Portia_Eberly

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The popular image of an assassin is a shadowy rogue that wears black, carries dozens of daggers, and slinks around in the shadows. All the better for real assassins, whom cloak themselves in a different kind of obscurity.

Portia Eberly, if that even is her real name, was taken from her cradle as an infant and raised by the Guild to be a prime assassin. Her 'class' started with thirty children in it. When they were ready to graduate, only ten remained. In their final test, they were told to pair up with the one they trusted the most. And then instructed to kill their partner. Portia was the first to graduate.

Portia has been trained in a wide variety of skills. There were, of course, the lethal arts, such as the distilling of poisons and training in weapons. But she has versed herself in a variety of other skills in order to enable herself to get closer to her targets. Those of the courtesan have been helpful, but Portia has yet to find any skillset more useful then that of the humble maid.

A good servant is invisible, glanced at for a moment and forgotten before the eye even moves away. A servant has free reign of the household, has access to all of the keys, can come and go as they need. A servant's presence is not questioned, nor is it thought strange if they keep odd or long hours. And a trusted servant has unquestioned access to areas that even a bodyguard isn't allowed near. The Master's chambers. The inner sanctums. Be it a manor, keep, or queen's castle, someone is always needed to sweep the floors and serve the meals. Wherever there is someone important, there will be at least one servant standing behind them, ready to be of use to their lord or lady.

It is a role that Portia has stepped into well. She is quiet, unobtrusive, obsequiously pleasant, and soullessly ruthless. When Portia accepts a Guild contract, she gets herself hired on as a common servant, often spending months as a common hired hand without doing anything remotely hostile, throwing herself into the role of a maid as she waits. Observes. Learns. Portia Eberly does not kill quickly. But she does kill surely. Portia is not guided by any kind of morality or particular ethos, she has killed tyrants and saints alike, the guilty and the innocent. All that matters to her is her mission and fulfilling the Guild's contracts. Her operating methods are simple, straightforwards, and brutally efficient. Gain proximity to the target via hiring herself on as a servant. Gather information passively over an extended period of time. And then, one day, the target just... disappears. A week later, the maid resigns and moves on.