Atlantic Ocean: The First Whale


13) The First Whale
Off the Coast of Brazil, Mid-December, 1844

Keeper Note: This encounter was written for “White Leviathan,” a Call of Cthulhu campaign set on a Kingsport whaling ship in 1844.

A) There She Blows!
A few days later the Quiddity finds itself off the eastern coast of South America, with two player characters posted as lookouts. Then, a few miles off the larboard bow: fuzzy plumes in the air! A successful Spot Hidden at +25% allows them to count the whales, with a Hard success bringing a correct identification: “Thar she blows! Bloooooooows! One, two, three, four….FIVE! Five parmaceti off the larboard bow!” The reaction below is electric: Whales! In a frenzy of activity, all four whaleboats are lowered: even Joab is partaking. The wind’s in their favor, so the boats raise lugsails and race towards the shoal. Meanwhile, the shipkeepers take the helm and trim the sails, preparing the Quiddity to receive nature’s bounty.

Keeper Note: Before roleplaying this encounter, the Keeper should thoroughly review “Hunting Whales” and “Trying-Out a Whale.” This inaugural hunt should unfold “by the book,” following the rules with no additional complications. The Keeper should pace the hunt accordingly, taking care not to rush the action and making sure every step in the process is understood by the players. Once the players have become accustomed to the game mechanics, the Keeper may introduce complications and variations. But for now, keep it simple, exciting, and bloody! If the Keeper would like to go beyond the descriptions offered in “Hunting Whales,” she is encouraged to read “Moby-Dick,” Chapters 61–76.

B) The First Hunt
Five sperm whales and favorable conditions! As they approach the pod, it becomes clear the group represents two female cows and three calves. The adults are a little on the small side—about 30-32 feet long—but each should provide some thirty barrels of oil!

Sperm Whale (Two Cows)

STR 230 CON 220 SIZ 320 DEX 55 INT 15
APP — POW 50 EDU — SAN — HP 54
DB: — Build: 12 Move: 8 MP: — Luck: —

Combat
Attacks per round: 1

Tail Flip 50% (25/10), damage 1D3 + Dodge
Tail Sweep 30% (15/6), damage 1D8 + Dodge
Tail Smack 50% (25/10), damage 2D6+3 + Dodge
Bite 40% (20/8), damage 3D4
Ram 75% (37/15), damage 1D4/5 mph + 3 HP

Armor: Blubber coating: 10 points against bludgeon attacks; 6 points against slashing attacks; 4 points against bullets, spades, and general piercing attacks; 0 points against harpoons and lances.

Combat: The First Hunt
As the whaleboats approach the pod, the crews strike the sails and break out the oars. The boats split into pairs and head for the cows; opposed Boat Strength rolls determine who arrives first. Each mate must make a successful Leadership roll to avoid alerting the prey. A failed roll may “galley” the whale: See “Hunting Whales” for details. Providing the boat can approach undetected, the harpooneer may dart his iron, and the real hunt begins!
Keeper Note: Because this first hunt is essentially a “whaling tutorial,” every involved player character should have an opportunity to attack a whale. To keep things simple, boats fully crewed by NPCs should “fail” their Boat Strength rolls and lag behind, or experience some form of minor mishap which grants player-character boats the first attack. NPC boats may be kept in reserve if all the player characters fail, ensuring at least one whale is killed, even if this happens “off-screen.” If both whales are gallied, the Keeper may surprise a boat with a third cow, who foolishly emerges from the depths within harpoon distance!

Swagger Die
The crew who kills the first whale immediately rises to the top of the pecking order, and may boast and swagger for a while—but of course, this only marks them for later competition. The Swagger Dice should be passed to those relevant player characters.

C) Trying-Out
The first whale hunt leads to the first trying-out, an activity that occupies the entire crew for the next three days. The Keeper is urged to paint a hellish scene, describing every gory detail with ghoulish good cheer: the spades chopping into thick blubber, the hook pulling up bloody strips from the twisting body, the severing of the whale’s head, the bailing of the case, the red slime covering the decks. And of course the trying-out itself, with the blubber rendered to oil in the ship’s twin cauldrons. If the Keeper would like to go beyond the descriptions enumerated in “Trying-Out a Whale,” she is encouraged to read Moby-Dick, Chapters 67–70, and the famous Chapter 96. As the second mate is responsible for starting up the tryworks, this information should be shared with Mr. Coffin’s player, who may be given the chance of explaining the process to the rest of the players.

While the greenhorns may blanch at the butchery—and hopefully the players, too!—the officers and experienced hands are elated: Finally a whale! This is what brings in the money! Whipple in particular takes a savage pleasure in hazing young sailors; but there’s kindness in his cruelty, as he’s trying to whip them into shape as quickly as possible—“What are you doing, Townshend? Did you change your bloody clothing? Think you’re gonna impress the ladies, you fucking dandy, you black Macaroni? Jesus fucking Christ, you washed your hair, too! You’ll have plenty of time to clean up after the thing is butchered. Look at Swain, here. He wears his try-out togs, no matter how stinking and wretched; two days in a row now, he fucking sleeps in ‘em! You keep changing shirts, sure as Christmas you’ll be at the slop chest. So don’t blame me when One-Button Jake steals your goddamn lay!”

Celebration
After the whales have been tried-out and the ship scrubbed from stem to stern, the crew celebrates. Mr. Whipple orders all hands aft to “splice the main brace,” a euphemism for receiving double-tots of rum, and a festive atmosphere prevails until nightfall. Whipple saves one of the whale’s teeth, fastening it to the cutting-stage as a lucky souvenir. Traditionally, the day after a trying-out is given over to rest. The men wash their bodies and their clothing, tell tales of the hunt, and tease the greenhorns.

D) Character Development Phase
The celebration also brings a Character Development Phase. After all, the last few weeks have been quite exciting, and there’s no better teacher than experience!

White Leviathan, Chapter 2—Atlantic Ocean
[Back to Encounter 12: The Doldrums | White Leviathan TOC | Forward to Encounter 14, Christmas]

Author: A. Buell Ruch
Last Modified: 9 August 2022
Email: quail (at) shipwrecklibrary (dot) com
White Leviathan PDF: [TBD]

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