Levantine Brotherhood of Assassins

The Levantine Brotherhood of Assassins, also known as Hashashin or Assassyun, was the Guild of Assassins located within the Levant, and the leading branch of the Order during the Crusades.
Under Hassan-i Sabbāh's leadership, the Levantine Assassins founded their own sovereign state in 1090, resulting in the first historical records of the Assassins' existence and the Order's entering into public consciousness. Accordingly, the Levantine Brotherhood was a far more recognized organization than the other Assassin branches. Not long thereafter, their sworn enemies followed suit by rechristening themselves from the Order of the Ancients to the Knights Templar, masquerading as a military order for the defense of Christian pilgrims.
During Hassan the Younger's tenure, the Levantine Brotherhood expanded from northern Persia into the Levant when a force under the Assassin Al Mualim was sent out to establish castles in the An-Nusayriyah Mountains, most notably Masyaf. From then on, Masyaf served as one of the Levantine Assassins' principle bases, more or less autonomous from Alamut. Their feared presence in the region attracted multiple invasions by Saracens and Crusaders alike, which all proved futile, and the state played a pivotal role in the Third Crusade, exerting much political influence through its assassination of key figures.
In that conflict, Al Mualim betrayed the Order by colluding with the Templars to seize the Apple of Eden, having come to agree that a New World Order was the only solution for global peace. With the Apple in hand, he then turned on his Templar allies by having his best agent, Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad, eliminate them one after another, but would ultimately be slain by Altaïr when his treachery was exposed.
The torch thereafter passed to Altaïr, under whose leadership the Assassin Order was reformed, with new techniques created and archaic rules and customs undone. Using knowledge gained from the Apple of Eden, the Levantine Brotherhood spread its teachings and influence across the world in an effort to make the Assassin Order a global organization, with the Levantine Assassins thus becoming the forbearers to many other Assassin branches in the process.
==History==
===Establishment===
In 38 BCE, Bayek of Siwa, the co-founder of the Hidden Ones, sent agents to Petra and Judea to assist in the creation of a branch in the Levant.Assassin's Creed: Origins – The Hidden Ones – The Greater Good Subsequently, Kawab planned to travel to Judea to help end King Herod I's rule, which the Hidden Ones regarded as tyrannical.Assassin's Creed: Origins – The Hidden Ones – Shadows of the Scarab
By 862 CE, Rayhan, the Mentor of the Alamut Hidden Ones, had heard rumors of an Apple of Eden supposedly hidden in Jerusalem. In a letter to a fellow Hidden One, Rayhan remarked that the brotherhood lacked a strong enough presence in the Levant to search for the artifact, and suggested establishing several bureaus in Jerusalem and a stronghold to the north.Assassin's Creed: Mirage – Notes from Basim's travels – A New Home for the Hidden Ones
Two decades later, the former Alamut Hidden One Roshan assassinated the Order of the Ancients member Makira in England with the assistance of the Viking Eivor Varinsdottir. After retrieving a scroll from Makira's body, Roshan described its contents as "a seed to plant for the future" to Eivor and left England, intending to deliver the scroll to Jerusalem.Assassin's Creed: Valhalla – Shared History – The Raven and the Cuckoo
===Assassin reformation===
In 1090, the Levantine Brotherhood's leader Hassan-i Sabbāh revolutionized the Assassin Order by establishing it as a public, sovereign state in its own right with Alamut as its capital. It was his hope that such an unprecedented move would inspire the people of wider society to take a stand against oppression and tyranny.Assassin's Creed: The Essential Guide
A century later, the Order came under the leadership of Hassan the Younger, whose tenure saw the expansion of the branch into the Levant. The commander of this expedition was a man who would later be best known by his title of Al Mualim. Though ostensibly Al Mualim was acting under orders by Hassan, many Assassins speculated that there had been an ideological rift between the two that precipitated Al Mualim's departure.Assassin's Creed: Official Game Guide Al Mualim founded the castle of Masyaf in the An-Nusayriyah Mountains of Syria, alongside eight other citadels.Assassin's Creed: The Secret Crusade
===Saracen attack on Masyaf===
In 1176, the Saracens besieged Masyaf in retaliation for two failed assassination attempts on the Ayyubid Sultan Saladin. Al Mualim sent Ahmad Sofian as an undercover spy to the Saracen camp while he held a council with his Master Assassins to determine the proper response to the attack. While some, such as Faheem Al-Sayf urged for Saladin to be assassinated, Al Mualim eschewed this recourse for a more subtle plan of intimidation. The Master Assassin Umar Ibn-La'Ahad was then sent to infiltrate Saladin's tent on the night of the invasion, where he left a warning message pinned by a dagger on the sleeping sultan's bed. However, just as Umar was leaving, Saladin awoke and alerted the guards. Umar escaped, but was forced to kill a Saracen nobleman in the process.
