And so the summons went out to all the members of the council, representing many of the great families of the clan of the righteous Jann. The call was neither verbal nor written, but a summoning of the spirit that reached to each member who sat on the council. Twenty of them there were, not including the shaykh himself, and they served as an advisory body only. The shaykh was not bound by their decisions—but a shaykh who too frequently ignored the wishes of his council often ended up being replaced by someone more tractable.
The council members heard the summons, and from all parts of the caverns and from their far-flung journeys they came to sit in session. Even on such short notice, Suleim was gratified to see all the other council members in attendance as well as himself. If he were to
