Jolly Roger

Who is Jolly Roger?
Jolly Roger is an undead pirate that players of Pirates of the Caribbean Online will love to hate. He's a menacing looking creature, with a skull for a face, adorned with piles of grotesque objects like shrunken heads and voodoo masks. His dreadlocks are filled with poisonous snakes, and in place of a typical hand, he instead has trio of weapons -- part sword, part gun, and part dagger.

Origins
"Seafaring folk often tell the tale of how envious Captain Jolly Roger and Captain Jack Sparrow found themselves vying for the same coveted seat in the Pirate Brethren Court. 'Twas a position Jolly Roger long believed he deserved far more than Captain Jack. But when the captain of the Black Pearl gained the seat - though some whisper it was craftily attained -- Jolly Roger's jealous fury raged towards Jack and he vowed vengeance. Jolly Roger then conspired with Amo Dorsi, a Voodoo witch doctor to settle the score. Together, they schemed to rig a card game to trick Jack out of his piece of eight -- the coin and beads entwined in Sparrow's hair -- a symbol of membership to the esteemed Pirate Brethren.  ''Jack coincidentally drew the winning hand through a combination of luck and guile. The victory further enraged Jolly Roger and triggered the ill-tempered loser to brutally slay the witch doctor right on the spot. In his final living moments, the witch doctor invoked a vindictive spell on his slayer. Legend has it that the evil curse doomed Jolly Roger to walk the Earth as the undead. ''

''As the shaman's body dissipated into dust, Jolly Roger inherited the all-powerful Voodoo forces of his victim and was then transformed into a skeletal beast with empty gaping sockets for eyes and a gnarled fleshless hoof as his leg. Armed with a sinister flintlock and cutlass contraption in place of a limb, he became the heinous abomination now known as Jolly Roger, the villainous leader of an undead horde. The new power granted him the ability to devour his victims' souls and then raise them from the dead with his own supernatural breath. He began to build an army of undead monsters - each creature becoming an extension of Jolly's own dark soul. ''



''Cursed to terrorize the high seas for eternity, Jolly Roger now unleashes his dark powers to raise the rotting remains of dead Pirates to do his evil bidding -- a fate far worse than death. Be forewarned, his abilities are far from being limited to raising the dead. He has inflicted his dark influence upon many natural creatures including: undead alligators, bats, wasps, crabs, scorpions, fly traps, and deadly stalking tree stumps. They all possess malicious intents akin to Jolly Roger himself. ''

''Those who treasure their lives, souls, and loved ones best steer clear of this evildoer's deadly path ... or pay the price, for he will not rest until he becomes absolute ruler of the Caribbean."''


 * -Quoted from PiratesOnline.com

Game Play
Players encounter Jolly Roger within the first 15 minutes of the game. He threatens your life but, you're ultimately spared -- only under the condition that you spread word of his power and deliver a message to Jack Sparrow, "Jolly Roger is coming for revenge!"

In the game, players must band together to defeat this evil foe and accumulate extraordinary powers, skills, and weapons to accomplish the task. This is where the mystic Tia Dalma comes into play, as she guides players through the process of earning and using voodoo… a key element in your ongoing struggle against Jolly Roger and other enemies found in the Pirates world.

But as the main story of the entire game on the whole has progressed, Jolly Roger has now begun Invasions of several islands.

He himself battles in the Invasions. Jolly's level displays as a ??, to imply that his power is far too great to be measured - but also that his difficulty depends on the number of enemies he is facing. He has his own unique symbol on the map, if one were to look at the map during an invasion.His attacks include:
 * Dark Thunderbolt that strike anyone who attacks
 * Grave Bind that he uses to shackle all the pirates in range (similar to Grave Shackles)
 * Corruption that does about 1000 heath points damage, similar to Wither.
 * Earthquake effects (similar to those caused by Stump, but more damage and a much larger range)
 * Soul Storm (similar to Desolation although it does not hurt Jolly Roger himself) that can do between 700 and 2000 damage.

The Tale of Two Islands
Isla De La Avaricia and Ile D'Etable De Porc were two islands that were brought under the control of the French and Spanish privateer lords - Pierre le Porc and Garcia de Avaricia. This was the beginning of a minor French-Spanish War as the Lords began to hire privateers, but also the beginning of a new dark horizon - the rise of the Privateer Undead. Jolly Roger raided the graveyards of privateers, and brought them back from the dead in large numbers. This continues in the islands, without the knowledge of the Lords... The French Undead and Spanish Undead populated islands like Cutthroat Isle and Isla Cangerjos, and to some extent Padres del Fuego and also began haunt the seas with their ghostly vessels of war.....

The Curse of the Muertos Moon
Jolly Roger sought the ultimate form of revenge for Amo Dorsi making him undead by casting The Curse of the Muertos Moon, a spell spread over the Caribbean that would use the power of the moon to convert any pirate caught in its rays to instantly become undead!

