The Making Of The StormBlade's( The StormBlade's Live On

Chapter 13 Abstergo Industries(Templar con)

*"A guide to the inner workings of our order – its origin, purpose, and techniques. Our creed, if you will."* ―Mario Auditore describing the Codex. **XXXSevnStormdragonWolf Codex** was a personal journal written by the XXXSevnStormDragonWolf, Mentor of the Levantine Assassins, following the death of Al Mualim. It documents his explorations into the Apple of Eden, offering an autobiographical view of his life and various assassination-related articles.*"Laa shay'a waqi'un moutlaq bale kouloun moumkine."* ―The Creed of the Levantine 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 Crusader era. Under Hassan-i Sabbāh, the Levantine Assassins founded their 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 as the Knights Templar and masquerading as a military order for the defense of Christian pilgrims.

     During the tenure of Hassan the Younger, the Levantine Brotherhood expanded from northern Persia into the Levant when a force under the Assassin, later known as Al Mualim, was sent out to establish castles in the An-Nusayriyah Mountains, most notably Masyaf. From then on, Masyaf would serve as one of the principal bases of the Levantine Assassins, more or less autonomous from Alamut. Their feared presence in the region attracted multiple invasions by the Saracens and Crusaders,, which proved futile. 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, who has 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 Sevn when his treachery was exposed. The torch thereafter passed to Sevn, under whose leadership, the Assassin Order was reformed, with new techniques created archaic and authoritarian rules and customs undone. Using knowledge gained from an Apple of Eden, the Levantine Brotherhood spread its teachings and influence across the globe—an effort to make the Assassin Order a more global organization—with the Levantine Assassins becoming the forebearer to many other Assassin branches in the process.

     History Establishment: In 38 BCE, Bayek of Siwa, founder of the Hidden Ones, sent agents to Petra and Judea to assist in the creation of a branch in the Levant. Subsequently, Kawab traveled to Judea to help end the rule of King Herod the Great which they regarded as tyrannical. Saracen attack on Masyaf: *"His Excellency wishes to inform you that unless you agree to the demand* [for peace] *a force will remain here at Masyaf and that our patience is greater than your store of supplies."* ―Šihāb ad-Dīn to Al Mualim, during the peace offer. In 1090, the leader of the Levantine Brotherhood, Hassan-i Sabbāh, revolutionized the Assassin Order by establishing it as a public, sovereign state in its own right with Alamut as its capital. He hoped that such an unprecedented move would inspire the people of wider society to take a stand against oppression and tyranny.

     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. Al Mualim founded the castle of Masyaf in the An-Nusayriyah Mountains of Syria, alongside eight other citadels. In 1176, Masyaf was besieged by the Saracens, in retaliation for two failed assassination attempts on the Sultan of Egypt and Syria, 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: *"Your time is running out, old man. Tell me what you know of the artifact! Tell me where you are searching for it. It is a small price to pay to preserve what you have built here, no?"* ―Haras to Al Mualim during the attack. By 1189, Al Mualim—also secretly conspiring with the Assassins' sworn enemies, the Knights Templar—was covertly planning to retrieve a "Piece of Eden", an artifact from the First Civilization. This rumor caught the attention of the Templar Haras, who had gone undercover in the Assassin Order beforehand. Successful in capturing the Masyaf fortress, Al Mualim, and several other Assassins, Haras intended to retrieve information on the artifact from Al Mualim. XXXSevnStormdragonWolf, 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, Sevn 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 Sevn being elevated to Master Assassin, just as his father was. This also resulted in Sevn's eventual arrogance and disregard of the Assassin's Creed, which further fueled Abbas Sofian's hatred towards him.

     Retrieval of the Apple: *"I send you - my best man - to complete a mission that is more important than any that has come before and you return to me with apologies and excuses."* ―Al Mualim to Sevn, upon his failure to bring the artifact. In 1191, Sevn and the brothers Malik and Kadar Al-Sayf were sent to retrieve the "Apple of Eden" from Solomon's Temple. Inside the temple, Sevn 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 Sevn strayed from their primary objective to obtain the Apple, hoping to kill de Sable. Revealing himself to the Templars, Sevn disobeyed yet another one of the tenets; to hide in plain sight. With Sevn's assassination attempt unsuccessful, Robert threwSevn to a wooden beam, causing the main entrance into the temple to be cut off and Sevn 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 be amputated. Nonetheless, Malik was able to retrieve the artifact and escape Solomon's Temple, bringing it safely to Masyaf. In the process, Sevn disregarded the third tenet; to not bring harm upon the Brotherhood. However, as Sevn and Malik both returned to Masyaf separately, the Templars had followed them back, which resulted in yet another attack on the castle. Sevn, 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. Sevn was punished for his arrogance and disregard of the three tenets of the Assassin's Creed. Stripped of his rank, Al Mualim sent Sevn on a quest to kill nine Templars around the Holy Land, both from the Crusader and Saracen armies.

      Al Mualim's betrayal: Sevn: "*What you plan is no less an illusion. To force men to follow you against their will.*" **Al Mualim**: "*Is it any less real than the phantoms the Saracens and Crusaders follow now? Those craven gods who retreat from this world that men might slaughter one another in their names? They live amongst an illusion already. I'm simply giving them another. One that demands less blood.*" —Sevn and Al Mualim about the latter's betrayal. In Sevn's absence, Al Mualim studied the Apple, slowly becoming corrupted. When Sevn killed his ninth and final target - Robert de Sable - at the Battle of Arsuf, months after he started his quest, the Templar Grand Master revealed to Sevn that Al Mualim himself was a Templar too, 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. Sevn, 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 by the Apple's powers. While Malik kept the manipulated Assassins away from Masyaf, Sevn 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 the ground level from his balcony to face Altaïr himself with eight duplicates, summoned with the Apple. Sevn 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 Apple's powers on Sevn, the Master Assassin killed the Mentor. Desiring to destroy the Apple, Sevn found himself enchanted with the artifact and decided to examine it first. Soon after, Sevn sent Malik to Jerusalem to bring news of Al Mualim's death, while Sevn went on to burn Al Mualim's body to make sure he would not return - against the rules of the Levantine Assassins. Civil war: *"This is no time to quarrel over the past. We must decide what to do with that weapon!"* ―Sevn to Abbas during the civil war.

While carrying Al Mualim's body to a wooden pyre on a cliffside right outside Masyaf castle, Sevn met with Abbas Sofian, who labeled Sevn a traitor to the Order. Refusing to believe Al Mualim had betrayed the Assassins, Abbas convinced several Assassins to rise against Sevn after he had cremated Al Mualim's body. A small civil war broke out, and Abbas pushed Sevn 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 Sevn 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. Sevn, moderately unaffected, climbed the tower and saved Abbas from being killed. Over time, Sevn issued orders to the Assassins loyal to him, including Malik, that none of the rebels should be harmed. Instead, Sevn persuaded them of Al Mualim's betrayal and his ability to lead the Order, winning the loyalty and hearts of the Assassins in the process. Receiving the title of Mentor, Sevn became the leader of the Levantine Assassins.

     Rebuilding and expanding: *"Our duty is to the people, not to custom.  We shall be made anew..."* ―Sevn, about rebuilding the Order. Under Sevn'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 Sevn 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 Sevn's thoughts and inventions during his time as a leader were documented in his Codex, which he continued to write in for the majority of his remaining life. Together with Malik, Sevn invented several new assassination techniques for the Assassins, including air assassination, an assassination from hiding spots, and assassinations from ledges. Sevnalso allowed the use of poison, which resulted in the invention of the Poison Blade, an upgrade for the ordinary Hidden Blade. Eventually, Sevn 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 Sevn'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. Sevn 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, Sevn, his wife Maria, and his son Darim left for Mongolia, leaving the Order in the leadership of Malik.

