From the introduction:
Although the Pathfinder Society began as a casual club of adventurers, within a decade it had published its first compilation of discoveries, and within 15 years it had established a ruling body of 10 wise and popular leaders: the Decemvirate. Over the following decades, the Society expanded, founding lodges across Avistan and northern Garund. As the Society’s influence grew, so too did the Decemvirate’s influence. Some began to question the council’s judgment, particularly following the Decemvirate’s destruction of the infamous fifth volume of the Pathfinder Chronicles, rumored to shed light on the disappearance of the famous Pathfinder Durvin Gest in 4360 ar. Tensions escalated when the Decemvirate directed vast sums into the construction of the Skyreach tower. By 4408, factions were angrily debating what the Decemvirate’s role should be and how much power it should wield. Violence followed three years later.