Prince Vasheron and the Deev made their way to the inner courtyard of the fortress. Standing at its center and far older by millennia than the fortress itself was a smooth and massive marble dome. It appeared to be solid, with no entrance or egress. The dome stood about twenty feet high with a diameter of twice that. The structure stood over the portion of the fortress which spanned the crevasse in the cliff below.

Vasheron was pacing anxiously, becoming angry. His second-in-command, Taois, fumed and complained in a loud voice.
"Accursed priest. How dare he keep the Deev waiting. We should teach him a lesson, make him regret his disdain for us."

Vasheron turned to his subordinate and gave a cruel smile.
"We have been waiting for over four hundred years Taois, a few more minutes are of no concern. We need Azmeritus, he is our hope for returning home. Do not underestimate him or his acolytes, they have great power. We have underestimated sorcerers before and this land, this prison, has been the result."

"Do you think he can do what he claims?"

"I do not know for certain, but a creature does not come here voluntarily without a belief in their own power. Do not forget what he did with Deeb Shatus, that was not a parlor trick!"

Taois shuddered. He remembered when the priest and his followers arrived at Xenoth, less than a year earlier. They came from parts unknown in a longboat, fearless of the Deev whom all others held in dread.

What made the arrival especially noteworthy was, that five years earlier, the same priesthood had been long settled on Xenoth and had simply disappeared. It was assumed they had died or gone into hiding. When they returned, the Deev realized that the Brotherhood might have the means and knowledge to travel freely from the forbidden land.

Azmeritus, their leader, was an albino mongoose, lithe and ominous. He was intelligent, sly, and ambitious, a dangerous combination. Vasheron had tried to threaten and intimidate the priesthood, but Azmeritus simply laughed.

One day he had accompanied the Deev to the fortress and raised his arms to the marble dome. The Deev stood stunned as a doorway opened to the interior of the seemingly unbroachable structure.

The priest ignored the Deev completely. This infuriated a Deev named Deeb Shatus who charged Azmeritus in a fury. The high Priest removed an atomizer from his cloak and sprayed it at Deeb, who dropped instantly.

The remainder of the demon warriors stood in shocked silence as the priests filed into the dome and closed it after themselves. No Deev had ever died on Xenoth, till now. It was a shock of monumental proportions to Vasheron.

Deeb's body lay in the courtyard for a week, no Deev willing to touch it out of fear of coming in contact with whatever it was that killed their comrade.

When Azmeritus reappeared, he was accorded a respect which no Deev had ever previously shown. Vasheron and the Priest spoke for hours in private and when they reappeared, Vasheron was smiling broadly.

He never divulged the specifics of the conversation except to say that they would soon be going home. To the amazement of the Deev, Azmeritus then went to the corpse of Deeb Shatus and poured a potion into his mouth. Deeb returned to the living, though unable to speak and responding only to the High Priest.

When Deeb was seen again, he was dressed in the red robes of the priesthood and showed no sign of ever having known any of his comrades. From this point on, Azmeritus was called the 'Necromancer', more out of respect than as an insult or dismissal.

The Deev were all restless and after a short while the mutters increased in volume. Suddenly the ground shivered slightly and the marble dome gave off a scraping sound as a ten foot square of the temple began to move forward. The stone door came to rest about ten feet in front of the structure.

Azmeritus stepped out of the dome, alone.
"Good, I see everyone is here, follow me. My brothers are making the necessary preparations."

He turned and re-entered the dome. The Deev stood still, looking to Vasheron, who with a look of mild bewilderment stepped forward and beckoned his beasts to follow.

The dome was actually a stairwell of sorts. A long flight of stairs was carved into the interior and spiraled downward into the darkness. As Vasheron and his men descended, they could feel the air getting cooler and moist. After a short time they could hear the sound of rushing water. The space became noticeably brighter.

They reached the bottom of the stairs to find a empty chamber with a single exit. Passing through the opening, the Deev discovered the origin of the noise they were hearing, it was the waterfall which cascaded out from under the Deev Fortress.

Azmeritus was waiting for them on a platform carved into the side of the crevasse. A path led towards the waterfall.
"You look surprised, Prince, did you not know of this space under your castle?" The Priest smiled, "Not very inquisitive are you? You've been here centuries. No matter," his smile broadened, "I will do the thinking and the planning and we will both be better for it. Please continue to follow me. I hope your Deev don't mind getting a bit wet, the vapor by the waterfall is quite dense."