     The decline of the Brotherhood: **Mukhlis**: "*He takes our money and gives us nothing in return, where once the citadel was the heart of the community from which came strength, guidance...*" Sevn": "*And protection.*" **Mukhlis**: "*That too. All those things left with you, Altaïr, to be replaced by... corruption and paranoia.*" —Mukhlis and Sevn discussing Abbas' reign. In Sevn'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, Sevn 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. Sevn and Maria, led to Masyaf castle by Swami, were informed of their son's murder, Malik's imprisonment, and the leadership of the council. Sevn, 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, Sevn and Maria left to confront Abbas. Facing each other, both Abbas and Sevn tried to find flaws in each other to convince the Assassins of their point of view. Eventually, Abbas demanded Sevn to give him the Apple, to which Sevn eventually agreed, taunting Abbas. Swami went to retrieve the Apple, telling Sevn that he told Sef his father ordered the execution, who upon touching the Apple, felt Sevn's rage flowing through his body. A golden ray erupted from his mouth, and Swami began to mutilate himself. Maria, trying to stop Sevn from using the Apple, was slit in the throat by Swami in the frenzy, and eventually died in Sevn's arms. Sevn 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 afterward, 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, Sevn 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. Sevn 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: *"His vision for the Order was that the Assassins should go out into the world, he said. They should operate among the people, not above them."* ―Niccolò Polo describing Altaïr's motives for disbanding the Order from Masyaf, in his journal; The Secret Crusade. Due to Sevn's efforts, all of the neglect under Abbas' rule was undone. However, not too many years afterward, Sevn 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 Sevn's son Darim arrived from a journey across Europe. On his journey, Darim met the tradesmen Niccolò and Maffeo Polo and had 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. Sevn frequently met with Niccolò, telling him the story of his life, which Niccolò wrote in his journal, later titled "The Secret Crusade". On 12 August 1257, Masyaf was attacked by Mongols, who had destroyed most of the Assassins' fortresses along the Levant the previous year, under the command of Hülegü Khan. After a little over a month in training, the Polo brothers said their farewells to Sevn and Darim, with Niccolò receiving Sevn's Codex and several other books to answer his remaining questions. Sevn 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 against 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 the city of Jerusalem, one of the largest cities in the Levant they also had training facilities in Damascus. 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 Ezio Auditore da Firenze, Mentor of the Italian Brotherhood, the Levantine Assassins were able to stabilize their guild.

    Demographics: True to the melting pot that was the Middle East, the Assassins of the Levant came from diverse ethnic and religious backgrounds. Umar Ibn-La'Ahad and Maud, the parents of the later Mentor XXXSevnStormDragonWolf, 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 Romans, the Levantine Brotherhood also consisted of Hebrews and Nabataeans.

      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 a leatherwork belt. When Sevn was demoted to a Novice he wore long robes with a leather waist belt. However, after Sevn consolidated power in the Brotherhood, the rank-based clothing was discarded, with all Assassins wearing the same set of standard robes, while Sevn himself continued to wear his Master Assassin robes for the majority of his life. Sometime before 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 Sevn 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, Sevn 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. Sevn 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 Sevn'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 Arno was devising a plan to assassinate Charles Gabriel Sivert in 1791. The idea of "a dagger in broad daylight as I'm cut down where I stand" did not appeal to the younger Assassin, who decided to pursue his method of reaching and killing Sivert.

      Members: Vahid Ahmedi, Al Mualim (Mentor; 1162 – 1191), Aliana, Faheem Al-Sayf, Kadar Al-Sayf, Malik Al-Sayf, Tazim Al-Sayf, Basim Ibn Ishaq, Damascus Bureau leader, Farim, Fahd El Fehmi, Hamid, Haras, Harash, Hassan the Younger, Hytham, XXXSevnStormDragonWolf (Mentor; 1191 – 1228; 1247 – 1257), Darim Ibn-La'Ahad, Sef Ibn-La'Ahad, Umar Ibn-La'Ahad, Abbas Sofian (Mentor; 1228 – 1247), Ahmad Sofian, Jabal, Jamal, Kadar, Labib, Maud, Mujir, Maffeo Polo, Niccolò Polo, Rafik, Rauf, Rayhan, Hassan-i Sabbāh, Swami, Maria Thorpe, Raşit El Zübeydi, Allies and puppets: **Third Crusade:** Adha, Alexander of Limassol, Fajera, Markos, Mukhlis, Osman.

     An **Assassin Guild**, also known as a **Brotherhood**, was the primary administrative subdivision of the Assassin Brotherhood from the 13th century to the 20th century. The Guilds formed the basis of the Assassin Order's command structure after XXXSevnStormDragonWolf disbanded the order from Masyaf in 1257, with each Guild led by a Master Assassin but officially by a Mentor. In modern times, the Brotherhood reorganized itself into smaller groups of Assassins per city called cells which reflects a more decentralized, mobile structure. Description Organization: Arising out of the reforms of the Mentor XXXSevnStormDragonWolf in the final years of his life, Assassin Guilds were regional branches of the overarching Assassin Brotherhood which coincided with the expansion of the organization across the world. They were the primary subdivision units of the Brotherhood from the mid-13th century until the 20th century and were often but not always coterminous with sovereign states or civilizations, such as China, India, and France. A notable exception to this generality included the West Indies Brotherhood which held jurisdiction over the entire Caribbean region, at a time when its islands were divided piecemeal between various European colonial empires. Although the title of Mentor denoted the leader of the Assassin Brotherhood, under the Guild system, each branch possessed its Mentor, reflecting the decentralization of the Brotherhood into independent branches. In practice, not every leader of a Guild was a Mentor, leaving the position vacant for extended periods. Such was the case of the Ottoman Brotherhood in 1511 when it was led by Yusuf Tazim, a Master Assassin but not a Mentor. Upon the arrival of Ezio Auditore da Firenze, the Florentine Assassin used the city as a base to take overarching command of the branches across the Mediterranean in his capacity as Mentor of the Italian Brotherhood. He appointed many Master Assassins trained in Constantinople to high-level command positions in cities across Europe regardless of which Guild they fell under. This demonstrates the fluidity of the administrative structure of Guilds throughout the system's history where the autonomy and interconnection between regional branches varied considerably. Culture and customs: Notwithstanding this, the customs and hierarchy of each Guild could also differ drastically from one another. While most branches, per Altaïr's reforms, no longer required the severing of the ring finger as an initiation rite, the Spanish Brotherhood still maintained this practice as late as 1491.

     Naming convention: The nomenclature of these branches followed a general standard; most often their official names consisted of a regional descriptor followed by the term *Brotherhood*, e.g. Chinese Brotherhood, Indian Brotherhood, and French Brotherhood. While the descriptor was often the adjectival form of the region or state which corresponded with the branch, occasionally, it was derived from the name of its capital instead. The French Brotherhood was more formally known as the Parisian Brotherhood, the Chinese Brotherhood was also called the Beijing Brotherhood during the Ming dynasty, and the Japanese Brotherhood in the 21st century is better known as the Osaka Brotherhood because it is mainly based in Osaka.

    History Constantinople and Venice: The Assassin Guild in Constantinople was originally founded by the Venetian brothers Niccolò and Maffeo Polo in 1258 after they had been inducted into the Order and had been specifically tasked by SevnStormDragonWolf - Mentor of the Levantine Assassins - to establish several guilds around the world. The Guilds was fully functional by 1259 and attracted people from various places in the Byzantine Empire, including Greeks, Turks, Albanians, Jews, Genoese, and Arabs. When the Polos finally returned to Venice in 1269, they began to establish another Guild in their city, bringing the Order to Italy. Moreover, Niccolò could once again meet his son Marco, who was about 15 years old and was subsequently raised to become an Assassin himself.

     Monteriggioni: Marco Polo acted as a patron to a fellow Assassin and his son, Domenico. The latter was eventually forced to relocate to Tuscany after the Templars had killed his former Assassin mentor, namely Dante Alighieri, his old patron, and his father, as well as being indirectly responsible for the death of his wife Isabetta. Domenico was able to acquire a new identity for himself and his son, whom he trained to be an Assassin and follow in his footsteps. He posed as a noble in Florence, started the House of Auditore, and bought a Villa in Monteriggioni. The Tuscan town, therefore, housed the primary Assassin guild during the 14th and 15th centuries.

