HOME | DD

Description

The crusades were a series of holy wars that started because the Islamic Empire ticked off some Byzantines by accidentally storming a few holy cities while acquiring new territories. And even though the Islamic Empire realized their mistake and offered to fix it, the Byzantine Christians called upon Pope Urban II to start a holy war with the Muslims. Urban, with his Templar allies, sent thousands of soldiers out to the Holy Land to fight off the threat to their power. When the Templars marched upon the lands with an army at their back, the Assassins realized that this would become one of the biggest threats to the people's liberties they'd faced so far. And so, the mentor at the time, Hassan-i Sabbāh, realized that the Assassins had to bring out the big guns and thus the Brotherhood became a publicly known organization in the 1090s. The Templars, seeing their enemies come out of secrecy, decided to do the same. And so around 1119, the Grand Master, Hughes de Payens, brought out his order into public eye as the Knights Templar, the leaders of the Christian forces during the Crusades.

Going public caused the Assassins to heavily clash with the land's rulers much more heavily. They tried to assassinate the leader of the Muslim forces, Saladin, in 1176, but failed. And thus Saladin sent his army to the major Assassin fortress at Masyaf to lay siege to the city. The Assassin mentor at the time, Rashid ad-Din Sinan (also known as Al Mualim), negotiated peace terms with Saladin’s men. The Muslims wanted the death of Ahmed Sofian, the Assassin that tried to kill Saladin. But the Assassin, Umar Ibn-La’Ahad, volunteered to take his place. He was executed by Saladin’s men, leaving his eleven-year old son, Altaïr, orphaned. Ahmed later came to Altaïr's room after the siege lifted, and committed suicide out of guilt. Altaïr later became best friends with Ahmed’s son, Abbas, and the two continued their training as Assassins together.

However, their bond was torn when Altaïr revealed the truth of Ahmed’s death to Abbas, due to feeling guilty for having to lie to him because Al Mualim ordered him to. Abbas was immediately filled with hateful denial, and he would carry that denial for the rest of his life. He hated Altaïr, and grew to hate everything else. Altaïr, loosing his only friend, had nothing to stop him from becoming arrogant and apathetic. Altaïr continued to rise through the ranks of the Assassin Brotherhood. In 1189, he helped defend Masyaf from a Templar attack, killing a traitor named Haras in the process. The following year, he became a master Assassin at age 25, making him the youngest Assassin in history to achieve that rank. But his true claim to fame occurred in 1191, the year when he began the journey that would change him, and the entire Brotherhood, forever.

In 1191, Altaïr was sent by Rashid to take an artifact from the Templar Grand Master, Robert de Sable. However, his arrogance got in the way and ruined the mission. The Assassin, Malik lost his arm but managed to escape with the artifact, and his brother, Kadar, was killed. To make matters worse, the Templars were able to follow the Assassins back to Masyaf, and they laid siege to the city. Altaïr was able to fight them off, but it was not enough to keep him from pumishment. He was stripped of his rank and forced to go on a quest for Al Mualim in order to restore his honor. Altaïr was sent to kill nine Templar targets, including Garnier de Naplouse, William of Montferrat, and Robert de Sable himself. Altaïr traveled across the Holy Land and eliminated them all, learning more about himself, the Creed, and kindness as he went. By the time he was ready to take on de Sable, he had become a new man, one who expressed kindness, wisdom, and justice. Almost all the Assassins respected him once again. But Altaïr found out after killing de Sable that the biggest threat to the Assassins was from within their own Brotherhood. Al Mualim had betrayed them.

Altaïr rushed back to Masyaf to find that Al Mualim had gone mad with power, and that he was using the artifact they obtained (an Apple of Eden) to enslave the Assassins. Altaïr was forced to fight his old mentor and kill him before he could corrupt the Assassins permanently. Altaïr tried to destroy the Apple, but found he couldn't bring himself to do it. He stored it away instead, and he burned Al Mualim’s body. This infuriated Abbas, who was in denial over his mentor’s corruption. Abbas and his allies fought Altaïr and his allies in a brief rebellion. The conflict ended quickly, however, when Abbas stole the Apple and nearly destroyed the town with its power. Altaïr stopped Abbas and took the Apple, shutting it down. He spared his old friend, and Altaïr gained the undying respect of the entity Brotherhood. Altaïr began his role as mentor soon after.

Altaïr studied the Apple often, refusing to use its powers on anyone unless the consequences would be catastrophic otherwise. He mainly studied it for scientific purposes, learning of great technologies and cultures from across space and time, cataloging his findings and philosophies in his famous Codex. Altaïr made dozens of reforms to the Brotherhood, making the organization a beacon of liberty, kindness, justice, and equality. He became a hero to the Brotherhood, and is still revered in the modern day as the greatest Assassin who had ever lived.

Altaïr went off on a mission to Cyprus in 1192 to help defend its people against Templar invaders. It was there that he teamed up with a woman named Maria Thorpe, who had been kicked out of the Templars because the Grand Master, Armand Bouchart believed her a traitor. Maria was hesitant to aid Altaïr at first, stuck in her Templar ways. But as they continued on their adventure, she began to realize the error of the Templar way, and by the time the two confronted Bouchart in the Templar achieve in Cyprus, she had gone over to the Assassin ideology completely. The two defeated Bouchart, and they left Cyprus together and returned to Masyaf. The too Assassins fell in love with each other, and they had two children, Darim and Sef. Together, they led the Assassins to glory and helped fight off the Templar crusaders as the crusades raged on. However, a much greater threat had emerged during this time. A massive empire had spawned in the east, and they grew to be an enormous threat that was truly exceptional.

