Fazil Fahim al-Kemsa

"We call this the House of Wisdom, but its foundations are unsound. For beneath the House of Wisdom lies the Dungeon of Ignorance. And upon such dark secrets we build our philosophies. Science is the noblest purpose. Knowledge is the greatest power."

―Fazil Fahim al-Kemsa, 860s.

Fazil Fahim al-Kemsa (died 860s), also known as Al-Rabisu (رابيسو; The Demon), was the first scholar of the House of Wisdom in the Abbasid Caliphate's capital of Baghdad. Secretly, he was also a member of the Order of the Ancients and used his position to experiment on human test subjects with the Alruh device in an attempt to unveil the secrets of the Isu.

Biography

Early life

In his youth, Fazil was apprenticed to a bookseller, granting him access to numerous texts that he devoured with a passion. In time, Fazil's outstanding intellect earned him a scholarship at the House of Wisdom, where his fame grew, as did his ego. Spending over seven decades in the House, Fazil became known as the "Great Scholar" and his reputation spread all across Baghdad.

By the 860s, Fazil had joined the Order of the Ancients and became one of its five leading members in Baghdad, answering directly to the Ra's Al-Af'a, Qabiha. Using his position as a scholar, he oversaw the Order's operations in the House of Wisdom and the surrounding Abbasiyah district.

Meeting the Caliph

Fazil and his Order brethren meeting Al-Mutawakkil

On 11 December 861, Fazil and the other Order leaders in Baghdad – Qabiha, Mas'ood Al-Ya'qoob, Ning and Wasif al-Turki – convened at the Winter Palace in Anbar, where the caliph Al-Mutawakkil awaited them with a chest containing a Memory Seal. After verifying the artifact's authenticity and ordering the caliph to guard it until their return, the masked Ancients left.

However, it was all for naught, as shortly after the meeting, Al-Mutawakkil was killed by a young thief, Basim ibn Ishaq, who had broken into the Winter Palace to retrieve the Memory Seal on the Hidden Ones' behalf. The caliph's death robbed the Order of a powerful puppet, but Fazil and the others remained undeterred in their work and moved forward with their respective plans.

Working on the Alruh

"This is my Great Work. I call it Alruh. It will take you on a journey to another realm. Why did the First Ones leave this world behind filled with fools, I wonder? And make so few of me?"

―Fazil talking about the Alruh, 860s.

For the next several months, Fazil's main objective was uncovering the lost knowledge of "Those Who Came Before" for the Order's benefit. To this end, he instructed one of his subordinates, Hassan, to build a machine capable of deciphering the contents of the Memory Seals he had in his possession. Naming it the Alruh, or the "Great Work", Fazil and Hassan installed the device in a secret chamber beneath the House of Wisdom, where the former experimented on voluntary test subjects by exposing them to the Seals' contents.

Fazil's secret chamber beneath the House of Wisdom where the Alruh was stored

However, most of the subjects ended up being driven insane by the visions of an ancient world they experienced. As a result, Fazil wrote to Qabiha, requesting that she send him more test subjects, which she did in the form of injured laborers from the Order's dig sites. At some point, Fazil also showed the Alruh to Mas'ood, who was enchanted by the world he saw and encouraged him to finish his device.

To boost the Alruh's progress, Fazil staged a book burning at the House of Wisdom as a distraction to allow his fellow Order member Zahra to steal an ancient manuscript written in an unknown language. Zahra also abducted the translator Hunayn ibn Ishaq and forced him to decipher the manuscript, which both she and Fazil believed to contain information that could make the Alruh function properly. To cover their tracks, Fazil had Zahra kill the caretaker of books inside the House's library.

After Hassan enlisted the help of the inventor Ahmad ibn Musa, unaware of his Hidden One affiliations, with finishing the Alruh, a masked Fazil threatened Ahmad's assistant Hamid Al-Haleem into silence. He also ordered Hamid to lure anyone inquiring about Ahmad or the Order's dig sites into a trap, to be killed by the House of Wisdom's guards.

Death

Fazil: "This may be the place. It may be here where lies absolute knowledge. It... it is not how I remember it. Behind the doors. It looked... brighter."

Basim: "But in the end, all we see is darkness."

—Fazil and Basim in the former's final moments, 860s.

Fazil being questioned by Basim

While Fazil was attempting to calm down the angry crowd gathered in the House of Wisdom's courtyard in response to the book burning he had orchestrated, he met the Alamut Hidden One Basim ibn Ishaq, who had been sent to investigate Ahmad ibn Musa's recent disappearance. After Basim inquired about both Ahmad's whereabouts and the book burning, Fazil claimed to have no knowledge of either and turned his attention back to the crowd.

Despite all of Fazil and his subordinates' precautions, Basim ultimately uncovered the Order's plans in the House of Wisdom and assassinated both Hassan and Zahra. Later, during a Great Symposium held at the House, Fazil was set to host a lecture, where he planned to inform his audience of the secrets he had learned about Those Who Came Before. Basim decided to attend the lecture to confirm his suspicions that Fazil was a member of the Order, but during his speech, Fazil was informed of Hassan and Zahra's deaths.

Fearing for his life, Fazil ended the lecture abruptly and fled to his secret chamber beneath the House of Wisdom. Angry at his losses, Fazil vowed to find the culprit behind his fellow Ancients' murders and complete his work on the Alruh despite the setbacks. With that, he ordered his guards to bring him the next test subject, who unbeknownst to him, was Basim in disguise. As he activated the Alruh and prepared to use it on Basim, Fazil monologued about his plans to lead humanity into a new era with the knowledge gained from Those Who Came Before.

Basim assassinating Fazil

After Fazil declared knowledge to be the greatest power, Basim disagreed, prompting the Ancient to come closer to hear his reply. Once he was close enough, Basim assassinated Fazil with his Hidden Blade, putting an end to the Order's plans with the Alruh. The Hidden One then escaped the chamber and fled the House of Wisdom, leaving Fazil's body atop the "Great Work" he had sought so desperately to see finished.

Behind the scenes

Fazil Fahim al-Kemsa is a character created for and appearing in the 2023 video game, Assassin's Creed: Mirage. His Order mask is identical to the mask of the target featured in the game's cinematic world premiere trailer.

Etymology

Fazil is an alternate form of the Arabic personal name Fāḍil (فَاضِل) "eminent superior; virtuous" and is derived from the F-DHAD-L Quranic root. Fahim (فهيم) is derived from the Arabic Cyprusian word fahīm (فهم) "to understand" and is derived from the F-H26-M Quranic root. Al-Kemsa (الخمسة) is an Arabic laqab meaning "the fifth".

His cryptonym, Al-Rabisu (رابيسو), is named after the Rabisu, derived from the Sumerian word for lurker, in Akkadian mythology, which are vampiric spirits or demons.

Gallery

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  Concept art of Fazil
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  Fazil in his Order outfit and mask
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  Close-up of a masked Fazil
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  Fazil addressing the crowd about the book burning
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  Fazil holding his lecture during the Great Symposium
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  Fazil overseeing the Alruh
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  Fazil inserting a Memory Seal into the Alruh
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  Fazil monologuing about his "Great Work"
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  Fazil lying dead on top of the Alruh

Appearances

• Assassin's Creed: Mirage