The next day, Saladin, terrified by that night's incident, retreated from Masyaf, leaving behind only his uncle Shihab Al'din, and a force of two hundred soldiers to negotiate peace terms. The Saracens would return their captured spy, Ahmad Sofian to the Assassins—who had been tortured and revealed Umar's name to the Saracens—for which the Assassins would allow the Saracens to take the life of Umar in retaliation for the nobleman's death. Against Al Mualim's will, Umar agreed on the conditions, lest Ahmad have been executed in his place and the siege recommenced, and Umar was decapitated before the eyes of the Assassins.
===Templar attack on Masyaf===
By 1189, Al Mualim was planning to retrieve a "Piece of Eden" and began conspiring with the Assassins' sworn enemies, the Knights Templar, to find it. This rumor caught the attention of the Assassin Haras, who was already dissatisfied with the Brotherhood and decided to betray it by helping the Templars attack Masyaf. Successful in capturing the town fortress, Al Mualim, and several other Assassins, Haras intended to retrieve information on the artifact from Al Mualim.Assassin's Creed: Revelations
Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad, son of the late Umar, rode into Masyaf during the attack, and subsequently ordered Abbas Sofian – his former friend who had become his bitter rival – to flank the Crusader forces in the village and drive them into the canyon, while Altaïr himself went deeper into Masyaf, aiming to rescue Al Mualim.
Locked outside the castle by Haras, Altaïr scaled the fortress walls and made his way towards the traitor, air assassinating him and saving Al Mualim in the process. This event led to Altaïr being elevated to Master Assassin, just as his father was. It also resulted in Altaïr's eventual arrogance and disregard of the Assassins' Creed, which further fueled Abbas Sofian's hatred towards him.
Following the assault on Masyaf, the Assassin Faisal, who was secretly a Sage of the Isu Vejovis, rode to Damascus, weakening the Templars' forces along the way. Upon arriving in the city, Faisal met a Templar known as "The Hideout" who, believing the Assassin had defected to their cause, gave him part of the dagger once wielded by Vejovis in order to deliver it to Beirut. Their meeting was interrupted by the Assassin Rafee, whom Faisal was forced to kill to maintain his cover. As Rafee died, Faisal told his fallen compatriot that his act would ultimately help the Assassins. He then proceeded to deliver the dagger to Beirut and, from there, to Constantinople.Assassin's Creed: Escape Room Puzzle Book – Chapter 4: Deceiving the Assassins
===Retrieval of the Apple===
In 1191, Altaïr and the brothers Malik and Kadar Al-Sayf were sent to retrieve the "Apple of Eden" from Solomon's Temple. Inside the temple, Altaïr broke one of the tenets of the Creed, by killing an innocent man. Progressing further into the temple, the Assassins found Robert de Sable, the Grand Master of the Knights Templar, and Altaïr strayed from their primary objective to obtain the Apple, hoping to kill de Sable.Assassin's Creed
Revealing himself to the Templars, Altaïr disobeyed yet another one of the tenets; to hide in plain sight. With Altaïr's assassination attempt unsuccessful, Robert threw Altaïr to a wooden beam, causing the main entrance into the temple to be cut off and Altaïr to be routed.
The Al-Sayf brothers were left alone to face the Templars, which resulted in Kadar's death and Malik receiving a severe injury to his left arm, which would later have to amputated. Nonetheless, Malik was able to retrieve the artifact and escape Solomon's Temple, bringing it safely to Masyaf. In the process, Altaïr disregarded the third tenet; to not bring harm upon the Brotherhood.
