Atlantic Ocean: Crossing the Line

11) Crossing the Line
The Equator, Early December 1844

A) The Equator
Several days after the storm the Quiddity crosses the Line; nautical slang for passing over the equator. For many sailors this represents a landmark event in their career, a major rite of passage. After all, only real sailors ever get this far! Crossing the Line distinguishes a Pacific whaler from his more mundane cousins: fishermen, “plum-pudding” whalers, and even Blackball “marchants.” For this reason, Crossing the Line is often marked by a ship-wide ceremony. On the Quiddity, that’s “Neptune’s Visit.”

B) Player Character Involvement
Because experienced player characters such as Coffin, Dixon, Morgan, and Quakaloo have participated in Crossing the Line ceremonies, the Keeper should pull them aside and explain this encounter beforehand. Once they understand what Neptune’s Visit entails, they should be encouraged to participate. Although Pig Bodine is cast as Father Neptune in the description below, with a little preparation, perhaps Dixon or Quakaloo might be tapped for the role? (Not Coffin, being an officer; and nobody likes Morgan enough to ask him.)

As for the other player characters, it should remain a surprise. Beckett has never crossed the Line, and while Redburn has traversed the equator several times, he was never subjected to this ceremony; so the crew still considers him a “pollywog.” Of course, Rachel Ward and Dr. Montgomery Lowell are exempted from the ceremony. However, if the Keeper wishes, and if these player characters have developed a good relationship with the crew, they may be officially dubbed “wogs” and included in the fun; though Rachel may be subjected to a mock-shaving, they won’t actually shave her head. Lowell…well, that’s a different matter, and depends on the chemistry between the professor and the crew. (Charles Darwin was the first “griffin” inducted on the HMS Beagle in 1832; he was shaved, but not treated as roughly as the sailors.) Alternatively, Rachel and Lowell’s players may enlist their secondary characters, especially if those characters are greenhorns!

C) Father Neptune’s Visit
Neptune’s Visit resembles a “snipe hunt”—the experienced men throw a scare into the inexperienced ones through an elaborate deception that ends in a celebratory rite-of-passage. The Quiddity’s ceremony is orchestrated by Mr. Whipple. Preparations begin two days before the equator is reached, as older mariners start muttering about “Giving Father Neptune his due” when they cross the Line. Mr. Whipple starts hinting that “Old Father Neptune himself should be visiting soon.” For no discernable reason, experienced hands start referring to themselves as “honorable shellbacks,” while those who have never crossed the Line are berated as “slimy pollywogs.” Greenhorns are instructed to “Look for Neptune’s lamp under the waves,” while especially gullible souls are told to “Keep an eye peeled for the line itself! You’ll see it blazed upon the water!”

The afternoon the Quiddity first glides past the equator, an experienced lookout cries, “Sail Ho!” Mr. Whipple asks for details, and the lookout responds: “A low schooner, with green sails!” Whipple seems strangely alarmed, and orders Peter Veidt (or a shellback PC) to shepherd all “pollywogs” into the forecastle. As discussed above, this includes Tobias Beckett, Milton Redburn, and perhaps Rachel Ward and Montgomery Lowell. NPC pollywogs include Duke Nelson, Tisquantum, Paddy Garcia, Jimmy Cabot, Isaac Townshend, William Crow, and Ben Warnock.

As the curious (and perhaps anxious) wogs wait below, the shellbacks above begin their performance, donning costumes as they rattle chains and thump the deck with poles. An occasional cry reaches the forecastle—“Not a pirate, surely?” or, “Tis the King himself!” Then a theatrical voice thunders down the scuttle:

“Quiddity! Have ye any of my children below?”

Veidt answers, “Aye, Father, a few.”

“And are they green? Are they slimy pollywogs?”

“Aye, they are, as green and slimy as thou art; but now they are ripened and ready for salt in their beards.”

“Then tumble them up, man! Haven’t ye heard? Neptune’s Court’s in session!”

Mr. Whipple and Mattashunama descend into the forecastle and place a blindfold on a random pollywog, parting him from his fellows and “escorting” him on deck. He’s plunked down on a cask to the sound of wild music—an atonal cacophony of bells, banging pots, and a Jew’s harp, accompanied by men thumping on barrels. His shirt is forcibly removed, and a word is painted on his chest in tar: WOG. (This step is skipped for Rachel!) Any attempt to resist is met by a thump to the head with a knotted rope—not enough to cause harm, but the message is clear. If the wog continues to struggle, one of the more kindly shellbacks whispers in his ear, “Don’t fight it, mate, ye’ll only make it worse!” Refusing to participate is not an option, and the manhandling becomes rougher if the wog continues to resist. There may also be social penalties—a 1D3 loss of Leadership, a 1D4 loss of Seamanship, or even being considered “Unlucky.”