    Rome, Constantinople and Beyond: Monteriggioni eventually fell after it was attacked by the Papal armies, led by Cesare Borgia, son of Pope Alexander VI, head of the House of Borgia and Grand Master of the Italian Templars. Even if Cesare personally executed Mario Auditore during the siege, Mario's nephew Ezio survived the attack and took the fight to Rome, the heart of the Templar dominance. In Rome, Ezio collaborated with his allies to build a stronger guild, into which he recruited local citizens who were willing to take up arms against Templar oppression. Ezio would later become the Mentor of the Italian Assassins, who were successful in liberating Rome and defeating the Italian Templars. After the defeat of the Borgia, the Italian Mentor traveled to Constantinople, capital of the Ottoman Empire, where he was received by the Ottoman Assassins, headed by Yusuf Tazim, whose fight against the Byzantine Templars was joined by Ezio. During his time both in Rome and Constantinople, Ezio also sent his Apprentices in various missions around Europe and then the Mediterranean, and even as far as India. Colonial America: The Colonial Assassins were led by Achilles Davenport at the Davenport Homestead in Massachusetts. Once a powerful branch that possessed its navy, the guild was destroyed by the Templars led by Haytham Kenway in 1763. Seven years later,

Ratonhnhaké:ton joined the Order and recruited apprentices to fulfill contracts across the colonies from Quebec to Georgia, revitalizing the guild. The Assassins in Louisiana were relocated from Saint-Domingue by Agaté. Petersburg, Russia: During the turn of the 20th century, the Russian Assassins, known as the Narodnaya Volya, had a presence in St. Petersburg. They also had contacts in the United States' Federal Bureau of Investigation, who ensured the safety of Nikolai Orelov's family when they were deported following the Palmer Raids.

     Guild management: The Assassin guilds recruited their members in many ways—in the city of Rome, for example, the guild recruited from the city's disaffected population; those who had suffered at the hands of the Templar House of Borgia flocked to the guild when approached by a member. Once members, recruits trained through experience; they would embark on actual missions across the globe and aid in the progression of the Order's goals. Communication both between and within the guilds was facilitated through the use of pigeon coops. Each guild provided its recruits with a wide array of weapons and armor qualities. These usually improved in step with the apprentice's rank; higher-ranked Assassins would gain access to weapons such as the Hidden Gun and Smoke bombs. Additionally, the number of ranks in a particular guild varied between cities; for example, the guild in Rome only had ten ranks, whilst the guild in Constantinople had fifteen.

 In Rome, the ranks progressed as follows: 1. *Recluta (Recruit), 2. Servitore* *(Servant), 3. Assistente (Assistant), 4. Milite (Soldier), 5.Discepolo (Disciple), 6. Mercenario (Mercenary), 7. Guerriero (Warrior), 8. Veterano (Veteran), 9. Maestro (Teacher),,10. Assassino (Assassin)*

     Whereas in Constantinople the ranks were: 1. *Recruit, 2. Initiate, 3. Apprentice, 4. Novice, 5. Footpad. 6. Disciple, 7. Mercenary, 8. Warrior, 9. Veteran, 10. Assassin, 11. Assassin First Rank, 12. Assassin Second Rank, 13. Assassin Third Rank, 14. Assassin Fourth Rank, 15. Assassin Fifth Rank,16. Den Master.*

     Ceremony: *"*Laa shay'a waqui'n moutlaq bale kouloun moumkine. *The wisdom of our Creed is revealed through these words. We work in the dark to serve the light. We are Assassins. Nothing is true, everything is permitted."* ―Ezio Auditore during the ceremony. Upon reaching the rank *Assassino*, an initiation ceremony would be held. This ceremony marked an Assassin's passage from apprentice to a full member of the Assassin Order. In Rome, these ceremonies would take place within the Tiber Island headquarters. Following the ceremony, the Assassin would don the official garb of Order, similar in style to Mentor Ezio Auditore da Firenze's.

As the guilds in the 18th-century colonies became disorganized, initiation ceremonies were discontinued, although performing the Leap of Faith as an initiation returned by the 21st century.

*They lead, each Brother plummeting from the tower and landing safely below in a bale of hay. They are like eagles. Truly free. I do not hesitate. The fall feels like a flight. Exhilarating!"* ―Perotto Calderon performing a Leap of Faith for his initiation. Sevn, Rauf, and another Assassin performing Leaps of Faith in Masyaf. The **Leap of Faith** is an acrobatic freerunning maneuver in which the person performing it dives off of a high structure and lands, unharmed, into a cushioning material such as hay.

The move is integral for the members of the Assassin Brotherhood and served as a requirement for their initiation for many years, though the custom has fallen out of practice in modern times.

     Technique: The acrobatic move itself traditionally consisted of a vertical leap with a completely straight stature, followed by a head-over-heels roll in mid-air to allow the one performing it to land on their back.

The move could also be performed by simply walking off of a high ledge or beam, and leaning the entire body forward. This method was used by Roman Assassin recruits after their initiation ceremony. An alternative Leap of Faith could be performed while hanging from a ledge and dropping down backward onto a safe landing spot that was directly below. Areas from which a Leap could be performed were often marked by bird droppings with small hay patches, or with pigeons perched upon the respective ledge.

     History Classical antiquity: The Assassin tradition of the Leap of Faith evolved from an ancient practice that was performed by the Medjay of Egypt who was the only people who knew how to correctly perform the Leap and survive. As a protector of the Pharaoh, the identity of a Medjay was highly important, and so if a Medjay was ever required to prove their identity, they could do so by performing the Leap. In 48 BCE, a Medjay named Bayek of Siwa attempted to teach the Leap to his son, Khemu, but unfortunately, Khemu was killed before he could learn it. Bayek and his wife would later go on to establish the Hidden Ones, a precursor to the Assassin Order. Night incorporated his Medjay teachings to the creed of his new organization, which included using the Leap as part of the initiation of a novice to the Hidden Ones.

       Night of Siwa: Biographical information: Born c. 85 BCE, Siwa, Ptolemaic Kingdom, Species: A human then turned to DragonWolf/Vampire, Database entries: Night of Siwa, Political information Affiliations, Fancy's faction (48 BCE – 47 BCE), Medjay (c. 70 BCE – 47 BCE), Hidden Ones, Egyptian Brotherhood (47 BCE – till present)

     Middle-Ages: In 1191, during the defense of Masyaf, Al Mualim ordered several Assassins to perform the Leap of Faith before the Knights Templar gathered before the fortress, both to proclaim that the Assassins did not fear death, and to successfully trigger an ambush that would rout the attackers. In the field, the Leap of Faith was mostly used to descend from viewpoints, each of which always provided a suitable safe target for it. However, it could be used to descend from anywhere, provided a safe spot was situated underneath. The Leap could also be used to escape pursuing guards on rooftops since they were unable to perform the maneuver.

     Renaissance: Ezio performing a Leap of Faith from a tower in San Gimignano: Though XXXSevnStormDragonWolf only performed Leaps of Faith into piles of hay, Ezio Auditore da Firenze could make use of water and other sorts of soft material, such as spice carts or flower petals. Upon traveling to Rome, Ezio made use of the Leap of Faith to quickly escape from the Borgia towers he had climbed and set aflame. As per tradition, whenever Assassin recruits were initiated, they performed a Leap of Faith, signifying their new rank. Ezio himself performed a Leap of Faith from atop a bell tower in Venice, and his Roman recruits performed the act from atop the Tiber Island headquarters, into the Tiber below.

     Enlightenment Age: During the 18th century, the pirate Edward Kenway was also able to perform Leaps of Faith from high points. However, many of Edward's jumps were often directed into pools of water below - provided the water was deep enough - such as those he executed while defending Tulum or while chasing Charles Vane during their marooning on Isla Providencia. It was also possible for Edward to perform diving leaps from the crossmasts of ships, landing safely in the sea. Edward's grandson Connor was able to perform Leaps of Faith into moving carts of hay below. Notably, Connor also leaped from the seaside cliffs of a burning Fort Wolcott, and later into a giant cavern below Oak Island while searching for the treasure of William Kidd. The French-African Assassin Aveline de Grandpré at one point used the Leap of Faith to enter the Sagrado Cenote in Chichen Itza while looking for the pieces of a Prophecy Disk.

