Title: The Brothers of Darkness
Author: Pellarne Assi
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Price: 580
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Content:


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[/center]The

[/center]Brothers of

[/center]Darkness



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[/center]    As their name suggests, the Dark Brotherhood has a history
shrouded in obfuscation. Their ways are secret to those who
are not Brothers of the order (Brothers is the generic term:
some of the deadliest of the assassins are female, but they
are called Brothers as well). How they continue to exist in
shadow, but can be easily found by those desparate enough
to pay for their services is not the least of their mysteries.  
 The Dark Brotherhood sprang from a religious order, the
Morag Tong, during the Second Era. The Morag Tong were
worshippers of the daedra spirit Mephala, who encouraged
them to commit ritual murders. In their early years, they
were as disorganized as cultists usually are. There was no
one to lead the group, and as a group they dared not murder
any of any importance. This changed with the rise of the
Night Mother.    All leaders of the Morag Tong, and then the
Dark Brotherhood, have been called the Night Mother. Whether
the same woman has commanded the Dark Brotherhood since the
second era is unknown. What is believed is that the original
Night Mother developed an important belief of the Morag
Tong.    This first belief is that, while Mephala grows
stronger with every murder commited in her name, certain
murders were better than others. Murders that came from hate
pleased Mephala more than murders commited because of greed.
Murders of great men and women pleased Mephala more than
murders of unknowns.    We can approximate the time this
belief was adopted with the first known murder commited by the
Morag Tong. In the year 324 of the 2nd Era, the Potentate
Versidue-Shaie was murdered in his palace in what is today the
Elsweyr kingdom of Senchal. In a brash move, the Night Mother
announced the identity of the murderers by painting MORAG
TONG on the walls in the Potentate's blood.    Previous to
that time, the Morag Tong existed in relative peace, like a
witches coven. Occasionally persecuted, but usually
ignored. In a remarkable syncroncity at a time when the Arena
was a fractured land, the Morag Tong was outlawed
throughout the continent. Every sovereign gave the cult's
elimination his highest priority. Nothing more was
officially heard of them for a hundred years.    It is more
difficult to date the era when the Morag Tong re-emerged as
the Dark Brotherhood. Assassin guilds have sporadically
appeared throughout the history of Tamriel. The first
mention of the Dark Brotherhood that I have found is from the journals of the Blood
Queen Arlimahera of Hegathe: she spoke of slaying her enemies
by her own hand, or, if necessary, "with the help of the Night
Mother and her Dark Brotherhood, the secret arsenal my family
has employed since my grandfather's time." Arlimahera wrote
this in 2E 412, so one can surmise that the Dark Brotherhood had
been in existance since at least 360 if her grandfather truly
used them.    The important distinction between the Dark
Brotherhood and the Morag Tong was that the Brotherhood was a
business as much as a cult. Rulers and wealthy merchants now
used the order as an assassin's guild. The Brotherhood gained
the obvious benefits of a profitable enterprise, as well as
the secondary benefit that no longer could rulers actively
persecute them. They were needed. Even an extremely virtuous leader would be unwise to maltreat the Brotherhood.   
Not long after Alimahera's journal entry about them was
penned came perhaps the most famous series of executions in
the history of the Dark Brotherhood. The Colovian Emperor
Potentate Savirien-Chorak and every one of his heirs was
murdered on one bloody night in Sun's Dawn in 430. Within a
fortnight, the Colovian Dynasty crumbled, to the delight of
its enemies. For over four hundred years, until the age of
Tiber Septim, chaos reigned over Tamriel. Though no
comparably impressive executions have been recorded, the
Brotherhood must have grown fat with gold during that age.   
The Dark Brotherhood has no shortage of business
opportunities -- an accounting, I have been informed, is the
Brotherhood's favorite euphemism for execution. While they
are officially an unlawful organization in every corner
of the Empire, like the Thieves Guild, they are almost
universally tolerated.





 
