> I rather think that while the BMC are the hard cases of the assassin-
> ation world (available basically to anyone with the money and the right
> connections)...
I think that those connections would have to be pretty high-powered, myself. The Blue Moon Assassins don't work for just *anyone*. Part of the reputation problem may be that (a) the Blue Moon Cult has no centralised knowledge of what its individual temples and members are getting up to (parallels the way Annilla's intellect was destroyed); and (b) killing may well be a sacramental act to the Blue Moon cultists, so they have to bop people off once in a while just to keep their demented goddess happy.
> the indivdual houses' assassins would be of a generally more refined
> paradigm, extraordinarily skilled and focussed advisors to the house
> leaders.
I agree completely. But note that some leaders might specialise in *unrefined* house assassins: savage tribesmen who can't be bribed; demonic crossbreeds whose loyalty is unquestioned (or assured); brutish thugs like Harrek (the most successful Lunar assassin we know, after all). One of the Sultans of the Empire is a Sable Khan, after all... mind you, I suspect he gets some top-quality assistance from Moonson's court, to help him keep a grip on faithless Kostaddi.
> These aren't the for-hire thugs of the BMC, these would be the most
> skilled individuals a house could produce.
I think even the most skilled house assassins would fear the Blue Moon cultists, and I think that they'd be right to do so. The Blue Moonies are by no means a lowest common denominator. Other assassins would kill (how appropriate!) for the training and magics the Blue Moon can take for granted.
Plus, of course, if the Blue Moon assassins are after you, you *know* you've pissed off someone powerful, who can call in favours from the Emperor's Cousin or others among the unfathomable veiled leadership of the Duchy of the Blue Moon.
I prefer this to having Blue Moon assassins a commonplace or sub-standard bunch. They should be scary and mysterious: the epitome of assassins, not the dregs.
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Nick
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