Racial Motifs 34 : Assassin ' s League Content . Assassins League Style By the Gray Maybe The " Dark Brotherhood " ? Utter nonsense . The Brotherhood is a myth . A legend . A lie . Death comes to us all , and murder is merely a matter of mundane craft — there ' s no need to invoke the Void , or its , ahem , mother . Ah , but a secret society of assassins , a guild of killers for hire — now that makes sense . That ' s just good business . And like every good business , we have standards . You wish to join us , and dress like one of our league ? Then follow the instructions below . And one day , if you are found worthy , you may be invited to learn some actual secrets . AXES The hallmark of Assassins ' weapons is that they are both nimble and effective , striving for that sweet spot between the heavy arms of soldiers and the supple but over - subtle weapons of duelists . Our axes , for example , feature a single , broad blade , with no more than a short slicing crescent on the backside for ripostes . BELTS You ' ll notice that all Assassins wear dual belts , one above the other , with weapons and tassets depending from the lower strap . Why is that ? Because sometimes a job goes wrong and you need to make a sudden escape , in which case you can drop the bottom belt and everything on it , losing all that extra encumbrance . BOOTS Boots ? An Assassin ' s footwear will be more like a dancer ' s shoes than a warrior ' s sabatons : light , flexible , and above all quiet . The best leather for soles is guar hide , which is limber but provides good traction on uncertain surfaces . BOWS If someone should say unto you , " Oh , I see your bow has death ' s - heads on it , so I guess I should be really afraid , since you must be some kind of assassin or something , right ? " . . . You are authorized by the League to kill such a person , and take their head . Full - sized skulls make good decorations for ballistas . CHEST PIECES Remember , Assassin , you are not a soldier ― it may be your job to kill , but wholesale slaughter is not your task : you kill once , and escape to kill again . So League - standard armor , even your cuirass , is to be relatively lightweight and flexible , with plenty of attach - points for tools and weapons . DAGGERS For the League Assassin , the primary function of the dagger is as a weapon for surprise attack from behind , to either slice the windpipe or plunge into the lower back . It must be small enough to be nimble but big enough to kill , and razor - sharp on both edge and point . A barb behind the point comes in handy when manipulating a body , whether living or dead . GLOVES Keeping your hands nimble and free is of critical importance in all phases of assassination . When lightly armored , we forego gloves entirely below the forearm ; even when more heavily armored , our gloves are so light and supple as to be barely there at all . HELMETS Executioners don ' t wear helmets , they wear hoods — and so do we . To be quite accurate , we wear leather coifs , layered underneath , in the heavier versions , with skullcaps and flexible mail . The value of a buffe that conceals the lower features is obvious in our profession . LEG GREAVES As often as not , a League Assassin travels on all four limbs , leaping and climbing , clambering and clawing . For such activities , rigid greaves are a liability , so with leg armor , as elsewhere , the watchwords are resilience and ease of motion . Modest knee poleyns are useful when crawling or kneeling to shoot . MACES For bludgeoning , we use a square - headed warhammer backed with a metal spike deliberately curved to evoke the look of a raptor ' s talon . It ' s also useful for prying open any doors or windows you might encounter between you and your target . SHIELDS For the League , a shield usually comes into play on two - person missions , where one assassin is using it to cover a second killer who ' s picking a lock or lining up a shot . So the shield must be large enough to crouch behind , but with cutouts to left and right so one can stab or shoot around it . SHOULDER ARMOR While flaring pauldrons may make a fashionable silhouette for a warrior , they are counterproductive for an Assassin , who can ' t risk getting hung up in the scenery in the middle of a stalk . Shoulder protection is important , but so is keeping a low profile . STAVES When we assign an Assassin a target , we say , " Pass over them with the Hand of Death . " Thus we use a stylized iron hand as the finial on our spellcasters ' magic staves . It is acceptable to place a round - cut precious stone on the back of the hand to represent the all - seeing eye of the League . SWORDS A League Assassin ' s sword is a tool of death , long and strong , sharp - edged and sharp - pointed , with a barb behind the tip of the slightly - curving blade . It designed to be fearsome to behold , its very look calculated to paralyze an opponent who sees it come gleaming from the shadows .