The Aviary

The Aviary is a widespread network of assassin guilds across Solmatia. Its members are all child soldiers taken from the streets and given bird-themed aliases. If and when these assassins live past their prime, they become handlers, taking on different animal names and training the next generation of killers. The Aviary is ostensibly a secret, underground organization, but many of those in power are aware of its existence and use it for their own political gain.

History

Early Years

All across Solmatia, there have always been criminal organizations. Gangs, mercenary groups, asassin guilds, trafficking rings. All made their own alliances and enemies, but mostly stayed small-scale, contained to one area and content with that. Then [Lion's real name] arrived on the scene at seventeen, joining [name], a gang in the capital city. He quicly rose through the ranks, earning a reputation for ruthlessness and ambition. Once he had conquered his own gang, he began to expand, taking out or absorbing other groups in the city, then setting his sights beyond it, at the vast array of opportunities in the rest of the country.

[Lion's real name] slowly began to expand his empire. He earned the nickname "Lion" in this time, a term of respect and fear from those on the receiving end of his violence, and a perjorative from those who noticed his tendency to stay home while his "pride" carried out hunts for him. Regardless of its meaning, Lion soon claimed the name for his own, and his closest supporters adopted their own animal nicknames.

As his operation grew, Lion began to pull back on his tactics, switching to a more subtle approach using spies and manipulation to get what he wanted as opposed to brute force These spies and informants were often the newest, youngest members of the groups, carrying out missions to prove themselves. Lion jokingly called them birds, as in messenger pigeons, or perhaps canaries in a mine. The name caught on, and with it, a stricter hierarchy.

After a few years of expansion and development, Lion was largely satisfied with his empire, and began focusing on giving it a more concrete purpose; one he knew could be very profitable. The Aviary became a machine, capable of killing anyone in its target, and its weapons became the newest recruits. However, Lion quickly realized that assassins were not the easiest thing to come by—at least, not voluntarily. He needed a renewable, easily controlled group of people; and he found it in the form of children no one would miss.

All the Little Pieces

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Structure

The Aviary's network covers the entire country of Solmatia, with active bases in most of the major cities and safehouses and inactive bases scattered throughout the land. Each base runs with a similar hierarchy: a leader, typically with 1-3 lieutenants that help them manage the base; a group of 5-20 handlers with various specialties who keep the base running and the assassins in line; and finally, 8-30 assassins who train and run missions. Usually, assassins and handlers stay in the city they are first found in, though they may occasionally be sent to other bases for missions or to stay permanently.

A base's assassins are typically referred to as a cohort, while the assassins themselves may divide themselves into smaller groups they refer to as flocks. A cohort is merely a group living in the same place, while a flock is much more like a family. Flocks tend to be highly protective of one another, so trading members around can easily spark conflict.

Recruitment

Certain handlers in every cohort are designated as recruiters, and periodically go out to scout for new blood. They frequently follow potential new assassins for days to ensure they won't be missed if they disappear, and to see if they will be able to handle the Aviary's training. This doesn't just include children who seem healthy and strong, but also those who are smart, bold, unattached, and/or easy to manipulate. They prefer to lure the children in rather than take them against their will, to lessen the risk of the children resenting them or trying to escape—at least for the first few days.

Once taken to the nearest base, the children will be kept away from the other assassins and given food, clothes, and some small creature comforts. They are slowly introduced to the Aviary's mission and their role in it, as well as given their new name. This process is delicate and always different depending on the child and handlers involved. If it does not go smoothly the first time, the children are kept in solitary confinement and slowly broken, until they either give in to their new life or die. They are then allowed to properly join their cohort, though they will be closely monitored for the first few weeks to ensure they don't attempt to escape.

Training

The Aviary's training is designed first and foremost to break the spirit. Since assassins so frequently leave the base without their handlers, it is vital that they believe there is no hope of escape. They are overworked, underfed, isolated, dehumanized, and regularly beaten. In between the torment, they are also taught to fight with as many techniques and weapons as their handlers know, as well as how to spy and work undercover. The Aviary is well known for producing some of the deadliest killers in history, in spite of their age.

Through this intensive training, asassins become close to one another, forming their own familial bonds. Handlers must strike a balance between allowing these bonds, to maintain the sanity and loyalty of the birds, and ensuring they don't become so strong they overpower loyalty to and fear of the organization itself. To this end, handlers encourage the assassins to form their own hierarchies, and for those hierarchies to be enforced with violence. Some bases feel this structure more strongly than others, depending upon how they are run and the personalities of their assassins.

Known Members

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Trivia

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