Early morning found the residents of the Crimson Rose walking south along the beach from their ship towards the impressive  sea-cliffs where the hermit, Ozab dwelt. Only Gella, the twins, Ophelia, and little Odette stayed behind.

The twins, Trey and  Cat, were determined to get the small catapults they had scavenged   restored to working order. The deck-mounted weapons were like none the Scratchbacks had ever seen. Though the catapults were only five  feet high on their mounts, the mechanisms which provided the impetus to whip the firing arm were housed in an enclosed base nearly as wide  as the weapon was tall. The deck-mount was covered in small wheels, valves, levers, and sights. Long flexible tubes, four inches wide and  twenty feet long, snaked from the freshly mounted pedestals for reasons unknown.

Ophelia spent the morning telling  fairy-tales to  her daughter, while Gella, who could barely remember her mother, sat next to the little girl, listening with just as much intensity and joy.

The expedition to the cliffs was almost halfway there when Salto noticed a crowd of  diverse beasts, about fifty of them, sitting around  extinguished campfires on the beach. He  pointed this out to Otto who explained.

"They are all here hoping to see friends and family from the outside. This is where the  walkway to the shield that I told  you about is  located. These beasts, most of them, at least, are recently stranded on Xenoth. Some of these poor creatures have been coming for years, without any success."

"Are there always beasts here? Aren't they afraid of the Gleaners?" Zian asked.

"The Gleaners prey on individuals and helpless families," Otto  said with contempt, "these beasts here are all sea-beasts and mariners,  tough and weathered. It would be too much of a battle for the Brotherhood. They would win, certainly, there are far too many in their ranks, but the price would be high with many casualties. There are more beasts than normal on the ridge, though, probably because the  Deev have left Xenoth. Those horrors kill beasts for sport and even the toughest  beasts are wise enough to avoid them."

"Can we go and see da barrier?" Wilbur asked. Egbert interrupted.

"Let's foind Ozab first. Oi'd loike to foind out if he knows anything or if he's just crazy. We can examine da barrier on our way back."

"Yeah!" Winky exclaimed. He and Groggs were carrying a wooden chest, "Alla dis food Winks and me is luggin' ta bribe da old loon'll go bad, not ta mention dat dose blokes down dere look pretty hungry. If'n dey find out about dis grub we're carryin', it ain't gonna make it to no caves."

Otto nodded.
"That's smart," the otter agreed. The compliment made Groggs smile broadly. He liked  being called smart, it happened so rarely. Otto continued, "We're in no rush, the ridge will still be here."

They passed the queuing castaways and continued forward towards the looming cliffs ahead.

The cliffs were impressive, rising to well over two hundred feet. The beach along which  the small crew walked narrowed from its widest   point of almost five hundred yards to nothing at the base of the precipice. The stone edifice  rose at a very steep angle from the sea directly to the summit. Openings and caves pockmarked the face.

Otto stopped and faced his new friends.
"We have to climb up," seeing the concern on the faces of Winky and Groggs, who still carried the food-laden chest, he continued,   "don't  worry, it's not as bad as it looks. There's a hidden path a little ways ahead, it leads right up to that cave...," he pointed at an opening  about halfway up the cliff face, "...which, unless he has moved, is the home of Ozab, the hermit."

The trail which Otto mentioned, was nearly invisible from a distance. It was a small ledge that sloped gently towards the high cave. Winky and Groggs smiled in relief at seeing that it would be an easy traverse, even lugging  the chest of foodstuffs. When everyone reached the main ledge in front of the opening, Otto stepped forward and called out.

"Ozab! Ozab! It's Otto with some friends who want to ask you a few questions. We have food and sweets to share!"

There was silence for several minutes. Just as it began to look as though the hermit no longer lived there, an old raspy voice from within the cave called out.

"What kind of food and sweets?" it demanded.

Winky answered.
"We gots dried and smoked fish, crab, dry biscuits, some eggs and cheese and a whole bunch of honey coated nuts."

There was a pause.
"Hazelnuts?" the voice asked hopefully.

"Sure enough, we got dem," Winky called out happily.

