The Holy Country assassinations of the House of Sartar - a form of Dart Competition?

[Joerg]

The conflict between  the houses Norinel (and its allies) and Sartar following the trapping and murder of Sarotar unleashed the fury of Saronil and his surviving sons and nephews, and quite likely also Onelisin's fury. In the following decades, House Norinel learned the very hard way that the House of Sartar was more than capable of retribution inside what they considered their safe homes.

https://wellofdaliath.chaosium.com/esrolian-queens-list/

The House of Sartar showed extraordinary skill in the counter-assassination game. While Arkilia herself appears to have escaped the ire of Sarotar's kinsfolk, her sister (Norina, Queen of Nochet) and ultimately also her mother Brengala saw a violent demise. The houses of the suitors may have had to replace their Grandmothers and the suitors, too.

The assassin units in the WBRM / Dragon Pass board game are maybe the earliest expression of this kind of warfare.

I can only speculate on the sources of these kill teams. House Sartar had plenty such sources.

Saronil himself had ties to the Shaker's Temple, through his fostering and his wives, and Sorana Tor is a good patron goddess (matron doesn't sound quite right) for assuring death. As good as her Pelorian counterpart Natha.

All the martially or magically inclined sons of Saronil and Eonistaran would have been to the Big Rubble. That opens up a possible connection to the Black Fang already for this period. Dorasar may have helped get the alchemists supplied when he established the Lhankor Mhy temple in New Pavis.

Tarkalor had run with the Night Jumpers, and would have recruited them and their magics, turning a strength of the Esrolians - their troll bodyguards - into a weakness.

And Onelisin was a prominent figure in the Yinkin cult, and had special ties to the Telmori beyond even her grandfather's work.

All of these connections would make it rather easy to assemble and train specialist insertion and strike teams.

However the House of Sartar built its chapter of assassins, they surely weren't virgins in the game of houses.

 

Still, the Lunar application of Dart Competitors against them after the frontal assault of 1590 had failed must have caught them unaware. The tale of Saraskos dying in the attempt to avenge his children shows that this must have been an ongoing campaign, much like the previous counter-assassinations in Esrolia, but this time the assassins were targeting the House of Sartar, and even with Telmori and Humakti bodyguards the House of Sartar was systematically culled.

I wonder who pulled the strings here. Was this some kind of competition the Red Emperor had given the rivaling Lunar families - whoever manages to kill the most of these pesky Sartarite royals with their private assassins would gain favors? Or was this a more localized effort, coordinated from Furthest?

The biggest strike of this conflict appears to have been the magical assassination of Terasarin by Moirades himself aided by Fazzur's magician brother. Though not the final strike - it appears that the steadburning by Lunar attackers that sent Argrath into exile may have been part of this ongoing campaign.

[Erol of Backford]

It seems very unlikely that with all the infighting of the Sartarites, that there weren't also some Sartarite Lunar collaborators, assisting and so, making at least a few of the assassinations partly inside jobs?