The Interrogation
Father Neptune—played in good spirits by Pig Bodine, dressed in seaweed and green paint, besotted with rum, trident in hand—asks the blindfolded seaman all manner of questions, some humorous, some about his skills, and some about whales. Pig being Pig, he also taunts the wog about fornication with mermaids, wanton consumption of rum, and casual sodomy. Suddenly Neptune orders the lad to be shaved. The wog’s face is lathered with soap and cooking grease. He’s then shaved and sheared—beard, moustache, and hair! As this is taking place, the initiate is bombarded with a list of “sacred duties” he must now perform, from promising to “never smoke your pipe on the lee quarterdeck” to “always buy the first round for your shipmates.” With a hearty laugh, Neptune gives the sailor a generous swig of rum, then places a tin trumpet in his mouth and commands him, “Lift your head high and blow for King Neptune! Neptune Ahoy!” As soon as the sailor obeys, a bucket of seawater is dumped into the trumpet! As the initiate sputters in shock, Virgil Caine tears off his blindfold. Just as the startled sailor beholds Pig’s leering green face, he’s toppled into a tub of seawater!

So initiated, and with much laughter, the “slimy pollywog” is declared an “honorable shellback,” and this “newly-baptized Son of Neptune” joins the ranks of revelers as the next wog is brought from the forecastle. By the end of the ceremony, all the new shellbacks are bald, drunk, and soaked; and a merry party breaks out.

“The Mariner’s Baptism,” by Matthew Benedict, 2003

D) Neptune’s Court
Neptune’s Court is quite colorful, with every sailor costumed and painted. Father Neptune’s consort is present—Queen Salacia, played by Ao’nalu wearing a seashell brassière over his generous man-boobs, his lower half squeezed inside a mermaid’s body fashioned from green canvas. Together they “rule” from Neptune’s “throne”—the tryworks, decorated with netting and seaweed. Zimri Folger has taken the role of the Devil, and uses the occasion as an excuse to generously demonstrate his acting skills. Mattashunama wears a costume best described as Egyptian-meets-Indian warrior, while Owen Love is dressed like a mock priest. He leads his merry congregation in bawdy sea-shanties while dispensing “communion wafers”—ship’s biscuit soaked in rum. Somewhat against his will, Henry Swain has been pressed into service as Davy Jones, a white skull painted on his face and seaweed in his hair. Spider is dressed like a woman, and has been assigned the job of shaving the word “wog” from the dunked sailors’ chests—a somewhat painful process performed with an iron hoop! Of course, player character participants may select their own costumes: nautical figures, pirates, and devils are common, and cross-dressing is cheerfully encouraged. The officers are even allowed to have a little fun, and Pynchon sports a paper crown. Because he’s so. Much. Fun.

E) Joab’s Participation
Joab remains absent from the ceremony until all the wogs are transformed into shellbacks. Stumping his way to the foredeck, he casts his eagle’s eye over the crew and nods. He actually laughs at Pig Bodine’s get-up, declaring “Ye Gods, man, thou’art the spit and image of Old Neptune himself! Ah, Poseidon, earth-shaker, couldst thou shave my soul and make it glow clean as the pate of a mewling babe.” A few tentative laughs ripple through the hesitating crew, and Pig bows down and sweeps off his net-covered hat. Joab nods, and darkly mutters something that requires a Listen roll to catch: “Yea, man, but it’s Father Dagon and not Father Neptune who’ll nigh require appeasement…” Following tradition, the captain declares the evening a ship’s holiday, and asks Mr. Pynchon to resume full duties at the forenoon watch. Three cheers go up, and (more) rum is produced for the entire crew.

F) The Party
The party is quite a shindig, and the Keeper is invited to liven it up with sea shanties and actual grog. (Water down some cheap rum, then add lime juice and cinnamon.) This is an excellent opportunity to blow off steam, especially following the drama of the terrible squall. The festivities allow player characters to converse freely across rank and station, and for secondary characters to have a few moments in the sun. Rachel Ward may find herself a fiddle, and even Dr. Lowell might be tempted to lift his voice in song. If the Keeper fosters a genuinely festive atmosphere with her players participating in character, she may even restore +1D3 Sanity points to all player-character celebrants. So is this whaling, huh? It’s not so bad, right? Though it would be nice to actually see a whale…

Joe Froggers
Mr. Pynchon suggests to Mr. Coffin that now’s the perfect time to break out the Joe Froggers he purchased in Kingsport. Offered to his fellow officers, the idlers, and the harpooneers, the molasses cookies have lost their fresh softness, but are still a tasty treat. In fact, they provide +1 Sanity point of pleasure to Dixon, Morgan, and Quakaloo, and +1D3 Sanity points to Mr. Coffin, for being the bearer of such good tidings.

White Leviathan, Chapter 2—Atlantic Ocean
[Back to Encounter 10, Tropical Sailing | White Leviathan TOC | Forward to Encounter 12, The Doldrums]

Author: A. Buell Ruch
Last Modified: 4 April 2022
Email: quail (at) shipwrecklibrary (dot) com
White Leviathan PDF: [TBD]