Jolly Roger

This undead horror is what remains of a pirate, usually a captain or officer, who perished at sea. It looks much like its sea zombie crew: a bloated, discolored, waterlogged corpse strung with seaweed, still dressed in the rotting remains of gaudy pirate finery such as scarves, vests, eye patches and cutlasses, sometimes with a peg leg or hook. It may carry weapons but never uses them. It is faintly translucent, so people sometimes mistake it for a ghost, and it reeks of fish and brine. Points of crimson light burn in its empty eye sockets, and its face is fixed in a horrible grin that looks both friendly and utterly mad.

It speaks to its crew only by telepathy. All the living ever hear is a rasping chuckle leaking through its clenched teeth, the sound that gave the creature its name.

Anyone who sees that grin and hears the crazed chuckle who fails a save vs. spell falls under the effect of hideous laughter for 1d4 rounds. The jolly roger singles out those who succumb and leaves everyone else to its zombies.

It advances to touch its victim, who must save vs. death magic with a +3 bonus. A successful save still costs 1d6 damage. A failed save means fatal laughter: the victim perishes in 1d4 rounds unless someone casts remove curse, dispel magic or comparable magic on him first, and even a rescued victim suffers 1d6 damage per round until that spell arrives. Its victims rise as sea zombies under its command after 24 hours, unless the body is blessed and given a traditional burial at sea; prompt and careful use of raise dead, resurrection or wish also prevents this.

Sleep, charm, illusions and all mind-affecting magic do not affect it. Fire and fire spells deal half damage, and water and cold spells nothing. Raise dead or resurrection cast on it forces a save vs. spell at -2 to avoid utter destruction. It is turned as a vampire, and when turned, any sea zombies it commands are turned with it, even though such zombies normally resist turning. Only +2 or better weapons hit it.

Like its crew, the jolly roger hates the living. It does not need to eat but tears and chews the flesh of the slain, apparently to spread terror, grinning all the while. It is rarely alone, usually commanding a wrecked, rotting ghost ship it has raised from the seabed by some eerie power and set sailing, though the hulk is far from seaworthy. A living creature setting foot aboard becomes a sea zombie unless it saves vs. death magic; those who pass may explore, but each turn brings a 30% chance of crashing through rotten planks or otherwise getting hurt. When fog creeps in, the captain may lead its crew against anchored ships or seaside towns.

These evil undead belong to the misty dread realm and are never found anywhere else. One that somehow escaped its fog-bound borders would probably simply cease to exist.