No one mentions the All Seeing Eye...

[Master of Malfeasance]

Yes, it's a cheesy name, and every genre has its own witch hunter/secret police/arctic SCUBA ninja assassins from vietnam, but I see a great deal of real potential here.


A house laid low and pressed into service, intensely trained and mind-broken Jason Bourne-type assassins and spies, any one of whom might pop up at any moment.  The perfect Realm terrorists?  Political assassins for hire?  A deadly cabal of heretics?


Quick history lesson-


the word "assassin" comes to us from the Persian/Arabic word "Hashashin," or smokers of hashish.  It all started after the expansion of Islam.  A group of heretic muslims who believed that the final Imam was Ismael left civilized lands under heavy duty persecution and took residence in an abandoned fortress in the mountains called the Alamut (no translation for that one).  Once there, they still faced persecution, so their leader, Hassn AlSabah sent his minions forth to kidnap young men who would one day grow into positions of prominence.  They were drugged and brough to the Alamut where they would be doped out of their minds on hashish and brought to Hassn AlSabah's pleasure garden.  


Our friend Hassn would tell them that they were in heaven and that he alone knew the way back and that the kidnappees could spend eternity there if they died in his service.


So, in secret, they were spirited back to their homes, fake rescues staged, etc. and these adolescents grew and prospered until a servant of Hassn showed up at the palace (most likely the capitol of Persia) demanding tribute.  When the king refused, he was murdered that night by one of his advisors who made no attempt to escape.


Thus was the dual genesis of terrorism and the concept of the assassin who could be anyone anywhere.


How does this sound?  Hassn AlSabah's name translates roughly to "handsome morning."  The Ismaelis or "sevenists" might be the remnants of house Iselsi.  Perhaps an Islesi general's mind finally snapped under the strain of hostage family members and this person begins kidnapping Realm children from finishing school, or what if this person will live long enough to take the long view all by himself?  A sidereal who could predict which children would rise to prominence would be extra evil.  Maybe the same one that the Immaculate Order/Scarlet Empress left in charge of the ASE.


Now that the Scarlet Empress is gone, plans set in place long ago are coming together, children disappear, hidden manses are re-opened for the training of these children, First Age loyalty-inducing drugs produced and wheels are put in motion to stage a bloodless coup.  Replace the current regime with yours.  Do it a few times to keep people guessing.


Guild plot?


A heretical sect of the cult of the illuminated?


Followers of a sixth dragon? (the ebon dragon?)

 

[Obsidian Soul]

I think that the Islesi would kill him themselves, to prevent him from giving the other Houses anymore reason to want them dead.


There is no such things as terrorism in the Second Age.  There is peace and there is war, anything else is just arguing over the details.  Soldiers rape women and children, kill the peasants for amusement, steal their grain and livestock and burn anything that they feel like, and that is on their own land, what they do to the enemy is even worse.  


War is a brutal, brutal thing and, if a side does not have a leader of decency, the soldiers will become monsters that prey on their fellow humans.  The most recent example in modern day is America's War in Iraq.  3000 cases of soldier on soldier rape, where an American male soldier raped an American female soldier, have been reported so far and, with how rarely rape is reported, there are probably a lot more cases than that.  Rapes of Iraqi women and children by American soldiers are estimated to be in the tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands.  The frightening thing is that our army is considered civilized in comparison to ancient armies, so there would be no such thing as terrorism in the Second Age because everything is allowed.

 

[Master of Malfeasance]

Where are you getting your information?  I returned from Iraq last march, and I have heard very few reports of rape or sexual misconduct (aside from that covered very extensively by the news and lots of soldier-on-soldier stuff that routinely gets swept under the carpet whether it's in the states or in the field).  I'm sure it happens, but many soldiers are terrified of what diseases or germs the Iraqis might be carrying.


As for terrorism and ancient armies, it worked back then.  The rulers weren't afraid of their people getting cacked by invisible killers in the night, they themselves were terrified that any of the advisors or guards or concubines might reveal themselves to have been a deep cover plant in case that ruler got out of line.  


I do agree with you somewhat, that any would be Iselsi agent of fear would have to be pretty insidious and depraved and almost certainly Exalted.

 

[Persell]

MoM, I think that sounds like a great idea. It's full of intrigue, red herrings, and socio/politico goodness. I like it. I, however, would never be able to pull it off, I'm just not that good.


