As far as the assassin goes, I don't remember. I know I was level 3 or 4, and I was doing something, and all of a sudden, that fool came out of nowhere, and attacked me. It took some patience, the first few times, he killed me. When I finally killed him, it was doing one of the Fighters Guild missions. The cave area in balmora, with the guys stealing the eggs. Your reputation will start going up when you start doing missions for all the Houses. I got my 1 point by doing the first mission for House Hlaalu. I stole the Iron Viperslayer from a crate outside in Balmora. You can get a lot of good shit in those crates. Just remember to use your sneak ability. Sometimes the guards don't like you messing with stuff
Rob