Kingsport 1844: Orchard Rise

32) Orchard Rise
1 Orchard Road, Stratton Point, South Shore. Est. 1801

Keeper’s Note: Orchard Rise is a location in “Kingsport 1844,” and was written for the White Leviathan campaign. It can be adapted to any nineteenth-century campaign set in Essex County. It contains minor spoilers for anyone intending to play the campaign.

A) The Lap of Luxury
Orchard Rise is the home of Dr. Isaac Tuttle Coffin and his sister Lydia Tuttle Coffin, cousins to player character Mr. Joseph Coffin. A stately mansion constructed in 1801, the manor is located at the far end of South Shore, overlooking Orchard Island and offering a stunning view of the coastline. The estate is accessible via Orchard Road, a glorified carriage-path leading from Stratton Road to the western grounds of the estate. Isaac Coffin owns several fine horses, a well-kept phaeton painted bright yellow, and a small sailboat moored at the Stratton Marina, although he uses it only once or twice a year.

Kingsport Note: The far end of South Shore is pleasantly isolated in 1844, divided into estates belonging to Kingsport’s wealthiest families. The tourist bungalows and Yacht Club described in Chaosium’s “Kingsport” are years in the future. South Shore’s largest estate is Illsley Manor, the “Gothic Revival manse” destined to house the Stratton Yacht Club in 1928.

B) The Children of Barzillai
Unknown to the player himself, Joseph Coffin is Abner Ezekiel Hoag’s great-grandson. Abner Hoag married Mary Coffin in 1764, but the couple adopted Mary’s surname for their children, Barzillai and John Coffin. John’s son Luke Coffin is Joseph Coffin’s father. Isaac and Lydia Tuttle Coffin are the children of Barzillai Coffin’s second marriage to Susan Tuttle in 1808. (He was 44, she was 15.) Susan Tuttle was the daughter of Fletcher Tuttle, Anna Tuttle’s brother, and brother-in-law to Absalom Joab, Captain Joab’s father. In other words, Barzillai Coffin is Isaac and Lydia’s father, and Joseph Coffin’s great-uncle. (Confusing? Check out the Macy-Tuttle Family Tree, or review “Background Part 2—The Kingsport Cult.”)

Dr. Isaac Coffin lives with his wife, Pearl Coffin née Foster, and their two young children, ten-year old Richard and eight-year old Suzie. Lydia Coffin is unmarried, considered a spinster at the age of 33. The extended family lives in prosperity, living off of Barzillai’s riches and Isaac’s earnings as a respectable physician. They are kindly people, still nourished by their Quaker roots and comfortably removed from the “shadows” that haunt the Black Macys. Neither sibling likes talking about their father, and if asked, Pearl politely redirects the conversation away—“Old Barzo was such an unusual man. We don’t think about him much. Now, about Orchard Island; did you know that Kingsport’s first settlers brought over thousands of Guernsey apple seeds and even a pressoir? Why, Kingsport’s apple cider is still the best in New England…”

For people with so much salt in their blood, Isaac and Lydia are remarkably disinterested in the sea. The only comment they’ll make regarding Joseph’s upcoming voyage is that “Cousin Ben” is the Quiddity’s cabin boy. Indeed, Benjamin Coffin Warnock is the great-grandson of their father Barzillai by his first marriage to Lydia Macy Hussey. Benjamin’s father is Nathaniel Coffin Warnock, an old mate of Joab’s, and scheduled to command the Aldebaran on its maiden voyage. (Still confused? Check out the Tuttle-Macy Family Tree. Or just wing it—who really understands cousins anyway?)

C) Programmed Events
The only player character with a Programmed Event at Orchard Rise is Joseph Coffin.

October 27, Noon: Mr. Coffin Pays a Visit to Orchard Rise
Isaac and Lydia are expecting to entertain Cousin Joseph the evening of October 27, and have dispatch “our man Pompey” to pick him up at the Custom House in the phaeton (see Encounter 10). Pompey is respectful but sardonic; Isaac is polite and professional; Pearl is bright and cheerful; Lydia is warm, chatty, and wickedly funny; and the children are curious and well-behaved.

