Kingsport 1844: Erasmus Doppler & Sons

8) Erasmus Doppler & Sons
Corner of Gold Street and Abbott Street, The Yards, Harborside. Est. 1806

A) Erasmus Doppler & Sons
The Aldebaran’s figurehead is being crafted by Erasmus Doppler & Sons, woodcarvers who have worked with the Tuttles for nearly forty years. (Like most laborers and craftsmen associated with the Tuttle family, the Dopplers have no involvement in the Kingsport Cult.) Their sizable establishment features a small lumber yard, a wooden crane, a forge, and a specialized assortment of tools and paints. A figurehead of a gilded monk marks the entrance to the workshop. A visual pun on the workshop’s address, the tonsured friar raises a beer stein in one hand and a suspiciously trident-shaped crozier in the other.

Passing through the large, wooden doors delivers one to a labyrinth of creativity. Several figureheads are positioned around the sprawling workshop in various stages of completion, including a beautiful Amphitrite, a bare-breasted Lady Liberty, a leaping dolphin, and Father Neptune himself, his face modeled on Kingsport’s famous landmark. The Aldebaran’s figurehead is the largest of these, and dominates the workshop’s floor. Naturally, the figurehead is a charging black bull, his horns fashioned from whalebone and his nose pierced by an iron hoop. His left eye is carved from wood and painted white, but the right eye is just an empty socket.

B) Personalities
The workshop is owned and operated by Erasmus Doppler and his sons Jethro and Quincy Doppler. The “old man” and Jethro are applying the final touches of black paint to the bull, while Quincy is helping an apprentice restore a Minuteman figurehead belonging to the Argus Blaine, the cutter stationed at the Revenue Marine (Encounter 31).

Erasmus Doppler
Age 66, Nationality: American, Birthplace: Kentucky 1778

Combat

Skills
Accounting 70%, Appraise 75%, Art/Craft (Blacksmith) 50%, Art/Craft (Carpentry) 90%, Art/Craft (Painting) 85%, Charm 40%, Credit Rating 45%, Cthulhu Mythos 5%, Kingsport Cult 5%, Listen 50%, Mechanical Repair 75%, Natural World 45%, Occult 15%, Operate Heavy Machinery 75%, Persuade 40%, Renown 60%, Seamanship 45%, Sea Lore 80%, Spot Hidden 90%, Whalecraft 20%.

Description
A bald man with a long gray beard, Erasmus Doppler radiates a ruddy sense of good health and physical strength. He’s somewhat eccentric, a walking collection of nervous tics and affectations, and the broken veins along his nose betray his fondness for Kentucky whiskey—“Been in New England all my goddamn life, still cain’t get used to rum!” Despite these rough edges, when it’s time to carve wood or paint fine details, Doppler’s hands are as steady as a surgeon’s.

C) Erasmus Doppler’s Story
Doppler is garrulous and enjoys discussing his work. If asked about the figurehead, he’ll confirm it was commissioned by Sleet, Baker & Blood for the Aldebaran. The company demanded a “noble bull, a toro bravo of the first order,” and specifically asked for it to be “Bible-black and sprouting ivory horns, a ring of pure gold through its snout.” If asked about the iron ring, Doppler says it’s only temporary, and will be replaced before the Aldebaran sets sail—“A fancy one’s being cast in…well, Innsmouth, you understand, Marsh gold…” As for the missing right eye, the empty socket is intended to hold “a ruby-red carbuncle being shipped from Constantinople. Fucking Tuttle money, aye?”

If asked about other figureheads he’s created, Doppler is happy to show his sketchbooks. And yes, he created the mermaid that graces the Quiddity, a “fine piece of work, even if they give her that awful name.” He hesitates, but a successful Charm or Persuade roll frees his tongue, and he continues, “Well, t’was a queer commission, that one. Her chest, y’see? Naw, not her tits—her chest, they asked me to make a wee hollow, a cavity, see? Where her heart would be, mate!” Jethro shoots his father a cautionary look, and the old man catches himself—“Well, friends, this bastard bull ain’t gonna paint itself. You have a fair day now. Go on, git!”

White Leviathan > Chapter 1—Kingsport 1844
[Back to Encounter 7, Tuttle Shipyard| White Leviathan TOC | Forward to Encounter 9, King Timmy’s Hotel]

Author: A. Buell Ruch
Last Modified: 26 November 2021
Email: quail (at) shipwrecklibrary (dot) com
White Leviathan PDF: [TBD]