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Be on ever vigilant guard, Soldier! See the lizard who stands on his hindquarters, laboring in the tavern, the field, or the fen of his homeland? Spot the meek and lowly Argonian with a simpering guise and a lilting tone of appeasement? He may not be as he seems, friend! After recent incursions close to Black Marsh, and the death of Captain Turpilinus Baibius under circumstances most vexing, we have reason to believe Shadowscales are active in this region. But what of this clandestine group and its dark purpose?
Shadowscales are reptilian kith born under the sign of the Shadow. Plucked at birth and offered to the detestable Dark Brotherhood, these hatchlings are a boon to their cause and are expertly trained in the arts of furtiveness and subtle bloodshed. When fully formed, they are embraced by these Sithis cultists and accept warrants for assassinations, just as their higher race kin have infamously done. Now that Shadowscales are incorporated into Argonian society, their targets benefit only the lizard-folk. How such targets are determined is still unclear.
It is believed the Shadowscales follow the identical five tenets of the hated Brotherhood (your Lore Master has the necessary texts to further your education on these matters). Through capture and torture of suspected members, we know that an order is never disobeyed or refused if given by a superior. A fellow Shadowscale is never a target of these cutthroats, and Shadowscales deserting the Brotherhood are hunted and slain. As our dealings with the Morag Tong have taught us, an assassin's guild functioning as an adjunct to an official government is a powerful threat: now the Argonians have organized such a force, which must be watched, infiltrated, and utterly confounded until broken.