Atlantic Ocean: New Year’s Day


15) New Year’s Day
Off the Coast of Uruguay, December 31, 1844–January 1, 1845

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

A) The Captain’s Table
New Year’s Eve arrives as the Quiddity crosses the 34th parallel, 300 miles east of war-torn Uruguay. Captain Joab hosts a New Year’s Eve dinner for officers and harpooneers in the cabin, opening up a few bottles of wine and toasting the year 1845. At one point he mentions, “Back in Kingsport, the Aldebaran should be setting sail on the morrow. Let’s raise a glass for Captain Nate Warnock! I’m sure he’ll make his father proud.”

If the Keeper is ready to reveal more of Joab’s humanity, the captain may share some stories about his old friend Seth Warnock—perhaps acquiring the noisome parrot Loki, or some act of heroism that saved the Quiddity. Then he’ll mention the lightning strike that claimed Warnock’s life—“Right on deck, ‘twas. The bolt came down the mainm’st—I saw the arc myself, like Thor’s own hammer tumbling from the heavens. Ye Gods—that bolt struck mine own heart, too. Oh, Seth, thou art missed, old shipmate.” As Joab sinks deeper into a brown study, Quentin Shaw raises his glass: “To Captain Joab, the Quiddity, and absent friends!” After the men drink on this fine toast, Shaw and Pynchon exchange a quiet nod, and the harpooneer begins the general exodus from the cabin, leaving Joab to brood in solitude.

B) New Year’s Day
New Year’s Day is a traditional workday. Nevertheless there’s some celebrating in the forecastle and steerage sections, and men concealing illicit flasks of rum are more generous than usual. A few songs are sung, and if the Keeper wishes, this may be a good time for a forecastle bitter.

C) Making Haste
The weather remains exceptionally generous, and the Quiddity cracks merrily along. It’s clear the captain has lost interest in Atlantic whaling, and besides, as they roll past the temperate Thirties into the rougher Forties, the temperature begins to drop. Experienced eyes begin scanning the horizon for the Falkland Islands.

White Leviathan, Chapter 2—Atlantic Ocean
[Back to Encounter 14: Christmas | White Leviathan TOC | Forward to Encounter 16, Approaching Cape Horn]

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

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