Assassin
Value: 8
Mysteries • Rats • Mirrors • Stone
Meanings: Finesse, stealth, betrayal, finality
Subtlety is the Assassin’s greatest tool. Anyone can kill, but he does it so deftly and so quickly that even the victim doesn’t realize they’re dead until the Assassin is long gone. He often poses as someone harmless or even friendly, because betrayal is subtlety’s closest sibling.
The Assassin is the adept of Mysteries. His knowledge of the secrets of death is limitless, and his use of skill and finesse would be a thing of beauty if he used them for anything other than murder. But he does not.
Divination: The Assassin doesn’t just bring death. He brings an ending. Endings can be welcome—the ending of something unwanted, for example. Or, when it suggests betrayal, it might be a relationship that comes to an end. But when this card is turned, it can indeed foretell literal death or the threat of death. If this is the case, the death will come from an unexpected quarter.
Game Narrative: An NPC is betrayed. An NPC is murdered. Something significant—a dynasty, a tradition, an organization—comes to an end. Something unexpected turns deadly, such as a bottle of wine turning to poison.
Joy: The PC’s use of skill and finesse (or stealth) overcomes extremely difficult odds. Something the PC does not like comes to an end. An NPC foe is betrayed by one of their own.
Despair: The PC is betrayed by a trusted NPC. Something important to the PC comes to a surprising end.
Dealing death is a magical art all its own.