If you're in the mood for real cheese... (and I must emphasise that I've only ever theorised about this myself, never actually done it in a game because it's so absurd and doesn't suit role-play fans at all)...

you can get a v_5 assassin for around 1800 florins:-

1 x assassin @ 200 fl (preferably with starting stars from the alehouse etc)
16 x emissary / bishop @ 100 fl

Kill your emissaries one by one (on rare occasions, your assassin will die in one of the attempts and you'll have to start over).

16 kills is worth 5 stars, even for an assassin starting at v_0.

You now have the equivalent of a Guy of Gisbourne, reasonable chances of success versus border forts and at least a decent shot at the target.

Mind you, I've lost G-o-G himself before, on a stupid mission against a completely trivial, low-star target, so you still have a chance of completely wasting your money, in trying this. Not to mention the lives it cost...


And I don't know about you lot, but I still flinch (3 times), every time I hear the 'assassin captured' soundtrack...