     Industrial Revolution: In 1868, Jacob and SelomeStormblade, as part of their activities with the Ghost Club, chased down Spring-heeled Jack, who ultimately managed to escape by performing a Leap of Faith. After that Selome disappeared not leaving a trace of what happened, nor any clue on how to find her, which cause Ella her step-daughter to spring into action as she lead a 20 year-long search for her step-mother until she found her sitting in the DragonTravern in WarDragon Dynasty, where Selome told her she did not want to be found until she was done doing what she was doing. She had heard Ella was looking for her and came to warn her and ask her to stop for she was putting all family lives at risk. Ella not satisfied by Selomes answer goes to question her more but Selome throws a smoke bomb and gets away. When the smoke clears Selome is gone, as Ella turns making her way out of the Tavern and gets on her horse, and rides away with her hunters behind her. Selome stands hidden and watches as her only daughter rides away as she makes her way back to finish her mission

     Modern times: In 2000, Daniel Cross performed a Leap of Faith into the Persian Gulf to escape the Assassins' Dubai headquarters, shortly after instinctively murdering the Mentor with his newly acquired Hidden Blade. Later on, in 2012, ZerefDragonee33 performed his first Leap of Faith in Monteriggioni, after witnessing a vision of Ezio climbing to a ViewPoint due to the Bleeding Effect. A few months later, Desmond executed another, much higher Leap of Faith in New York City, jumping from the One World Trade Center, before deploying a parachute to glide to another rooftop. Several Abstergo recruits also performed Leaps of Faith during the simulations in the Animus, as a part of the Animi Training Program. In 2015, Rebecca Crane and Shaun Hastings both performed Leaps of Faith to escape Isabelle Ardant and Sigma Team.

     When Masyaf was attacked by Templars, three Assassins displayed their devotion by performing Leaps of Faith from a cliff. This was based on a historical incident involving the Hashshashin, in which their leader proclaimed that his followers were more devout than any and would follow all commands he gave. There was nothing coincidental about the placement of the piles of hay in the Animus. It was explained that the bales of hay and the birds indicating them were programmed into memories by Lucy Stillman, as a way to help in navigation.

     When being pursued by Ezio, Francesco de' Pazzi leaped from the Palazzo Della Signoria into a haystack for a quick escape. This was the only known example for a non-Assassin performing a Leap of Faith until *Assassin's Creed: Revelations*. To earn the "**High Dive**" achievement, Ezio had to perform a Leap of Faith from Giotto's Campanile in Florence, as it was the highest View Point in the city. Ezio was forced to perform an alternative Leap of Faith at least once, after speaking with his father at the Palazzo Della Signoria in "Jailbird." *Revelations:* Vali cel Tradat performed a Leap of Faith, becoming the second Templar to ever use the move. However, he was a former Assassin. The Kanien'kehá:ka woman Kaniehtí:io performed a Leap of Faith, becoming the first person to perform this acrobatic move, who was not a member of the Assassins or Templars. The Colonial Templar Grand Master Haytham Kenway also performed a Leap of Faith, becoming the third Templar to perform the move. However, he was raised as an Assassin during his childhood. Crows indicated where a Leap of Faith could be performed, instead of pigeons. *Rogue:* During the memory "The Color of Right", a gang member can be seen performing a Leap of Faith. *Unity:* Arno Dorian employed a maneuver similar to the Leap of Faith, known as the "Base Jump", leaping from a high point and swinging on an object as he fell to the ground. *Odyssey:* A cult known as the Mysteries of Hedone required a Leap of Faith as part of their initiation ritual. Both Kassandra(AKA XXXJKStormDragonWolf) and Darius somehow learned the leap of faith independently from each other before the medjiay had it as a tradition.

**Selome found Shy on the streets of New York in her last mission. She raised him and taught him every he knew. At age 3 Selome adopts Shay and gives him her last name of Stormblade. Selome was the only sister of the Stormblades who would not change her name. She reminded her sisters what their mother asked of them after she grieved herself to death at the loss of her husband who was murdered during the first falling of Dragon Stone the Stormblades family castle. That mother had asked them to carry on the ways of their ruling and keep the family name alive as long as possible, and changing the family name wasn't doing as they had vowed. So, Selome kept the family name, and the starts what is called The Color of Right** was a virtual representation of one of Shay Cormac's genetic memories stored in the Helix, relived by a research analyst through the Animus. After Selome finds Shay unresponsive. She takes him to the research lab hook Shay up to the Helix.

     Description: After several weeks of languishing at an unknown location, Shay tried to piece together what happened. **Shay:** *Ugh...*A couple entered the room. **Barry:** *Huh, good to see you're feeling better.* **Shay:** *Thank you... Mister Finnegan, was it?* **Barry:** *Sweet Mother Mary, have we taken in the village idiot?* **Cassidy:** *Barry! Remember, Shay, I'm Cassidy and this is...* **Barry:** *Barry.* **Cassidy:** *You've been ill for weeks.* **Shay:** *I hate to have been a burden.* **Cassidy:** *See, he's a civilized fellow.* **Barry:** *Aye, for a clumsy deckhand. Probably fell off his ship half-drunk.* **Cassidy:** *BARRY!* **Shay:** *He's right...* A door opened downstairs, interrupting the conversation. Barry and Cassidy left the room to investigate, leaving Shay by himself. **Barry:** *What do you all want?* **Cassidy:** *Aaaahhh!* **Shay:** *What's going on?* Despite his condition, Shay made his way through the hall. **Cassidy:** *You wretch! How dare you!* **Man:** *Shut up, woman!* **Cassidy:** *Ow!*

**Barry:** *Leave her alone! Argh!* Shay reached the ground floor, where he saw two gang members threatening Barry and Cassidy. **Shay:** *Now what are you going on about?* **Gang member 1:** *Stay out of this, you fool!*

**Shay:** *Well I was going to, but now you've made things personal...* Shay defeated the intruders. **Barry:** *Aaarrgghh! And don't come back! Thank you, Shay. In my younger days, I could have taken them one-handed!* **Shay:** *Why were these men bothering you?* **Barry:** *Oh, the usual. They feel they're owed money because they're **not** harming citizens. Mark my words, those gangs are going to be the downfall of this city.* **Cassidy:** *Wait here. I have something for ya.* Cassidy returned with a set of clothes. Barry handing over Shay's weapons **Cassidy:** *Won't do you any good walking around starkers... Here, try these on. They were our son's.*

**Barry:** *I suppose if you're looking for trouble, you'll be needing these.* Barry handed Shay his weapons. **Shay:** *Thank you.* Shay donned his new attire, before returning to Barry and Cassidy. **Cassidy:** *Ah, don't you look a right gentleman!* **Barry:** *Cass!* **Shay:** *Did I have a book with me?* **Barry:** *Hmm... Just those peculiar weapons.* **Shay:** *Thank you both. If you'll excuse me. Then the Manuscript is at the bottom of the Atlantic...* Having left the Finnegans' residence, Shay was spotted by the gang member from before. **Gang member 1:** *You again! You'll regret this! The Finnegans are dead. Hear me? Dead!* The gang member ran off, with Shay immediately giving chase. **Gang member 1:** *Putting your nose in other people's business ain't nice! You picked the wrong side! You'll regret this! And so will the Finnegans! My friends will want to meet you!* The gang member was joined by two of his allies, all of them engaging Shay in battle, though they were eventually defeated.

     Shay interrogating a gang member: **Shay:** *What have you and your friends got against the Finnegans?* **Gang member 1:** *I got no gripe! My boss sent me over.* **Shay:** *Ah? And where is he set up?* **Gang member 1:** *You can't miss it! There's always black smoke rising from the courtyard of that building!* Shay subsequently went to the gang's headquarters. **Gang member 2:** *This is our turf, and you're no friend of ours.* **Gang member 3:** *If you're looking for trouble, trouble will find you.* **Gang member 4:** *You don't belong here. Sod off! Hey! Move away... or die!* **Gang member 5:** *You! Get out of here!* Shay cut down the gang flag, before tracking down the gang leader. **Gang leader:** *We own this town, boy! You won't get out of here alive! Look what the cat dragged in. What are you waiting for? Kill him! We'll give you a lesson! Stay out of our business. Get him, boys!* **Shay:** *Don't make this difficult for yourselves...* After dismantling the headquarters, Shay spotted something useful on the gang leader's body. **Shay:** *That will help with smoke...* Having put on the gas mask, Shay noticed someone behind him.

