The Killing Krew

The Old Man kept at his court such boys of twelve years old as seemed to him destined to become courageous men. When the Old Man sent them into the garden in groups of four, ten or twenty, he gave them hashish to drink. They slept for three days, then they were carried sleeping into the garden where he had them awakened.
When these young men woke, and found themselves in the garden with all these marvelous things, they truly believed themselves to be in paradise. And these damsels were always with them in songs and great entertainments; they received everything they asked for, so that they would never have left that garden of their own will.
And when the Old Man wished to kill someone, he would take him and say: ‘Go and do this thing. I do this because I want to make you return to paradise’. And the assassins go and perform the deed willingly. — The Adventures of Marco Polo

  Within The Eagle's Nest
The Old Man built the legendary Garden of Earthly Delights.
The garden lay in a beautiful valley nestled between two high mountains.
Here The Old Man had imported exotic plants, birds, and animals from all over the world.
Surrounding the garden were luxurious palaces of marble and gold, decorated with beautiful paintings and fine silk furniture.
Streams of milk, wine, and honey flowed throughout this earthly paradise, while fountains gushed with wine and pure spring water.
A secret garden with all the delights promised to the faithful when they reached paradise.
The chosen ones were drugged and taken to the garden by night.
When they awoke in the morning they were surrounded by beautiful and scantily clad women;
who lived in paradise,
who ministered to the initiates every need and desire,
who sang and danced and played lovely instruments.
After being allowed to savor this false paradise for a day or so,
the initiates were then again drugged before being taken back to awaken into their reality, a squalid hovel or cave dwelling.
To the young men, it was as if it had been a vivid dream.
At a later time, The Old Man would then sent for his boys,
tell them they had been given a preview of paradise,
and surprised them by telling them exactly what each had been up to while in the secret garden.
  So successful was The Old Man in this method of conditioning and indoctrination that it was once said,
The Old Man astounded a visiting dignitary whom he wanted to impress with his power,
by sending for one of his cadre and ordering him to kill himself,
which he immediately did.
When an initiate was sent out by The Old Man to carry out some violent death, the initiate was just as dedicated.
So convinced were these young men that they would be rewarded in paradise,
they never once hesitated to fulfill their tour of duty.