Template:InfoboxCaptain Cinnabar, also known as Bloodbones, is the main villain of the Fighting Fantasy gamebook Bloodbones. He is an undead Pirate Lord who killed the game's protagonist's family, triggering his or her thirst for revenge. Bloodbones and its setting are heavily based on the 1988 novel On Stranger Tides.
About Cinnabar
Captain Cinnabar numbers among the most dreaded pirates to ever dwell on the seas of the world of Titan, rivaling in infamy with Varek Azzur himself. He is the leader of the Pirates of the Black Skull, a large and bloodthirsty crew which he commands aboard his ship called the "Virago". All the pirates he commands bear a Black Skull tattoo on the back of their hand. He also controls indirectly most, if not all of the piracy plaguing the Western Ocean. Cinnabar mostly operates in the Diamond Sea, located in the north of the continent of the Old World, and has a secret lair in Port of Crabs: a wretched pirate hive at the north of the country of Ruddlestone.
Cinnabar is also a powerful practitionner of Voodoo sorcery and a worshipper of Quezkari, the evil Voodoo deity. He works in cohort with Quezkari's high-priest Ramatu and his fanatical devotes, and harvests the souls of all his victims as an offering to his idol, in exchange for immortality.
Ten years before the start of the story, Cinnabar's pirates ransacked Clam Beach, hometown of the player character, and killed most of its population, including the player's father and brothers. After his or her mother's death, the player character became sailor and spent most of his/her free time learning about Cinnabar and Pirates of the Black Skull, hoping to one day get revenge.
Quezkari
Quezkari
The idol worshipped by the Pirates of the Black Skull. Quezkari is a highly powerful demonic spirit of Death and Dark Magic, who answers to the evil Goddess of Sorcery Shekka. He is of Demi-God status, he controls Voodoo sorcery and is described as a manifestation of the souls of his worshipper's victims, hinting that he needs to constantly feed on souls to sustain himself. He is on more or less equal footing with the Demon Princes of Titan, but his influence seems much less expanded. During the First Battle, which opposed the Gods of Titan to the Demons Gods, he and Shekka fought against Hamaskis God of Learning and Magic and were defeated, but he and the other evil deities were compelled into obedience by the Gods instead of being banished into the Void.
In the game
Game setting
At the beginning of the story, the player learns in a tavern of Port of Crabs that Captain Cinnabar finally met his demise at the hands of a famed bounty hunter. His body was thrown at sea and his ship is thought to have sunk in a storm. However, he/she is told that Cinnabar's threat is not over yet. It turns out that Cinnabar is about to be resurrected and made fully immortal in the temple of Quezkari in Bone Island, and the player sets out to prevent it.
The player must scout the town to buy useful (if not mandatory) items, and to gather clues about Cinnabar's lair in Port of Crabs and the location of Bone Island. The player must measure the time he/she spends investigating, given that if he/she takes too long to enter Cinnabar's lair, the pirate will have left and the game will be lost. Otherwise, the Pirates of the Black Skull will capture him/her.
The game in itself
Once aboard the "Virago", the player needs a wristband made of shark teeth to cut his/her ropes. Once the player gets the second clue about Bone Island, he/she must survive the battles against the pirates, who will throw him/her overboard, and kill the great white shark who attacks him/her before drowning.
After being rescued, the player finally reaches Bone Island. There, he/she must search for the treasure of Captain Blackscar to gain the magic bone-sword; before heading to the native village and gain Queen Zythea's trust to learn the sword's name: Nightdeath. Then the player must venture into the mountains towards the temple of Quezkari. The temple is filled with zombies and monsters, including the Scarachna, a dangerous arachnid monster, and Ramatu, Quezkari's high-priest.
- The Scarachna is a very powerful and dangerous enemy with 11 in skill (power-level) and 12 in stamina (life-points), whose attacks might cost 6 stamina points 1 in 6 times and who kills the player if it wins two attack-rounds in a row. If the player spends too much time fighting it, it will be backed up by zombies.
- Ramatu is a powerful enemy with 10 in skill and 9 in stamina, who hinders the player by 1 point of skill. If the player has smashed a magical crystal before fighting him, he will be greatly weakened.
After killing Ramatu, the player must take the fetish within which Cinnabar's heart was sealed and touch the magic pearl to get healed. Now it is time to invade Cinnabar's ship and settle the player's score with the Pirate Lord once and for all. The player might need special items to increase his/her skill score to safely face the many powerful enemies who attack him/her.
- Cinnabar's champion has 10 in skill and 11 in stamina. His blows can cost 3 stamina points instead of the regular 2 and the player's might cost him only 1 stamina points.
- Cinnabar's second-in-command Mirel the Red has 11 in skill and 10 in stamina. After defeating her, the player must win a test of skill to avoid a dangerous injury, or get hindered by 2 skill points when fighting Cinnabar.
Facing Cinnabar
Battling Cinnabar
Cinnabar is a very powerful enemy with 12 in skill (the maximum available) and 16 in stamina. Moreover, his parrot will pester the player during the entire fight, hindering him/her by 1 point of skill and trying to peck him/her every attack round, and costing 1 stamina point 2 in 6 times. If the player manages to defeat the undead pirate, he/she must destroy the fetish containing his heart to kill him once and for all; otherwise he rises and kills him/her.
Facing Quezkari
Quezkari is fought right after Cinnabar. If the player lacks the bone-sword Nightdeath, or cannot activate its power by saying its name, he/she is doomed. Quezkari has 13 in skill and 18 instamina and his claws cost 3 stamina points, making him even more dangerous than Cinnabar. However, if the player owns the Blue Jewel, it will drain his power and reduce him to 10 in skill and 12 in stamina; and if he/she have the Lion Talisman, Quezkari's claws will deal regular damage.
Trivia
- Bloodbones was released in 2006, which might lead readers to believe that Cinnabar is inspired by Hector Barbossa and Davy Jones from Pirates of the Caribbean. However, Bloodbones author Jonathan Green had worked on it since 1996 but could only release it after the Fighting Fantasy series was restarted. Both stories are in fact based on the novel On Stranger Tides.
- Cinnabar also shares similarities with LeChuck from Monkey Island, also inspired from On Stranger Tides.
- Cinnabar's page from Titannica the Fighting Fantasy wiki : http://fightingfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/Cinnabar