During one of the periods when the Amt für Innere Sicherheit had budget problems and was unable to pay many of its agents for a time, a group of its poison specialists decided to hire themselves out to the highest bidders to earn some extra income. This proved widely successful, and they eventually became a semi-independent group of their own right, the Apotheker ("apothecaries"). The range of poisons at their disposal is staggering, with effects ranging from death to slowly increasing madness, and usually they can customize the poison to the customer's needs, whether he wants the victim to ingest the poison, touch it, or breathe it in. Actually administration of the poison to the victim by the Apotheker themselves costs extra, but can usually be arranged.
The Amt für Innere Sicherheit tolerates the activities of the Apotheker, as long as they adhere to stay away from those the Amt considers off-limits, provide specific poisons by request, and kick back a certain percentage of their take. However, this cozy arrangement has recently been shaken up by the arrival of the Puppeteers in Nimdenthal who want to establish themselves as the premier assassins active in the city and thus are certain to come into conflict with both the Apotheker and the Amt.