Keeper Note: If the Keeper would like to make this encounter more lively, she may recruit the other players to roleplay members of Coffin’s family. Each player should be provided with a simple background, and a “secret” unbeknownst to Mr. Coffin. Dr. Isaac Coffin is a regular at the Starry Busk, one of his favorites being Scarlet, of course. Lydia Coffin is a lesbian, and spends much of her time traveling with a “close companion” who lives in nearby Swampscott. Pearl is unaware of either secret, but quietly takes laudanum each night before bed. It’s the only way she can sleep through her husband’s night terrors!

Dinner and Drinks
The servants have prepared a delicious dinner of turtle soup, candied ham and apple sauce, stewed pumpkin, and whipped apple-cider syllabub for dessert. The soup is served in a blue and white Chinese tureen shaped like a turtle. The syllabub glasses are local creations, crystal apples made from the same Arkham glassblower employed by Hadrian Quire. Dinner lasts from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm, and is followed by Cuban cigars and amontillado in the Billiards Room. Mrs. Coffin retires to bed, but surprisingly, Lydia remains with the men, smoking cigars and proving herself quite the “sport.” As part of this after-dinner conversation, Joseph Coffin may learn one random rumor selected from the Kingsport Rumor Table. A successful Charm roll allows him to direct conversation to more useful quarters, and earns a rumor from the Quiddity Rumor Table. At the Keeper’s discretion, Dr. Coffin may also mention an eccentric patient he was treating for insomnia—Oliver Moneypenny, the proprietor of Professor Riddle’s Cabinet of Curiosities. Unfortunately, Mr. Moneypenny went “barmy,” and has apparently holed himself in his museum working on some “extravaganza about the Flying Dutchman. Based on that Pym fellow’s balderdash, if I’ve understood him correctly!”

Keeper Note: Isaac Coffin and Oliver Moneypenny know each other from the Starry Busk. Whether or not Dr. Coffin mentions Moneypenny may depend on the other player characters. The two Adventure Hooks pulling most directly towards the Cabinet of Curiosities are attached to Milton Redburn and Quakaloo. If one or both of these characters are not in the game, Isaac Coffin offers the Keeper an alternative way of interesting the player characters in the dime museum. This can be strengthened by having Dr. Coffin express a deeper sense of concern over Moneypenny, or including something more personally interesting to Joseph Coffin. Maybe adding the line, “The fellow claims he saw it in a dream!” Or, “The fellow became obsessed with the Book of Revelations. Handed me this page torn from his Bible. What do you make of it, cuz?”

Plenty of Lemon Juice!
If Mr. Coffin asks Dr. Coffin for medical advice, the physician nods vigorously and offers a lecture on bandages and scurvy. “It’s all about sanitation—keep the wounds clean. Wash them frequently and change the bandages. And none of this damnable bleeding! The surgeon’s lancet does more harm than good, I’m sure of it. As for scurvy, use Gardner’s method: plenty of lemon juice! Add it to the grog in copious amounts, like the Britons.” This sound advice is worth +2D4 percentiles of First Aid and +1D4 percentiles of Medicine.

Next Steps
Mr. Coffin is welcome to stay overnight in the guest room; but if the player character wishes to return to Kingsport, the phaeton will be summoned any time before 2:00 am. Otherwise, Isaac will accompany Joseph into town at 9:00 am the next morning—the physician has an appointment to amputate the toe of a gouty Selectman.

White Leviathan > Chapter 1—Kingsport 1844
[Back to Encounter 31, Revenue Marine | White Leviathan TOC | Forward to “West Side”]

Author: A. Buell Ruch
Last Modified: 25 November 2023
Email: quail (at) shipwrecklibrary (dot) com
White Leviathan PDF: [TBD]

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