Kingsport 1844: North Point Lighthouse

43) North Point Lighthouse
Ross Island. Est. 1826

A) Ross Island
The famous Kingsport fog is not confined to the harbor, and has been known to blanket the coast for several miles north of Kingsport, sometimes extending well out to sea. Three miles east-northeast of Kingsport lies Ross Island. Small and rocky with stark cliffs facing the sea, Ross Island can become completely obscured under foggy conditions. Considered a nuisance since the seventeenth century, the island seemed content to claim only occasional trophies, usually small boats piloted by connies or reckless dilettantes. However, in 1824 the returning Kingsport whaler Anna became lost in the fog and foundered against a jagged outcropping known as the Marling-Spike. Ten souls were lost in the wreck, including Captain Charles Mercer, who was drowned in the hold as the Anna sank below the waves. Over $35,000 worth of whale oil was lost. The city’s fathers decided it was finally time to address the problem with Yankee ingenuity and a gracious amount of funding, and the North Point Lighthouse was constructed, with Thomas Elton and Rebecca Elton appointed as keepers—commonly called “wickies.”

The Churn
The eastern side of Ross Island is home to a natural phenomenon Kingsporters call the Churn—a deep fissure in the seaward rocks. When the wind comes in strongly from the sea, water is blown through the fissure and channeled upwards, creating violent spumes that reach fifty feet above the island surface. Something of a minor local attraction, the geyser receives occasional picnickers, who believe it’s good luck to see a rainbow in the mist. The Eltons are not thrilled by this tradition, but as long as visitors don’t use their dock and refrain from trespassing near the lighthouse, they leave them in peace.

B) The North Point Lighthouse
A tapering tower of solemn gray granite, the North Point Lighthouse rises 130 feet above the island and boasts a fourth-order Fresnel lens. An expensive import, the lens replaces the original hexagonal reflector, which required ten whale oil lamps to pierce the fog! The gallery surrounding the lantern holds a bronze bell and a small signal cannon, fired every half hour during particularly bad conditions. A two-story cottage accompanies the lighthouse, along with a coal shed, an underground cellar for gunpowder and whale oil, and a boathouse sheltering a dingey and a small sailboat.

I want to marry a lighthouse keeper and live by the side of the sea…
Kingsport regulations require the light to be attended by two people, a principal keeper and an assistant, who are responsible for “ensuring the North Point light remain visible, steady, and true from sunset to sunrise, and during heavy weather that may conceal or occlude the perilous obstacle of Ross Island.” Being a keeper is no easy job. (Tell me about it, right?) The lantern’s vents must be consistently aligned with the wind and the chimneys brushed free of soot, the lamp must be fueled and the concentric wicks trimmed, the clockwork must be oiled regularly and wound twice nightly, the complex Fresnel lens must be cleaned and polished, the storm panes must be washed, and interior condensation must be collected and drained. During foggy conditions, the keeper must manually ring the bell every five minutes, a sleepless vigil that involves hours of tireless repetition. If the fog is judged “extraordinarily severe,” the signal cannon must be loaded and fired every thirty minutes, a foul and potentially dangerous task. The keeper must make frequent meteorological recordings, perform minor repairs, protect the light against storms, and maintain the cottage, dock, and boats. For all this, wickies are paid $425/year, including room and board. Supplies are delivered every two weeks through the Revenue Marine, and every two years the Treasury Department tasks the regional superintendent to conduct a detailed inspection of the lighthouse, cottage, and grounds. During daylight hours and fair-weather conditions, one of the keepers is allowed to visit Kingsport, but must return to Ross Island one hour before sunset. Lighthouse keepers may also request periods of temporary relief for visitation and travel, but these days are docked from their salary.

