"By the time you see me, it is too late to save yourself." -Mirela
Identity[]
Source: Shadow. Assassins have bound their souls to Shadowfell and become beings of darkness.
Role: Striker. Assassins are ghosts in the night and whispers on the wind. Barriers are worthless against them, and they strike their foes with sudden, precise force.
Implement: Ki foci
History[]
Few creatures embrace shadow magic without both a compelling reason and a measure of desperation. Not many visit Shadowfell willingly, let alone pledge a shard of their souls to it. Yet that is exactly what assassins, and other practitioners of shadow magic, do to gain their power.
Assassins will cede a portion of themselves to Shadowfell, replacing a fundamental part of their being with a dark reflection of their true self. At times, they can manifest this twisted image in place of their bodies so that they can face attacks with little cause for concern. Also, the infusion of shadow magic allows them to spot the weakest points in a victim’s defenses. With a few moments of study, they can reduce even the stoutest warrior to a corpse.
If others know that they were assassins, they might find that few trust them. In some civilized realms, the study of shadow magic and assassination is banned on pain of death. In the past, and as a response to the outcry against them, assassins formed coteries, or guilds, of like-minded slayers, and each one delves into the study of shadow magic and develops unique methods of killing. A guild provides them with a measure of protection, and its grandmasters expect obedience and fealty. The wars between guilds, and the struggles within them, might never spill into mass battles, but they still leave dozens of slain folk in their wake.
Assassins are outcasts. They traded away part of their souls for the power of death. Perhaps they seek justice against a powerful enemy, or maybe they had no other way to preserve themselves in the face of a bleak, uncaring world. Whatever drew them onto the assassin’s path, they are avatars of death and trained killers from whom few can escape unharmed.