He hurried down the path and as Vasheron watched, disappeared into a cloud of mist at the edge of the falls. Vasheron and the Deev followed. When they reached the blanket of cascading water they could see that the path led around the right edge of the waterfall and into a large interior space directly behind it.

The cavern was spacious, shimmering in the light transmitted through the falls. The remaining two dozen priest were seated at various stone tables, mixing powders and chanting.

Prince Vasheron noticed Deeb Shatus seated at a table in front of two wooden chests. He approached the former Deev and stared into his eyes. There was no sense of recognition on Deeb's part, who stared dumbly forward, not even focused on the Prince's form.

"What's the matter with Shatus? What exactly did you do to him?" Vasheron asked after moving to within inches of Deebs's face, looking for any sign of intelligence behind the new priest's blank stare. He asked out of perverse curiosity, rather than anger.

Azmeritus walked over to Deeb and cupped his paw over his head, stroking him like a pet.   

Shatus gave no visible response.

"He is mine now and my lord's. The Deev you knew is no more."

Vasheron laughed, "He wasn't that good a warrior anyway, didn't care much for killing. I hope he's a better priest."

"He will serve us well," The High Priest turned and pointed to the far end of the chamber where a smaller alcove was situated, "that is where your miracle will be harvested. Come, join me."

He walked toward the alcove with Vasheron trailing in his wake.
"What was it you sprayed on Deeb Shatus that killed him?" the Prince asked as they walked.

"You will have all your answers soon enough, Prince Vasheron," the necromancer responded cryptically.

They reached the opening in the far wall. The alcove was interesting, but unimpressive. About ten feet wide and seven feet high, it seemed to descend further back into a complete darkness. The mouth of the opening was lined, ceiling and floor, with stalactites and stalagmites. The stalactites dripped a viscous blue liquid which pooled in various spots on the floor. A periodic warm and foul smelling breeze blew out of the alcove into Vasheron's face.

"Bring the implements!" Azmeritus called back to his priests.

Three acolytes, including Deeb, brought the two wooden chests, a mortar and pestle, and two flasks with stoppers to the alcove.
Azmeritus opened the first chest, revealing a stone hammer of the type an artisan or mason would use, beside is was a stone chisel, covered in beaten gold.

He opened the second chest and pulled out what appeared to Vasheron to be an over-sized silver eye-dropper. The High Priest took the eye-dropped to one of the pools of liquid, knelt and sucked it into his implement. The acolyte carrying the flasks came over and the mongoose carefully emptied the liquid into the receptacle, which was then firmly corked.

Azmeritus repeated the procedure and filled the second flask. A beaten silver case with a carrying handle was brought over and opened. The two full, stoppered flasks were securely placed in the velvet lined interior. The case was closed and placed at Vasheron's feet.

"You will need that for your mission."

"What is it?" the Prince asked.

"A powerful potion, I will explain later. There is still the matter of getting you and your Deev through the magical barrier of Xenoth, unless you have changed your mind?" the mongoose smirked.

"Just carry on, Priest, don't play with me!" Vasheron spat out.

"As your highness wishes." Azmeritus said, still smiling. He picked up the chisel and the mallet and approached the largest of the stalagmites, which rose about four feet off the ground. He set his chisel and made as though to strike it with the mallet. He paused and turned toward the Deev leader.

"You may wish to prepare yourself, Prince," he said matter-of-factly.

"Prepare for what?" Vasheron asked with a hint of annoyance in his voice.

The mongoose struck the chisel sharply, chipping a six inch crown off the top of the stalagmite. As he did so, he quickly braced himself against the side of the wall. A sudden gust of the foul smelling air shot out the opening almost knocking the mink warrior down. The ground trembled briefly, then it was quiet again.

Azmeritus ignored the tremor and picked up the fragment he had chipped off, handing it to Deeb, who now sat cross-legged on the floor with the mortar in his paw and the pestle between his legs. Deeb began to methodically grind the chip into a fine powder.

The Mink Prince approached the High Prince.
"How did you know the earth would shake?" he asked.

"I have performed this task many times over the years." Azmeritus answered.

Vasheron thought for a moment then commented sharply, "You are either lying or your mind is going, you arrived in Xenoth barely a year ago."