"Come on in then," the voice begrudgingly instructed.

The expedition entered the cave mouth. It opened into a small, empty chamber. There was a six foot high, two foot wide crack in the   rear wall. After searching the antechamber to no avail, Egbert looked to the fissure in the rear wall. A voice projected through it.

"Well, come on then, I'm hungry, haven't got all day....busy...busy...move your paws!"

"Oi guess we go through," Eggy said, pointing at the crack.

One by one, the friends entered the fissure and proceeded through. It was easy going for  Zian, Salto, Winky, Otto, and Wilbur, all of  whom were fairly slender. Egbert and Groggs, both of  substantial girth, were forced to proceed  sideways. Their generous midsections scraped against the interior walls of the crack.

The fissure ran about twenty feet and opened into an impressive circular, sixty foot wide dome-shaped cavern. Stalactites hung from  the ceiling, some of the largest reached nearly to the floor. Rising  from the ground were numerous stalagmites, a few of which had been sculpted by Ozab into chairs and tables.

The chamber was lit very effectively by oil lamp sconces which lined the walls, scavenged along with the oil itself from the many deserted boats along the coast. The light from the lamps reflected off the white calcite walls, floor, and ceiling in an even, warm, shadowless light.

Egbert, being a mole, found the space enchanting and comfortable. He looked around to locate the occupant.

"Are you going to let me starve to death? Where is my food?" a voice echoed from the far side.

Egbert followed the voice to the rear of the cavern. A figure was seated, facing away, on a carved stalagmite chair.

"Well, come on, you're here now, make yourselves comfortable, bring my food."

The friends walked toward Ozab with Otto in the lead. The hermit sat facing a curving long bench carved into the wall. He motioned them to sit there, taking particular care to ensure Winky and Groggs deposited the chest of edibles at his feet. He opened it eagerly and    began sampling the contents.

Egbert stared at the odd creature stuffing its face with smoked fish and biscuits. Ozab was of a species the large mole was familiar with, but had never encountered before, a mongoose. His fur was dusty and matted, perhaps black at one point, but now a dirty silver-white interspersed with streaks of black and grey. His paws, which now eagerly crammed food into his yaw, were wrinkled and stiff, an aged beast's paws.

It was Ozab's face which struck Egbert most. Almost hairless and creased in every direction  it was the face of an ancient time-worn animal. One eye, the right, was a brilliant cold blue, with a penetrating stare. The other, milky white and sightless, was unmoving and ominous. Ozab's teeth, now busy tearing  into the smoked fish, were surprisingly clean and  healthy.

No one spoke, everyone sat back silently watching  the old beast ravenously consuming  his meal. Wilbur was amazed. He turned to Otto.
"It's loike he hasn't eaten since last spring."

Otto chuckled.
"Ozab is an odd creature. He fasts for five days out of every six. Today is his day to eat, that's how I knew he'd receive visitors  with food."

Wilbur laughed.
"He won't have food long at da rate he's scarfing it down."

Ozab looked up at Wilbur disapprovingly.
"Manners, young mole, I'm old, not deaf," he turned to the otter and shook his head, "and you, Otto, 'odd' indeed! I'm devout, not    crazy...and...the food is only an added benefit." He finished his meal and licked his paws, "I'd have talked to your friends without the food,"   he chuckled, "maybe not as coherently though....now where are those hazelnuts?"

He dug down into the chest and grabbed a  pawful of the honey-coated confections. Ozab  leaned back in his chair and began popping the nuts into his mouth.

"Now, what do you want to know?" he asked, chewing happily.

Egbert looked Ozab in the eye.
"Otto says you know about the Scarlet Brotherhood and the Deev."

The mongoose laughed loudly.
"You want to get off this place and you think I can help."

"Oi don't know, Oi hope so." Egbert said honestly.

"You think I'm crazy...that my brains are scrambled." Ozab chuckled.

"Ya don't seem crazy ta me, ya seems real sensible," Groggs offered.

"Like you would know," Winky sniggered.

"Come on, guys," Zian scolded, "be still and let Ozab talk."