C) Personalities
Until recently, the North Point Lighthouse was maintained by its original keeper, Thomas Elton, with his wife Rebecca serving as assistant. A weathered, middle-aged man with a pipe permanently clenched between his teeth, Thomas Elton was a gunner on the USS Constitution during the War of 1812, and his grandfather was one of the Patriots who drove the Tories from Kingsport. After the war, Elton sailed with the Illsleys, but in 1821 he was inexplicably seized by a crippling fear of the open sea, and took up work as a Kingsport pilot. During the construction of the lighthouse, Elton was hired to ferry men and equipment from Kingsport to Ross Island. When the man originally appointed keeper was killed in a drunken brawl, Thomas was given his position. Last year, his brain played another cruel trick, and Thomas developed a paralyzing fear of heights. Having operated the light with her husband the past twenty years, Rebecca Elton took over the reins. She’s recently been appointed principal keeper, with her son Havelock serving as assistant.

Rebecca Carter Elton
Age 36, Nationality: American, Birthplace: Boston 1808.

Combat

Skills
Accounting 50%, Art/Craft (Lighthouse Keeping) 85%, Art/Craft (Romantic & Gothic Literature) 70%, Art/Craft (Sewing) 60%, Charm 55%, Climb 75%, Credit Rating 35%, Cthulhu Mythos 10%, Dreaming 75%, First Aid 45%, History 35%, Hypnotize 70%, Intimidate 20%, Jump 50%, Kingsport Cult 10%, Law 30%, Listen 80%, Mechanical Repair 75%, Natural World 35%, Occult 15%, Operate Heavy Machinery 60%, Persuade 35%, Pilot (Boat) 45%, Psychology 10%, Renown 30%, Science (Meteorology) 65%, Science (Physics) 55%, Seamanship 20%, Sea Lore 45%, Spot Hidden 90%, Stealth 10%, Swim 75%, Throw 65%.

Description
With her black hair now salt-white at the temples and her face weathered by wind and rain, Rebecca Elton has the look of a true Kingsporter, her bearing sculpted by years facing the wilding sea. A taciturn woman with a wry sense of humor and a genuine passion for her work, Rebecca has the distinction of no longer being called “connie,” even though her accent still betrays a touch of Boston. She favors colorful clothing she fashions herself, and is fond of flowing fabrics and shawls of bright red or canary yellow. A Romantic with an ironic sense of self-awareness, Rebecca enjoys playing up her role, and takes pleasure in the image she projects when standing on the lighthouse gallery, her red cape and long hair billowing in the wind.

History
Rebecca Carter is the daughter of Christopher Carter, a lighthouse builder from Boston. Possessing a seemingly intuitive understanding of lamps, reflectors, and lenses from an early age, Rebecca grew up assisting her father in his work. She met Thomas Elton during the construction of the North Point light. Sensing a fellow Romantic beneath Elton’s craggy features and shy smile, Rebecca fell in love with the ferryman, and convinced Thomas to apply for the job after the original keeper was killed. The day he was appointed, they stole away for a picnic by the Churn. As they trysted under the crashing spray, Rebecca realized she was falling in love with the island just as much as she was falling for Thomas. On the way back to the cottage, Rebecca asked him to marry her. Shocked by her brazenness but inexpressibly happy, he readily agreed. Keeping the engagement hidden from her father, when Rebecca discovered she was pregnant, Christopher Carter had little recourse but to condone the union. With her father’s backing, she was appointed Thomas’ assistant.

Rebecca Elton lives in the cottage with her husband, whose recent vertigo forbids him from climbing the lighthouse stairs. She is assisted by their eighteen-year old son Havelock Keats Elton and their twelve-year old daughter Christabel Ann Elton. Both children have been raised on the island. Although Havelock has accepted his new role with good grace, he secretly plans to ship out to sea the moment his father “recovers.”

