I turned to find an elderly Deveel waving desperately
at me as he hurried forward. Normally I would have
avoided the encounter, as Deveels are always selling
something and at the moment I wasn't buying, but since
I wasn't in a hurry I decided to hear what he had to say.
"I'm glad I caught you in time," he said, struggling
to catch his breath. "While I don't usually meddle, you
really don't want to go in there!"
"Why not? I was just...."
"Do you know who lives there?"
"Well, actually I thought...."
"That is the dwelling of the Great Skeeve!"
Robert Asprin
Something about this busybody irritated me. Maybe
it was the way he never let me finish a sentence. Any-
way, I decided to string him along for a while."
"The Great Skeeve?"
"You never heard of him?" The Deveel seemed gen-
uinely shocked. "He's probably the most powerful
magician at the Bazaar."
My opinion of the busybody soared to new heights,
but the game was too much fun to abandon.
"I've never had too much faith in magicians," I said
with studied casualness. "I've found for the most part
their powers are overrated."
The oldster rolled his eyes in exasperation.
"That may be true in most cases, but not when it
comes to the Great Skeeve! Did you know he consorts
with Demons and has a dragon for a familiar?"
I favored him with a worldly smile.
"So what? Deva is a crossroads of the dimensions.
