The Ministry of Assassination
The Ministry kills for a fee and keeps its books like a government office. Nobody admits it exists. It stands on the stealth rules.
The grey hoods
Its people wear a charcoal hood, a bone-white half mask, a crimson sash and black gloves. About once a game day there is a chance an agent kills someone near you outdoors. The agent sneaks in, strikes from behind and walks away. Stop it before the blow and the victim lives and remembers you. The Ministry never takes a shopkeeper, a master, a steward, a follower, a quest-giver, a party member or a child. Kill an agent and it drops a Black Wax Seal, and the Ministry knows your name.
The envoy and being hunted
Shortly after you kill an agent, an envoy walks up and makes an offer on a card: Y to join, N to refuse. Walking away is not refusing. Refuse and hunters come, tougher with each refusal, until you say yes. A raven circles shortly before they close in.
Joining: the Assassin Bell
Say yes and you receive the Assassin Bell, which cannot be lost, and your first Art, Shade Cloak. Ring it unseen and out of a fight and your Registrar steps out of the nearest place you cannot see. The Registrar pays you what you are owed and offers three contracts. You may leave, but that makes you hunted. Kill an agent at its work once and you are warned; twice and you are expelled.
Contracts
The game picks real places 40 to 220 tiles away and proves the job can be done unseen: it simulates the guards' cones and finds a sneaking path to a spot behind the mark. A taken contract appears in your tracker and on the map, and the scene stands ready when you come within 60 tiles.
| Contract | From | The job |
|---|---|---|
| Open Mark | Initiate | a resident going about their day |
| The Lodger | Initiate | a guest in an inn room, a bodyguard by the door |
| On the Road | Initiate | a traveller on a timetable |
| Beast of Note | Initiate | a named man-eater and its pack |
| Gone to Ground | Clerk | a fugitive somewhere in a forest circle |
| The Chief | Clerk | a bandit camp's leader |
| Night Walker | Clerk | someone who walks a fixed route after dark |
| Two Faces | Notary | two lookalikes; the briefing gives the tell |
| The Gathering | Notary | a mark among many witnesses |
| The Rival | Notary | a turncoat agent who hunts you back |
| The Watchtower | Magistrate | a watch captain among sentries |
| The Estate | Magistrate | a lord behind hounds, lamps and guards |
Each contract pays more for a Silent kill than a Quiet or Loud one. The reward differs in kind as you rise, never in amount by place. Grades lead to Minister, with 30 Arts to learn and the Ministry's armoury to wear.