Chapter 1: The Iuguolo's The man walked briskly down the dark street, one hand on his cane while the other rested in the folds of his dark cloak. It was apparent to the trained eye (and the one who we see this from had a very trained eye indeed) that he was extremely nervous; a quick skitter from the side of the road would make him quickly jump, and the hand in his cloak tighten. Approaching this one would have been difficult for one of little skill. Sadly for the cloaked man, he was not an amateur. With a sudden russle of fabric, a deep shadow (the one who we observe from, in this case) burst out of a side alley and attacked the man. A quick thrust of a knife, and the cloaked man fell. The assailant withdrew and melded away into the shadows. The only witness was a small bird. It had been an easy kill. The party was loud, and the wine was flowing. There were very many partygoers, but it was obvious to an observer that the party revolved around one figure, a man who stood near the fountain in the middle of the courtyard. There was a line of sorts waiting to speak with him: none of them would get the chance. The noble turned around to get a drink from a waitress, dropping suddenly when an ectoplasmic blade peirced his back. The blade dissolved while the crowd screamed. A handsome noble smiled for just an instant before melding into the fleeing crowd. A small caravan winded it's way down the wooded path. A group of heavily armoured soldiers walked around a mounted knight. A camoflauged figure drifted along the edges of the path, unnoticed by the group. A gruff face lay concealed within the folds of the cloak. Suddenly, a loud twang sounded and an arrow peirced through the foilage and slammed into the knights breastplate. Two more arrows followed quickly and the knight dropped to the forest floor, having breathed his last breath. The man turned and dissapeared into the forest.
Chapter 2: Placitum (the meeting) Dario stepped into the room carefully and scanned the rooms occupants. There was his usual employer, who he had expected to see, but there was also three others. Two of them he knew were in the buisness of death, but the third he had never heard of. And Dario had a near encyclopedic knowledge of men in the buisness. It was profitable to know that the wine merchant on the street corner also happened to sell lethal toxins to those who knew the proper phrases. The doar creaked open behind him, and Dario twirled quickly knives appearing from the folds of his cloak. The man entering had a rough face and a greatbow on his back with a viciusly long dagger in hand. The two men, the two assassins rather, stared at each other for a few seconds, sizing one another up before a voice sounded from the other side of the room. "Calm down, calm down. There is no need to kill each other now. Save your energy." The unknown man had risen from his seat and was smiling charmingly at the men. Then, a voice suddenly emanated from the window to the side of the room. "Am I missing something?" the voice was crisp, precise and fresh, and everyone in the room twirled to gaze at the man whose words seemed slick with snacks venom. He was reasonably tall, with a whipstrong appearence. He was also an extremely attractive man. His face was comely, and dark curls cascaded down on either side of his face. "You can call me Mateus. You are Dario," he said to the cloaked man, "and you are Otho." he said to the bowman. He then turned to the man who seemed to be in charge. "and, if I may inquire, what in the hosts name am I doing here?" he then descended from the windowsill and strolled over to one of the seats. Dario and Otho, done their examination of each other merely nodded and sat down. The unknown man stood up and cleared his throat. As a rule of thumb, it's pretty difficult to make a speech after a man just climbed in through a 5th story window. "Well, men, I've gathered you here today because, quite frankly, your the best assassins in Dastesia. I'm sure you've all heard of each others work, and the citadel* isn't completely ignorant of the underworld. And... well I hate to say it, but we need your help." Dorian and Otho's jaws dropped. The citadel, asking for their help? It seemed almost impossible. Mateus simply sat calm and impassive, as if he already knew that that line was coming. "Now what exactly does the citadel need our help for?" Dorian, now recovered from his shock, spoke out. The unknown man licked his lips nervously and clasped his hands. "Their are some matters of potential... Political problems. Things that the citadel can't be seen being involved in directly. We just don't have the power to remove some of the people that need removing. I've finally convinced the council that the atherong of a team for such matters would be practical. I got the authorization, and then I found you." "So, basically..." Otho states in a slow drawl, "You want us to be your pet dogs. You want to be able to set us loose and tell us kill whoever you want? Theirs a few problems with that. First off: I work alone. I'm sure the other here feel the same way." Darius and Marius both nod their heads in sound agreement. Only amateurs needed partners. "Second: I ain't gonna become some citadel lapdog. And I don't trust you political types anyway. I've been in trouble with the law more then once or twice. It happens in our lines of work. And third..." Otho leaned across the table towards the unknown man "We haven't even talked about getting paid yet."
Chapter three: Paciscor The deal The three assassins sat alone at the table. None of them were speaking, but they all seemed to be contemplating something. Finally, the finger tapping stopped, and glances were thrown at the other assassins. After a period of an akward silence Mateus finally stood up. "well, I've been contemplating the offer, which I'm sure you all have been," he waves his hand in front of him vaguely, "And I think I'm going to accept. And I think it would be for the best if you guys accepted to. After all, we all have our own specialtys. I don't want to do something that I'm not trained for." Both of the other assassins nodded in agreement. "So," Mateus said, now more empowerd, "We split the bounty 30% each. Seem fair?" Dorio and Otho glared at Mateus. "You know...." Otho drawled staring cruelly into Mateus's face,"Thats only 90%. What's the other 10% for?" Mateus smiled and acted like the thought of keeping it for himself hadn't even been entertained."Why, the other 10 is for... Assassinational costs. You know, poison, lodging, bribes... All that good stuff." Otho and Dorio fell back into their chairs. "Well it makes sense, and I, for one, could use a steady income." Dorio had spoken, his voice very raspy, seemingly underused. Everyone looked back and forth at each other for a few seconds before Otho had asked "So we all in?" Three yes's sounded in the room. The deal had been done.