Too many assassins too few assassinations

[Jetmann114]

According to the lore almost every town in Tamriel has a secret DB location, and that each one would likely has at least 2-3 members, isn't it odd that so few people get killed, when across Tamriel there are probably hundreds of dark brotherhood assassins? It just doesn't make a lot of sense...

 

[sticky runes]

some towns only have about 6 residents...

 

[Dagmar]

According to the lore almost every town in Tamriel has a secret DB location, and that each one would likely has at least 2-3 members, isn't it odd that so few people get killed, when across Tamriel there are probably hundreds of dark brotherhood assassins? It just doesn't make a lot of sense...

The Dark Brotherhood doesn't have a secret location in every town in Tamriel. Nothing in the lore supports that statement. You may be confused by a reference in the lore article for the Dark Brotherhood at the UESP site which refers to the fact that in the Third Era, by the time of the Warp in the West, the Dark Brotherhood had a guildhall in many (not all) towns and cities in the Iliac Bay region of Tamriel (not all Tamriel). That lore is obtained from the game content of Daggerfall, which takes place in that region. Having not played the game I can only assume that in most towns or cities in the game a player could find a Dark Brotherhood guildhall.

By the Fourth Era the Dark Brotherhood is in decline and by the time of the civil war in Skyrim it is at its lowest point, reduced to only one active guildhall in the entirety of Tamriel. If your questioning why so few people are assassinated at the time of Skyrim the answer is kind of obvious in this context as their are only 7 assassins in one location (Cicero doesn't count because he is not there unless you join the Dark Brotherhood and, as the Keeper, he can no longer take contracts anyway).