This insidious plan was unleashed on the islands by All Hallow's Eve, and for many horrific nights pirates found themselves in massive sword and gun battles with their fellow buccaneers, shipmates and even guildmates who fell victim to the curse! However, this attempt at conquering the Caribbean failed, and so he contemplated new plans.... Alliances

Despite Jolly Roger's fearsome appearance and villainous nature, he has a few powerful allies aside from his skeleton crew, including Lord Cutler Beckett and Captain Ezekiel Rott, the former of which isn't very loyal to Jolly Roger, and the latter who tricked players into leaving various islands of the Carribean wide open to attack. His friendship with the EITC began with the destruction of pirate havens, during which time he supported the Black Guard of he Company, with voodoo powers, that helped them in capturing members of the Marceline guild. The EITC returned the favour, by allowing him to carry out his Invasions of islands. Ezekiel Rott of the Casa de Muertos were supposedly vanquished in the Battle of Padres. Jolly Roger allegedly brought them back from the dead and bestowed mortality to them. In return they were to help in his various attempts at crushing pirates, capturing Jack Sparrow, and thus conquering the Caribbean. This can however not be confirmed, as it is said that Ezekiel helped Jolly earlier by stealing a cursed weapon from the farm of John Moses. The first mission of the Casa de Muertos was the Invasion of Port Royal ......

Invasion !
Unbeknownst to most pirates, the voodoo practicioners of the Caribbean had feared Jolly's wrath and so set about protecting the populated islands by burying amulets in various secret locations. However, Jolly Roger learned of this protection and unleashed a most devious plan. He enlisted the help of Captain Ezekiel Rott, a pirate whose crew would have been doomed. In exchange for the salvation of his Casa De Muertos guild, Rott came to Port Royal and hired any pirate who would take his gold to locate and dig up those precious amulets.

Now, the islands of Pot Royal, Tortuga, and Padres Del Fuego lay unprotected and Jolly Roger carries out his Invasion plans! The pirates must stand together to keep the monstrous Jolly from seiging the islands with his hordes of skeletons!

El Patron's Lost Weapons
The Invasion of Padres was actually carried out to retrieve the location of the Lost Weapons of El Patron, a conquistador from the times of the beginning of colonization in the New World. Invasions unsuccessful, Jolly Roger sent the Casa de Muertos once again to find the weapons. They duped pirates once again, and learned the actual location of the weapons - Raven Cove. At the same time he ordered the Casa to slowly break down the alliance with the EITC. They agreed and made pirates sink the Company's ships as well as gather information after killing off the Company's soldiers. Lord Cutler Beckett of the EITC learnt the location of the weapons as well, and immediately broke down the alliance and launched the Imperial Expedition Fleets to the Cove, led by the monstrous Ships of the Line. Ultimately both the forces of Undead and the Black Guard met on the island. They fought ferociously for two days as the Marceline watched. Jolly Roger received a large stock of the weapons, and so did Beckett.... But the only missing item was the powerful and mysterious Lost Sword of El Patron.....

Army of Undead
To carry out his revenge, Jolly Roger is using his powers to raise an army of undead from the skeletons of expired sailors and pirates. But, he also has the power to instantly zombify some enemies (As witnessed by poor Bo Beck!).

In secret caves (Murky Hollow on Port Royal and The Catacombs on Padres Del Fuego), the spectral image of Jolly Roger appears to the hordes of skeletons he's already raised from the dead and more continue to spawn - waiting for their orders to lay seige to the settlements.

There are new types of Undead Skeletons called Undead Captains and Powder Keg Runners. They were spotted many times in the Invasions

He also has several creatures under his control with cursed forms of animals and plants. They include walking trees, undead alligators, wasps and Scorpions!!

Skeletons
The following is a list of the commonly encountered skeletons found around the Caribbean. Some only seem to appear during an Invasion.

Skeleton Navy
Jolly Roger's army is not limited to land. Wrecked vessels from around the Caribbean have risen from the depths to serve Jolly Roger's cause and are attacking any pirate vessel they encounter. As seen in a cutscene in the game, Jolly Roger owns his ownpersonal vessel, which is likely one of the most deadly ships to set sail to the seas, due to his incredible power.

These frightful sights with their splintered hulls and tattered sails put a chill in the bones of any who see them approach, but many don't live to tell of the encounter.

A pirate need not travel far from an inhabited island to spot one of these apparitions, and off the coast of Padres Del Fuego, Jolly Roger practically has an armada of ghostly warships.All of the ships in service of Jolly Roger are War Frigate class.


 * Skeleton Phantom
 * Skeleton Revenant - Attacks with Thunderbolt round ammunition.
 * Skeleton Storm Reaper - Attacks with Thunderbolt round ammunition.
 * Skeleton Black Harbinger - Attacks with Fury round ammunition.
 * Skeleton Death Omen - Attacks with Fury round ammunition.

Privateer Undead
During their battle for the Caribbean, Spanish and French sailors have lost their lives for their country. Jolly Roger has been bringing these poor souls back from the dead, but they are still more loyal to their homelands than to him.

Though they will attack pirates, these Spanish Undead and French Undead tend to stay close to their strongholds (Spanish on Cutthroat Isle and French on Isla Cangrejos).

Privateer Undead Navy
These ships are found near their strongholds and beyond at times. They are all Sloops of War, and can be found with the prefixes Spanish or French respectively :
 * Shadow Crow 
 * Cerberus 
 * Blood Scourge 

Creatures "Jolly Roger's dark powers aren't limited to raising pirates from the dead. He has reached out to taint many natural creatures, twisting them into unholy monsters fighting by his side. Undead Alligators, Bats, Wasps, Crabs, and Scorpions lurk everywhere, and they're not easy to defeat. Giant Venus Fly Traps may be growing where pirates least expect them. Beware, too, of the deadly stalking tree Stumps –– they threaten a horrible end."
 * -From Disney Pirates Online