leviathan may involve the Kingsport Cult, but it’s not about unmasking and defeating them in their home town! If the Keeper really wants to open the doors and expose Kingsport’s subterranean underbelly, it’s best to present the cavern as a fantastic geologic marvel, mercifully free from squamous Byakhees, chlorotic Green Fire, and pulpy Cultists practicing eldritch rituals. All this comes later!
Church Office
The door to Reverend Ruggles’ office is locked, but a Locksmith roll quickly trips the tumblers. A few moments of searching and a Spot Hidden roll reveals there’s little to discover about Ruggles himself: no hidden bottles of booze, no secret diary, no closet full of sex toys. His only personal possessions are a few books of eighteenth-century poetry, an unremarkable collection of seashells, and an amateur painting of the church made by an elderly parishioner. There’s also a keyring hanging from a peg; it contains keys for all the church doors and the sacristy trunk, but not the vault.
The church records are located on a bookshelf near Ruggles’ desk. There’s nothing unusual about the records, and a Library Use roll answers most simple questions: names and addresses of congregants, dates of weddings and funerals, that sort of thing. The account ledgers may be searched, revealing a fairly dynamic church with a significant amount of funding. However, an Accounting roll suggests the ledgers seem a little too neat and orderly. Perhaps there’s a less public set of records? Anyway, a second Accounting roll, a Library Use roll, or a Hard Intelligence roll discovers an unusual entry dated August 17: “6 c. huile de cachalot noir.” A Language (French) roll translates this as “black parmaceti oil.” It’s the only record written in French, and seems distinct from similar entries for coal, lamp oil, and candles.
The Sacristy
The door to the sacristy is locked, but certain members of the clerical staff have been known to jimmy the lock and avail themselves of communion wine, so +2D10 bonus dice may be applied to any Locksmith roll. If Ruggles’ keyring has been acquired, the door may be unlocked normally. The sacristy contains the various garments and religious implements required to conduct services. Nothing is out of order, but there’s a locked trunk located beneath a mound of hymnals. A Spot Hiddenroll detects a strange odor in the air; something foul, but maddeningly impossible to describe. If the characters have encountered Captain Sleet, the odor is recognizable as the smoke from his meërschaum pipe.
The Sacristy Trunk
Ruggles’ keyring or a Regular Locksmith roll opens the trunk, which contains a set of black robes stitched with Greek letters and arcane symbols, an oddly precise wax mask bearing patrician features, and a small wooden cask painted matte black.
The Robe
Made from black wool and sporting a sealskin cowl, the robe is slightly motheaten, and seems at least a century old. A Regular Occult roll or a Hard Religion roll identifies the stitched characters as a blend of Enochian keys and Gnostic symbols, including the merman/ichthys associated with Dagon, the lion-headed serpent of Ialdabaoth, the basilisk-like Abraxas, and the abstract, eight-pointed star of Azazel. A Language (Greek) roll translates the Greek as “We embrace the secret fire of Prometheus,” along with transliterations of the above demonic entities, each preceded by the word “Iao,” an expression of praise derived from the Eleusinian Mysteries and later associated by the Gnostics with God, Jupiter, and the Prophet Jonah.
The Mask
Fragile and cracked, the wax mask is unnaturally cold to the touch. It was clearly once colored to resemble human skin, but some chemical reaction has mottled the surface into a diseased appearance. It smells faintly of damp earth with an unpleasant insectile undertone.
The Black Cask
The wooden staves and metal hoops of this five-gallon cask have been painted matte black. Pulling the bung exposes a clear, colorless oil smelling faintly like fresh milk. A Whalecraft roll identifies it as exceptionally pure spermaceti oil, but it should have congealed by now—what’s keeping it liquid? The oil is slippery and warm to the touch. If a sample is burned, it produces a pale green flame that’s curiously devoid of heat, and cannot be spread to another substance. Anyone who touches the flame feels a slight chill and experiences a fleeting sense of déjà-vu. A Kingsport Cult roll recalls legends of a “cold green flame” associated with the Kingsport Witch Cult, with a Hard success connecting it to vague notions of immortality.
Further Examination
If anything in the trunk is stolen, Reverend Ruggles notices its absence the morning of October 31. He reluctantly informs Jacob Macy, and a divination unearths the culprit. Needless to say, this puts the Covenant in a state of “High Alarm.” See “Cult Pushback” for details. However, if the intruders siphon off a reasonable amount of oil for further study, they may reseal the cask without alarming the cult.
Analyzing the substance requires three hours of study backed by a Science (Chemistry) or Science (Biology) roll. It’s definitely some form of spermaceti oil; but less dense, more volatile, and possessing a lower melting point. A second Science (Chemistry) roll or a Science (Physics) roll confirms that the green flame is as baffling as it seems—it has a “negative caloric energy,” and seems to be thermodynamically impossible. There is little else that may be discovered.
White Leviathan > Chapter 1—Kingsport 1844
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Author: A. Buell Ruch
Last Modified: 31 October 2021
Email: quail (at) shipwrecklibrary (dot) com
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