Ned Shakeshaft
Assassin
Ned Shakeshaft and he is an assassin, though he will announce himself as a thief if questioned. Ned has been ‘planted’ here, at short notice, by a prominent merchant in Alarmas who is secretly a receiver of the smugglers’ contraband. Ned’s task is simply to do his utmost to prevent adventures from learning about the smuggling operation and generally so to weaken the party — by promoting dissent, causing ‘accidents’ while not appearing to do so, and so forth — as to lead them to abandon their mission. However, his fear for h is own skin is such that he will not attempt an assassination except in the last resort and in circumstances which give him an excellent chance of escaping and/or avoiding detection. Unfortunately for the merchant, he does not know how to contact the smugglers at short notice — Sanbalet always initiates their infrequent meetings and never arranges for them to take place in the House. Thus the merchant knows the smugglers’ base is somewhere in the House but has never been able to find it. Planting the assassin in one of the upstairs rooms was the best plan he could conceive at short notice.
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