John McCorquodale

## Bio

John McCorquodale is a naval surgeon with a laudanum addiction and plenty of experience on the high seas. His experience with and acceptance of the esoteric make him somewhat of a mentor to many of his counterparts, particularly Wilma and Pip.

## History

### 1837 (*The Thing in the Hold*)

Dr. McCorquodale debuted as the surgeon of the H.M.S. *Conclusion*, where he was concerned about a dwindling medical supply but not so concerned he wouldn't steal some laudanum. He was told by the captain to explore *The Magog,* a Dutch merchant ship the crew had spotted. McCorquodale revived the starved survivor they found with fortified port wine but was unable to fully understand why the man was so out of his wits, especially when they later found plenty of food on the ship. He ordered their fourth member, Fitzhugh, to keep an eye on the survivor.

McCorquodale, the only party member with knowledge of Latin, read through the captain's log and learned that the ship's captives had committed ritual suicide around the idol of their god. Afterwards, the crew began having nightmares and seeing shapes in the water and several abandoned the ship. *The Magog*'s sister ship, *The Gog*, apparently abandoned them as well.

The doctor was shocked to discover Fitzhugh's near-decapitated body where they had left him with the Dutchman and took more laudanum to cope. McCorquodale was insistent they find the Dutchman and properly punish him for taking advantage of them and killing their crewmate. When they found him, he persuaded him to come out and meet them only to immediately shoot the man. After witnessing Lucy Hawthorne use magic to defend the group, he felt the talisman in his pocket vibrate. The talisman was a carved narwhal's horn he'd gained on a precious travel.

When Lucy said she thought someone was behind the door, McCorquodale kicked it down to discover a large idol surrounded by the dead bodies of *The Magog's* crew arranged in a geometrical shape. He realized that the idol had caused all the death and destruction on the ship and heard it whispering to his mind. McCorquodale decided to blow the ship up in response. Upon realizing there was no powder room on a merchant ship, he decided to sink it instead.

Calico came and brought the group to their senses, leading them up where they were shocked to see the ship heading toward a large object in the sea. The thing in the water clearly resembled the idol they'd found. The doctor's talisman was sensed by Lucy and she was able to use its power to ward off the summoned god, destroying the talisman in the process.

### 1839 *(Robert Castillo)*

Marooned on an island with Alma and Walton Weatherell, the doctor guided his companions to create shelter and tended to Weatherell when he suffered from overexposure to the outside elements. When the party found ruins of a civilization, McCorquodale was unnerved by a statue of a toad-like humanoid he found strangely familiar and briefly left the group to partake in drugs. When he returned, he was irritated to find his companions preoccupied with treasures they'd discovered rather than survival. Nevertheless, he was persuaded by the attractive Alma to continue exploring the ruins.

While in the temple, the party found a harvest calendar depicting human sacrifice and became alerted of someone watching them. McCorquodale chased them down to find a man who had clearly been on the island awhile. The man agreed to lead them to his shelter but McCorquodale sensed he was hiding something and confronted him. The man claimed he had only hidden the fact that he had a friend, a native to the island. McCorquodale questioned if it was a frog man but an actual human, "Sunday", appeared. Still suspicious, McCorquodale tried to discretely inspect Sunday but realized too late that the man's teeth had been filed into fangs as he attacked and bit off part of McCorquodale's face. After Alma rendered Sunday unconscious, McCorquodale quickly slit his throat.

The man, now identified as Robert Castillo, insisted "they" needed a sacrifice. McCorquodale suggested the group offer Sunday's body and Castillo to protect themselves. The group went to the east side of the lagoon and tried to offer Castillo but were attacked by the creatures. Alma and Weatherell had both procured strange stones that seemed to protect them but McCorquodale had to fend off one of the fish men with a scalpel. The next morning, the group found thousands of fish had appeared as a result of the sacrifice and were eventually rescued by an American whaling vessel.