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SPOILER WARNING!
This article contains information that may ruin your enjoyment of discovering the game's secrets for yourself. Read at your own risk!
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SPOILER WARNING!
This article contains information that may ruin your enjoyment of discovering the game's secrets for yourself.
Read at your own risk!
This is a detailed walkthrough of the The Cursed Rouge quest. The Cursed Rogue page describes the quest without spoilers.
The Tale Book
Once the Crew has voted on the Tall Tale and listened to the Madame Olivia, they are given the "Chronicle of Forgotten Lives" Tale Book, which they can find and take out in the Map Radial menu. Any Tale Book can be viewed with the Primary Use button (Left Mouse Button/Right Trigger). Once taking a closer look at the Tale Book, it's pages can be turned with the Q and E keys on a Keyboard and the Left and Right buttons on a Controller.
The first pages of the Tall Tale book are always the same:
Opening
Begin by talking to Madame Olivia at Plunder Outpost. After some thought she decides to help you locate the ill fated Skeleton Lord, Captain Briggsy. She will give you a Tall Tale book with some pages to get you started on this next phase of your Journey.
If you are seeking all of the commendations, you will need to grab the Bounty Hunter's Journals. Unlike other Tall Tales, the journals here are not necessarily located along your path from objective to objective. Luckily they are mostly located in the south west so they are easy to gather up. It is recommended that you collect them before you get the key and the chest or after you have turned them in. This way you can collect them without lugging around quest items that can be lost or stolen.
Pray, enter and take respite.
I am Madame Olivia of the Order of Souls, and your arrival was foretold to me...
As was your quest to seek out and destroy the abomination once known as Briggsy.
As you may know, the Order offers bounties for the skulls of those undead wretches who roam the Sea of Thieves.
Yet even I am not permitted to send pirates in pursuit of a Skeleton Lord, for that would be sending them to oblivion.
In life, Briggsy was a flamboyant adventurer who thrived on danger and excitement.
How could she not seek out the fabled Shores of Gold? But now she has been consumed by evil's thrall and is a fearsome foe to all she encounters.
And yet, if the whispers on the wind are true, you have already claimed the Shroudbreaker.
Perhaps there is a chance you might prevail...
Very well. These papers hold fragments of memories of those who pledge allegiance to the Skeleton Lord.
If you can decipher their meanings, they may lead you to artifacts - relics of Briggsy's life.
Bring all that you find to me and I will shine a light into the darkness that awaits you. Go now! I must prepare the ritual ready for your return...
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The Tall Tale book details the memories of Blackheart Bill and Captain Marrow, two skeletons in Briggsy's horde that hid the Skeleton Chest containing her artifacts and the Skeleton Key to open it. Each are guarded by Skeleton Captains. You can choose to go after the key or the chest first.
Skeleton Key
The first few pages of the Tall Tale book are are always the same. The section titled "The memories of Captain Marrow" will depict a location in the Ancient Isles where you can find the key. You will need to fight a Captain Avery and a few additional skeletons so get some health items and head to of the locations as indicated below. The key will drop where the captain dies.
STAN
'Ere, how comes I gots to keep watch again? Stan always keeps watch, all the time. Not fair.
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JONES
Oh yeah? If you was keeping watch proper, them fleshies wouldn't have found our camp!
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STAN
An' if you knew how to shoot straight, Marrow might still be here, then 'e could keep watch!
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JONES
Filth-tongue! Jones is the sharpest at shooting. That's why Briggsy likes Jones best.
STAN
Then why ain't Jones Captain? Because Briggsy knows yer too stupid!
CAPTAIN AVERY
You both ain't captain, right, because that's me! That's why I get the shiny-shiny key.
Now shut yer stinkin' skulls before we gets heard like the last time!
If any fleshies take her treasure, Lord Briggsy'll grind us to powder.
JONES
Naawww, no fleshie'd be daft enough to fight Briggsy. She'd mutalise 'em!
CAPTAIN AVERY
Just 'cos they still got brains in their 'eads doesn't mean they ever use 'em. Now QUIET!