However, as Altaïr and Malik both returned to Masyaf separately, the Templars had followed them back, which resulted in yet another attack on the castle. Altaïr, now responsible for many more deaths, climbed the watchtower outside the Masyaf fortress and released a wave of tree logs, which crushed the Templar army and forced Robert to retreat.
Altaïr was punished for his arrogance and disregard of the three tenets of the Assassin's Creed. Stripped off his rank, Al Mualim sent Altaïr on a quest to kill nine Templars around the Holy Land, both from the Crusader and Saracen armies.
===Al Mualim's betrayal===
In Altaïr's absence, Al Mualim studied the Apple, slowly becoming corrupted. When Altaïr killed his ninth and final target, Robert de Sablé, at the Battle of Arsuf, months after he started his quest, the Templar Grand Master revealed to Altaïr that Al Mualim himself had worked alongside the Templars, but had betrayed them as well.
Simultaneously, Al Mualim had used the Apple to control the minds of the citizens of Masyaf, turning them into mindless followers of Al Mualim. Altaïr, having returned from Arsuf and already making his way towards Masyaf castle, met with Malik Al-Sayf and four other Assassins who had remained unaffected of the Apple's powers. While Malik kept the manipulated Assassins away from Masyaf, Altaïr confronted Al Mualim in Masyaf's courtyard, which the Assassins referred to as "Paradise".
Restrained by the Apple's powers, Al Mualim forced Altaïr to fight clones of the nine Templars. Defeating them one by one, Al Mualim went down to ground level from his balcony to face Altaïr himself with eight duplicates, summoned with the Apple. Altaïr stood victorious, and Al Mualim revealed more about the artifact's history and powers, before facing Altaïr one-on-one with the Apple.
Despite the usage of the Apple's powers on Altaïr, the Master Assassin killed the Mentor. Desiring to destroy the Apple, Altaïr found himself enchanted with the artifact and decided to examine it first. Soon after, Altaïr sent Malik to Jerusalem to bring news of Al Mualim's death, while Altaïr went on to burn Al Mualim's body to make sure he would not return - against the rules of the Levantine Assassins.
===Civil war===
While carrying Al Mualim's body to a wooden pyre on a cliffside right outside Masyaf castle, Altaïr met with Abbas Sofian, who labeled Altaïr a traitor to the Order. Refusing to believe Al Mualim had betrayed the Assassins, Abbas convinced several Assassins to rise against Altaïr after he had cremated Al Mualim's body. A small civil war broke out, and Abbas pushed Altaïr from the cliff they stood on to the ground, before running towards the castle to retrieve the Apple. The two divided groups faced off against each other, with Altaïr not physically attacking any of the Assassins, hoping to win their trust.
Having retrieved the Apple, Abbas climbed the watchtower outside the castle and found himself unable to use the Apple's powers, to which the Apple slowly began to drain the life from Abbas and hurt many other Assassins in the immediate perimeter. Altaïr, moderately unaffected, climbed the tower and saved Abbas from being killed.
Over time, Altaïr issued orders to the Assassins loyal to him, including Malik, that none of the rebels should be harmed. Instead, Altaïr persuaded them of Al Mualim's betrayal and his own ability to lead the Order, winning the loyalty and hearts of the Assassins in the process. Receiving the title of Mentor, Altaïr became the leader of the Levantine Assassins.
===Rebuilding and expanding===
Under Altaïr's leadership, the Levantine Assassins entered an age of renewal and prosperity. Rules and restrictions that were vital under Al Mualim's leadership were discarded, as Altaïr considered them to not be relevant to the main goal of the Assassins; these included the removal of the ring finger, and the disallowance of Assassins to show love and emotion to their children. Most of Altaïr's thoughts and inventions during his time as leader were documented in his Codex, which he continued to write in for the majority of his remaining life.Assassin's Creed II
Together with Malik, Altaïr invented several new assassination techniques for the Assassins, including air assassination, assassination from hiding spots and assassinations from ledges. Altaïr also allowed the use of poison, which resulted in the invention of the Poison Blade, an upgrade for the ordinary Hidden Blade. Eventually, Altaïr recreated the standard Hidden Blade so that it would not need the sacrifice of the ring finger, and also allowed several Assassins—including himself—to wield two of them.