Obsidian Soul, this could definately work. Remember Caeser? Terrorism isn't a modern concept, it simply means that the people are afraid. It's been cearly laid out that the peasents of the Realm know that something is going on, but not what, or how fast. When all of a sudden all the nobility begin becoming much more serious and worried looking, and there are stories of noble children being kidnapped, nobles being assassinated in ever growing numbers, food shortages, and everything else going on... the peasents are gonna freak out... big time.

 

[Obsidian Soul]

MoM, no insult to you or anything, it would only take one percent of the Marines and Soldiers in Iraq to do the damage I described, but I stand by my research.  Here are some sites if you are interested; http://www.sundayherald.com/43796, www.slate.msn.com/id/2100014/, www.guardian.co.uk/women/story/0,3604,1220673,00.html, www.findarticles.com/p/articles/ mi_qa3693/is_200407/ai_n9430149 and


www.aztlan.net/iraqi_women_raped.htm (the last is very disturbing, do not go to it if you have a weak stomach).


Yes, the Islesi idea could work if the Sidereals don't intervene (remember, some adopt Great Houses or family lines).  The world would have been a better place if someone had kicked in Caeser's head before he rose to power.

 

[Jakk Bey]

I use House trained spies and assassins for my Dragon Bloods. They use a network of "Ghost Whispers". Families who have been charged by their House to train in secret. They carry out missions on the down low. From assassinations, to spying, to sabotage. Not one House, but pretty much all of them have their elite spies. Many of them have a public face, cover jobs, but their real job is to do dirty deeds for their House.


Then again, I take a little more inspiration for the Dragon Blooded Houses from Dune than some folks.


In my games, the Ghost Whispers are a class of a House's retinue, not just one family. They carry out the delicate missions, and don't need a lot of loyalty inducing drugs. It's their job, and they're trained well to carry out their missions.  Not every down low mission is a Ghost Whisper, but the most delicate are carried out by seasoned professionals.  The ones you don't want your House colors found on.


The Chinese and Japanese, and other cultures knew that if you just disappeared a few folks, it was more effective than bringing them up on charges. Charges are for those folks with honor, or enemies that you've already made. Dirty deals, poisoning of wells, delivering aborticificants, drugs to prevent pregnancy in the first place, securing land rights, getting judges or governors to change their minds about public issues. Terror was a weapon was used for a long time before the Marines became known as leathernecks--they took to wearing leather neckerchief affairs when in the Phillipenes, because the locals took to cutting the throats of a few men at random to get the Americans all scared and jumpy.


Open war is one thing. Getting your way without going to open war is another. It is more cost effective to change policies in governments or organizations if you have a little more leverage than just an iron boot. You can raze an entire village for not getting with the program, or you just disappear the rabble rouser, and then his mates get the idea.  No brave last stand, no final speeches, they just disappear. Or they change their tune.


Then again, this is how the Wyld Hunt tends to operate in my games too. Big huge military operations are gauche, and they cost lots of money. Much easier to slip into the Anathema's village, and kill her in her sleep. Or kill a few of her followerers, so that the rest get the idea that to continue will only lead to more deaths. If you kill a few dozen people in the villages where an Anathema has found aid, or just stopped in, pretty soon, you have villages that are on the lookout for them, and won't give them aid.


Ghost Whispers operate on the same level. They are the elite of the House spies. They go where they must, do what they must, and they do the jobs that the military is ill suited for.  The military is fine for bashing down doors, razing fields, sowing salt into said fields, but if you want some change in a regime, you can do so on the down low. They get the job done. Not one House, but all of them are engaged in some dirty deals and odd business that sometimes require a more delicate touch than sending in the Legions.


This leads to one on one Ninja Scroll action. Or dozens of black, grey, or dull green clad figures doing nasty things to people in the dark of night. Or just operating under cover to do their deeds. The ninja didn't do all their work in dark suits and black tabi socks--most of the ninjas' work was done under a cover identity that they abandoned when it was safe to leave. Courtesans, transient merchants, even established folks in a town could be elite spies. The Chinese used networks of spies for a long while, and engaged in what we would now call "terrorist" actions as a matter of just doing Imperial business.


Just one family? Too small. Go bigger. Every House has their spies, their elites, and no one will admit that they exist, because then they might have to admit that they have their own...