On 19 Mar 2005 at 15:34, Peter Metcalfe wrote:
[Dart Warriors]
> They are not actually a group but more of an occupation like gladiator.
I knew that. Bad word choice on my part.
> 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.
Yeah, that was part of my problem with the Blue Moon ones. They might be a little too powerful. And since I'm going with the "assassin who has fled" storyline here, given the amount of mind control the Blue have, they might be a bit much.
> 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.
So we have from the Lunar point of view Red, Blue, and possibly Black moon assassins. The differing motivations are what? The Black are Black Ops against nefarious criminals. The Blue do something similar but for political enemies of the Empire, maybe? (internal enemies) And the Red get sent against external enemies?
So the Blue Moon Asssassins eliminate that failed Provincial Overseer, or some major player at court moving to seize more power. The Red Moon Assassins helped as back up on JarEel's mission to kill Pharoah?
> 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).
I'm trying to keep away from pure chaos gods in this particular case. (I am going to save this bit, though, since I love the one legged and six legged thing.)
> The Arkati have numerous secretive sects and organizations,
> some of which easily function as organized assassins.
True. But I suspect not much Arkat worship in the Empire.
> 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.
Wow. They sound sweet. :-)
> 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.
The severing of the ultimate bond?
> Kralorela probably has a number of triads or tongs that indulge
> in assassination. Most are Sekeverites but not all.
Figued that Kralorela would have some, but doesn't fit the story I'm going for.
> 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.
Same as above.
> The Vadeli have psychopomps for hire. You hire them to
> send your chosen victim to the Vadeli afterlife (which is
> beyond hellish).
That's just nasty. The Vadeli afterlife has just got to be horrible.
Most Malkioni have no need for assassins
> as professional duelists serve their needs admirably.
Although I suspect there are assassins none the less. There, especially, though, it must be viewed as dishonorable and evil, while dueling would be more accepted.
> >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 was having trouble seeing a Humakt assassin cult. Not with Honor being a core rune. But I suppose you could focus on the Oath aspect of that and make a case for it. Some of the geas make it hard, too. It really would be a twisted version of the Sartarite Humakt we know from Storm Tribe. Mind you, ILH1 mentions that the Carmanians have a Hu'makt, and I think I remember reading he exists in Ralios, so I suppose you could have one.
Given that he exists in some form as far west as Carmania, is he floating around the Empire? He's not Lunar, but is he a Death God in much of the Empire? (This might work for me, as it gives a way for an escaped assassin to encounter a different view of the death god in Dragon Pass.)
> That's not the original assassins but the gardens of paradise motif
> in romances of the period.
True. But then this is a romance, no? :-)
But training camps and monasteries
> would be pretty much commonplace for many of the assassin
> orders that I already mentioned.
Absolutely.
Thanks again, a wondeful list.
LC
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