Azmeritus laughed loudly, throwing his head back.
"Arrived? You think we arrived? No, Vasheron, we did not arrive last year, we returned. We have left and arrived many times over the centuries, and it has been centuries."

"You have left Xenoth!?" Vasheron exclaimed in disbelief.

"Yes my dear Prince, we have and that is why...," The High Priest paused and approached the Deev Prince. He looked him squarely in the eye and continued calmly, " you can erase any doubts you might have had about my ability to release you and your beasts from the imprisonment of Xenoth. I now have..." he motioned toward the pestle and the flasks, "everything needed to free your Deev from the captivity of this land."

The Prince became noticeably excited, his eyes widened.

"Do it then!" he insisted.

"There are conditions, of course." The mongoose said softly.

"Conditions!? What conditions? Is this some sort of a trick?" Vasheron spat out, his good mood broken.

"Calm yourself, Prince. You will be able to do what you want, there are simply some limitations and precautions, as well as the matter of payment of your debt to us for freeing you."

"Why are you so certain we would complete our end of the agreement once we were past Xenoth's boundaries?"

"You mean besides your honor?" the mongoose chuckled, "That would not quite satisfy me, as you have surmised. No, Prince, I'm afraid you'll have no choice but to complete our agreement."

"Why is that?"

"I shall tell you in private after we have eaten. These important matters always make me hungry." Azmeritus turned and headed back out the cave. He turned, "You know where to find me. I'll see you in one hour."

When the priests, who called themselves 'The Scarlet Brotherhood' first settled next to the Deev's fortress, they had chosen an abandoned stone granary which stood outside the larger fortification. It had been decades since any crop was grown in large enough quantities to justify long term storage and almost everyone subsisted on the bounty of the sea.

The granary was not of the traditional circular type, but a long low building, separated into smaller enclosures. It was well suited to conversion to a monastic dwelling.

The Head Priest, Azmeritus and his Chief Acolyte, Zaphyr, a taciturn weasel, resided in a second smaller structure which was adjacent to the granary and had been used as a guardhouse for soldiers when there had been food stores to guard.

Prince Vasheron entered the High Priest's building. He came alone. The mongoose was sitting in a wicker chair facing a small fire burning in a hearth. Zaphyr was seated next to him, but rose and left without a word upon the Prince's entrance. Azmeritus looked up.
"Have a seat Prince Vasheron, we have important matters to discuss."

The mink warrior sat without speaking and regarded the odd looking creature beside him carefully. Azmeritus was a formidable beast despite his watery pink eyes and colorless fur. His muscles were sinewy and pronounced. With his hood pulled back and his head revealed, the High Priest looked far more like a soldier than a monk. Scars criss-crossed his skull and the tips of his canine teeth extended past his lower lip line and dripped saliva.

Azmeritus turned his head to meet Vasheron's gaze.
"Do not speak till I have finished what I wish to say," he said calmly.

"Very well, priest," the Prince agreed.

"Good. You asked why you would fulfill your bargain after you have left the confines of Xenoth, I will tell you. While imprisoned here, you are deathless, you cannot be killed," the mongoose chuckled, "except by me, of course, and you do not age, yet you no longer have the power to disincorporate your body into smoke. This power will be returned to you as soon as the boundary of Xenoth is crossed with the help of my potion, however you will be mortal once more, subject to death like all other creatures"

He could see the distress mixed with anger in Vasheron's demeanor. He patted the Prince's knee in a fatherly manner,
"...do not upset yourself, this will be easily remedied when you return from your quest with the implements I require for the Great Ceremony. You will be deathless once more, with all your power and free to leave Xenoth at will."

Vasheron calmed down and a thin smile spread over his cruel lips.
"You are clever priest and correct, we Deev will honor our agreement, so long as you honor yours."

"You needn't worry Vasheron, I have far grander goals than betraying my allies. You will get everything you desire, provided you achieve the necessary objectives."

"Which are?" the Prince asked.

"A little theft and a little destruction."

"Sounds intriguing, please be more specific."

"You will secure and bring both the Rubitar and the Abitar to me."

Vasheron laughed scornfully, "Is that all? perhaps we should conquer the world as well. Arisha will not simply let us into her lair to steal her prize. She is the Golden Spider, the so-called Mother of the World. She is the most powerful creature on the planet."

