Haunted Seas

Haunted Seas (often abbreviated as HS) are outposts inhabited by ghostly ships, led by the Brigand King Barnabas the Pale.

Clues as to the existence of Haunted Seas were first seen on July 29, 2010, when three inscriptions were discovered on various islands across all production oceans except Crimson. These riddles were quickly solved, and the Haunted Seas were officially announced on July 31. They were released to production oceans on August 24, 2010.

Voyages to the Haunted Seas are a form of sea monster hunt, similar to Cursed Isles and Atlantis, but there are various differences. Boarding battles are swordfights, ghostly enemy ships are able to move through rocks, and the primary means of earning treasure is through entering shipwreck graveyards, defeating the ghosts within and then hauling the wreckage.

All battles which take place on Haunted Seas are sinking. Everyone on board the ship must either have a bravery badge or be subscribed for the vessel to set sail.

Charting
Maps to the Haunted Seas are similar to Atlantis maps, which are in the form of special charts (as seen to the left). Haunted Seas maps are obtainable from pillaging battles. They can be traded between players as normal. They mark a route between an island and a unique league point, which are similar to flotilla league point markers, except that they cannot be memorized. To chart a course to a Haunted Sea, the map must be placed on the ship's navigation table. Maps are "locked" to the navigation table while a route is charted to a Haunted Sea league point.

If the vessel is sunk while in the Haunted Sea, the map is lost with it.

Sea battle board
The sea battle board for a Haunted Sea is much darker than usual, similar to a Cursed Isle, with a fog covering most of the board. The board itself has the usual elements of whirlpools and rocks, as found in normal sea battle boards. Extra additions include pieces of destroyed land, ghostly ruins and shipwreck graveyards, which are similar to Atlantis citadels.

Ghost fleet
Enemy ships found in the Haunted Sea are known as the Ghost Fleet.

There are 3 types of vessel:

Approximate damage required to sink
These vessels are weaker than their original counterparts, but are capable of sailing through rocks. When one of these vessels passes into a tile that shares space with a rock, shots fired at it will hit the ship rather than the rock.

In addition, each of these ships has a rank in the form of a prefix which denotes the general ferocity and skill of its crew. From easiest to hardest, these ranks are Ethereal, Phantasmal, Frightful and Spectral.

Treasure hauling up the wrecks of these ships also allows pirates to haul up treasure chests.

Boarders
While sailing the Haunted Seas, on occasion specters (also known as phantasms and frights) may come aboard.

The following message is displayed when specters board the vessel:
 * A sudden chill creeps over the vessel.

Specters which have come aboard will attempt to sabotage duty stations in the same manner as dragoons.

Handling these boarders is done as the same with Atlantis and Cursed Isle trips. Typically, a Master at Arms (MAA) is elected and will control volunteers to fend off these specters. Tactics vary depending on the player doing the battle navigation (who is usually the commanding officer, a.k.a the CO or OIC), the executive officer (known as XO), and the MAA himself/herself.

On occasion, players can be challenged to an individual battle, just like on an Atlantis or Cursed Isle trip.

The ship graveyard


This is a major element in the Haunted Sea, and where the most booty is found. Once carefully and safely navigating across the board, travelling to the centre of the graveyard will start a swordfighting fray. The graveyard will stay on the board for 25 turns, counting the turn it appears as the first.

The number of phantasms to fight is normally based on how many are on board the attacking vessel. However, the Graveyard has been known to have a couple extra enemies.

Most of the foes which fight alongside Barnabas (if present) are ghost equivalents of the pirates on the player vessel, plus some phantasms or other boarding ghost types. What causes a phantasm to be in the fight is unclear at this time, but the most likely possibility is that they were the boarders present when the ship entered the graveyard.

All phantasms are equipped with spectral swords. Barnabas continues to use his skull dagger as seen on Brigand King expeditions.

Haunted seas swordfighting
As an extra challenge, a new purple piece is added when swordfighting in a Haunted Sea. If the piece is not broken after five pieces dropped, the piece turns dark grey and cannot be broken. These are the same pieces that can be seen when taking damage from brigands when pillaging. The purple piece can be broken with any color breaker, or breaks when surrounding pieces around it break.

Conclusion


If the attacking team is successful, an "aura blast" emanates from the ship, and any ghost vessels in the vicinity are eliminated; this allows the crew to then treasure haul Barnabas' treasure. The ship can turn in place, after the swordfight, using regular turn movement tokens.

The following message is also displayed:


 * Arr! Yer crew has managed to repel all invaders!

Once hauling is complete, the battle navigator can then choose to either leave, or travel to another graveyard.

Haunted seas exclusives
Certain clothing items, trinkets, furniture items, and injuries can only be obtained during an attack on the Haunted Seas.



Ghost injury
If a ship a pirate is on is sunk while in the Haunted Seas, there is a chance that character may temporarily become a ghost upon reaching land. This temporary injury disappears once the pirate has logged off and on again.

Special items
These items are given out in the hauled treasure chests. There are three kinds of treasure chests that can be hauled in the Haunted Seas.

Clothing
Night blue is an exclusive colour to Haunted Seas. Clothing items in night blue can be obtained from Haunted Seas chests during the booty division. It is also possible to win a night blue chroma, which may be used to change a single color on a single item of clothing to night blue.

Furniture
Certain Haunted Seas-themed furniture items can only be obtained from treasure chests in the Haunted Seas. Normal furniture items in night blue may also be found.

Pets
Rare, semi-transparent ghost pets were introduced with the Haunted Seas, and are only found there. Pirates may receive one from the chests during the booty division. There are three types: the ghost rat, ghost cat and ghost small dog. The first ghost rat was won on the Cobalt Ocean on August 29, 2010 - like normal rats, they may not be traded. The first ghost cat was found on the Sage Ocean on August 28, 2010, while the first ghost small dog was found on the Sage Ocean on Feburary 15, 2011.

Familiars
The first known ghostling familiar was won by Hagriad on February 6, 2011. The colors available are unknown.

Trinkets
Haunted Seas-themed trinkets and other standard trinkets are available from treasure chests.

Booty division

 * See Sea Monster Hunt booty division in the booty article

Historical notes

 * The first clues about the arrival of the Haunted Seas were first discovered by players on July 29 2010.
 * Testing of the Haunted Seas on the Ice Ocean began on August 4, 2010.
 * Haunted seas were released on production oceans with.
 * Players have a chance to become a ghost after a sink (until logout) with.