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Skeleton Chest
The section titled "The memories of Blackheart Bill" in the Tall Tale book will depict a location in the Ancient Isles where you can find the chest. You will be fighting Captain Blake and a few minions again so bring some health items and head to of the locations as indicated below. You will need to dig up the chest where the captain and crew were sitting before you so rudely interrupted their conversation.
MOLLY
So, captain, how many years since asking a question?
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GOLD TOOTH
Not another question! It's like being back at school.
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MOLLY
Molly weren't talking to you, Gold Tooth. An' when did you ever goes to school anyway?
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GOLD TOOTH
I wents t' school! I wents almost every day.
MOLLY
You did? Really?
GOLD TOOTH
Well I had to, dint I? There was lots to steal and I only had little hands.
CAPTAIN BLAKE
What you askin' me now, Molly?
MOLLY
D...d'you ever think about being it? Being alive, I mean? Cos Briggsy says there's a cure-
CAPTAIN BLAKE
There ain't no cure, Molly. How d'you cure being dead - stay inside and keep warm?
Nah, Briggsy's potty. But she's potty and powerful, so you two stays respectful, hear me?
MOLLY
Yeah, but if there was a cure... Would you take it? Become a fleshie again?
CAPTAIN BLAKE
Oh, for... go to sleep, Molly. We've got a chest to guard.
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Enchanted Compass
The chest contains a Star Map and a Broken Spyglass. Grab them or the chest containing them and return to Madame Olivia for her to trans-mutate. After witnessing the true power of the order of souls, you will need to pick up the Enchanted Compass from the table.
Are those Briggsy's precious treasures? Let me see..
Ah, the tools of an adventurer.
I spend so much of my time surrounded by bones, it is sometimes easy to forget that they were once people too..
Tell no-one what you're about to witness! There are some secrets that even we, the Order of Souls, are forbidden to share...
By recall's light and wisdom's might, the past shall point towards the future...
Behold! The true power of the Order of Souls.
There are few left with the knowledge to create an artefact with such... potential.
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(Madame Olivia adds the artefacts and some ingredients into a transmutation box, which processes them into an Enchanted Compass)
Imbued with the Order's magic, this compass will point the way to Briggsy, no matter where upon the Sea of Thieves she may be lurking.
Once again, I implore you to be cautious. Death has only made her more formidable.
Should you triumph, return to me with the skull of your enemy.
In exchange for such a valuable prize, I will do all that I can to help you onwards along your journey.
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Gallery
Dig up the chest in the spot where the captain was located.
Hunting the Cursed Rogue
The Enchanted Compass will point towards Captain Briggsy. She can be found on Cannon Cove, Discovery Ridge, Kraken's Fall, Lone Cove, Mermaid's Hideaway, Shipwreck Bay, The Crooked Masts or Wanderer's Refuge.
Briggsy summons skeleton reinforcements, vanishes to re-position, and charges up a powerful pulse attack. She rarely engages in combat, leaving her skeleton minions to overwhelm her enemy. In larger crews, is recommended to dedicate one member to eliminate the ranged skeletons, and another to group the skeletons away from Briggsy. A good strategy would be to lure her in front of the ship's cannons for heavy artillery as she can eat bananas to regenerate. Firebombs are also your friend here as they make quick work of the minions and also deal damage to Briggsy.
Don't forget to grab the Briggsy's skull before leaving the island.
Fire. Heat. Soon they'll be more than just words.
Oh, to have flesh once more.
I'll be able to smell the sea air! Feel the weight of coins in my palm! Taste the bottom of a barrel of Grog!
There wasn't a pirate alive who didn't cheer when they heard the name 'Briggsy' - Kraken Slayer, Shroudbreaker and Adventurer Extraordinaire!
Now look at me... Camped out in some nameless backwater with just you brainless boneheads for company...
It's all because of that damned curse!
Even my old shipmates think I'm dead, or that I'm some sort of monster! And maybe I am!
Once I'm free of it, everyone will know my name again!
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Gallery
Conclusion
Head back to Plunder Outpost once again to submit Briggsy's skull to Madame Olivia and finish this Tall Tale.
The skull of a Skeleton Lord! Oh, I've waited years for this moment...
So few people stop to wonder what the Order of Souls does with the bounties once we have them.
Each skull holds many secrets, memories of old hoards and old encounters, long forgotten.
