INTRODUCTION
The Nameless is the title attributed to a secretive group of hidden assassins. The Nameless is not an official title created by the order, rather a moniker given to them by the people due their lack of a public body or name. In the kingdoms of Vathria, many consider the group to me a myth, a boogeyman whispered about to sell news and gossip. The reality is that the Nameless are very much a real threat to those they are paid to kill. Assassins within the order have the incredible ability to change their appearances and faces at will. These assassins are master artists of camouflage and deception. While higher members of the Sentinel Security Police of Sovereign Shores understand the threat of the group, no tangible evidence has ever presented itself to make an arrest. The Nameless excel at making their hits appear as accidents, no matter how unlikely or impossible they may seem.
CHARACTERISTICS
The Silent Assassin
The Nameless look for all intents and purposes like every other person. They are experts at blending in with the world and people around them, appearing as standard and nondescript as anyone else to avoid detection. Unlike other hidden secret societies this is not an order where members gather together or know one another. Assassins are insulated and protected by anonymity. Nobody knows how targets are chosen. Some speculate that money is exchanged though no gold trail has ever been proven, likewise no two targets are ever alike. The deaths of high ranking politicians, store owners, landlords, or common beggars could all be attributed to the order of the Nameless. The only problem for the authorities is that there often no proof a crime even took place.
Accidental deaths are how victims are labelled in their after death reports. A statue that fell from a building long in need of restoration, a drunken slumber and lit candle spilling into a fire that engulfs two homes. These kinds of deaths individually are accepted by the masses for the accidents they are, however to members of the law enforcement of various Vathrian cities, they form a pattern. Cracking the code however seems all but impossible.
The assassins themselves hide in plain sight, as merchants, beggars, travelling showmen or even well respected officials. Anyone could be a member of the Nameless, but only very few truly are. The abilities of remaining hidden is a secret long passed down from the shadows to those willing to cast off their identity. An assassin has no headquarter to go to, no place to meet their handlers, simply they a provided with a name on a card, left for them in a place they are sure to find it. Once a name has been written, the person's death is assured. The card is disposed of, and the reason for why they must die is never put to question. The Nameless, have a target, and they will act on it with precision before disappearing once more into the shadows.
The Faceless Mask
Initiates when recruited into the order are given a tool that will assist them in their mission as a member of the nameless organization. The master teaches the recruit every skill they know of the craft of killing quietly and the mask is a fundamental aspect of that process. Relics of the times of Gods, the mask allows the wearer to change their face
HISTORY
Little is known of the origins of the organization known or in which age they first appeared. They appear to serve no master that anyone could conceive, nor do they appear to be directed by Kings and nobles. Those who have strayed too close to the secrets of the order disappear or disappear and become one of them. One story however that can shed a little light on the secretive group involves the Champion Vincent and how he himself became an assassin.
The Current Age
An actor who fell from grace following a tragic fire that scarred him terribly, Vincent lost everything on his way down to the underbelly of Baycrest in the Sovereign Shores. Desperate, alone and scarred he was approached by a man of equal disfigurement and offered a proposal. The man had seen Vincent some time before during one of his theatre performances and had been impressed by his acting. The man admitted that he was also in the business of becoming other people and in an act of apparent magic, changed his appearance in the blink of an eye. The boils, warts and scarring were gone, replaced by the face of chiseled features and confidence. This was Vincent's first encounter with a representative of the Nameless and pledged himself then and there in the hope of attaining his beauty and the love he lost once more. Ultimately Vincent did not fully commit to the cause of the Nameless. He understood their motivations and trained hard under them, he only ever came into contact with the man, a person who never gave his name and always met Vincent with a different face. He was both within and without, with one singular goal. Vincent wished to reclaim his life and his own beauty. Upon passing a series of tests, he was awarded the title of master assassin and presented with his own Faceless Mask. At first, he attempted to use its power to bring his old face back. The man told him never to do this, to never try to be what he once was, the Nameless must be no one, and everyone. With this, Vincent was given his first target, marked for death. A former friend from his days in the theatre, the man who had fired him after the accident that had led to his scarred and hideous face. Believing he could commit to this mission, at the last moment Vincent failed. He attempted to warn his old friend, only to watch as the man, unseen came from the shadows and struck down Vincent's mark. The man named Vincent a failure, told him he would never be one of the Nameless and ordered his death. Unwavering, Vincent fought back using the very skills the man had taught him, and bested his nameless master. With the man's death at the end of Vincent's blade and his lifeblood pouring out of him, Vincent took his mask, a special mask that could not just allow him to change face. This mask would also grant the ability for the wearer to change into a person of any race in the lands of Vathria. The Nameless Vincent realized truly could be anyone and no one.
The Ages yet to come
The histories of tomorrow are awaiting an author, one who would tell the stories of the heroes and events not yet known. Vincent is hunted still by the Nameless though he is considered one of their best, the order of killers remain silent in the shadows but no way to discern who their next target will be. However for now, those stories are unwritten and the outcomes unknown as the looming threat grows larger across Vathria. . .