Syndicate of Blades

The Syndicate of Blades is a mysterious shadow organization that once existed in the Royal Coast, but has expanded across the entire Veridian Sea over the last two decades. They are an elite group of assassinations who have a reputation for having no loyalties to any organization and for being able to reach any target, no matter how well guarded.

It is unknown exactly when the Syndicate of Blades got started, but they appear in some records from the Royal Coast as early as the 1350s. They were well known among the nobility in the Royal Coast and performed numerous assassinations in the early 1400s which cemented them as a powerful faction within the region. They reached peak infamy in the Royal Coast following the assassination of Archduke Remus Delanor of Nightcrest in the year 1477. The Archduke had known he was the target of an assassination plot, so he hid himself away inside a specially built fortress where he did not come in direct contact with anybody. The only way to the Archduke would be to knock down the walls themselves. Impossibly, the Archduke was found dead inside the castle only a week after it had been erected. After careful examination, nobody could figure out exactly how they broke in. He was stabbed too, not a matter of poison gas or any other means of killing. Given the timing and nature of the kill, many viewed this as the Syndicate of Blades showing off their skills to any who would try something similar.

Since that assassination, requests for their services grew and grew until they had become a force throughout all of the Veridian Sea. Because many parts of the Veridian Sea already have assassin groups, their expansion has been met with hostility. In some places, like Surket, there is even an outright war going on in the shadows between the groups.

It is said that to contact the Syndicate of Blades, one must leave an offering of nightshade at a shrine to Lucia on the full moon, when you know she is watching from her lunar palace. If your offering was accepted, after three nights one of them will find you. You must be ready to pay then, because they will not wait or reschedule. They accept coin, but have also been known to accept objects of value as well. Higher profile targets will require more substantial pay, and ultimately it is the contact who will decide if your offered pay is enough. If a deal is struck, they will leave with the payment and you will not see them again. The target will then be assassinated. So far in their history there are no known cases of the target not being assassinated.