>Assassins. A cult of assassins. In the Lunar Empire. Who would these be?
>I know there are Dart Warriors, but these strike me more as a freelance
>group.
They are not actually a group but more of an occupation like gladiator.
>What I am looking for
>here is some kind of organized assassin group. The Blue Moon Assassins
>implied in Nick Brooke's Moonson freeform come to mind. But are there
>others?
The Nathics, Red Moon assassins, would be more common than the Blue Moon Assassins. The Nathics can be found anywhere within the Empire while the Blue Moon types are incredibly secretive and very scary. Nobody has ever met them to live to tell the tale and more importantly people that run afoul of the Blue Moon Assassins are forgotten as if they had never existed.
There might also be Black Moon Assassins, worshipping Danfive Xaron. But they are not assassins for hire but Black Operations folks dedicated to neutralizing nefarious criminals.
There are the Krarshti who carry out assassinations, either as a one-legged contract (one attempt made) or a six-legged contract (to keep on attempting assassinations until success or the end of time).
The Arkati have numerous secretive sects and organizations, some of which easily function as organized assassins.
The Gift Carriers of the Sending Gods are an Elvish Assassin regime based in Umathela. They are notorious for wiping out the God Learners because they knew the Forbidden Secret.
In the centre of Fonrit, there is a town dedicated to trying to sever the bonds of slavery. That makes it a perfect place for a bunch of deranged assassins.
Kralorela probably has a number of triads or tongs that indulge in assassination. Most are Sekeverites but not all.
There is a group of thuggees in Teshnos which has their holy place of Than Ulbar in the Wastes. Although connected to Thanatar, they will have no qualms about being assassins for hire.
The Vadeli have psychopomps for hire. You hire them to send your chosen victim to the Vadeli afterlife (which is beyond hellish). Most Malkioni have no need for assassins as professional duelists serve their needs admirably.
>I don't see any
>such group making sense in Orlanthi culture, but what about elsewhere?
Some twisted version of Humakt might be assassins, my thinking is the Duck Hueymakt cult.
>I'm thinking
>something like the original assassins, the "we take you and remove you
>from ordinary life, raise you as a weapon" approach.
That's not the original assassins but the gardens of paradise motif in romances of the period. But training camps and monasteries would be pretty much commonplace for many of the assassin orders that I already mentioned.
--Peter Metcalfe
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