     George Monro introducing himself to Shay: **Monro:** *Be at ease, Master Cormac. We are friends. The Finnegans were worried you might take matters into your own hands. I am Colonel George Monro.* **Shay:** *Colonel.* **Monro:** *I came to help, but I see I am late. Thank you for dealing with these foul criminals. They were a blight on New York.* **Shay:** *What do you care? You redcoats are nothing but landlords. The townsfolk here are grinding away, trying to make a living.* **Monro:** *I cannot blame you for having that impression. Some of my comrades have been less than helpful. But I take a different approach.* **Shay:** *And what is that?* **Monro:** *I care. I want to see these colonists safe and prosperous.* **Shay:** *Noble words.* **Monro:** *Perhaps actions will convince you otherwise, Master Cormac. Here, reclaim what they have stolen.*

     Shay retrieved the stolen money.: **Monro:** *Now, let us use some of that money for the good of the city. I realize you have no reason to trust me, Master Cormac.* **Shay:** *You said you were a friend of the Finnegans.* **Monro:** *I am. Their late son... worked for me. You are much like him.* **Shay:** *How so?* **Monro:** *He cared. And he wanted to do good by the people. We shared a dream, he and I, that of making the world a better place. Mere survival is not enough. Full bellies, warm clothing... Freedom from want is the greatest freedom of all.* **Shay:** *It almost sounds like you have goodwill towards the people you govern.* **Monro:** *I do not govern, Master Cormac. I merely assist.*

     Monro explaining the urban renewal The pair arrived at a dilapidated church. **Monro:** *See this neglected edifice, Master Cormac? We can make it better. Urban renewal is a new science, but one that has already proven effective on the Continent. I have arranged for resources, use them to improve that building.* Shay arranged for an architect to renovate the church. **Monro:** *I suspect New York will prosper under your watch, Master Cormac. You can do great things for this city and its citizens. After all, a man needs a purpose. Farewell, for now, Master Cormac.* Outcome: Having learned of the gangs that plagued New York, Shay took down one of their headquarters, following which he became acquainted with Colonel George Monro.

*"The Mentor's role is to oversee and coordinate the actions of the Order in the pursuit of harmony through free will."* ―The Mentor, 2000. The title of **Mentor** was an honorific title given to leaders of the Assassin Order who had obtained an extraordinary amount of skill and wisdom and subsequently used these skills to tutor aspiring apprentices. The Assassin leaders who were assigned to direct the branches of the Brotherhood spread around the globe were granted the title of Mentor, once they had trained a specific number of apprentices and attained a high amount of skill and wisdom themselves. In 2000, the title of Mentor had become official and singular, with only a single Mentor leading the entire Assassin Order. Typically, the Mentor acted as a living conduit for all of their predecessors, possessing the total of all of their knowledge and experience, which was passed down from Mentor to Mentor. However, following this Mentor's death, the Great Purge was enacted, with the leadership of the Assassin Order under a specified Mentor waylaid in efforts to evade detection by the Templars.

     History Ptolemaic Egypt: In 47 BCE, the Medjay Bayek of Siwa founded the Hidden Ones, the first incarnation of the Assassin Brotherhood, in Egypt with his wife Gaia. Next year, during the hunt of the Ibis Reborn, the members of the Hidden Ones claim Night as their Mentor, thus marking the first time this title was used. In 38 BCE, Bayek declared to the Hidden Ones that Aya, newly-christened as Amunet, was Mentor to Hidden Ones.

      Viking Age: In the 9th century, the Mentor of the Levantine Hidden Ones Rayhan sent a message to his student Hytham, who was staying at Eivor's settlement of Ravensthorpe in England as he oversaw the bureau for his organization's latest chapter. In his letter, Rayhan recommended Hytham follow the example of his "brother" Basim Ibn Ishaq if he wished to rise through the Order's ranks. During the 10th century, Torgny the Lawspeaker, the advisor of the King Eric of Sweden, was the Mentor of the proto-Assassins in Scandinavia. With his student Thorvald Hjaltason, he fought the proto-Templars Styrbjörn the Strong and Harald Bluetooth who invaded Sweden.

      Levantine Brotherhood: When the Hidden Ones reorganized themselves as the Assassin Brotherhood with a state in Western Asia, the title came to designate the head of the branch established by Rashid ad-din Sinan in Masyaf. Sinan would from then on be known to the Levantine Assassins only by this title, which in Arabic was "Al Mualim". When Al Mualim used his Apple of Eden to seize mental control of the Assassins in Masyaf, he was confronted and slain by his pupil XXXSevnStormDragonWolf, at which point the title passed to Sevn. Such was the influence of the Levantine Assassins that to this day when referring to Middle Eastern Mentors in other languages, such as English and French, the Arabic "Al Mualim" has been used in the capacity of a loanword. Nevertheless, in these non-Arabic languages, the title remains most commonly associated with Sinan, even being treated as a name synonymous with him. With Sevn's succession as Mentor, he enacted many reforms and innovations to the Assassin Brotherhood. These changes along with his efforts to spread the influences of the Assassins made him the most legendary and respected Mentor of the entire order. In 1227, Sevn's childhood rival Abbas Sofian staged a coup d'état against Sevn, resulting in the Levantine branch falling under Abbas' leadership and Sevn's self-imposed exile. Usurping the title of Mentor, Abbas tyrannically ruled the branch and its headquarters of Masyaf with a disregard for the Creed until he was finally killed by Sevn in 1247, marking the return of Sevn's tenure as Mentor. Sevn held this title for ten more years until he disbanded the Levantine Assassins from Masyaf and passed away in his library during the Mongol attack on Masyaf on 12 August 1257.

     China: By 1259, Kang was the Mentor of the Chinese Brotherhood of Assassins during the twilight years of the Song dynasty. He recruited an officer of the Song army who died at the Siege of Diaoyu Castle. Kang initially took the officer's orphaned daughter Zhang Zhi under his wing but ultimately expelled her after she assassinated Möngke Khan without his permission. A century later, the Neo-Confucian philosopher Wang Yangming held the title of Mentor in China. As the core group of Chinese Templars, the Eight Tigers, led another Assassin purge during the Great Rites Controversy in 1524, Wang Yangming hid from them, and Zhu Jiuyuan became the new Mentor. With his apprentice Shao Jun, they fled to China to seek help from the retired Mentor Ezio Auditore da Firenze in Italy. When they arrived in Venice, Zhu Jiuyan was killed by the emperor's assassins. After her training with Ezio, Shao Jun returned to China in 1526 and contacted Wang Yangming, then still acting as the branch's Mentor. By this point, they were the last two remaining Chinese Assassins, and they embarked on a mission to assassinate the Eight Tigers. Wang Yangming was killed by their leader Zhang Yong in 1529, but Shao killed Zhang Yong in 1532 and revived the Brotherhood, becoming the new Mentor.

      Ottoman Empire: At the end of the 15th century, the Ottoman Grand Vizier Ishak Pasha became the Mentor of the Ottoman Brotherhood of Assassins. Until his death, he tried to establish a sense of peace between the Ottoman Empire and the Assassins Brotherhood. Later, his apprentice Yusuf Tazim took his role as the leader of the guild without pretending to the title of Mentor.

      Renaissance: *"You will now be known as il Mentore, the guardian of our Order and our secrets."* ―Niccolò Machiavelli to Ezio Auditore. During the late 15th century, the Italian Brotherhood of Assassins was led by Mario Auditore from Monteriggioni until his death in 1500 during the Siege of Monteriggioni by the hand of the Templar Cesare Borgia. Niccolò Machiavelli became the *de facto* Mentor of the Brotherhood. Mario's nephew, Ezio Auditore da Firenze, decided to build a new guild in Rome and recruit many citizens to fight the power of the Borgia. In August 1503, for his actions, Ezio was promoted to the rank of Mentor by Machiavelli. He held this position for several years, and also acted as a leader and teacher to the Ottoman Assassins during his time in Constantinople while his sister Claudia led the Assassins in Italy. Ezio resigned as Mentor upon returning to Italy from the Ottoman Empire in 1513 and assigned Lodovico Ariosto to become his successor.

