The Part You Play

The House Hraah-Suloom is a school for assassins and is considered one of Ertha’s most prestigious schools. If you want to become a working assassin in House Dwallow-Ghyrnathop you are going first to learn the art of the shadows. The curriculum at House Hraah-Suloom is designed specifically for an assassin in training and covers everything from stealth and concealment to blades and crossbows. In addition, students also learn how to make smoke bombs and other incendiary devices, which can be used for covert operations. If you are serious about becoming an assassin, then House Hraah-Suloom is where you will continue your training.

House Hraah-Suloom is a school for assassins that specializes in the required training. The school is known within the Shadow Society for its many alums who have completed impossible tasks and left not a trace out on a contract unless it was required to do so. As you learned from your time at House Dwallow-Ghyrnathop, assassins one and all are a brotherhood and sisterhood of killers who swear to keep their secrets and skills within the Guild. The Guild teaches its members the arts of stealth, disguise, assassination, and subterfuge. The School of Shadows will teach assassins how to create vast networks of spies and agents that gather information from every corner of Ertha and discretely inform you of their findings. In the end, it is imperative to keep the assassin’s identity unknown, and by doing so, the Assassins Guild will provide and extend protection from retribution.

Forbidden Learning

House Hraah-Suloom is a school for those seeking forbidden, deadly knowledge. It is said that whatever you wish to learn, no matter how dark or dangerous, can be found within its Guild walls. The School of Shadows is hidden in the shadows of society, and few know of its existence. Those who do are often afraid to speak of it for fear of its retaliation and dark reputation.

House Hraah-Suloom is the ultimate destination for those seeking knowledge of the dark arts. Its students are taught everything from how to pick a lock, forge documents, and make poison to escape detection and kill in multiple ways. As you recall from your training in House Dwallow Ghyrnathop, you learned about the indigenous plant life, which goes into your poisons and cures. What you are not taught there is the ability how to deliver either to your intended victim. There are times, to maintain a cover and move closer to your target, you have to poison and cure a soft target, gain their trust, and get you closer to your target. To do this effectively, the delicate art of sliding h to the first administer and then reverse it takes a special individual to accomplish this.

In the School of Shadows, assassins can learn the skills they need to be successful in society’s dark underbelly and how to ensure leaving no trace of their deeds once the contract is completed. As you also recall from your training, you were taught about animals and their behavior. In the School of Shadows, techniques allow you to turn a favored pet into a potential delivery system for your poisons. One of your covers might be of a hunter delivering food to a kitchen; this is a great ploy. However, it can only be used once, so the ability to disguise your appearance is imperative. The goal is to be able to walk almost them when you are unknown. Also, from your training, you were taught about minerals and gemstones. If you are skilled at forgeries, you can create a similar replica of a gem found on a necklace that you can create as another way to administer poisons to your targets simply by allowing the gem to touch their skin. These are just a few things that House Hraah-Suloom can teach you.

Benefits of Training

The House Hraah-Suloom curriculum is designed to create the perfect assassin. The students are taught how to utilize their tools, become invisible to their intended targets, and leave no trace. Those who succeed in their missions are well taken care of within the shadow society, as they gain a newfound elevation of personal status. In the end, the best assassin is one that nobody has ever heard of and has never been seen.

The School of Shadows not only trains and teaches those would-be assassins but also weeds out those who are not going to make it. The School of Shadows constantly tests and evaluates apprentices and actual assassins. The screening process reveals the mental and physical limitations during training and missions, and it is reported up to your master to whom your apprenticeship is. There are tendencies when familiarity sets in, tongues loosen, and house rules are forgotten. Every person you meet at the School of Shadows isn’t who they appear to be; one never knows that you may be working with a working assassin or being evaluated by another master.

Those who do not complete their assignments are expelled from school after a modification has been done to their memory. Those who are immune to the adjustments are then used as training for other assassins, as weakness is not an option within the Guild.

