Luca Vespillo received her first contract: kill the pirate captain of a ship in the Imperial City Waterfront District. It was not good news. She knew she'd have to kill again if she was to stay in the Dark Brotherhood, she was just hoping...maybe...somehow...it would just never ever happen. During her stay in the Cheydinhal Sanctuary, she had made a friend. She was pretty sure it was the first friend she's ever had. Antoinetta Marie. They both shared a similar past of living off the street and struggling to survive, only to be taken in by the Dark Brotherhood. The only major difference was Antoinetta was far less of a screw-up, was never quite as desperate, and also seemed to enjoy murdering. Okay, those are three major differences, but whatever.

Reluctantly, Luca agreed to the contract and went to the Imperial City. It was her first time there, and it was absolutely stunning. She remembered her pact to make a fresh start, an idea that had been thrown out the window sense then. Or had it? Was the Dark Brotherhood not a fresh start? It was certainly unlike anything she'd ever done before, and she was much happier and better off than ever before. Maybe this wasn't as bad as she was thinking. After all, she was off to kill a pirate, who had most certainly [censored] and pillaged and murdered more than his fair share. The guards would probably do the same if they had the chance, Luca had certainly seen the Imperial Legion murder before. She began wondering if perhaps the Dark Brotherhood was really just a different type of law enforcement. After all, the murders issued were called upon by average people around Tamriel. It was a chance to get justice when the Legion or the other respective governments around Tamriel would not take action themselves. Perhaps the Dark Brotherhood was the knife of the people!

And yet, these thoughts still didn't get rid of the knot in her stomach and the feeling of anxiety.

http://i43.tinypic.com/119uhcg.jpg before ducking into a crate near the pirate ship. A few painfully boring hours later, she was loaded on board. http://i40.tinypic.com/2cefbb.jpg, carefully avoiding the others on board. She made her way down to the captain's quarters, where she met her mark. The captain demanded answers for her presence, but she said nothing, and drew the Dagger of Woe. She attempted a quick slice, but fumbled and stabbed him in the shoulder. The pirate grew angry and drew his sword. Luca panicked and began stabbing and slicing rapidly. It was a slow death for the pirate captain. Luca, covered in blood, tears welling up in her eyes, yelped out in fright as she heard a pounding at the door. The Redguard had heard the commotion and announced he was coming in. Luca quickly snatched a key from the body of the pirate captain, fumbled with the lock on the door behind her, then bolted out the door, dove into the water, and swam away.

Luca Vespillo returned to the Cheydinhal Sanctuary. As she arrived, she suddenly remembered something she had overlooked in her panic and discontent about how her contract went: she didn't screw up. This had to be a first or something. She was given an important task, one that was difficult, one that required skill and tact, one that could end in disaster in a number of different ways. But it went...perfectly. Well, no, not perfectly. The captain saw her, fought with her, and she probably alerted the entire ship to her presence, and had it not been for the back exit, she would most certainly have been torn to shreds by the other pirates. But still! She didn't screw up!

She was greeted by Vicente Valtieri with praise and affection. He was proud of her. No one had ever been proud of her before! And on top of that, she received a reward! An enchanted ring called the Black Band! Luca was ecstatic.

The next day, Luca was given her next contract: kill the Wood Elf Baenlin in his house in Bruma. This time, a bonus was offered: make the death look like an accident, and make sure Gromm, his Nord guard, remains alive. Luca did not look forward to this task. She had nightmares the night before of her past three victims. She tried not to think about it as much as possible, but the knot in her stomach persisted, always making her feel sick, so she could never really enjoy the bounty of food. In spite of this, she tried her best to stay positive. She had never been to Bruma, and it would be the furthest north she had ever been. Luca had considered heading to Skyrim one day, assuming she liked the cold and the Nord culture. She had lived in Elsweyr her whole life, so the cold and the snow were not well known to her.

Bruma was nice and welcoming, and she spent a few hours in Olav's Tavern, drinking a lot but not enough to get sleep-with-the-first-person-to-take-you-home drunk. She asked around enough to learn where Baenlin lived, but in a totally sly way so no one would be suspicious. She almost felt proud of herself for being so sneaky. Almost. Damn that knot in her stomach. Eventually, Luca left the tavern, donned her dark leather armor, and snuck into Baenlin's house through the basemant.

Her heart pounded as she made her way upstairs, and through a secret door in the bedroom, as instructed by Vicente. Sure enough, Baenlin was sitting in his chair below a giant mounted Minotaur head. The fact that she was still a little tipsy made her a bit more clumsy, but also gave her the courage to continue through with her contract. She loosened the fastenings on the mounted head, and it crashed down onto Baenlin with a loud thud, snapping his neck. Luca heard Gromm run up to his master with his weapon drawn, only to find the Bosmer dead. Luca looked through the hole in the wall, eyes widened, and a small panicked squeal escaped her. Gromm looked up through the hole in the wall. Their eyes met. Luca ran.