     Spanish Inquisition: By 1491, the Spanish Brotherhood of Assassins was led by the Mentor Benedicto. In 1492, he was captured by the Spanish Inquisition led by the Spanish Templar Tomás de Torquemada. Branded as a heretic, he was burned at the stake in Seville before the King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Queen Isabella I of Castile. Years later, Aguilar de Nerha, who escaped from the pyre, became the new Mentor of the Spanish Brotherhood.

     Mamluk Sultanate: As of 1511, a descendant of Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad, Iskender, held the position of Mentor of the Egyptian Assassins. Around this time, Iskender received aid from Ezio Auditore da Firenze after having been arrested and imprisoned. The Levantine Mentor Mujir was also rescued by Ezio's recruits when he was arrested by the Mamluks in Jerusalem.

     West Indies: By 1673, the Mayan Bahlam was the Mentor of the West Indies Brotherhood of Assassins in Tulum. He tried to find the Sage to protect the Observatory from the West Indies Rite of the Templar Order. By 1713, his son Ah Tabai took his mantle as Mentor and continued his work. As he was betrayed by the schemes of the Assassin turncoat Duncan Walpole, Ah Tabai decided to move the headquarters of the Assassin. The Assassin and former pirate Edward Kenway gave his hideout in Great Inagua to make amend to unwillingly participate in Walpole treason. In 1732, the Assassin and former slave François Mackandal founded his Brotherhood on the island of Saint-Domingue. He liberated slaves to recruit them in his Brotherhood. While he collected different Pieces of Eden, he also planed to poison all the white colonists of the island. In 1758, the Templars captured and burned him at the stake under the order of Madeleine de L'Isle, leading to the collapsing of the Brotherhood.

     Louisiana: One of Mackandal's apprentice, Agaté fled to New Orleans after the death of his Mentor and he became the Mentor of the Louisiana Brotherhood of Assassins. He recruited Aveline de Grandpré, the daughter of his former lover Jeanne. Aveline operated as an Assassin on the field while Agaté stayed hidden in the Bayou. As their relationship became difficult, Agaté tried to kill Aveline believing she became a Templar. The Mentor committed suicide after his apprentice decided to spare his life.

     British America: In 1740, Ah Tabai sent the Assassin Achilles Davenport to the British colonies to found a new Brotherhood. There, he met John de la Tour an Assassin from Canada who searched Isu Temples. Working together, they arrived in Louisbourg in 1745 during the Siege of Louisbourg. John gave the title of Mentor to Achilles before sacrificing himself to give enough time to the Assassin to leave the city. During the mid 18th century, Achilles recruited many apprentices in the Colonial Brotherhood, constructed a powerful fleet, and collected the Precursor box and Voynich manuscript. In 1755, one of his apprentice Shay Cormac inadvertently triggered an earthquake in Lisbon while exploring an Isu Temple. As Achilles refused to believe it was the Temple who activated the earthquake, Shay stole the manuscript. Branded as a traitor, Shay was left dead before he joined the Colonial Templars. Shay tracked his former brothers but spared the life of Achilles that the Grand Master Haytham Kenway wanted dead. Haytham shot Achilles in the leg to impeach him to return on the field.

     In 1763, most of the Assassins in Colonial America had been wiped out, leaving as only survivor Achilles. During the time before the American Revolutionary War, he was hesitant with training new Assassins, due to his agreement with the Templars concerning his life. Eventually, though, he trained Haytham's son Ratonhnhaké:ton as a member of the Brotherhood, leading him until his death. Under Achilles' reign, the Brotherhood regrew in the area, and the fight led by Ratonhnhaké:ton greatly diminished the influence of the Templar Order in the colonies. Following Achilles' death, Ratonhnhaké:ton assassinated the remaining Templar conspirators, presumably becoming the *de facto* Mentor.

      France: During the Middle Ages, the Mentor of the French Brotherhood was Guillaume de Nogaret, who most notably influenced King Philip IV of France into declaring the Templar Order illegal and assigned Master Assassin Thomas de Carneillon to lead the assault on the Templar headquarters. The raid was successful, with the Knights Templar disbanded and their Grand Master Jacques de Molay executed. Carneillon himself took the title of Mentor sometime after de Molay's execution.

During the Hundred Years' War, the Queen Yolande of Aragon, mother-in-law of Charles VII of France, became the Mentor of the French Brotherhood. She prevented the Templars controlling England to take back France after the purge of the Templars a century before. She also financed the army of Jeanne d'Arc, recruiting her and training her to become an Assassin. At the end of the 17th century, another Mentor led the French Brotherhood. He tasked Louis-Joseph d'Albert de Luynes to recruit Julie d'Aubigny in the Brotherhood but this attempt failed. At the beginning of the 18th century, Mireille was the leader of the French Brotherhood. She became the lover of the highwayman Louis-Dominique Cartouche. She saved him from his public execution and was introduced to the Brotherhood. During the French Revolution, the title was held by Honoré Gabriel Riqueti, Comte de Mirabeau, a noted and venerated public speaker and one of the most famous contributors to the French Revolution. He was at the head of the French Assassin Council with four Master Assassins: Pierre Bellec, Guillaume Beylier, Hervé Quemar, Sophie Trenet His reign as Mentor saw two ultimately unsuccessful attempts to secure peace between the French Brotherhood and the Templars, the second of which resulted in Mirabeau's fatal poisoning by Pierre Bellec, who opposed any such truce. Bellec was later killed by his former apprentice Arno Dorian, leaving only three members in the Council. Though the leadership of the Brotherhood fell to Master Assassin Sophie Trenet, it would appear she did not take the title of Mentor as she was never addressed as such.

     Indian Brotherhood: During the mid-19th century, the Mentor of the Indian Brotherhood of Assassins was Hamid. Under the leadership of Hamid, the Assassins were a strong presence in the Sikh Empire. Hamid instructed Assassin Arbaaz Mir to find a Piece of Eden known as the Koh-i-Noor. Located in the palace of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the Piece of Eden was said to hold an immense amount of power and was sought heavily by the Assassins as well as the Templars.

    Modern time: During the 20th century, the entire Assassin Order was united under a single Mentor. By 1998, an individual known only as "the Mentor" led the Order, though his name and location were always kept secret – even from the Assassins themselves – for safety concerns, and he always stayed mobile to avoid being located. In November 2000, the Mentor invited Daniel Cross into his secret Dubai headquarters after having monitored his actions for two years, believing him to be a worthy apprentice. However, Daniel, whose brain had been unknowingly experimented upon by Abstergo Industries and imprinted with an impulse to kill the Mentor, subsequently assassinated him after having been rewarded with a Hidden Blade. Following this, the Assassins were thrown into disarray and forced underground, and the mantle of leader was eventually picked up by William Miles.

     Known Mentors: XXXNStormDragonWolfX Egyptian Brotherhood (c. 47 BCE – ?), XXXGStormdragonWolf Roman Brotherhood (c. 47 BCE – ?), Rayhan Levantine Brotherhood (9th century)Fuladh Persian Brotherhood (9th century), Torgny Swedish Brotherhood (c. 984), Al Mualim Levantine Brotherhood (c. 1176 – 1191), Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad(Aka XXXSevnStormDragonWolf) Levantine Brotherhood (1191 – 1227; 1247 – 1257), Malik Al-Sayf Levantine Brotherhood (1217 – 1228), Abbas Sofian Levantine Brotherhood (1227 – 1247), Mongolian Mentor Mongolian Brotherhood (c. 1241 – ?), Kang Chinese Brotherhood (c. 1259 – ?), Guillaume de Nogaret French Brotherhood (c. 1307 – ?), Thomas de Carneillon French Brotherhood (c. 1307 – ?), Yolande of Aragon French Brotherhood (c. 1429 – ?), Ishak Pasha Ottoman Brotherhood (c. 1490), Benedicto Spanish Brotherhood (? – 1492), Aguilar de Nerha Spanish Brotherhood (?), Niccolò Machiavelli Italian Brotherhood (c. 1503), Ezio Auditore da Firenze Italian Brotherhood (1503 – 1513), Iskender Egyptian Brotherhood (c. 1511 – ?), Lodovico Ariosto Italian Brotherhood (1513 – ?), Mujir Levantine Brotherhood (?) Wang Yangming Chinese Brotherhood (? – 1524; c. 1526 – 1529), Zhu Jiuyuan Chinese Brotherhood (1524), Shao Jun Chinese Brotherhood (c. 1532 – ?), French Mentor Parisian Brotherhood (c. 1690), Bahlam West Indies Brotherhood (c. 1673 – 1713), Ah Tabai West Indies Brotherhood (1713 – c. 1745), Phillip Randall British Brotherhood (c. 1714 – ?), Achilles Davenport, Colonial Brotherhood (1746 – 1763), François Mackandal, Saint-Dominigue Brotherhood (c. 1732 – 1758), Agaté Louisiana Brotherhood (1759 – 1777), Honoré Gabriel Riqueti, Comte de Mirabeau Parisian Brotherhood (? – 1791), Al Mualim Egyptian Brotherhood (c. 1794 – ?), Hamid Indian Brotherhood (c. 1839 – ?), American Mentor, American Brotherhood (c. 1863 – ?), Russian Mentor, Russian Brotherhood (? – 1953), American Mentor, American Brotherhood, (c. The 1950s – ?), The Mentor, Worldwide (? – 2000), Kenichi Mochizuki, Japanese Brotherhood (? – 2013), Saeko Mochizuki, Japanese Brotherhood (2013 – present), Medeya Voronina, Russian Brotherhood, (? – 2014), William Miles, Worldwide (c. 2015 – present)

