After giving in to the naive fools I travel with about my concerns over sleeping safely, I have finally put my caltrops away at night, convinced that our watches were good enough protection. Bullshit! Blink clearly gets knocked out with the tiniest bump to the head, because I wake up to a dagger at my throat! Thankfully due to my practice with not stabbing Kestrel when he wakes me up I was able to restrain myself and think calmly before acting. It was clear that whoever it was didn't want to kill me, as they could have already. Also, the ninja outfit was a dead giveaway for him to be a member of Nicolai Hel's outfit. So I go peacefully and try to show them what I could do, and given my attempts hopefully they were impressed enough. Not that I didn't fuck up a bunch of times in the test. Just like in school!

I have gathered enough info on Hel's group between Pippy and the thieves guild in Pavalar to piece together what is going on. Of course any of this info could be shit, and that would ruin my theories, but what else have I got to go on? Here's what I think:

Nicolai Hel, while known as the greatest assassin, is no longer active in that role, choosing instead to run his secret organization which is rumored to be called "The Hand". It is very exclusive, with anywhere from 4 to 10 people in it, causing some to refer to the members as "the hands of Hel". Hel, being a former Master Assassin, left the guild to form his own group, which shares many of the same skills, but focuses on a broader mission than simply killers for hire. What that mission is remains unclear, but it is not as simple as increasing Hel's power and wealth. He clearly has some agenda which even his own people may not be totally aware of. They have information gathering capabilities in most of the cities in the realm, and hideouts in all of them, but clearly the organization relies on a small group of outstanding individuals to accomplish their goals without the armies and other aids that the regular guilds have. I must make sure that if and when I meet Hel in person that I convey to him that I am qualified to be one of those "outstanding" individuals, and avoid getting thwacked unconscious, which is most unmighty.