D) The Dreams in the Lighthouse
Like her father and grandmother before him, Rebecca Carter is a vivid Dreamer. On certain nights when her mind is tranquil and the moon is bright, she is transported to strange realms where cats speak and primeval forests are haunted by weird creatures. Her family knows there’s something “witchy” about Rebecca, who sometimes awakes in the middle of the night speaking soft syllables of an unknown language. Rebecca has passed this ability to her son, who began Dreaming around the age of twelve. Unlike his mother, Havelock’s dreams are linked to the sea, and come on foggy nights when the mist reaches the balcony of the lighthouse, and a distant light shimmers from the Strange High House. Lately, a White Ship has appeared from the fog, propelled by gleaming oars and captained by a bearded old man, a ship that takes Havelock to far-away places for evenings that imperceptibly become aeons. Although he has yet to share his dreams with his parents—though he suspects his mother would understand—Havelock has begun to wonder of he’s trapped on Ross Island. Surely he can escape on a clipper ship, a real ship? Surely he won’t simply become his father, with Havelock’s own son becoming himself in due time…?

E) The Anna
The wreckage of the Anna lies beneath the northern cliffs of Ross Island, sunk below the surf and partially exposed when the winds whip the water into rolling billows. Kingsport loves her ghost stories, and the Anna is no exception. It’s said that during the worst fogs, ships near Ross Island sometimes glimpse the Anna, still lost at sea, her lanterns haloed in mist and her drowned captain mouthing orders to the gloom. The survivors of the wreckage are the first to dismiss the story as humbug, but they have their own superstitions, and have been known to leave offerings at the Churn for Captain Mercer and the “Ross Island Nine.”

F) Programmed Events
There is one Programmed Event occurring at the North Point Lighthouse.

October 30, 3:00 pm: Mr. Coffin’s Dream Date
This event only takes place if Mr. Joseph Coffin accepts Rebecca Elton’s invitation (Player Handout: Letter from Elton to Coffin) and requires some preparation on behalf of the Keeper. Three six-sided “Dream dice” must be obtained, preferably of an unusual color or pattern. They should be distinct from Mr. Coffin’s regular dice, perhaps packaged in a Ziploc bag marked with unspeakable glyphs using an eldritch Sharpie. These will be presented to Coffin’s player, who keeps them with his personal belongings for the duration of the campaign. The purpose of the Dream dice is explained in “Player Character Secrets and Development,” and should remain mysterious to the player until much later in the game.

Involving the Other Players
Although this Programmed Event features a solo Joseph Coffin, the other players may assist behind the scenes. If the Keeper wishes, she may privately contact the other players and explain the general scenario. She may even ask other players to roleplay some of the relevant NPCs—the two Guernsey sailors, Thomas Elton, Havelock Elton, and Christabel Ann Elton. (Lieutenant Costello and Rebecca Elton must be played by the Keeper.) Inform the players that depending on how the scenario plays out, they’ll have minor tasks to perform, each triggered by a cue. Once the Keeper claps her hands three times by Coffin’s head, all lights should be suddenly extinguished. (If the Keeper has access to a hand bell, this may be used instead of clapping.) If the Keeper says the word “Maelström,” all players should stand in a circle around Coffin and improvise the jeers of dying sailors—“You failed us, Coffin! We’re dying because of you! You bastard, it’s your fault!” etc., etc. To ensure the Programmed Event runs smoothly, the Keeper may wish to provide players with written instructions and relevant NPC descriptions.

The Guernsey
If Mr. Coffin follows Rebecca Elton’s instructions, he’ll find the Guernsey ready to depart the Revenue Marine Station at 3:00 pm. A small sloop with a three-man crew, the boat is commanded by Lieutenant Brendan Costello, the officer charged with supplying Kingsport’s lighthouse. Costello greets Coffin like he’s been expected, but the darkening sky is an obvious concern—“Good afternoon, Mr. Coffin. I hope you brought something warm? I believe it might actually snow.” His voice carries a faint Irish accent. The sloop is loaded with barrels of whale oil, fresh water, and beer; victuals such as dried meat, vegetables, beans, and coffee; and miscellaneous items including spare gears for the clockworks, a mailbag, a bolt of orange cloth, a new Harrison skimmer, and a stack of books tied with twine. The books include Sir Launcelot Canynge’s Mad Trist, John Clare’s poetry collection The Rural Muse, Ann Radcliff’s Gothic novel The Castles of Athlin and Dunbayne, Jane Austen’s romantic comedy Emma, John Neal’s novel of the Salem witch trials Rachel Dyer, James Braid’s post-Mesmerist Elements of the Philosophy of the Human Mind, a stack of Blackwood’s magazines from Britain, and several old issues of the Southern Literary Messenger featuring stories by Edgar Allan Poe.

