The Assassin

While I don't think you'll find any noblemen who'll admit it, politics have become impossible without at least knowing how to contact the guild of assassins in Verdistis. Their skill is unquestionable, their discretion guaranteed, and their record impeccable. If an assassin of the black guild accepts a commission, the target can start writing his last will, for there's no way he'll escape his ill fate. Their efficiency alone serves as a good reason for their popularity among the less scrupulous nobles, but there's more. The leadership of the guild consists entirely of businessmen, and for the right price, one can buy immunity from them. The immunity guarantees that for a certain period of time, the guild will not accept any commissions with the bearer of the immunity as a target, no matter what the price. It goes without saying that this policy has significantly spiced the guild's treasury. Because of this, you won't find many men in a position of power who haven't obtained immunity from the guild.

The black guild is also "lethally" opposed to non-members who operate on their turf. Assassins who operate without permission of the guild are often found dead, usually only a few days after they committed a murder. Though it would be possible to exterminate the guild, or at least severely weaken it, the will to do so among the noblemen is non-existent. While costly, the immunity combined with the guild's way of dealing with competition, effectively guarantees that the amount of politically inspired assassinations has never been so low. On another note, it also prevents those without access to large amounts of wealth to ever reach a position of significant power, something that apparently suits most of the nobles just fine.

Rumor has it that the founder of the black guild was a high-ranking servant in the pre-stormfist days during Nericon's rule (See the story of Nericon and Zandalor for more details). It was the old tyrant himself who taught this servant the art of silently eliminating unwanted elements. When Nericon died and the Stormfist family seized power, the servant fled the castle taking with him an intimate knowledge of how to access the castle through secret corridors. It didn't take long before he was approached by noblemen and merchants. They thought that the newly installed rulers were irrationally opposed to what that they called "a decent way of making a living", and suggested that there was a fortune to be made if the servant would assist them by taking up his old job.

Instead of accepting their offer, the servant slipped into the castle straight into the chambers of the new ruler. What happened in those chambers will probably remain a mystery forever, but it is an established fact the same nobles and merchants who had approached the servant, were found dead soon after.