The Whisperers

Artist - Igor Solovyev - Artstation.com

"In the face of rampant injustice, justice will arrive by the hand of the oppressed."

- Elgi the Wise Philosopher

The Whisperers do not exist.

You cannot find them.

You cannot hire their services.

They are shadows.

Inception:

After centuries of complete domination of the weak by the powerful, a response has emerged. This response came from the strong among the weak who were unwilling to let injustice remain. The Whisperers began to bring justice to those that believed themselves free to victimize the weak. Often described as the will of the gods.

Methodology:

The Whisperers keep their eyes open and their ears listening, hearing the stories of victimization, and seeing the acts. Once rumors produce a suspect, or one is sighted in the act. The Whisperer will begin to follow the suspect until all doubt is removed, and The Whisperer is confident the suspect is guilty. Then The Whisperer will plan the execution.
When blades are used, the act is never witnessed. and the body will be discovered with the appearance of a simple fight turned deadly or a robbery. Murder is nothing new to the darker sides of Ringvolstad, in the wine sinks, the brothels, and taverns of the city where tempers rise, and inhibitions lower, the blood inevitably flows.
The Whisperers only use blades when getting the target alone in their bed is impossible. Brazen acts are a last resort. The primary tactic is a combination of poison and stealth.
The Whisperers typically keep to a single poison, the Kiss, it is odorless, tasteless, and once administered, death is certain. Only a few drops in the mouth, nose or ears is all that it takes.

Suspicion:

Suspicions began after one of the recently widowed, claimed her husband was murdered in his sleep by a cloaked figure that disappeared out of their window as she stirred. Her husbands death was counted as just another natural death in the night.
Unsatisfied, the widow began to tell everyone that would listen that the amount of healthy people dying in their sleep was anything but natural. Most ignored what she said, claiming it to be the ramblings of the grief stricken, but those who listened began to wonder if the sleeping death was anything but random.

Adaptation:

In the time since, the sleeping death has become an accepted idea, and the Whisperers have had to become even more secretive in their actions. Abandoning blades all together, exclusively utilizing the Kiss.

Organizational Structure:

There is no real structure to them, they operate on a simple creed. The crimes against the oppressed shall not go unanswered, and once proven guilty beyond a doubt, death is the punishment.
The Whisperers select their own targets, and perform their own surveillance, and offer their own judgement. However they visit the Dark Mother to receive their vials of The Kiss.

"When no one will help the weak, the strong among them must rise, and do what is needed to protect their people."

- Elgi the Wise Philosopher

Artist - Anna Gorbacheva - Artstation.com

The Kiss.

Origins:

It is unknown where The Kiss was developed, or what its composition is. The Whisperers visit the Dark Mother, to receive their vials of the substance. All that is known is that it is odorless, tasteless, and colorless, and after only a few drops, utterly deadly.

How it works:

The kiss is administered by dropping a handful of drops into the mouth, nose, or ears.
In the first few minutes, the subject is becomes disoriented and sits or lies down. They close their eyes to stop the world from spinning. Soon they have fallen into a deep sleep.
Their muscles weaken, their breathing shallows, and their heart rate drops to a nearly imperceptible level. Their organs begin to shut down, starting with the heart and lungs. It takes less than 10 minutes for The Kiss to completely run its course.
If The Whisperer is successful in their mission, the target will already be sleeping, when they sneak in, and after they disappear, it will seem as if the target died peacefully in their sleep.