Dark Brotherhood

"...Welcome...Home."

- The Blackdoor

The Dark Brotherhood is a group of assassins in the Elder Scrolls videogame series. The group is run like a cult unlike more traditional assassin groups. The ideology of the Dark Brotherhood places much importance on hierarchy and loyalty. Members tend to treat murder as either a skill, art or pleasure if not alll three. The Dark Brotherhood believes they are agents of Sithis, an epitome of the primordial void of nothingness that predates creation, and believe that it is their sacred duty to send souls to him.

Founding
The Dark Brotherhood was founded by the Night Mother, whose true name has been lost to history. Legend goes that The Night Mother bore five sons immaculately conceived  by in her through Sithis. Sithis then demanded tribute for the Night Mother to kill her children, a demand she quickly complied with. These five children are said to be the first Dark Brotherhood and where the term originated. In return for the tribute Sithis granted the Night Mother his voice and spoke to her from that day forth allowing her to act as his parley to the ears of mortals. There is much ambiguity as to whether or not this actually happened as the Night Mother was originally a supplicant to the Daedric Prince Mephela, arch-fiend of secrets and plots, and the Dark Brotherhood only became an organized group after she left the cult, but regardless of validity this story of the Night Mother becoming the Dark Brotherhood's unholy Messiah after sacrificing her own sons to the void is the Brotherhood's standard belief.

The Black Hand & Dark Sanctuaries
Whether story of the Night Mother birthing and killing Sithis children is myth or not the Night Mother her self is quite real, although long since dead, her ghost speaks to one member of the Dark Brotherhood only, this person is titled the 'Listener'. In honor of the Night Mothers five sons there are four colleagues that confer with the Listener, each is titled 'Speaker'. As the name implies the Speakers speak for the Dark Brotherhood and protect the Listener with their lives if need be as the the Brotherhoods sole line to the Night Mother's spirit. Since the Speakers are the only ones who ever interact with clients seeking assassinations, recruit new assassins or appoint contracts to underlings, the identity of the Listener remains safe unknown to any mortal members outside the Listener him/herself and the Speakers. The Listener and his/her Speakers are refered to as The Black Hand, possessing four fingers and a thumb however each has a nail - a personal bodyguard, this agent is titled 'Silencer'. With the Speakers of the Black Hand as supreme commanders and the Listener as a the token silent leader the Dark Brotherhood also needs it's lower agents to do the actual work, there units are divided up all across Cyrodiil in various secret locations, each such locations is a hideout for the local talent and refered to as a Dark Sanctuary.

Dark Sanctuaries are very close-knit groups and each one has a Dark Sanctuary leader, only the leader of each Dark Sanctuary has any sort of official contact with the Speakers of the Black Hand and being more intimately familiar with their individual assassins of the Sanctuary assigns cases based on each members area of expertise matching the best agent for the job. Money payed by the client is split between the Listener, Speaker and Sanctuary Leader in addition to the actual assassin sent, although the assassin keeps the bulk of the pay out. Higher ups will give out bonuses for special order kills if the assassin prove skilled enough to meet the request.

Known Members

 * Lucien Lachance
 * Ocheeva
 * Teinaava
 * Vincente Valtieri
 * Antoinetta Marie
 * Telaendril
 * Gogron gro-Bolmog
 * M'raaj-Dar


 * Astrid
 * Arnbjorn
 * Nazir
 * Babette
 * Gabriella
 * Veezara
 * Festus Krex
 * Cicero