Ozab continued.
"I might well be a little crazy...been living here alone for forty years, haven't I? That's a recipe for a mushy brain if ever there was one, but crazy or not, I know what I know and I know the Brotherhood and I know the Deev. I haven't been a scarlet brother for twenty years,  but I was one for nearly fifty."

"How's that possible?" Otto asked, "I've seen you here forever and the brothers have only been here for a year or so."

"They've only been here a year this time," The mongoose corrected.

Egbert's eyes lit up.
"So it is possible to leave Xenoth?" the big mole asked hopefully.

"It appears so," Ozab agreed.

"Ya don't believe dis loony, do ya?" Winky protested, "He just wants ta be fed, ta get his gob stuffed. He'll say whatever ya wants ta    hear ta get his tucker. Does he look like a priest ta youse? Gah! He looks like me uncle Visha, 'cept he's twice as screwy."

Ozab didn't respond to Winky's critique, instead, he stood and walked to a hollow in the  wall and retrieved a small box which he handed to Winky. Ozab sat back down and fished a few more hazelnuts out of the chest. He sat chewing while Winky looked in the box. The stoat's eyes widened as he reached in and pulled out a brilliant scarlet robe and  golden sash.

"Not sure why I kept 'em," The old mongoose  commented, "always thought they'd come  looking for old Ozab. They never did and that's  fine by me"

"So you really do know about the monks and Deev and Gleaners?" Egbert asked.

"The Gleaners are new," Ozab said, "but it's not hard for Ozab to figure out what they're for."

Wilbur, who had been silently listening, spoke up.
"So tell us, tell us everything."

The old mongoose went silent, chewed a few more nuts and smiled.
"Why not?" he concluded, "Let me tell you a story."

The friends settled back on the bench as Ozab began his tale.

"All I know about the beginnings of the Scarlet Brotherhood is what was told to me when I  was a novice. It was told that the order began in the dark years of the past. Twelve fugitive holy men fled Seth-E-Raman, the remnants of an order called the Aurians. Betrayed and   hunted, no longer safe in the south they came to Morgaard, to the Forbidden Wood, where they settled  and set up a monastery." He paused and looked at Wilbur, a smile passed  over his lips, "My father was no older than you, young mole, when he arrived from across the seas and joined the order. They raised him,  taught him discipline and devotion.     

"In those days, as I was told, the Brotherhood was without true direction, true purpose. They had survived, but for what reason, what destiny, they knew not, they waited for a sign.

"My father thrived within their order. He married and had three sons. I was the middle  child. My mother died of fever after the birth  of my  youngest  brother...my oldest brother, Pelicus, was my father's  favorite and became a devout follower. Me...the order was all I knew, I  liked the life and didn't pay much attention to the philosophy. By the time I was a young beast on the verge of adulthood, the order had  changed, it seems to have developed a purpose. This happened when my father dedicated  himself to the study of a book of prophesies, written by a holy man named Gadral Neure in the distant past. The order had possessed the book since its inception.

"Over the years, the book became regarded as just another relic, a holy mystery, cherished for its existence rather than its content. It was the Brotherhood's link to its origin, yet the Brotherhood had chosen to mostly ignore it as nothing more than a blessed curiosity. My father changed that. He tutored my brothers and I, but especially Pelicus in the ancient languages.

"There was no leader of the Brotherhood at that time. Three bishops made all the  decisions. The book said a leader would arise, a high priest who would spread the order and fulfill the prophesies. Father achieved the rank of Bishop and therefore part of the ruling Triumvirate. When the other two bishops became mysteriously ill and died, many, including myself, suspected him of being responsible, but no one spoke out or objected. Nor did anyone object when he named himself High Priest of the Order. From that point on, the entire direction and purpose of the Order changed forever.

"My father set about sending missionaries   around Morgaard to grow the Brotherhood and prepare it for what he called 'the new dawn of Arishamal. He named Pelicus as his heir. The Order grew. Then came Khalis. The Brotherhood was nothing to her, but she thought she could use it to her benefit. My  father was old by then, nor were I or my brothers young any longer.

