Night Ghosts

Death will get us all in the end, we just accelerate the natural process of life.

— From an interview with a member of the Night Ghosts.

The Night Ghosts is the assassin guild that currently serves the government of the UIS as their intelligence agency and secret service. The guild is publicly known as the Skafrontsesh Intelligence Network, the intelligence agency, but most people keep using their traditional name. This is not entirely incorrect, because even if they do what the government says, they seem to have their own agenda as well —after all, hiding information from outsiders is as easy as hiding it form the government.

Membership

Most members of the Night Ghosts join the organization when they are still children, because their parents either are already members or want their child to be trained with them. Close families of members have all essential resources guaranteed by the government and many people also join because their parents don't have enough resources to maintain a family.

Training

The different divisions within the Night Ghosts have different kinds of training, which includes cybersecurity, espionage, combat, and much more. Whatever the division, the training is intensive to ensure a high standard in their service.

Structure

The guild has a pyramidal structure on top of which sits the current minister of defense. It's divided in independent cells that only have contact with their immediate superior (and often through encrypted messages only) in order to safeguard the rest of the agency if one of the cells falls.
Researching the internal structure of a secretive organisation is difficult, but here's what I've found out:

History

It's difficult to tell exactly when the Night Ghosts appeared due to their long history —if you ask any regular person about them, they will probably tell you that the guild has always existed. The history of the organization can be divided in three different periods, each roughly corresponding to the history of the country.

Prescholar ages: death assistance

Prescholar ages: generic term that encapsulates all the different historical periods that happened between the end of prehistory and the foundation of the schools. In the case of Skafrontse, this happened in the year 93 aE, 12 years before the Skafrontsesh magocracy.

The oldest document mentioning the Night Ghosts is a writ signed by Imbfrest Skafrontsesh II, a king that ruled during the 3rd century bE. According to this document, the King hired the organization to end his own life. Apparently, there had been multiple assassination attempts, so he preferred to use the Night Ghosts to end his life in a painless way.
Since assassin guilds were illegal at the time and the writ was released publicly, this suggests that the Night Ghosts were not actually an assassin guild. It is possible, although not confirmed, that they offered death assistance services.

Magocracy: lawful assassin guild

Magocracy: refers to the historical period during which the eight schools of magic ruled over Einya. In the case of Skafrontse, this is between 105 aE and 2183 aE.

In the year 105 aE, the magic school of Skafrontse overthrew the kingdom and became the new ruler of the archipelago. At that time, the Night Ghosts were a very relevant player in national politics, as they had slowly started to develop a clandestine division that acted like an assassin guild. The School, fearing retaliation from the leaders of the organization, performed one of the boldest moves in the history of the country.
Five years after overthrowing the government, the School legalized assassin guilds, albeit with some limitations. Under the new law, assassin guilds were allowed to work as long as their jobs were hired through regular means (signed contracts verified by lawyers) and the job wasn't motivated by political, social, or otherwise controversial reasons.
The newly-founded government became the most usual client of the Night Ghosts, which eventually influenced the organization enough for many of its agents to use thanatomancy as a way to ease their job. Due to that, the Night Ghosts became, in practice, part of the government itself, since thanatomancers pledged their loyalty to the School instead of the Night Ghosts.

Postscholar age: government intelligence agency

Postscholar age: name of the historical era that started with the end of the magocracy. Although the eight schools still exist, their political power is now limited to the school terrains. This is the current age.

In the year 2183, about two centuries ago, the magocracy fell in the Global Magic War and a civil war started in the Circle. During the war, the Night Ghosts (and the majority of assassin guilds) refused most jobs due to the uncertainty of who would win. Its numbers quickly diminished, as the agents found more profitable jobs or enrolled in one of the two sides of the conflict.
The organization was about to be disbanded, but the war ended and eventually a new democratic system was established, which meant that the Night Ghosts were able to work again. Their numbers grew quickly and, shortly after that, they were again the most famous assassin guild of the country. So much so, that their precision and resourcefulness eventually made its way to the president's office.
In the year 2203, and after long negotiations, the government turned the Night Ghosts into the official intelligence agency of the United Islands of Skafrontse. They didn't change their internal structure, and the identity of their leader is only known to the Secretary of Defence and the President. Thanks to the resources provided by the government, the Night Ghosts developed their already-existing network of spies to the extent that they are able to carry on missions anywhere on the world (both for the government or for their own agenda).
Currently, their official name is Skafrontsesh Intelligence Network (SIN for short), but everyone knows them colloquially as Night Ghosts. The reason for the name change is partly that the UIS government wants to prevent other countries from thinking that they work with an assassin guild, as they would consider it unethical.

Logo of the Dark Ghosts, copied from an official government insignia. The dagger and the eye represent the two main facets of the organization, while the red roses are used as a contrast with the blue roses, symbol of the democratic Skafrontse.

Type

Guild, Assassins

Parent Organization

United Islands of Skafrontse

Location

Circle of Skafrontse

Some say we are motivated by some religion, you know? But it's their religion what won't let them see that we are just an extension of nature. Sorry to break it down to you, mate, but you can't avoid death.

— From an interview with a member of the Dark Ghosts.

The meaning of death

Skafrontsesh culture has very different views about death compared to the rest of Einya. This is reflected in their language, in which the word frashkra means both life and death. Apparently, they don't find it confusing at all.

I, King Imbfrest Skafrontsesh II, Ruler of the Circle, Protector of the Seas, and Duke of Shkrarst, hereby establish my desire to die in a painless manner.
I decree that the organisation known as Dark Ghosts shall fulfill my desire and they shall not suffer any penal consequences for my own death. This document shall be published immediately after my passing and my only son shall inherit all my properties and titles.
Imbfrest Skafrontsesh II

Copy of the document written by king Imbfrest allowing the Dark Ghosts to kill him.