Zombie



Zombies are non-player pirates that can be challenged to rumble brawls. They can spawn in groups on islands, or can be summoned to a location with the help of special zombie charms. They are one of three types of fray-based monsters; the other two being skellies and werewolves. Zombies that are defeated will distribute Pieces of Eight and trinkets to the victors, before fleeing the island. One fortunate pirate will receive a Sea Monster Hunt map.

Players can take on the appearance of zombies by using a necromantic amulet or a philter of putrefaction.

Finding zombies
Zombies can spawn on a random island (provided no other monsters are present), in a group of 5 to 25, and may be challenged to rumble brawls. If zombies are present on an island, it will be cursed with darkness until they are defeated. They often appear near a portal arrow (either the dock arrow or a building arrow). If an island has buildings, they may be near multiple arrows. On uninhabited islands, they may occasionally appear near the island's inscription instead, if the island has one.

Zombies which have spawned on a heavily built-up island may be difficult or impossible to find, since they can spawn behind buildings.

Zombie charms
Charms that will summon zombies to an island may be won from black boxes found at a black market. They come in three sizes: minor (summons 5 zombies), medium (summons 15 zombies), and major (summons 25 zombies). Zombies cannot be summoned to an island on which there is a group of monsters already.

Frays
Players may enter the fray in order to help remove zombies from an island.

Joining
In order to defeat zombies, pirates must first volunteer to fight the zombies. This is done by selecting "Join the fray" from a zombie's radial menu. When a pirate chooses to join the fray, a confirmation box will appear reading, "I'll be havin' 100 pieces of eight if ye lose.". Accepting this will place the pirate in the fray and deduct 100 PoE from their purse. Any number of pirates can join the fray.

Pirates who have joined the fray are known as "challengers" and the zombies will welcome them with a /tell:

If a pirate cannot afford to join the fray, they will receive the following tell:

Zombies will also keep challengers informed via /tells about the current number of challengers (X) and zombies (Y):

If a pirate tries to join the fray but has already joined, they will receive a message:

Leaving the fray
Pirates may also leave the fray by clicking on any zombie and selecting "Leave the fray". Doing so will refund the 100 PoE entry fee. In addition, if a pirate is whisked away from that island outdoor scene, they automatically leave the fray.

Pirates who have left the fray are sent the following message:

Getting bored
If no frays are started against a group of zombies for a set period of time, the zombies will get bored and begin to leave the island, one at a time, every five minutes. This makes it easier to fill zombie fights should they appear in very large numbers.

After a zombie leaves, all challengers will receive a message stating the new number of zombies: Zombies will stop leaving the island once they reach 5 in number.

Voting
Challengers vote to start the fight by selecting "Vote to start the fight" on any zombie's radial menu. It is possible to vote at any time, although many prefer to wait until the number of challengers equals the number of zombies. Upon voting, a zombie will issue a tell to that pirate:

The fight will begin once a simple majority has been reached: half the challengers in the fray plus one. Players cannot retract their vote once it has been made, except by leaving and rejoining the fray.

Zombies will not allow players to outnumber them in the fight, and will choose random pirates to participate. Those who were not selected will be refunded their 100 PoE, and will be sent the following message:

Fighting
Zombies fight using the Rumble puzzle, and are able to fight with various bludgeons in the same way that skellies wield different swords. Zombies are tough fighters, and several attempts may be necessary to defeat them.

Ye be defeated!
Should a group of pirates lose the fight, the zombies will keep all fray entry fees. Pirates can join the fray again instantly for 100 PoE, but they cannot vote to begin the fray again for a short time. If a pirate tries to vote during this time, they will receive the following message:

Zombies will remain on an island until they are defeated.

Winning
Once the zombies have been defeated, they will flee the island and the darkness will begin to lift.

All winning pirates receive an equal share of PoE; 1,000 PoE per zombie, as well as all fray entry fees that have been collected (this may include previous frays). One randomly chosen pirate will win a random map to a Cursed Isles, Atlantis, or Haunted Seas location. That pirate does not have to survive the fray to be awarded the map.

Pirates who were not eliminated in the fray will also be awarded a zombie hand trinket, which may be held in portraits. These pirates will also be sent the following phrase by a random zombie:

Zombies which have granted a zombie hand trinket to a player will be shown leaving the island with a hand missing.

Sometimes a zombie will make a remark before the group leaves the island:

Occasionally the pirates in a winning fray will receive an an uneven amount of PoE. This extra PoE was originally wagered by another group of pirates who were unable to defeat the zombies before an ocean reboot. See this post from Cephalopod for complete details.

Zombie mission
A "Defeat the zombies" mission will appear on any notice board, subject to zombie availability, if a pirate meets all of the following criteria:
 * A puzzle standing of Renowned and an experience level of Narrow in rumble
 * At least 100 PoE on hand with which to enter the zombie battle

Clicking the button will randomly whisk pirates to a group of island zombies. If there are multiple groups present on different islands in the ocean, the mission will whisk a pirate to a random group of zombies. Zombies which have been summoned will also cause this mission to appear.

This mission, as well as both the Defeat the skellies! and Defeat the werewolves! missions, is a way for a pirate to explore islands which would be otherwise difficult to reach. Since islands which are visited once are memorized, pirates who regularly go on these missions are likely to have many islands plotted on their known world map.

Historical notes

 * Zombies first appeared during the 2007 Halloween events.
 * Prior to the release on 2009-05-27, zombies also required an acceptable item to be wagered in addition to the 100 PoE. That requirement was removed and zombies now deal only in PoE.
 * Previously, a pirate who summoned zombies using charms had a higher chance of receiving a map as a prize than others. This is no longer the case.
 * During the 2005 and 2008 Halloween events, players could take on the appearance of zombies.

Other links

 * List of known zombie adjectives
 * List of known zombie names