The crew rows from the slip and sets sail, tacking north past Kingsport Head. Costello’s snow materializes shortly after passing the mouth of the Miskatonic River, swirling white flakes descending from a leaden sky. The North Point light becomes visible before Ross Island is actually seen, sweeping its bright beam through the falling snow.

Conversation with Lt. Costello
The lieutenant gestures to the light—“Impressive, eh? The old one wasn’t half as bright, and took ten lamps to do the trick. They have a fancy French one now, costs a pretty penny. Mrs. Elton knows her stuff—don’t underestimate her! Even before Old Tom lost his wits, it was the missus kept that light.” If pressed, a Charm or Persuade roll elaborates, “Tom was a gunner during the war, posted to Old Ironsides no less. But suddenly he’s afraid of loud sounds, see? So he becomes a merchant jack. But then your man says he’s afraid of the open horizon. So he becomes a wickie. And he does a fine job until—you see it coming, right?—ta-da!—fear of heights! Poor Becky, she loves that mad bugger, but it’s she who wears the pants. Havelock helps, but sure he’s a monkish quare lad, more on about books than boats. The whole lot’s peculiar, but then again, who wouldn’t go barmy, stuck on a bleedin’ rock all your life?”

If asked about Rebecca’s reputation, another Charm or Persuade keeps the gossip flowing: “Everyone loves Becky. Sure, she’s from Boston, but that rock’s in her blood. Some say she’s a witch, but not like them from history, right? She just knows things. My wife says she’s a bean feasa, a fortune teller. So don’t go spreading idle talk about Becky. Folks ‘round here know good from bad, despite what connies may think.”

The Landing
The Guernsey moors at the dock on the west side of Ross Island, where they’re met by Thomas and Havelock Elton. Young Christabel watches curiously from the wooden stairs leading to the cottage, wrapped in a warm quilt and stroking a tortoiseshell cat. Lieutenant Costello and Thomas Elton greet like old friends, exchanging pleasantries and remarking on the unexpected snow. Havelock, a strapping young man with sensitive eyes, nods politely at Coffin before he begins assisting the crew. Thomas points at Coffin with his pipestem, “Mr. Coffin, glad you could make it. Mrs. Elton is awaiting you on the catwalk. There’s a mug of coffee inside the lighthouse door for your pleasure. The stairs ain’t so bad, but don’t look directly into the Fresnel, Mr. Coffin, it’s a damn sight brighter than you reckon.”

The Lighthouse
As Coffin takes his leave, Christabel detaches herself and follows, the cat gathered in her arms and a book in her hand—the first volume of Edgar Allan Poe’s Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque. The girl peppers Coffin with questions the entire way to the lighthouse—“Do you have a harpoon? What’s the biggest whale you ever caught? Have you ever seen a mermaid? I’m reading an article about a ship that gets caught in a whirlpool! Did you ever get caught in a whirlpool?” And so forth. She leads Coffin to the lighthouse door and hands him the cup of coffee—“Daddy added some of his medicine for you!” The coffee is only lukewarm, but it’s bold and flavored with whiskey.

The interior of the lighthouse is narrow and gloomy, an iron staircase winding up the central stone shaft. The sound of the clockworks is eerily amplified, and the air smells like oil and damp stone. Climbing the staircase without pausing for a breather requires a Constitution roll. The stairs terminate at the service room beneath the lantern, where the clockworks rotating the lamp and pumping the oil are maintained and the chimneys are cleaned. The room smells like burning oil, alcohol, and ozone, and features several cabinets filled with brushes, wine-based cleaners, and a lens polish known as “rouge.” The clockworks are noisy, the pendulum depending into the “weight trunk” bored through the central shaft. Portable kegs of whale oil are stacked against the wall near the stairs to the lantern room. A black cat sits on one of the kegs, eyeing Coffin warily.

