PART SIX: OPPOSITION
Yash'ar Aref-efendi gain tremendous influence in the Dabistan Rassad. Those who feared death, he placated with promises of life eternal (as had been promised him). Those who craved gold, he bought with star-wrought wonders. Those who desired knowledge, he tempted with secrets whispered in a tongue never meant for human ears.
Still, his power was not absolute within the fortress-monastery. The Circle of Revered Brothers, the nominal rulers of the Dabistan Rassad, soon recognized the efendi's growing influence. Demanding that he explain himself, the Revered Brothers ordered Yash'ar Aref to their council chamber. He meekly complied, accompanied by six of Aubaridan Ahktar's emissaries. Yash'ar Aref and the emissaries left the council chamber after a few minutes, and the Revered Brothers were never seen again. No blood was found, nor corpses, nor any sign of struggle. It was as if they Revered Brothers never existed.
After the disappearance of the Revered Brothers, those who opposed Yash'ar Aref-efendi had to be much more circumspect. The simurgh (see here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simurgh) known as "Akad," who had long dwelt at the Dabistan Rassad, did not believe the efendi merely sought temporal power. Fearing a greater evil to come, it reached out to thirty like-minded students and faculty members, creating a secret society that spied on the efendi, seeking to uncover his plans. They were almost too late...