10. Innovative Recruitment Methods
The Assassins used innovative recruitment methods, that relied on convincing recruits that their leader, the Sheik known as The Old Man of the Mountain, held the keys to paradise. Prospects were summoned to an Assassin fortress, where they were housed in bare cells. They received daily religious lectures and education. It was gradually hinted that Sheik Hassan al Sabah or his successors held the keys to paradise. Then, one day, the more promising young men were drugged with hashish.
When the recruit came to, high on hash, he found himself amidst carefully landscaped orchard gardens, through which clear streams meandered between rows of vines heavy with grapes, and trees ripe with fruit. Cute lambs and tame deer frolicked and gamboled about; peacocks wandered around, ruffling and spreading their gorgeous tails; while brightly colored birds flitted through the branches above, trilling and filling the air with their song. And amid the breathtaking surroundings were breathtakingly beautiful women to seduce the recruit, cater to his physical desires, and satisfy his sexual whims.