The Lantern
The lantern room is painted white, and is dominated by the Fresnel lens. Resembling a massive crystal pinecone, its canted planes and prisms are designed to amplify and project light from the interior oil lamp. This lamp is in slow, steady rotation, producing a dull but pleasing ratcheting sound like a giant grandfather clock. The lantern room is enclosed by glass storm panes, held rigidly in place by metal astragals. A door leads to the cast-iron gallery surrounding the lantern. Rebecca Elton stands near the door, wearing a linen smock over her dress and retouching the black paint on an astragal.

Conversation with Rebecca Elton
The moment Coffin’s head becomes visible, Elton calls out, “Don’t look into the optic, Mr. Coffin; certainly not when the lamp is sweeping your way! And don’t let the cat follow you up the stairs.” If Mr. Coffin ignores her warning about the lamp, he suffers 1 HP of searing pain and permanently deducts –1 percentile from his Spot Hidden skill. Setting aside her brush and can of black paint, Rebecca steps forward to assist Coffin and leads him through the door to the outer gallery. “Isn’t it beautiful?”

And it certainly is! The sky is gloaming with the approach of evening, and the rotating beam etches each swirling snowflake in a flash against the sky. Mrs. Elton makes small talk for a few moments, remarking on the vista, pointing out the running lights of distant ships, and calling attention to the weathervane on top of the lighthouse’s copper dome—“The wind is changing, which means I must reset the vents. And unless I’m very much mistaken, fog will follow upon this snow. This shall be a long night’s keep, Mr. Coffin, and I daresay I’ll be earning my pay. Or Havelock shall, as more like it!”

With that, she offers Coffin a flask of brandy and tells her story, beginning in Boston and ending with her appointment as North Point’s principal keeper. (See Rebecca Carter Elton’s profile for details.) She is honest about her Dreams, and suggests that she’s actually traveling to these mystical places. Finally she remarks, “And I know you Dream too, Mr. Coffin. I’ve seen you there.” Mrs. Elton explains that she first caught sight of Mr. Coffin when he was gazing upon a “city on a hill.” She then saw him on a “ghost ship,” and later walking on some rocks. She was struck by his melancholy demeanor, but even more by the tremendous shadow that hovered over him. Then one night, Rebecca discovered she was sharing a dream with Mr. Coffin!

As she packs away her paints and aligns the vents, she explains matter-of-factly, “I watched you tell sweet lies to your mother, then close her eyes forever. You held a mirror to her breathless lips, then dropped it to the floor. When it shattered, something happened, something I cannot explain. Something like a black rainbow, or a freezing fire, or silent screaming. Something was hidden from both of us. And I haven’t dreamt of you since.”

Mrs. Elton’s Proposal
After answering Coffin’s questions as truthfully as possible, Rebecca asks if Mr. Coffin would permit her to use a new technique derived from the work of Mesmer to discover what was hidden from their shared dream. Developed by the French magnetizer Étienne Félix d’Henin de Cuvillers, the technique is called hypnotisme, and Mrs. Elton has become “a rather proficient practitioner.” If Mr. Coffin consents, Mrs. Elton explains that she’ll mesmerize him using light and sound, then ask questions while he relaxes in a dreamlike state. She promises to reveal her findings, and once they have discussed the results, they’ll retire to the cottage for supper.

Refusal
If Mr. Coffin refuses, Mrs. Elton is clearly disappointed. Although Coffin is welcome to dine with the Eltons, Rebecca blandly remarks that the Guernsey has yet to depart, and may have Coffin back on shore by nightfall. The Keeper is free to ask Coffin’s player if he’d rather be playing Bunnies & Burrows than Call of Cthulhu.