During Altaïr's leadership, he strengthened the positions of the Assassins in the Holy Land, also spreading it to other countries such as Cyprus, after having journeyed there to hunt the Knights Templar.Assassin's Creed: Bloodlines Altaïr actively promoted the way of the Assassins in new areas, until his progress was stopped in Constantinople, due to the Fourth Crusade waging on.
The spread of the Assassins' influence was again stopped in 1217, when Genghis Khan had been conquering new areas to expand the Mongol Empire. That year, Altaïr, his wife Maria Thorpe, and his son Darim left for Mongolia, leaving the Order under Malik's leadership.
===Decline of the Brotherhood===
In Altaïr's absence, Abbas began to consolidate power in the Brotherhood, gaining some of the most weak-minded Assassins on his side and turning a violent apprentice, Swami, into his right-hand man.
In 1225, Abbas secretly ordered Swami to kill Altaïr's second son, Sef, and to place the murder weapon on Malik's bed. Malik was found guilty of murder as a result, and imprisoned in Masyaf's dungeons. With Sef dead and Malik out of the picture, Abbas placed a council in charge of leading the Order, consisting solely of men he had gained on his side and with himself at its head.
Two years later, Altaïr and his family returned, successful in their objective to kill the Mongol leader with the aid of the Mongolian Assassin Qulan Gal. Greeted by Swami, he made the family believe that Sef was in Alamut, and Darim quickly rode off to retrieve him. Altaïr and Maria, led to Masyaf castle by Swami, were informed of their son's murder, Malik's imprisonment, and the leadership of the council. Altaïr, not fully believing Malik was responsible for the murder, rescued him from the dungeons and discovered the real truth from him. Leaving Malik sleeping in the bed of their residence, Altaïr and Maria left to confront Abbas.
Facing each other, both Abbas and Altaïr tried to find flaws in each other to convince the Assassins of their point of view. Eventually, Abbas demanded Altaïr to give him the Apple, to which Altaïr eventually agreed, taunting Abbas. Swami went to retrieve the Apple, telling Altaïr that he told Sef his father ordered the execution, who upon touching the Apple, felt Altaïr's rage flowing through his body. A golden ray erupted from his mouth, and Swami began to mutilate himself.
Maria, trying to stop Altaïr from using the Apple, was slit in the throat by Swami in the frenzy, and eventually died in Altaïr's arms. Altaïr, left with no other options, fled Masyaf castle and eventually met up with Darim. Fighting off the attacking Assassins, the two men were able to escape the village, and lived in exile in Alamut.
Abbas disbanded the council some time afterwards, and usurped the title of Mentor, becoming the sole leader of the Order. Under Abbas' reign, the Order became corrupt, straying far from the main goal of the Assassins. The training of Assassins was put to a halt, with the practice area in Masyaf castle no longer being used and the fortress becoming silent. They started alliances with bandits and used violence against the people for enjoyment, also demanding taxes from them. Those who did not cooperate with paying the taxes were either beaten up by the Assassins or banished from the village.
Numerous villagers and Assassins secretly loathed Abbas, hoping for someone to return the Order to its former state. Some Assassins stayed true to the principle of the Creed, including Malik's son, Tazim "Malik" Al-Sayf.
Eventually, after twenty years of exile, Altaïr returned to Masyaf, saving the life of a trader named Mukhlis outside Masyaf. Secretly gaining the support of Assassins and villagers alike, Altaïr marched to Masyaf castle, facing Abbas and his supporters. Not using violence and only capturing the attacking Assassins, Altaïr eventually faced Abbas one-on-one, using a new invention he created during his time in Alamut—the Hidden Gun—against Abbas, killing him and thus freeing the Order from his tyrannical reign.
Altaïr was accepted as leader once more, and revived the Brotherhood back to its former state, while also beginning the construction of a library beneath Masyaf.