She made it back through the basemant and out of the house, Gromm chasing behind her and picking up speed, already swinging his massive hammer. Luca, seeming as only a shadowy figure, flew past the guards and out of the city, still ahead of Gromm. The guards drew their weapons, but lacked the judgment of who to be shooting at. Luca made it to a cliff, and quickly but carefully stepped down the rocks. Gromm, on the other hand, filled with rage and confusion, was not so careful, and he plummeted down the cliff, landing headfirst on the rocks below. The contract was complete, but she would receive no bonus this time. http://i43.tinypic.com/2e5163q.jpg

Luca Vespillo was given the task to kill a Dunmer, Valen Dreth, in the Imperial City Prison. As a bonus, she could not kill any guards.
Luca had heard of someone having escaped the Imperial City Prison for the first time in ages recently. Add the fact that it had been equally as long that a Dark Brotherhood member had broken in and out of the prison, and it was quite a daunting task. Regardless, Luca entered the sewers in search of this secret entrance. After fighting off some rats and mudcrabs, she discovered a path leading into some ruins. Once finding the ruins guarded by various guards, Luca drank a bottle of Mead to get the courage to continue. She very slowly made her way past the guards, doing her best to keep absolutely quiet. It felt like days later, but Luca made it into the prison, where she heard a guard speaking to Valen Dreth. She didn't quite catch the conversation, as her heart was too busy pounding. Once the guard left, Luca made her way into the open. She snatched a key from a nearby desk and opened the door to Valen Dreth's cell. For whatever reason, Valen immediately became aggressive toward Luca, perhaps recognizing her threat, or perhaps just a bunch of built up anger from being locked up so long. Regardless, he began attacking Luca, and she flailed her dagger at him, getting lucky with a clean slit across the throat. (Player's note: I'm not sure why, but when I spoke to Valen Dreth, he seemed offended or something and became aggressive. I was expecting the "It's you!" speech, which I was planning to completely ignore, as Luca was not the one to escape the prison, but instead, I got a different reaction. Maybe because Luca's Personality is modified to be much lower than normal, so his low disposition gained a different response.)

Luca went back through the ruins the way she came, and just when she thought she was in the clear, a guard spotted her! She plunged back into the sewers and eventually back outside. She wasn't she how long it took before she stopped being chased, but she did not stop running until she reached Cheydinhal.

What luck! Luca was given a contract to not kill someone! It was a dream come true! The lives of those she had killed were weighing heavily on her. After having heard some of the stories told by her Dark Brothers and Sisters, she feared it was only a matter of time before she was given a contract she simply couldn't bring herself to do, but this was quite another story. She merely had to help someone fake their death, and then revive them.

If you're familiar with this quest, there's really not much to say. Everything went well! Luca used the Langourwine blade on Francois at the right moment, she fled Chorrol without trouble, and she restored Francois in the Chapel Undercroft. She was quite frightened by the ancestors of Mortierre rising up, and fled from the Undercroft with Francois, rather than make any attempt to fight the undead abominations. Luca received a beautiful necklace, Cruelty's Heart, as a reward! She was also promoted in rank, and would now be taking contracts from Ocheeva. Vicente offered to turn Luca into a vampire, but she turned down the offer.

Luca's next contract was to kill a High Elf named Faelian in the Imperial City. To receive a bonus, she had to kill him in a discrete location with no chance of witnesses, as to avoid the detection of Adamus Phillida.
She asked around the Imperial City, and learned that Faelian stayed at the Tiber Septim Hotel. She went there and spoke with his girlfriend, but did not get any useful information. Luca then saw Faelian himself enter the Tiber Septim Hotel! He attempted to speak with her, but was babbling incomprehensibly. Skooma. Luca could recognize the effects it had from a mile away.

Luca decided to stay the night at the hotel to keep an eye on Faelian, despite the room not being cheap. She woke up early and caught Faelian sneaking out. She followed him through the Imperial City, a long path, until finally reaching a house in the Elven Gardens District. She went inside, donned her dark leather armor, and went into the basemant to hide out. However, she stumbled onto the body of Lorkmir, laying in a pool of his own blood with a dagger nearby. The sight made her sick to her stomach. Who could have done such a thing? But somehow, Luca knew. It had to have been Faelian. He had taken maybe a little too much Skooma and Lorkmir was just an innocent victim. An innocent victim. http://i41.tinypic.com/zk4cqw.jpg

Dammit. Faelian was no different than herself. This murder was unforgiveable. Luca went upstairs. She cut Faelian across the chest. He screamed out and began to flee, but she drove her dagger into his back. http://i44.tinypic.com/2lmx6h5.jpg

Luca was given the task of killing a sick warlord, Roderick, by switching his medicine with posion. As a bonus, she had to be completely undetected.
This contract did not seem to bad to her. Warlords were cruel and vicious. If one died, the world was better off. Additionally, she did not have to kill the man herself, she merely had to switch one bottle with another and be done with it. The bonus was what worried her, however. She hadn't exactly been great at staying undetected in her previous contracts, and if she got detected in this one, then she had to kill Roderick in a different way.

Luca went out to Fort Sutch, and managed to do a great job at staying stealthy. It probably took far longer than it should have, but she eventually made it to Roderick's medicine cabinet and switched the bottles. She also managed to sneak out without being detected. A successful contract! Nothing went wrong! Nothing went wrong!