Rebecca l’Hypnotiste
If Coffin consents to the procedure, Rebecca claps her hands with joy—“Wonderful! We shall sail on this adventure beyond the shores of the waking world together, Mr. Coffin.” Just as the occluded sun reaches the horizon above Kingsport, she positions Coffin on a chair facing the ocean and gives him a wool-wrapped handwarmer filled with smoldering coals. Opening a large black umbrella, she slots the handle into a metal tube to shield Coffin from the accelerating snowfall. After a little more fussing, she produces a silver hand mirror. “Now Mr. Coffin, gaze into the snowflakes. Each is a tiny traveler, a fluttering angel, follow them one by one on their voyage to the swirling waves, to rejoin their great mother the sea. Feel the heat soak into your hands, the brandy warming your stomach. The sea is breathing, rolling back and forth. You are feeling drowsy, yes, but you shall not sleep…”

As she utters her soothing incantation, Elton uses the hand mirror to flicker the light from the lantern into Coffin’s peripheral vision, a dreamy heliograph that gradually synchronizes with the snowfall and the susurrus of the rolling surf. Providing he does not actively resist, Coffin finds himself falling into a dreamy reverie. At this point, Mr. Coffin should make a Power roll. If Coffin is willing to be hypnotized, he is allowed +2D10 bonus dice. If he is resisting or treating it like a joke, he suffers –2D10 penalty dice.

Critical Failure
A critical failure triggers the abrupt sensation of falling that jerks people from a shallow sleep. Coffin immediately understands that something is locked away inside his mind, but breaking that lock will only bring madness and death! Not only that, Mrs. Elton’s hand mirror is the very same one he used to confirm his mother’s death. What is this, some Gothic fiction come to life? How did this—witch—get Philomena’s mirror, and what is he doing sitting on a chair a hundred feet above the rocks? Coffin must make a Sanity roll for a 1/1D4 loss, and loses the same number of points from his Dreaming skill. Starting from the chair, he refuses to proceed, becomes instantly suspicious of Elton’s motives, and demands to leave the island immediately. Mortified by her failure, a chagrined Rebecca Elton meekly complies.

Failure
The attempt at hypnosis is a failure. After twenty minutes, Coffin develops a mild headache and little else. A second attempt may be pushed, but a normal failure is treated as a critical failure.

Regular Success
Coffin slips into a hypnagogic trance filled with images of the ocean. The shoreline of Ross Island transforms into the coast of Nantucket, and he finds himself reliving his mother’s final moments. He holds the mirror to her lips, but there’s no breath. He looks at his own reflection, and startled, drops the mirror—black rainbow, freezing fire, silent scream! A kaleidoscope of contradictory images whirl in his brain as a door flies open! After this explosion of impressions, the next thing Coffin is aware of is Rebecca clapping her hands by his ears. (Or ringing the brass bell.) Night has fallen, the snow has tapered off, and the ocean is dark and silent.

Hard Success
A Hard success brings the same results as a Regular success, but the explosion of images is followed by a terrible sensation; like Mr. Coffin is being pulled inside-out. The mirror shatters, and family portraits start falling from the walls of his parent’s Nantucket home. The painting of his grandfather, Captain John Coffin, lands face-up on the floor and spontaneously ignites with cold green flames. As the canvas blackens and crumbles, it reveals the gaping maw of a twisting pink tunnel, its ribbed walls covered with slime like the gullet of a monstrous worm. And something is coming out of the tunnel—

Extreme Success
An Extreme success brings the same results as a Hard success, however the thing coming out of the tunnel proves to be a monstrous worm wearing Coffin’s own face! Reeling back, the dream-Coffin finds himself transported to the deck of a ship, its sails filled with furious winds as it skirts the interior of a Maelström. The shouts and accusations of dying sailors resound in the air—“This is your fault, Coffin! We’re all going to die and it’s your fault!”

Critical Success
A critical success has the same consequences as an Extreme success, but awards +1D10 percentiles in Dreaming and +1D10 percentiles in Hypnotism.

