Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-178.167.187.236-20130614030201/@comment-73.163.214.64-20170607222854

If I play an 'honorable' character, then I kill him. In my mind, my character himself, as the Listener, performs the Black Sacrament on behalf of the late emperor and I fulfill my own contract. It's like when The Genie saves Aladdin from drowning, even though Aladdin can't actually make the wish himself. If Astrid can use herself as the sacrifice, I don't see why I can't use the emperor for my own ritual, especially since he is going to die anyway. This way, I fulfill my obligation to Motierre but don't dishonor the Brotherhood by arbitrarily killing the client without going through the proper channels. The money I make from Mottiere's loot, as well as a few things found on the Emperor's ship, are 'given' to the Brotherhood as my payment and goes toward restoring the sanctuary. Even as an Imperial Legate, my loyalty is to my family, not to the Night Mother or to Sithis even, although my character will avoid crossing powerful deities where possible. Thus, while I do not resent Titus, duty calls so he's got to go.

Once he gets what he wants from the DB, I have no doubt Motierre will seek to cover his tracks by having us destroyed. Look at how easily Maro steamrolled us when I was gone. Of course, we would have evidence to implicate him in the assassination, but clearly that won't help much if they ambush the Dawnstar sanctuary the same way they did the first one. Besides, we're assassins, vampires and murderers, the nobles at court would not be inclined to believe us. My character always wears a mask on the job, so from a RP perspective, no one knows the Dragonborn is also the Listerner. This means even my influence as the person who defeated Alduin couldn't save the DB if Motierre ratted us out. The Thieve's Guild would be forced to distance themselves from us to protect themselves and that much attention would not be good for the DB. We're assassins, we're not warriers, with dwindled numbers at that. We can not afford another siege on the sanctuary when we barely survived the first one. Unlike Astrid, I feel an immense responsibility regarding by subordinates well being, especially Nazir and Cicero.

The bodyguard I typically spare. I don't mind if there are whispers that the DB killed the emperor, hell the Legion at the very least has to be partially aware that we made an attempt on his life, but the bodyguard does not have the same influence as Amand himself so he wouldn't prove to be much of a threat. By leaving a witness, it will allow rumors and heresay to spread. Whispers will help improve our business amongst the commonfolk whereas confirmation of our involvement by a high ranking noble will make us public enemy number one. If Rexus had any brains he'd forget what he saw and move on with his life, albeit somewhat dishonored by having let his client die.

I don't resent Amaund either, he's simply a client, though his ambition gives me reason to distrust him. But from a business stand point, it makes sense to kill him and remove any doubt of his potential betrayal and from a personal aspect, I  respect Titus enough to honor his final wishes, albeit by justifying this with a somewhat convoluted explanation to myself. Amaund makes it pretty clear he wants nothing else to do with people like me, so I have to believe it's doubtful that he'd employ our services in the future and much more likely that he'd try to snuff us now that he's done with us. His potential threat to the family is far greater than his potential usefulness and profitability.