The Isle of Leeches

The people of this island had been isolated for many generations, due to the treacherous reefs in the area. When they were rediscovered they wanted little of the ways of the 'ancestors' (as they called foreigners), with one exception. The concept of blackmail incited a terrible fascination in them. Being peaceful and innocent tribal folk they had little to hide, and indeed little to give. But they saw that outsiders had untold wealth, and untold things that they wanted hidden from the world. Like barnacles, it seemed that every ship that passed by the island picked up at least one of these folk, whose fare was only their silence. They harmed none directly, yet their mild and forthright voices were as dreaded as the sirens' song, robbing some of all they had, and others of their very lives. After a few of them were murdered they learned again, and now come only in the night, and only guarded by miserable foreigners, whose loyalty is held with chains of fear and shame, bound by secrets held in secret places.