Stormwind Assassins Stormwind Assassins are a neutral guild of elite assassin s dedicated wholly to the Alliance ’ s goals , but willing to do the dirtier jobs . The Stormwind Assassins are one of the oldest surviving organization s on Azeroth . Long before any of the wars , the Alliance faction of Stormwind felt it was unable to do everything it wanted to within the law . One of the leaders , Erwill Youngton , secretly approached a thief in their prisons . Pathonia Shaw had been imprisoned by the Alliance repeatedly for theft . Caught perhaps three times , she was notorious for scores of high profile crimes . Youngton offered her clemency if she agreed to form a society to take care of the Alliance ’ s dirty work quickly and cleanly . She agreed at once — and added that she would find a way to do it with a sense of style as well . The Stormwind Assassins began that day , with the agreement of Erwill Youngton , she combed the prisons for her fellow thieves to bring into the family , as they were called , and soon built a small force to serve the Alliance . The Assassins were there when the orc s poured from the Dark Portal , taking out stray scout s ; yet they found it difficult to make a true dent in the enemy forces because of the Horde ’ s sheer numbers and the Assassins ’ lack of military training . The Assassins work best one - on - one , they quickly discovered , and concentrated more on aiming for the Horde ’ s leaders . Shaw had been a thief for the thrills and was not necessarily evil . Once she was allowed to do her favorite thing in the world and still get paid for it , she became a loyal Alliance fighter . She made sure to hammer this home in her recruits : one does not steal from the hand that feeds . If the thrill of the stolen goods and the secret kill , along with a steady salary , was not good enough for her thieves , they were not initiated into the Assassins . The message was clear : only commit the crimes sanctioned by the Alliance . Shaw had one other requirement when she built the society : secrecy was a must . The thieves did not normally walk around claiming to be thieves , and they had no reason to do so once they were legitimate assassins either . The leader of Stormwind is the only one with a full list of the Stormwind Assassins , and when one was assigned to be part of a larger operation , as happened in the three wars , her true purpose was not revealed to the other troops . They passed as fighter s or scout s , even wizard s from time to time , but still did their primary jobs of stealing and killing when needed . Their commanders would know of their secret when needed , but often only the assassin knew of her true reason for being in the field . The population of Stormwind knows the Assassins exist , and the public relations machine has taken their reputation to the extreme : these are glamorous fighters , too talented to serve with the mere warrior s in the army ; they are stealthy people who work by the night , shrouded in mystery and barroom tales . Some children — even wealthy types — become thieves in the hope that someday they can be Stormwind Assassins too . No one knows who they are , but almost everyone claims to have seen them at work , although this is highly unlikely . Shaw retired 10 years ago and put her grandson Mathias in charge . She had groomed him for the job from when he was an infant , testing his speed and dexterity on a physical level and making sure he understood the difference between doing what was right and doing what was necessary , and how those two do not always mix . The Cathedral of Light understands that the Stormwind Assassins must exist for the good of Stormwind and the Alliance , but the priest s do not condone assassination . They choose simply to look the other way . The Stormwind Assassins are based in Stormwind , but often travel to other Alliance - held lands in Azeroth . They have influence in Elwynn , Redridge , and Westfall . They have done jobs in other areas , such as Duskwood and Deadwind Pass , but they almost never go further south . Organization . The Stormwind Assassins view themselves as a hand grasped around a knife , forming the organization into five branches . Mathias Shaw and his group of leaders make the thumb , dealing with the management and leadership . The leadership consists of about 30 older rogues , many of whom knew Pathonia , some of whom were appointed by her . They are familiar with how she wished the organization to be run , and often steer the young Mathias on the correct path . The other leaders are in charge of the other four Fingers , leading , training , taking reports , and even running the books and making sure salaries are distributed . The next two Fingers of the hand are made up of the highest - level members and consist of about 500 rogue s each . The First Finger , the highest level an assassin can reach before leaving the life behind to become a leader in the Thumb , is dedicated to assassination , targets being anyone from rival military leaders to corrupt priests . The Second Finger is dedicated to “ acquisitions ” of material , either taking already stolen material to give to its rightful owner , or taking a particularly powerful item from a person it would be politically uncomfortable to kill outright . The 500 or so rogues who make up the Third Finger excel in espionage , often working with rogues from the First and Second Finger to gather information , read and remember scrolls without stealing them , and serve as lookouts and diversions while the others do their jobs . The Fourth Finger rogues make up the largest and lowest level . These 1 , 000 rogues are the jacks - of - all - trades : they commonly handle burial of victims ( and Stormwind Assassins ) , body - hiding , and alibi - establishing . It is their job to make sure the Stormwind Assassins ’ identities do not get discovered . They are also in charge of recruitment . Membership . Every rogue and thief in Stormwind wants to be part of the Stormwind Assassins . The entire city views their work as necessary and admirable . It is a difficult organization to join , however , as the leaders of Stormwind do not want to endorse the Assassins ’ way of life . The organization began by a judicious picking through of the prison for “ trustworthy ” rogues , and word spread . Some thieves attempted to get caught just for the chance of getting picked ( and the pardon didn ’ t hurt either ) . When Stormwind found the Stockade filling with hapless , eager - faced thieves , King Anduin Wrynn approached Mathias and demanded he do something about it . Mathias assigned the Fourth Finger of the Stormwind Assassins to recruit others , training a handful of rogues to recognize talent and discreetness ( something the rogues in the city had left behind in their eagerness to join the Assassins ) . A rogue from the Fourth Finger will follow a rogue and leave him a note card with a place and a drawing of an open hand on it . If the rogue arrives alone at the meeting place , he meets with the Fourth Finger rogue . If the meeting goes well , the rogue will then receive another note card with another meeting place and a closed fist on it , indicating his acceptance . Some of the rogues under Pathonia wanted to show their pride with tattoos of the fist that is the organization ’ s symbol , but she did away with that thought , warning that they should make no permanent indication on their bodies that they belong to the Stormwind Assassins . They instead took to wearing one piece of white clothing with a single red thread carefully sewn in , looking like a stray piece of lint . Stormwind Assassins know what to look for , while others would not notice . Initiation is difficult . The rogue is tested in everything from skills to morals . Many of the tests are subtle : the rogue must be entirely trustworthy , for without trust among the rogues , the entire organization of the Assassins will fail . Morality and a desire to serve the city of Stormwind are two of the most important aspects in an Assassin , and these qualities are understandably difficult to find . When prospects are rejected , they leave with only the face of their recruiter in their minds — if even that . The society doesn ' t feel the unveiling of a Fourth Finger ’ s identity will hurt them too much , so this is an acceptable risk . Upon full acceptance , the new Fourth Finger is given dirty work to do , all the while training , buffing his skills , working to become a Third Finger . Even accomplished rogues , thieves and assassins must start at the bottom and work their way up .