We was sailin' towards the South as I recall. Made landfall in some
place called Rocky Crest, near on Boulder Mountain. Land
o' the Gray Rocks, they was. Yer could look right off and see
money, fine homes 'n all, but well guarded too, so we went on
best behavior an did as we will do in a such a place, seein' to
supplies askin' quiet here 'n there after any local lore.
Soon enough found us quizzin' a local woodworker who they tell
had a sideline in such as we wanted to know. "Ah, well, treasure",
he says with a big shifty-eyed smile. "The one you fellows would be
after is that left by the old Moai, up in the hills you see there
behind the town. They were said to be a race of giants, but that's
all rubbish - you know how those old tall tales are. It's never
been found as the way is quite enchanted. Adventurers are led to
and fro and never find a thing. You certainly wouldn't want to go
up there without a spirit guide for each of your men. All the
really serious pirates are buying them now, they're quite the
standard issue."
Well the durn sop kept yakkin' a streak and showin' us the silly
boxes he said would steer us right to whatever treasure might be up
that hill and then made the fools mistake of tellin' us how much he
wanted fer these geegaws. Hells blazes! If'n we had that sort of
money we wouldn't be seekin' treasures in the first place, now
would we! Off we stumped, tellin' him we would do with whatever
spiritin' that ol' VooDoo Jack could provide, as he's done us well
enough before.
We went and left a few swabs with the ship and were off up the
hill. The way up were easy enough at first, but soon got
rocky an' hard to foller. Might be them
spirit guides could be a help, but Jack seemed to be findin'
some sort of a way. It were the lay of the land that unsettled
us though. Huge spare rocks all strewn about 'n stickin' out yet
with almost nothin' else around. Strange lookin' they were,
somethin' not right at all with 'em, as if they was all of a
piece, but not in any way yer could see. Here 'n there were bits
that looked like eyes, mouths, even whole faces if yer squinted
jus right. We did'n like it a bit, we did'n.
All through them rocks we ranged lookin' for the least bit o'
cover which might have somethin' of worth hidden under or inside,
but everythin' was clear an' beaten down smooth. Everythin'
exceptin' at last a hollow tree on a high height where summun calls
out "Hello, what's this?" and holds up a chest.
That be when it all started. A great rumblin shook the ground.
All aroun' us the rocks seemed to jerk up and back, right up out o'
the earth, bangin' together and comin' around something terrible,
such that we was thrown all 'bout. Blow me down 'n roll me up if
there weren't heads, 'n them on shoulders, 'n all the rest with it,
risin' up off that hillside and makin' enough noise to give any
mother's son the brown trouser treatment. I could see now that them
Moai weren't hardly as gone as we was told, an' they weren't none
too happy about us findin' their treasure.
I don' know if there were any call to run, but nobody what was
there there needed to be told, an' runnin' were hard enough to do
what with the ground buckin' 'n heavin' as it was. The deafin'
noise they made were enough to scare a man from his wits, an' a few
of us just went out of sight under huge stone hands or feet. Ol'
Jack were quick tho an' set some sort o' flash that confounded the
Moai fer jest a bit.
Once Jack held 'em up the rest o' us run like th' devil were
behind us, as it sure seemed he was, an' while them giants were
big, they was slow. Gettin' away was all keepin' movin' and dartin'
where they might not be yet. Soon enough we were close to the town
an' could see a crowd of folk that didn't want any part o' the
company we brung. The woodworker was right at their head, and he
waved one of his silly boxes and pushed on it and all come a sudden
poles and wires sprung up from nothin'. They were such that we
could run under, but the Moai hit 'em an' crashed down all in
heaps.
Well, we were under full sail comin' down that hill an' in no
mind to stop for chit-chat. We didn't slack until we reached our
ship and piled aboard all of us, and what did we find there? Our
watch party bound amidships an' a few surprised locals wonderin'
what we were doin' back. Seems like what happens here is that these
Gray Rock folk know all about the Moai, an' they send hapless crews
into the hills to meet their doom, then steal what was left behind
at the docks. We heaved them in th' harbor an' set off right quick
from that awful place. Good mates we lost up in them hills an' fer
nothing. It's a bad business, I'll tell you that.
Stay away, says we. Evil is in them hills, and there's no treasure
there what mortal men can hold.