"For now," Azmeritus smiled, "do not worry, I will provide you the means to neutralize her."

"You can do that?"

"You would be surprised what I can do," the Priest said darkly, "you Deev will also need to eliminate as many wizards as possible. Without the full Council of Wizards and without Arisha they cannot weave a spell powerful enough to recapture you or to interfere with me."

Prince Vasheron smiled, "The idea of vengeance against those pompous fools for imprisoning us is appealing. Anything else?"

"Yes, seek out the Guild of Assassins in Seth-E-Raman and find a seer named Gadral Neure. Convince him to tell you the identity of the Secret King."

"Who is the Secret King?" Vasheron asked.

"Not your concern, simply a possible threat to my Lord," the mongoose said calmly.

Vasheron stood and looked down at the Priest.

"You have spoken of this 'Lord' of yours often, who is this god you serve, that I am to serve?"

"You will meet him soon enough Prince Vasheron," the mongoose stood and pointed the mink towards the door, "now go and inform your Deev of their mission and theirs rewards. I will see you at dawn, the potion will be completed by then. Your ship is being made ready and you will be free of Xenoth before the sun sets once more."

After Vasheron left, Zaphyr reentered the room. He approached Azmeritus, who had reseated himself in front of the fire.
"Can the Deev be trusted, your eminence?" the acolyte asked.

The mongoose smiled, "Of course not, but as long as they feel they need us, they will do as we ask."

"The Deev are dangerous, they were banished here for a reason," Zaphyr said cautiously, "they are not renowned for their sense of honor or their loyalty. They killed their own king whom they were sworn to serve."

"Do not worry, brother, they will serve us, first to leave Xenoth and then to regain their immortality." Azmeritus assured him.

"How will you regain their immortality?"

"It is beyond my power," The High Priest laughed, "though I may not have made that clear to Vasheron. No, Zaphyr, the Deev will remain mortal outside of Xenoth once they have taken the potion and that is exactly what we want. I could see the imminent betrayal in the Prince's eyes. Once the Deev have served us, they will be discarded, they will have no purpose in the world we are creating."

"Xenophus be praised, father, it is the dawning of a joyous day" the normally sullen Zaphyr said enthusiastically.

"Yes, Xenophus be praised." The mongoose stood and walked over to a small window overlooking the road which led down to a small village of outcasts on the coast. He turned to his acolyte.

"When the Deev have left, we will need to send out the Gleaners. Our lord needs to be fed and made strong for his reawakening."

"I will see to it, Father."

Dawn found the Deev warriors, less Deeb Shatus who was now fully in the service of the Red Brotherhood, lined up in front of a three-masted caravel, rigged with square sails and oar ports, which had long ago drifted into the grasp of Xenoth's spell.

The shanty town where the ship was moored was deserted. All of its inhabitants had abandoned their homes and fled to the hills at the approach of the Deev and priests. Other abandoned ships and boats of all types dotted the shore, useless to the poor souls trapped on the Unknown Land.

The magic shield which held them trapped circled the island about a mile off shore and while the vessels and other inanimate objects were unimpeded in leaving, living beings would be stopped as if running into a wall.

At the gangplank, a robed priest handed each of the warriors a cup of potion. After the Deev drank the brew and boarded the ship, they waited anxiously for their Prince to join them. Azmeritus handed Vasheron the two flasks he had filled at the alcove the previous night.

"These will defeat Arisha, you need simply douse her with their contents. She is powerful, so use both flasks." He told the Prince carefully.

"Very well."

Azmeritus handed the prince a cup of potion which he downed swiftly without comment.
"Can your men handle a ship or should I send some brothers along?" the mongoose asked.

"My warriors are skilled sailors, we are skilled at many things." Vasheron said proudly.

"All the better for your success, my prince," he pointed to the gangway, "I believe your crew waits for you to lead them to freedom."

Vasheron smiled and boarded the ship
"We shall see you soon, Necromancer and then our debt shall be paid."

The ship, named the Wind Spirit by her long dead owners buckled slightly as twenty oars, ten to a side, began to pull strongly, striving to take the craft past the barrier and out into the living world where the wind would once again fill her hungry sails. A cheer arose, which could be heard onshore as the barrier was breached without incident.

The Deev were free!