"Khalis approached us. She said if the Brotherhood fought for her, she would  turn a blind eye..." Ozab chuckled and pointed to his own milky eye, "...to their religious purposes. Father vehemently objected and was about to tell her so when he fell ill. Pelicus took charge of the Order as the new High Priest. He formed a bond with Khalis, agreeing to swell her treasury in exchange for royal favor, arguing to us that our purpose was more important that the squabbles of man or beast.

"I was a Prester by then, the rank below bishop, more for my bloodline than my devotion. I liked the service aspect of the   Brotherhood, tending to the sick, helping the poor, but that side of our order soon disappeared.

"The Brotherhood became almost military, more a gang of thugs than a collection of holy  men. I wanted no part of thievery or moral compromise. Pelicus and I fought, often and passionately. It was only that I was his brother that I  did not disappear or die. He offered me a choice...do Khalis' bidding or spread the Order to Xenoth, knowing I would be trapped forever. I chose the missionary work. Xenoth, I thought, would be a place where neither   Khalis nor my brother, could ever reach me. I was tired and disillusioned with Morgaard and my brothers, who now flourished and basked in their positions of power. Pelicus' sermons became more and more apocalyptic, prophecies of death and annihilation became common.

"It was with relief that I came to Xenoth. I rejected the doomsday cult the Brotherhood had become and tried to serve the Order as I had envisioned it. I tried for  many years until I finally took off my robes  to live a hermit's life of  meditation. I received news from time to  time over the years at  Farewell Ridge. Ten years ago I learned that Pelicus had died and the leadership of the order had  passed to my  younger brother, Azmeritus."

Otto interrupted.
"Azmeritus is your brother!? Why didn't you ever mention that before?"

Ozab chuckled.
"You never asked." The old beast became serious once more, "It is not a kinship I am proud of."

Something Ozab had said roused Zian's curiosity.
"You said you served the Brotherhood for several years after you arrived here before abandoning its teachings. What finally made you sever your ties with them? What was the final straw?"

Ozab looked silently into space, he looked down at his sandaled feet and answered slowly.

"I tended to the sick and dying, I fed the hungry, I devoted myself to what I thought were sincere teachings. Each time I went to Farewell Ridge for news of the world, I would hear disturbing tales. Tales of how the Brotherhood served Khalis, of how they had become brigands, highwaymen, and pirates. I learned that Azmeritus had abandoned all    pretense of holiness, of care to the less fortunate and any concern for those outside his own order. Other beasts began to avoid me when I wore my vestments, out of fear and distrust."

"So dat's when ya left da Brotherhood?" Salto asked.

"No, it was later, I still believed in my work. I still hoped the stories I had been told were lies or exaggerations. It was spring. I had gone to the ridge as I always did. There was a ship just outside the barrier with Scarlet sails and flying the flag of the Brotherhood. There was a commotion and I saw a beast jump from its deck into the sea, swimming toward the shield. Archers ran to the side of the ship and began firing at the fugitive. He was hit several times, but managed to pass through the shield. They did not pursue him, he had several arrows in his back. I took him to my cave and tended to him as best I could. Before he died he told me the truth."

"Truth, what truth?" Zian asked.

"The dying beast's name was Xasus, he was a Prester in the Brotherhood, Azmeritus' private secretary. He had been transcribing a sermon in my brother's quarters when he stumbled upon a diary which Azmeritus had kept since the time he had learned to write. Curiosity overcame him and he read. It was all Azmeritus, every evil act and tragedy. The bishops who had died, allowing my father to become high priest had been poisoned by my brother.

"When my father opposed Khalis, it was again that vile sibling of mine who dispatched him, his own father. The last obstacle to his ascension to high priest, our brother, Pelicus, was drowned in his bath by his own younger    brother. It was after Xasus' tale that I finally and utterly disavowed my bonds to that evil cult."

Ozab wiped a tear from his good eye and looked up at his guests, "I need to sleep now, to end this day and begin a new one fresh and clean of my corroded past. You are welcome to return," he managed a smile, "Food, of course, is always welcome as well."

As the friends looked on, Ozab closed his good eye and was soon snoring loudly.