Description

The crusades were a series of holy wars that started because the Islamic Empire ticked off some Byzantines by accidentally storming a few holy cities while acquiring new territories. And even though the Islamic Empire realized their mistake and offered to fix it, the Byzantine Christians called upon Pope Urban II to start a holy war with the Muslims. Urban, with his Templar allies, sent thousands of soldiers out to the Holy Land to fight off the threat to their power. When the Templars marched upon the lands with an army at their back, the Assassins realized that this would become one of the biggest threats to the people's liberties they'd faced so far. And so, the mentor at the time, Hassan-i Sabbāh, realized that the Assassins had to bring out the big guns and thus the Brotherhood became a publicly known organization in the 1090s. The Templars, seeing their enemies come out of secrecy, decided to do the same. And so around 1119, the Grand Master, Hughes de Payens, brought out his order into public eye as the Knights Templar, the leaders of the Christian forces during the Crusades.

Going public caused the Assassins to heavily clash with the land's rulers much more heavily. They tried to assassinate the leader of the Muslim forces, Saladin, in 1176, but failed. And thus Saladin sent his army to the major Assassin fortress at Masyaf to lay siege to the city. The Assassin mentor at the time, Rashid ad-Din Sinan (also known as Al Mualim), negotiated peace terms with Saladin’s men. The Muslims wanted the death of Ahmed Sofian, the Assassin that tried to kill Saladin. But the Assassin, Umar Ibn-La’Ahad, volunteered to take his place. He was executed by Saladin’s men, leaving his eleven-year old son, Altaïr, orphaned. Ahmed later came to Altaïr's room after the siege lifted, and committed suicide out of guilt. Altaïr later became best friends with Ahmed’s son, Abbas, and the two continued their training as Assassins together.

However, their bond was torn when Altaïr revealed the truth of Ahmed’s death to Abbas, due to feeling guilty for having to lie to him because Al Mualim ordered him to. Abbas was immediately filled with hateful denial, and he would carry that denial for the rest of his life. He hated Altaïr, and grew to hate everything else. Altaïr, loosing his only friend, had nothing to stop him from becoming arrogant and apathetic. Altaïr continued to rise through the ranks of the Assassin Brotherhood. In 1189, he helped defend Masyaf from a Templar attack, killing a traitor named Haras in the process. The following year, he became a master Assassin at age 25, making him the youngest Assassin in history to achieve that rank. But his true claim to fame occurred in 1191, the year when he began the journey that would change him, and the entire Brotherhood, forever.

In 1191, Altaïr was sent by Rashid to take an artifact from the Templar Grand Master, Robert de Sable. However, his arrogance got in the way and ruined the mission. The Assassin, Malik lost his arm but managed to escape with the artifact, and his brother, Kadar, was killed. To make matters worse, the Templars were able to follow the Assassins back to Masyaf, and they laid siege to the city. Altaïr was able to fight them off, but it was not enough to keep him from pumishment. He was stripped of his rank and forced to go on a quest for Al Mualim in order to restore his honor. Altaïr was sent to kill nine Templar targets, including Garnier de Naplouse, William of Montferrat, and Robert de Sable himself. Altaïr traveled across the Holy Land and eliminated them all, learning more about himself, the Creed, and kindness as he went. By the time he was ready to take on de Sable, he had become a new man, one who expressed kindness, wisdom, and justice. Almost all the Assassins respected him once again. But Altaïr found out after killing de Sable that the biggest threat to the Assassins was from within their own Brotherhood. Al Mualim had betrayed them.

Altaïr rushed back to Masyaf to find that Al Mualim had gone mad with power, and that he was using the artifact they obtained (an Apple of Eden) to enslave the Assassins. Altaïr was forced to fight his old mentor and kill him before he could corrupt the Assassins permanently. Altaïr tried to destroy the Apple, but found he couldn't bring himself to do it. He stored it away instead, and he burned Al Mualim’s body. This infuriated Abbas, who was in denial over his mentor’s corruption. Abbas and his allies fought Altaïr and his allies in a brief rebellion. The conflict ended quickly, however, when Abbas stole the Apple and nearly destroyed the town with its power. Altaïr stopped Abbas and took the Apple, shutting it down. He spared his old friend, and Altaïr gained the undying respect of the entity Brotherhood. Altaïr began his role as mentor soon after.

Altaïr studied the Apple often, refusing to use its powers on anyone unless the consequences would be catastrophic otherwise. He mainly studied it for scientific purposes, learning of great technologies and cultures from across space and time, cataloging his findings and philosophies in his famous Codex. Altaïr made dozens of reforms to the Brotherhood, making the organization a beacon of liberty, kindness, justice, and equality. He became a hero to the Brotherhood, and is still revered in the modern day as the greatest Assassin who had ever lived.

Altaïr went off on a mission to Cyprus in 1192 to help defend its people against Templar invaders. It was there that he teamed up with a woman named Maria Thorpe, who had been kicked out of the Templars because the Grand Master, Armand Bouchart believed her a traitor. Maria was hesitant to aid Altaïr at first, stuck in her Templar ways. But as they continued on their adventure, she began to realize the error of the Templar way, and by the time the two confronted Bouchart in the Templar achieve in Cyprus, she had gone over to the Assassin ideology completely. The two defeated Bouchart, and they left Cyprus together and returned to Masyaf. The too Assassins fell in love with each other, and they had two children, Darim and Sef. Together, they led the Assassins to glory and helped fight off the Templar crusaders as the crusades raged on. However, a much greater threat had emerged during this time. A massive empire had spawned in the east, and they grew to be an enormous threat that was truly exceptional.