The al-Sabiyyah troubles in 783

Could we get some more details about what actually happened in Tessouere in or around 783? I know there was a conspiracy, but I don't know how it developed. Was there a purge, or a civil war?

ETA: 780-782.

The rather hazy series of events known as the al-Sabiyyan Conspiracy took place from 780-782 ND, when different factions within that city began a period of intense maneuvering against one another for control over the future of Tessere Province. The conspiracy itself seems to have involved an attempt by Tessere separatists to seize full control over the provincial court and Lion Guard, and thereby increase the province's autonomy from the caliphate -- or, possibly, to leave the caliphate outright and form an alliance with the neighboring Emirate of Koumbasi instead (also a part of the caliphate, but with somewhat greater autonomy of its own).

What actually took place during this time is extremely uncertain to all but the parties directly involved (whoever they were, as this is also uncertain), and the whole thing is shrouded in obscurity, but the upshot was that al-Sabiyyah gradually became convulsed with gossip, intrigue, and wild suspicion. Unexplained detentions and disappearances, though not ever quite widespread, nevertheless became common enough to put the city in a highly excitable state, even for a place as thoroughly habituated to political intrigue as al-Sabiyyah. Serious fighting never broke out, but the sense of suppressed tension and the overriding feeling that things were happening beyond any normal person's control were perhaps worse than any pitched street battle for the city. The sense of ferment was only exacerbated by the fact that nobody really seemed to know just what was going on -- or if anybody did, they weren't telling -- or if they were telling, it was impossible to say what was truth, what mere rumor, and what outright lie.

The affair finally came to an end when the bey of Tessere died under suspicious circumstances, his fate widely considered to be the work of the legendary Assassins' Guild, and gradually life in the city returned to normal. But to this day no one seems really certain of just what, exactly, the al-Sabiyyan Conspiracy really was.

Thanks, MistSparrow! Someone who lived through that time might remember it as "Boy, that was really scary and really close -- though I have no idea what it was close to!" It feels sort of like a Cuban Missile Crisis moment, where everyone knows something dangerous NEARLY happened.