===Disbandment from Masyaf===
Due to Altaïr's efforts, all of the neglect under Abbas' rule was undone. However, not too many years afterwards, Altaïr decided that the Assassins should disband from Masyaf, seeing the village's castle as a sign of arrogance and a beacon for their enemies. Instead, he wanted the Assassins to be a widespread organization, secretly acting from the population. He then began to send the Assassins to various locations away from Masyaf, with the castle being nearly abandoned by the time Altaïr's son Darim arrived from a journey across Europe. On his journey, Darim met the tradesmen Niccolò and Maffeo Polo, and invited them to stay at Masyaf. In June 1257, the Polo brothers arrived.
Knowing of the Polo brothers' journeys across Europe and Asia, Altaïr began training the Polo brothers to become Assassins, hoping that they would be successful in founding several Assassins Guilds. Altaïr frequently met with Niccolò, telling him the story of his life, which Niccolò wrote in his journal, later titled "The Secret Crusade". 
In 1256, Hülegü Khan led the Mongols in destroying most of the Assassins' fortresses along the Levant before directly attacking Masyaf on 12 August 1257. After a little over a month in training, the Polo brothers said their farewells to Altaïr and Darim, with Niccolò receiving Altaïr's Codex and several other books to answer his remaining questions. Altaïr led the Polo brothers out of Masyaf during the attack, and gave the brothers the five keys needed to open his library, to guard the items from falling into the wrong hands.
Returning to the castle, Darim prepared to leave for Alexandria, taking the remaining books from the library with him. Saying farewell to his father in front of the library gate, Darim left the castle and Altaïr locked himself in the library, placing the Apple on a pedestal and imprinting his sixth and final memory into a Seal, before passing away.
===Ottoman Empire===
By 1511, the main headquarters of the Levantine Assassins was located in Jerusalem, though they also had training facilities in Damascus. At this time, the Levantine Assassins were led by an individual called Mujir and were engaged in conflict with the ruling Mamluks. With help of Ottoman Assassins sent from Constantinople by the Italian Brotherhood's Mentor Ezio Auditore, the Levantine Assassins were able to stabilize their guild.
==Demographics==
True to the multicultural center that was the Middle East, the Assassins of the Levant came from diverse ethnic and religious backgrounds; Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad's parents Umar and Maud, were Muslim and Christian, respectively. Founded in the northern mountains of Persia, the majority of its members spoke Arabic. As an offspring of the Hidden Ones established in Egypt with roots in local resistance against the Roman Republic's expansion, the Levantine Brotherhood also consisted of Hebrews and .Assassin's Creed: Origins – The Hidden Ones
==Attire==
The Assassins primarily wore generic white robes, which incidentally allowed them to blend with the similarly-garbed scholars. Under Al Mualim's rule, each rank of Assassins had their unique set of robes, with Al Mualim himself dressing fully in black. Novices such as the informants dressed in ankle-length robes with a headscarf and sling-pack. The robes were a tannish white with black trimming, a red sash, and leather work belt. When Altaïr was demoted to the rank of novice, he wore long robes with a leather waist belt.
However, after Altaïr consolidated power in the Brotherhood, the rank-based clothing was discarded, with all Assassins wearing the same set of standard robes, while Altaïr himself continued to wear his Master Assassin robes for the majority of his life. Sometime prior to his death, he wore a special set of robes that identified him as the Mentor, though it was white.
==Techniques==
The Levantine Assassins were the first Assassin branch to use most of the techniques later adopted by other Assassin branches, including air assassinations, ledge assassinations and assassinations from hiding spots; all of which were invented by Altaïr and Malik. Additionally, the two also revised the Order's decision not to use poison as an assassination technique, one of the many revisions they made to combat the increasing difficulty in remaining discreet during their missions.
Nonetheless, the Levantine Assassins wielded no special equipment, only primarily being equipped with a Hidden Blade, a sword, a short blade, and throwing knives, with the amount of weaponry depending on the rank of the Assassin. On special occasions, Altaïr allowed Assassins to wear two Hidden Blades; however, only a limited amount of Assassins were given this privilege, as the materials required to create one were scarce.