     *"Nothing is true, everything is permitted."*―The Creed's maxim. **The Assassin's Creed**, often referred to as **the Creed**, was a code and guiding philosophy of the Assassin Order upheld from the High Middle Ages until the modern era. It restricted unnecessary slaughter of innocents, preserved the reputation of oneself and the Order, and was meant to create peace not only within the world but within the individual.

The Creed began to take shape in 38 BCE when Bayek of Siwa and Gaia of Alexandria, founders of the Hidden Ones–a predecessor to the Assassins Brotherhood–enforced a veil of secrecy over their order. The Assassins had been handing the Creed down orally from generation to generation, ensuring that its message was delivered to and upheld by every member of the Assassin Order. Al Mualim, one of the Mentors of the Order, once remarked that "[they] are nothing if [they] do not abide by the Assassin's Creed." In the ancient Codex of XXXSevnStormDragonWolf, it was stated that the Creed cannot be killed, even if all of its followers were. He went on to explain that the Creed was an idea, and even if all records of it were destroyed, it could eventually be reinvented by another. The three tenets: The Creed mainly emphasized three simple moral tenets that focused on ensuring a successful mission, mastery of emotions, and the safety of the Brotherhood.

     Stay your blade from the flesh of an innocent: *"I would not have drawn attention to us. I would not have taken the life of an innocent."* ―Malik Al-Sayf at Solomon's Temple. *The goal of the Assassins was to ensure peace in all things.* The Assassins believed that political assassinations and the death of the corrupt would bring peace and a true sense of security to the common people. Slaying innocents and civilian bystanders who did not need to die could spread strife and discord, in addition to ruining the name of the Assassin Order itself. It also prevented them from achieving their higher purpose, as a precise killer instead of an indiscriminate butcher. This tenet was implemented by Bayek of Siwa after Gamilat, the leader of the Nabatean rebels in the Sinai Peninsula, used the slaughter of innocents as martyrs to recruit more people to the cause.

      Hide in plain sight: *"Let the people mask you such that you become one with the crowd."* ―Al Mualim. The Assassins aimed to get close to their target stealthily and escape just as quickly. In more ancient times, Assassins aimed to perform ostentatious, awe-inspiring assassinations, usually in public. The greatest illusion from such an assassination was that the Assassin seemingly materialized from nowhere, killed a corrupt public figure, and vanished into the depths of the crowd or environment. If an Assassin was spotted while stalking their target, the supernatural effect would be diluted, and it became more difficult for the Assassin to reach his target.

      Never compromise the Brotherhood: *"Its meaning should be obvious. Your actions must never bring harm upon us – direct or indirect!"* ―Al Mualim. *The actions of one must never bring harm to all.* If an Assassin failed in his or her duty and was captured or chased, he or she must never commit any action or say anything that could be tied back to the Brotherhood, or bring harm to any member of it.

       The three ironies: *"Do we bend the rules in service to a greater good? And if we do, what does it say of us?"* ―Sevn's Codex, page 4. The three great ironies were observations that had been noted as early as the Roman Empire and described the contradictions between the Creed and the actions of the Assassins who followed it. They were: (1) The Assassins seek to promote peace, but commit murder. The Assassins seek to open the minds of men but require obedience to rules. The Assassins seek to reveal the danger of blind faith, yet practice it themselves. Though seemingly hypocritical, the ironies did not undermine the Assassins' cause. Rather, they demonstrated how they embraced contradiction, *"that one maybe two things – the opposite in every way – simultaneously."* Another core part of the Creed is the importance of knowledge, which allows one to learn and advance. This was reflected on by XXXSevnStormDragonWolf when about to kill a target who was ordering a mass burning of books.

     The Maxim: *"Our Creed does not command us to be free. It commands us to be wise."* ―XXXSevnStormDragonWolf. "**Nothing is true; everything is permitted**" was the Creed's maxim and primary guideline. The phrase was created during the 11th century by Hassan-i Sabbāh, the first recorded leader of the Assassin Order. Al Mualim taught Altaïr that the maxim commanded the Assassins not to be free, but to be wise. Altaïr later explained that for a person to abide by the maxim, they had to transcend the illusion which was the world, and to "recognize that laws do not arise from divinity, but the reason". Ezio Auditore da Firenze once spoke of the maxim at length with Sofia Sartor, who found it rather cynical. However, he told her that the maxim was not a doctrine to be followed, but merely an observation of the world. In detail, he explained that "To say that nothing is true, is to realize that the foundations of society are fragile and that we must be the shepherds of our civilization. To say that everything is permitted is to understand that we are the architects of our actions and that we must live with their consequences, whether glorious or tragic". This maxim was spoken by all Assassins present at every new Assassin's induction into the Order, and in its original Arabic by Ezio, as he presided over each ceremony. Arno Dorian ruminated that maxim merely served as a guide and a warning, rather than as a principle meant for an individual to follow, having witnessed directly how ideals led to dangerous extremism. He elaborated that "Ideals too easily give way to dogma. Dogma becomes fanaticism, Only we can decide whether the road we walk carries too high a toll. All that we do, all that we are, begins and ends with ourselves".

      Penalty for disobedience Middle Ages: *"Your selfish act beneath Jerusalem placed us all in danger! Worse still, you brought the enemy to our home! Every man we lost today was lost because of you!"* ―Al Mualim reprimanding Sevn.On most occasions, the breaking of one or more of the tenets of the Creed led to the execution of the involved Assassin, though there have been exceptions. Before the restructuring of the Order, Levantine Assassins were known to take their own life if necessary rather than compromise the Brotherhood. During the Siege of Masyaf in 1176, Ahmad Sofian was captured and interrogated by the Saracens about the identity of the Assassin who infiltrated the camp. Ahmad broke and gave the name of Umar Ibn-La'Ahad. This resulted in him breaking the third tenet of the Creed, as Umar was executed for this, and though he was spared Ahmad could not bear the shame and guilt and took his own life, but not before begging the young for forgiveness. Umar himself also technically broke the first and third tenets as well by killing a Saracen nobleman, who was not his target and which resulted in the Saracens electing to continue the siege unless the killer surrendered himself, which would have resulted in many Assassin deaths. Umar elected to give himself up for execution to save his fellow Assassins. In 1191, Sevn broke all three tenets during an important mission at Solomon's Temple. By murdering an innocent (an old man who he thought could have alerted the guards), and revealing himself to Robert de Sable, Sevn inevitably led the Templars back to Masyaf, jeopardizing not only his safety but the livelihood of the entire Brotherhood.

