===== The Elegy =====

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The Elegy is a well known and respected((or feared)) organisation within the galaxy whose members are tasked with "pruning": eliminating((killing)) those who have become too dangerous for the Galaxy.  The organisation's cabal known as "the Choir" issue an open list of assignments to its members, Spectres, which are taken with absolute seriousness, and enacted with dignity and thoroughness.  Since targets may be elusive, Spectres are free to work on multiple assignments on the list at once, and indeed multiple Spectres can be working on the same assignment.  The criteria for target selection are said to revolve around removing individuals who either commit crimes of high magnitude - such as murder - or are of risk of attempting galactic conquest.  In reality, the Choir's selection criteria are not certain, and accusations of corruption are rife outside its membership.

Though the methods of dispatching a target may vary, the Spectres are bound by a protocol for completing a Pruning assignment:
  - **Inform** the target that they are due to be pruned
  - **Dispatch** the target using any means necessary
  - **Provide** necessary compensation to affected citizens
  - **Report** to the Elegy that the assignment has been completed

Depending on the persuasion of the individual Spectre they may be considered anything from a holy duty to a life-or-death contract.  Reasons for joining the Elegy vary hugely, but since the job comes with no pay (since the Elegy considers it immoral to pay its Spectres for their deadly services) it is always done as a vocation.  One attractive reason one might join is that the family of a Spectre on an active contract is protected from being the target of an assignment from the Elegy.  The selection process for new Spectres is rigorous, as are the rules for ensuring that Spectres are indeed actively working on an assignment.

Spectres have no shame or fear in identifying themselves, since their task is a vitally important one.  When they do so, the word "Spectre" will be their only title.  Some Spectres choose to also change their name for a moniker upon joining the Elegy, putting their past life behind them and signifying their adoption of total service to the Elegy.  Such names often take after Ships, Planets, or occasionally whole Star Systems (e.g. the infamous Spectre Alta who was once responsible for the Pruning of the third in line for the Altarian Dynastic Throne after their murder of the second).