If Briggsy truly did possess the Shroudbreaker, the missing pieces should lie somewhere within her recollection.
But be warned, such visions are not always easy to interpret.
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(Madame Olivia peppers the skull with glowing dust, then inhales the dust to blow onto the skull. She whispers an incantation to activate the skull, then inhales the memory-filled dust.)
Such a long life... There are many memories to sift through, but I can make out a few names...
Tasha, a girl in a tavern, staring in awe as the firelight flickers and great tale are told...
Sudds... A dear friend who threads his way across the wildest oceans by the light of the stars...
Salty... trembling before a blade, revealing the lair of a Trickster.
Wild Rose... True love shining like a beacon that calls across the waves...
Fate has bound you to meet with these wanderers, for they alone know of the precious stones you seek.
I can offer you nothing more than my gratitude and faith that you have the strength to reach the Shores of Gold. Farewell..
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Gallery
Madame Olivia with the skull
Bounty Hunter's Journals
Looking at the Commendations of the Tall Tale, you may have noticed one of them requiring the Crew to find all of The Bounty Hunter's Journals. These five Journals can only be found and read when the Tall Tale is active and they are only present for the Crew who is doing the Tall Tale. These Journals are hidden around The Ancient Isles Region. Each of the Journals hints towards the location of the next journal.
The locations and the contents of the five Journals are presented below. Click Expand under any Journal to see an image of its exact location.
A New Prey
(South Tunnel, Shark Bait Cove)
Three flagons of brandy and a fine meal claimed the last of my coin. Fortunately, I already have a new bounty in my sights.
The simpering woman in her tent at first refused to hand the wretched paper over. "Too dangerous", she said. What rot!
I might well have turned my blade upon her but for my cardinal rule: I never kill for free. The paper is mine now, regardless.
And who is this Briggsy? A capering child, it seems; a pirate more concerned with showing off than amassing any great fortune.
She is known to make camp at Discovery Ridge. Doubtless I shall catch her there at play. We'll see how long her humour lasts.
Surrounded By Fools
(Northeast rowboat wreckage. Discovery Ridge)
If there's one thing pirates love more than their rum bottles, it's making up ridiculous names for their pitiful fights of fancy.
They insisted that Briggsy, my quarry, has been transformed into a 'Skeleton Lord' with others at her beck and call.
Did they really expect to scare me with this revelation? Whether or not they can walk and talk, bones can be broken just the same.
It makes me all the more eager to hunt the rat down and put her in her place. Perhaps we'll finally meet at Kraken’s Fall...
At last, a clue!
(Southeast skull pile, Kraken's Fall)
I reached another of Briggsy's nests to find it empty, or so I thought at first. That was when I heard the cries for help.
His shouting led me to a scrawny little man, whose head fell some way short of my shoulder, mewling from inside a barrel.
Having climbed inside when Briggsy and her crew arrived, he had spent the night cowering in his keg, only to find the lid stuck fast.
I released him in exchanged for what little coin he had, and he was only too happy to reveal Briggsy's heading: Wanderer's Refuge.
Closing In
(Stuck in a wall, Hilltop ruins, Wanderer's Refuge)
Too late once again, but by a matter of minutes. The ashes of her campfire were still smouldering, her prints fresh.
If the wind remains fair, I'll make it to Crook's Hollow in time to introduce myself, and we'll see how brave Briggsy really is.
Her crew deserve no such consideration. I'll smash them before they even know I'm there. A 'fair fight' for hunter and prey.
Her smart-mouthed skull will fetch a handsome price — that is, if I don't decide to keep it as a trophy for myself instead...
Defeated?!
(Cave across the docks, Crook's Hollow)
To think when I began my hunt at Sharkbait Cove that it would end this way! Beaten and humiliated, my weapons tossed aside.
I struggled and spat as her bony fingers knotted my repos together, binding me. Each threat I uttered only made her laugh harder.
And yet... She was glorious! I cannot deny it. With every shot she dodged, each blow parried, I realised I had finally met my match.
I refuse to board the ferry. I cannot bear to return in shame — to see the faces of those who know me twisted into mocking sneers.
Death it is, then. A new kind of journey, and perhaps new bounties? Maybe the Reaper himself needs an apprentice...
