I'm not sure if this can go here, as it is more of a military group than it is a people, race, or tribe, but here is my long overdue post on the Shadow Blades. The post is really long, but these are the most developed military order (and possibly my favorite) in all of Vitarentel. After the post describing them, I have numerous excerpts from my second book (which I have kind of tinkered with), just to give you an idea about the abilities of a highly-trained Shadow Blade. Please feel free to critique!

The Shadow Blades

Background/Purpose: The Shadow Blades were first formed by the Sodinarlians shortly after their conquest of the Muari Islands. The order of assassins originated as a way to keep the general populace in fear by stealing their children and indoctrinating them to become killers, but soon expanded to become a large organization keeping tabs on every major city in the known world. Due to the practice of stealing children, the Muari called them the Pokele Kari, or Dark People. The word translated dark can also mean “dark cloud,” which brings forth a picture of a dark cloud hanging over every assassin. The assassins would only visit Muari villages to steal young children or to eliminate chiefs who were suspected of planning to stir up trouble. Therefore, anywhere the assassins went, they left a dark cloud of mourning over the survivors, hence the name.
At the height of the organization’s power, the Shadow Blades had at least one operative in every major city in the known world. This enabled them to keep eyes on all political, military, and economic activities, as well as accumulate sufficient information to blackmail half the nobles and merchants into supporting their organization.

Training: There are two different types of Shadow Blades: Islanders, and Sordins. Both were trained in the same way at first, but after passing the first level of tests in the order, Sordin assassins would progress into espionage and eventually specialized training to blend into the city they would be assigned, whereas Islander assassins would be brainwashed into thinking they were bellow the Sordins, and trained for suicidal missions or other missions considered “beneath” their conquerors.
Shadow Blade training was extremely difficult, consisting of intense physical exercises in the jungles and mountains of the Muari Islands, long distance swims, and brutal weapons training. The combination of these three made the Shadow Blades among the fittest people in the world, and gave them an extremely high tolerance of pain.

Weapons: The Shadow Blades prefer weapons that are easily concealed, therefore the primary weapon of the assassins are knives, both for throwing and stabbing unsuspecting targets. The knives preferred by the Order are simple, two edged, knives with small hand guards and a cheap leather or fiber-rope handle. Every assassin also carries a garrote, or No’iki Taula (NOH EE-kee TAU-luh), as the Islanders call it. The garrote is a simple device consisting of two small wooden handles with a small rope tied between them, which is where it gets the Islander name (Small Rope). This weapon is used for silent killings; anywhere a noise will cause alarm and create a less than favorable situation for the assassin. A garrote is the only weapon that every assassin must carry, even one whose only mission is to be in a city and watch for any strange activities. My favorite weapon of the Shadow Blades, perhaps the most interesting and unique, is the Black Egg, or Whata Whakapo (FAH-tah fah-KAH-poh, lit. “eye-blind”). Once again the Islander name portrays the exact meaning of the device, because the name could also be translated “to blind the eye.” This weapon consists of a hollowed out egg, filled with powdered glass or the equivalent of chili powder. It was then sealed shut and painted a dark color, to be harder to see and react. A Shadow Blade could either throw the whole egg at a single opponent, or crush it in his hand to send a cloud of disorienting dust into a group of hostiles. Upon passing the final exams of the order, a new assassin has the option of taking an order-issued saber, or supplying their own set of melee weapons. Most take the saber, because it is a good balance between light-weight and useful, but some ask local blacksmiths to custom craft swords similar to the 16th century Spanish Bilbo sword. Some also use small hatchets, light maces, or the occasional shark-tooth club, but the latter is rare due to the weapon not ensuring a swift death.
Appearance: Shadow Blades who have infiltrated an enemy city or castle will dress the exact same as commoners around them. However, assassins specializing in eliminating targets or sabotaging enemy positions have a much more interesting appearance. These members of the order were given hooded cloaks with multiple color patches to break up the body pattern, accompanied by dark colored trousers and tunics. The colors of the clothing would change for each specific mission, allowing assassins to travel anywhere in the world while still retaining the ability to blend into their environment.

Update: the Shadow Blades do have women assassins, though they are used for different tasks than the men and thus have different training. The primary purpose of the female assassins are entrance into a target's household, either by sweet-talking or... other means that I will not discuss here. They are extremely adept at receiving information from their target through a vast variety of approaches. Never, ever, trust a female Shadow Blade. They never tell the whole truth.

Attached is a word document with excerpts from my second book. The last paragraph in the excerpt probably wasn't necessary to show the abilities of the Shadow Blades, but I wanted to show that there is hope for even the well-trained killer. Also, in the scene where more assassins were sent to kill Akamai, these were probably Sordin assassins, not islanders. The Order would often command the murder of captured assassins in their cells to prevent them from giving away the secrets of their training, or to keep them from defecting to the other side. Islander assassins are more likely to defect, because if they are treated the correct way, one could make them realize that they are Islanders, not Sordin, and convince them to help free their people, which is probably what Akamai concluded when Aelundei offered him a second chance.

Wow...just...wow! That is amazing. I like! The depth of development... Wow. That's all I can think of for now.

Thank you! Do you have any further questions? There were a few things I wanted to get to, but couldn't decide where to put them in the post...

Hmm, I can't think of any questions at the moment. It was very well-explained.

Neat. I don't have time right now to read the excerpts, but I like the story. What is the Bilbo sword?

It is a sixteenth century Spanish sword, similar to a rapier, but I believe with a sturdier blade and less ornate hand guard...

Something kind of like this, though I envision it as having a slightly heftier blade. This is not my own picture, I pulled it off of a sword forum.

Ah; I see. Thanks for sharing!

Added an update about the material I didn't originally include. Again, if their are any questions, comments, or suggestions, please feel free to let me know.

What are your general thoughts on the Shadow Blades? Is there anything you want to see expanded upon? Anything you don't quite understand?

Thanks for reading my post, and especially for persevering through the entirety of it!