The Wendel Family

Sickle's as black as their souls and blades just as sharp. They do not inspire hope, they inspire death and death alone.

• A travelling bard talks about his knowledge of the Wendel family

With the Wendel family it is very difficult to seperate fact from myth and outright exaggeration.
Though, there are a few known facts about them. Notably, that they were capable of working all across Thysia but found most of their success in Anotheros and Paradosia. They were never a large faction and instead were a family business, defined by their matching Soul Arms, black sickles with the Wendel family crest (a five-pointed pendant with a skull sitting in the centre) and their skill in reaching any space undetected, no matter how well defended it was.
Since the first recorded member of the Wendel family, they have always been associated with the work of assassination. They turned out to be very VERY good at it and forged a reputation as ruthless contract killers for whom, if you met their price, no target was unreachable and no target was unbeatable. This is where it becomes difficult to distinguish fact and fiction though below are some commonly held beliefs regarding the Wendels:

• The Wendel family were founded after The Uprising and were one of the first Soul Arm bloodlines, a pure bloodline who fought in the Uprising. Specifically, the Wendels fought demons of the Abyss and devils of the Hells and whilst there, built up their skill with arcana and stole various devilish powers for themselves. Marking the Wendels as, potentially, the first Tieflings.
• The Wendels made a pact with a God of Death from a far-off plane who reshaped their strange crest and sickles so that any soul they slay does not return to Thysia but, rather, is sent to fuel this other planes god.
• None are really sure of the Wendel's numbers. But many believe that, if the rumours that they are all family members is true, there could only ever be a maximum of 20 Wendels in the world at any one time. It is testament to their abilities that they were so prolific... though many believe the Wendel's were not a family but, rather a faction and collection of copycat killers with a strong sense of branding.
• The Wendel's allegedly struggle to understand and deal with magic, this is despite a Wendel being known to have attended The Oracanium at some point in the last century.
• If a Wendel is caught they will always choose death whether they die fighting or whether they kill themselves at the first opportunity they receive.
• Every Wendel Soul Arm, The Reaper, is the same... though this is often implied to NOT be because of an effect similar to The Viltis Glaive but, rather, is simply due to the fact that the Wendel's rarely change or evolve as individuals and so their weapons never reflect it beyond tiny details.

With such a storied existence though, there came enemies and... Frankly... the family became too ambitious. The Wendels were able to move unobstructed due to their mystery, well hidden nature and the aura of fear they held over others.
However, when the Wendels were hired to assassinate King Viltis of Paradosia, they took the contract in exchange for an incredible sum of money and magical secrets. This was not uncommon, often there were contracts on the King of Viltis but, naturally, none had succeeded.
That is. Except for the Wendel family, they managed to sneak into the King of Viltis' bedchamber as he slept and they took his life using the reaper sickles. They left The Viltis Glaive embedded in the king's chest as a final bloody message.
After this, Paradosia put a price of 75,000gp on the heads of the Wendel's, as well as a full pardon and noble title for those that achieve the kills. This forced the Wendels to go into hiding for 15 years until they were found in their northern Paradosia safe house, notably they were found by three different assassin groups who, after killing the Wendels, all turned on each other. For nothing is ever that simple in Thysia.
The final group remaining was another assassin family of a similar 'design' to the Wendels. The Ilustraie Family have since become influential nobility in Paradosia and are mayors of a profitable port town.
The Wendel's former Paradosian safe house has since been turned into a museum devoted to detailing the history of their grizzly deeds and downfall as funded and left as a tribute to them by the Ilustraie's.

Physical Description

General Physical Condition

The Wendel's were always interesting in their looks. For tieflings they were generally very good at blending into crowds with dark features but always had a strong skill in acrobatics and climbing as well as generally being regarded as very charismatic and good looking. 
They are generally lithe and tall... often making excellent acrobats and skilled blade throwers and fighters before even bringing in their skill with the arcane.

Body Features

Wendel's have a unique physiology due to their mixture of tiefling heritage and unique acrobatic skill through careful genetics and years of training.

Specialized Equipment

The Wendel family Soul Arms are known as The Reaper, black curved sickles with the five pointed skull signifying the Wendel family crest. The sickle often has a vampiric feeding effect from those that are killed with a Wendel nearby.

Eyes

Dark Blue, stormy eyes

Hair

Generally Raven Black