Aftermath
If l’hypnotisme was successful, Mr. Coffin snaps back to consciousness, Rebecca Elton clapping her hands or ringing the brass bell. It’s obvious that time has passed—it’s nightfall, so the sun must have set some time ago! Just as Mrs. Elton predicted, a fog is rolling in from the deep. Rebecca’s hand mirror lies shattered on the gallery catwalk, surrounded by pieces of silvered glass. Mrs. Elton looks wide-eyed and terrified. No matter the level of success, she shared the experience with Mr. Coffin; but she also saw into the shattered mirror. Rebecca tries to calm Mr. Coffin the best she can—“Mr. Coffin, please, you’re all right now. I had no idea—I am so very sorry—Sir, I had no idea it would be this—awful!”

Once Coffin has calmed down, Rebecca attempts to answer his questions. If accused of stealing his mother’s hand mirror, she insists that she’s had the mirror for years—“It’s a common vanity, Mr. Coffin, made by a company in Boston and sold all over Essex County!” As far as what was seen in the broken mirror, Rebecca cannot provide a satisfactory answer—“I cannot put it into words, Mr. Coffin. Even now, it makes no sense, like a vivid dream already fading away. I remember only a church? Perhaps an angel? But so much sadness. I simply cannot explain. But when I was inside, with you, I—I placed some words in your head, I gave you some—some protection. But we cannot go back, we cannot look in that mirror again, I cannot bear another attempt! Something is wrong about your past, Mr. Coffin. Some secret, or maybe something that happened long ago. Something you must one day confront. You poor man, I’m so sorry. I—I did what I could.” If she is pushed, Mrs. Elton shakes her head sadly—“It’s gone! So very much like a dream. I cannot even recall what I did. I am so sorry, Mr. Coffin; but this the way of Dreaming.”

Once the intensity of the encounter has faded, Havelock Elton emerges from the lantern room—“Mother, dinner is ready. And mother—the fog!” A concerned and puzzled expression on his face, the young man dismisses his mother, taking position by the brass bell to begin his long vigil.

Dinner
Thomas and Christabel have laid out a table of mutton, boiled asparagus, and pumpkin pie. Wine, apple cider, and coffee are also available. Christabel sits by the fire, reading the new collection of John Clare’s poetry—“Mommy, is this the man who went crazy? I like this poem about fairy rings; but why does he think fairies are scary?” Neither Thomas nor Christabel show any sign of alarm or curiosity over what transpired on the gallery. A Psychology roll suggests that Mr. Coffin is not the first person to experience one of Rebecca’s sessions of hypnotisme. Mr. Elton is quite apologetic about the lateness of the hour—“The deuced fog, you see? Best wait until morning, Mr. Coffin. You can have Havelock’s bed—that boy won’t be sleeping tonight, that’s sure as Christmas.”

If Coffin demands to be returned to Kingsport, it takes a Hard Persuade roll to convince Thomas Elton to rig his sailboat and risk the passage. If Coffin steals the boat, it requires a Hard Pilot (Boat) roll to make it safely to Kingsport, with the Keeper determining the severity of a failure. The theft will not be appreciated by the Eltons, marking Coffin as a man of dishonor. The Keeper should replace Coffin’s six-sided Dream Dice with eight-sided substitutes.

Finishing the Social Call
The remainder of the scenario is up to Mr. Coffin. Unless his roll was a critical failure, there’s no reason to distrust the Eltons, and they do everything in their power to make him comfortable. He may walk the island, trade ghost stories, read Romantic poetry from Rebecca’s bookshelf, or anything else that strikes his fancy. Staying the night earns a random rumor from the Kingsport Rumor Table. With each passing hour Coffin feels better, the strange “waking dream” fading like any other dream. Of course, the player may be curious about the purpose of the Dream dice, but the Keeper should remain silent and mysterious! If Coffin stays the night, Thomas sets sail at first light, returning him to Kingsport by 7:00 am. It’s a beautiful and eerie journey, the sounds of bells ringing in the morning fog.

White Leviathan > Chapter 1—Kingsport 1844
[Back to Encounter 42, Pilot Island | White Leviathan TOC | Forward to “Setting Sail”]

Author: A. Buell Ruch
Last Modified: 20 February 2022
Email: quail (at) shipwrecklibrary (dot) com
White Leviathan PDF: [TBD]