A PARTY?! COULD LUCA BE ANY HAPPIER?! But, oh, wait, she had to kill all the guests. Okay, happy is over now. But still, this was a great excuse to wear her new dress, right! Somehow, that wasn't as comforting as she had hoped. Her contract was to kill every guest in a mansion.

Luca did not bring any weapons, so she had to improvise. One by one, she took out each party-goer with the various weapons laying around the house in their decorative and mildly-practical spots. The whole ordeal took an entire 24 hours, with all the guests becoming more and more paranoid of each other, until finally turning on one another. Luca was the only one to walk out of the mansion alive, though covered in blood. She could only hope that any future parties she might attend would involve less self-loathing on her part.

This was not a contract, but a request by her Dark Brother, Teinaava, to kill a renegade Shadowscale he and Ocheeva had grown up with. When Luca arrived in Bogwater, she met with Scar-Tail. Admittedly, Luca was unsure if she could bring herself to kill him. Leaving the Dark Brotherhood had constantly been on her mind, and she really could not blame someone for doing so. Scar-Tail mentioned how she could take the Argonian Heart of a failed assassin nearby and tell Teinaava it was his in exchange for letting him go. Luca agreed to this deal.

This was the most important contract she had ever been given. She was to kill Adamus Phillida, and, as a bonus, cut off his finger and leave it in the desk of his successor to send a message.
Luca was given an enchanted arrow, the Rose of Sithis, which would kill Adamus with a single shot. She went to Leyawiin and spent a while tracking Adamus down. She stalked him from the shadows until finding seeing a golden opportunity. He took a daily swim with his armor off in the pool of Leyawiin. During this time, his guard seemed to nonchalantly walk away for whatever reason. Luca felt fortunate that she had been practicing using a bow. http://i41.tinypic.com/x5770z.jpg She'd get no second chance. Her arrow struck true, killing Adamus. She waited several moments to see if anyone had noticed, and contemplating whether she should risk taking his finger. The pool began to run read with blood. Screw it, she thought, and rushed into the pool, slicing off Adamus' finger and retreating into a dark shadow to change her clothes into something less bloodstained.

As Luca walked to the Imperial City to deposit the finger, she wondered if that was really the best idea. She had to admit to herself, she did not like killing people. She knew it was wrong. Every day she felt worse and worse about herself. Anxiety, guilt, and self-loathing crept in deeper and deeper. Perhaps some of her marks deserved their fate. Many of whom she had killed were down-right rotten and if she hadn't done it, someone else would have. But others... Should she really discourage Adamus' successor from pursuing the Dark Brotherhood? But then, she could not bear to see her family hurt. And that is what she had grown to think of the Dark Brotherhood as, her family and friends. She had never been closer to any group of people in her entire life, and they cared about her.

Finally, Luca decided to deposit the finger in the desk, and did so during the night. She figured that perhaps the finger would only anger Adamus' successor into pursuing the Brotherhood more adamantly, or perhaps it would scare him off. Either way, it was out of her hands now.

Purification. A single word that brought Luca's whole world crashing down.

Luca was both thrilled and frightened when she was told Lucien Lachance had requested her specifically for a special contract. She had not seen him since she had been recruited, and she recognized how great of an honor it was to meet with him in person, but she feared the worst. Luca immediately set off to Fort Farragut to meet with the Speaker.

She managed to stealthily avoid the various skeletons meant to protect the Fort, a feat she was particularly proud of, as she had begun showing some real skill at getting around without being detected, though she wasn't sure how well the undead could perceive things. Regardless, it made her feel good. She arrived in Lucien's room and they spoke. She was right to fear the worst. Lucien said it was time to remove the traitor that had been whispered about ever since Luca joined. He ordered Luca to perform the ancient rite of Purification; kill every last member of the Cheydinhal Sanctuary.

The idea was unthinkable. He was asking her to kill her family. To kill Ocheeva, Teinaava, M'raaj-Dar, Gogron gro-Bolmog, Telaendril, Vicente Valtieri, and Antoinetta Marie. They were her family. They were her friends.

She went to the Cheydinhal Sanctuary and spoke with each of them, they all regarded her warmly, even M'raaj-Dar! It was too much. She knew from the moment the words left Lucien's mouth that she could not do it. Deep down, she knew each of them probably deserved it. They were cold-blooded killers bar none. They would all most definitely do the same to her if asked. But it wasn't in her to do it. It was just too much.

Luca left the Dark Brotherhood. She fled the Cheydinhal Sanctuary, left Cheydinhal itself, and just kept going. She wasn't sure where she was going, maybe back to Elsweyr, maybe to forget it all ever happened and go try to start anew in the Imperial City--after all, she had over 900 septims now! But she knew the Dark Brotherhood would eventually catch up with her, possibly put a contract on her. And maybe that's what she deserved. To die under the blade of the Dark Brotherhood like so many of her victims. Eventually, she found herself at the large bridge in the Upper Niben. A Khajiit in fur armor approached her, declaring "your money or your life!"
How fitting.