Altaïr also invented the Hidden Gun, though he is not known to have distributed any to the rest of the Order, and was only recorded using the gun himself once, to kill Abbas.
According to Pierre Bellec, a Master Assassin of the French Brotherhood, before Altair's tenure as Mentor, members of the Levantine Assassins would approach assassinations with a mindset of potentially sacrificing their own lives to ensure the death of their target. Bellec suggested this to his apprentice Arno Dorian when he was devising a plan to assassinate Charles Gabriel Sivert in 1791. The idea of "a dagger in broad daylight as [he was] cut down where [he] stand" did not appeal to the younger Assassin, who decided to pursue his own method of reaching and killing Sivert.
==Members==
*Vahid Ahmedi
*Al Mualim 
*Faheem Al-Sayf
*Kadar Al-Sayf
*Malik Al-Sayf 
*Tazim Al-Sayf
*Cemal
*Damascus Bureau leader
*Faisal
*Farim
*Fahd El Fehmi
*Hamid
*Haras
*Harash
*Hassan the Younger 
*Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad 
*Darim Ibn-La'Ahad
*Sef Ibn-La'Ahad
*Umar Ibn-La'Ahad
*Jabal
*Jamal
*Kadar
*Labib
*Maud
*Mujir 
*Maffeo Polo
*Niccolò Polo
*Rafee
*Rafik
*Rauf
*Hassan-i Sabbāh 
*Abbas Sofian 
*Ahmad Sofian
*Swami
*Tazim
*Teragani
*Maria Thorpe
*Raşit El Zübeydi
===Allies and puppets===
;Third Crusade
*Adha
*Alexander of Limassol
*Fajera
*Markos
*Mukhlis
*Osman
==Behind the scenes==
Historically, the Levantine Assassins called the land they controlled around Masyaf or Alamut as the Nizari State, but in the Assassin's Creed franchise, it is never referred to as the Nizari. They were commonly referred to as the Hashashin during the Crusades, which gave rise to the word Assassin.
It is unclear if the Assassins of Alamut are part of the Levantine Brotherhood because the fortress is in northern Persia and thus quite removed from the Levant. In Assassin's Creed: Official Game Guide, it is explained that Al Mualim left Alamut to establish his independent branch in the An-Nusayriyah Mountains of the Levant, but it is unclear if the separation was official or if Al Mualim still had to retain nominal subordination to the Alamut branch. In Assassin's Creed: The Essential Guide, Hassan-i Sabbah is called a "Levantine Assassin", suggesting that Alamut and Masyaf constitute the same branch after all, at least within his time. The name "Levantine" here may have been applied to the Assassins that originated in Masyaf but expanded to Daylam retroactively.
In-universe, the Assassins, like the Templars, were disbanded by their own leaders in order to spread their teachings throughout the world, which gave rise to several branches. However, while the Assassins historically disbanded in 1256 after Alamut fell, resulting in the execution of their Grand Master Rukn Al'din Khurshah by the invading Mongols, this may not contradict the Assassin's Creed canon because the Levantine Brotherhood may have by this time officially become a separate branch from the one based in Alamut.
==Appearances==
*Assassin's Creed 
*Assassin's Creed: Altaïr's Chronicles
*Assassin's Creed: Bloodlines
*Assassin's Creed II
*Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood
*Assassin's Creed: The Fall 
*Assassin's Creed: The Secret Crusade
*Assassin's Creed: Revelations
*Assassin's Creed: Revelations novel
*Assassin's Creed III 
*Assassin's Creed: Memories
*Assassin's Creed: Unity 
*Assassin's Creed: Reflections
*Assassin's Creed: Origins 
**The Hidden Ones 
*Assassin's Creed: Rebellion
*Assassin's Creed: Blade of Shao Jun 
*Assassin's Creed: The Silk Road
*Assassin's Creed: Valhalla – Shared History 
*Echoes of History 
*Assassin's Creed: Escape Room Puzzle Book
*Assassin's Creed: Mirage 
==References==
Category:Assassin branches
Category:Assassin guilds