House Hraah-Suloom – The School of Shadows is one of the most well-known training houses within the Shadow Society as it has a reputation for producing some of the best assassins in the business. An assassin’s reputation is only known within their ranks and houses. Only a select few truly know the entirety of the vast shadow network that exists in Ertha, and it is those at the highest level who know of every assassin, their contracts, and their reputation. Every successful mission and the completed contract is a learning tool for others to understand how the business works and how to improvise when any well-laid plan goes sideways.

Tradecraft

Over time, House Hraah-Suloom provided training on a wide variety of tools over the years, depending on the situation and its targets. The art of manipulation is a base tool that every assassin must learn. Leveraging an informant (be it knowingly or unintentionally) is a skill set that comes in handy to all that master it. Information is key in the world of assassins, and soft skills come into play when an assassin is on a contract.

One of the greatest tools an assassin can use is creating diversions and misdirection, which comes in handy for all aspects of their contract, especially to cover their tracks. Rarely would an assassin use a tool or device that would draw attention to themselves. However, it was not uncommon to use these louder, attending grabbing devices as misdirection to their actual task and what the contract requires of them.

Some might say that being invisible is the best way to be an Assassin. Disguise yourself as somebody else, not just in persona but also with your craft of practice; it’s all active camouflage until you have a chance for action on any given assignment.

A skilled and well-trained assassin can walk in and out the front door under the watchful eyes of all around. Members of House Hraah-Suloom can become someone that would not draw attention. The knowledge to hold down a conversation with the brightest of minds and yet, know how and when to shift into the shadows.

Natural-born wilderness survivalists are often called upon to take on assignments that require them in remote areas with little or no resources. Assassins must learn how best to utilize their skill sets because they have an innate ability to live off the land and take advantage of any natural terrain they find themselves on – be it deep within a jungle-packed full tree; or atop mountain peaks where there is only sky above. Your talent will show, your reputation will grow, and more cherished assignments will be offered to you.

Every assassin has a skill and a learned cover that they employ as an active camouflage while out in society. The person walking next to you, eating a meal across from you, or whom you have worked with for years, if not longer, might be a graduate from The School of Shadows.

The Unseen Network

As part of the School of Shadows’ education, an assassin is taught how to leverage the network in the shadows. The shadows offer a variety of people willing to help them in their mission. This includes people who can provide information, supplies, transportation, and a safe place to work or rest. It also includes people who can help them cover their tracks or create diversions.

The most important part of an assassin’s shadow network is the people who can provide them with information. This includes informants, contacts, and anyone who might have valuable information about their target. An assassin will often have several different sources of information and observations to get a complete picture of their target. The ability to turn those into key positions is an art form all on its own and is never taken lightly. Typically those who are turned have something to hide. It is the assassin’s job to find their secret and use it as leverage against them. Those who turn, typically over time, accept the position that they are in. There is a delicate balance of knowing how hard to push a turned informant, as not everyone can be bought off. The art of blackmail is a skillset all on its own, and not every assassin has what it takes to pull that off. It is one thing to teach the techniques and another to truly become a master of them.

Another important part of an assassin’s invisible network is the supplies provided for the specific mission or what they can source independently. An assassin will often have several different sources of supplies to get the best possible selection for their mission. It is imperative not to become too familiar with your suppliers, as you never know when somebody will outbid you, and you’ll end up walking into a trap. There are those in Ertha that only work for the coin, and do not care whom they work for if the price is high enough.

In the end, the assassin needs to rely on their training and how to obtain supplies in case the shadow network cannot provide them. Rarely does an assassin ever truly work alone, as the shadow network will provide. Still, the experienced individual can use what is available, keep those who are helpful, and cast aside those who are in those rare situations. The creativity of the assassin, with their other skills, comes into play in who they speak with, how they communicate, and most importantly, who they can trust, who they can leverage, and who is expendable.