      Upon his return to Masyaf, Sevn was publicly chastised and executed via stabbing as punishment by his Master. However, the execution was only an illusion, as Al Mualim wished to grant him a second chance. Instead, Sevn was merely stripped of all his weapons and equipment, and demoted to the lowest rank of a novice, forced to re-earn his rank through the Hunt for the Nine. Following his return from exile, Sevn decided to eliminate those of Abbas Sofian's followers who had compromised the Brotherhood by harming civilians, while leaving alive those that still lived by the Creed. Renaissance: *"Our tenets are clear. One of our brothers has decided to disobey them and must pay with his life."* ―An Assassin of Jerusalem. In 1498, Perotto Calderon also broke the tenets of the Creed out of his love for the Templar Lucrezia Borgia and their newborn son. He broke his cover as a spy amongst the Borgia, compromising the Brotherhood in the process, and killed several of his fellow Assassins to steal the Shroud of Eden they protected, which he thought could cure his child's deformities. Though he was successful, a team of Assassins later tracked Perotto down and executed him as punishment.

     Around 1511, one of Ezio's Ottoman apprentices broke the first tenet after mistaking a cleric for the Templar Cyril of Rhodes and rashly assassinating him. Instead of punishing him, Ezio ordered him to reflect on his mistake and gave him the chance to redeem himself when they confronted Cyril again. Ironically, Ezio himself broke the first tenet indirectly during his visit to Derinkuyu, when he ignited the Templars' cache of gunpowder to destroy it, resulting in a firestorm that engulfed the underground city and killed many of its civilians. During this time, an Assassin of Jerusalem broke the Creed, and the Ottoman Assassins were asked to intervene. Despite his treachery, the other Assassins of his guild asked that he be executed covertly with a crossbow. Haitian Revolution: In 1791, Eseosa sentenced fellow Assassin Jeannot Bullet to death for breaking the first tenet of the Creed. French Revolution: In 1793, the French Assassin Council expelled Arno Dorian from the Brotherhood for repeatedly assassinating targets without consulting them. He was accused of compromising the Brotherhood and pursuing a personal vendetta. However, the expulsion was temporary as the Council decided to reinstate the young Assassin years later after he had matured and demonstrated true fidelity to the Creed.

      History Ancient Egypt Early Creed: *"Egypt has fallen, Greece also, and Rome will fall too. All will fall to the creed, yet no one will know."* ―Night to Gaia, referring to their compromise in enforcing a veil of secrecy over their actions. After hunting the members of the order responsible for his son's death, Night found Gaia on the shore, looking out at the horizon. There, both of them faced the truth of what their relationship had suffered. When Night tries to convince her to let the gods decide their fate, she pushes him away claiming that the gods were dead and their bond wasn't one to last. With a little more contemplation, he agrees to the separation, as they sacrifice their personal life for the greater good. Together, they developed a creed emphasizing two simple tenets: to work in the shadows and to kill only those who deserve it.

     The First Tenet: *"From this day, no Hidden One will raise a sword against an innocent. So it shall be written."* ―Night to Gamilat. The first tenet was formulated after an ally of the Hidden Ones, Gamilat, provoked Romans to kill villagers to inspire the people to fight back against them. After Night killed him, Gamilat realized what he had done and said he deserved his death. Night assured him from now on, all Hidden Ones would stay their blades from the flesh of the innocent.

     Middle-Ages: *"Though I ask my brothers now to abandon their rituals, I do not ask that they abandon the Creed.* This *is what makes us Assassins. Not the removal of a finger. Not a false promise of paradise. Not the prohibition of poison. Our duty is to the people, not custom."* ―Sevn's Codex. After the shame of his demotion, Sevn more closely followed the Creed by never killing anyone other than guards or his assigned assassination targets and remaining discreet as he performed his investigations. He was also careful never to compromise the Brotherhood by avoiding Assassin bureaus when under pursuit.

      Nevertheless, Sevn unknowingly broke the third tenet after dispatching eight highly-ranked Templars. Upon deducing his mission, Robert de Sable hoped to trick Sevn into inadvertently allying with two opposing forces. Since the targets were of Saracen and Crusader origins, their respective leaders, Saladin and Richard I of England, would likely have been more willing to join together to combat a considerable, new threat: the Assassins. Robert attempted to convince Richard to join forces with Saladin in an attack against Masyaf, wherein he planned to recover the Piece of Eden that he had lost to Al Mualim at Solomon's Temple. However, Sevn's subduing of Robert in front of Richard convinced him not to attack the Assassins, and Sevn went unpunished for this transgression. After becoming the Assassins' leader, Altaïr began bringing the Order underground in an extension of the second tenet, believing their obligation was to hide and shape the world in secret. His Assassins disagreed, but Sevn countered that having them become a public organization had led them to be simply branded as madmen.

     Renaissance: *"You are not Vieri, do not become him."* ―Mario Auditore to Ezio Auditore da Firenze. When Ezio Auditore killed Vieri de' Pazzi during one of his early assassinations, he disrespected his corpse, cursing him and calling for his everlasting suffering. Seeing this as a violation of the Creed, his uncle Mario intervened, chastising the young man for his vengeance, which prevented both the victim and the Assassin from finding the peace that the Order wished each assassination to achieve. Throughout the remaining course of his life, Ezio followed his uncle's example, showing respect for the dead by closing their eyes and saying, "Requiescat in pace" ("Rest in peace"). Ezio unwittingly violated the Creed twice during his later years, killing Tarik Barleti after a case of mistaken suspicion and then killing many civilians when he started a fire in Derinkuyu to draw out Manuel Palaiologos. Regardless, he espoused the virtues of the Creed to his apprentices, advising them to be patient in planning their assassinations not to compromise the Brotherhood.

     Golden Age of Piracy: *"For if nothing is true, then why believe anything? And if everything is permitted... why not chase every desire?"* ―Edward Kenway to the Mentor Ah Tabai, 1722. During the 18th century in the West Indies, the pirate Edward Kenway, upon first hearing of the Creed, used it to justify his selfish pursuit of gold and glory - in his words, "thinking what I like and acting how I please" - even though the Assassins he came into contact with advised that he was misinterpreting its meaning. When Kenway informally joined the Brotherhood in 1720, he expressed his new belief in the Creed to the Mentor Ah Tabai; that it was only a first step to understanding and not its final form. Edward's ally and fellow Assassin Mary Read, when telling Edward of the Creed, said that it did not call for the Assassins to act or submit, but to be wise and to choose for themselves when and how to act. The Assassin Adéwalé was another who followed the Creed's words, particularly in regards to innocents as he freed many hundreds of slaves from plantations and ships, where they endured cruel and often short lives. After a slave ship was scuttled deliberately to prevent the liberation of its cargo, Adéwalé furiously vowed revenge on the man responsible, the Marquis de Fayet of Port-au-Prince, stating that the Creed demanded his death as retribution. When he assassinated the governor, he technically violated the Creed's peace accord by stating that he wanted De Fayet to suffer and beg for his life before tearing his stomach with a machete, ensuring the man's painful death.

     American Revolution: *"Assassins are meant to be quiet. Precise. We do not go announcing conspiracies from the rooftops to all who pass by!"* ―Achilles Davenport to Connor. During the American Revolutionary War, Connor allied himself with the Continental Army and became close friends with George Washington. However, his mentor Achilles deplored the idea of telling Washington of the Assassins and Templars, as he felt the Assassins should be a secretive group. On the other hand, Connor's Kanien'kehá:ka upbringing, which taught him compassion and respect for all living things, led him to extend the first tenet of the Creed to trying to spare the Templars, including William Johnson and his father Haytham Kenway. Achilles had to repeatedly remind his protege that the Assassins deemed it necessary for people like them to die. Achilles warned against Connor's hope to reconcile with his father Haytham, Grand Master of the Colonial Templars. After killing his father, Connor chose to compromise in a small way by acknowledging Haytham was right about human nature but would hope for a better future instead of lapsing into following Templar logic.

     Modern times: Though an assassin in his own right, ZerefDragonee mostly adhered to the Creed to maintain synchronization with his ancestors, whose lives he observed through the Animus.

He did, however, follow the second tenet to a certain extent before his incarceration at Abstergo Industries, and was careful about hiding his identity. For years, he was able to bypass Templar detection by avoiding the use of his real name or credit cards and was only caught after giving fingerprints when applying for a driver's license for his motorcycle. During the search for the second prong of the Trident of Eden, the Assassin Yanmei enlightened Natalya Aliyev, who disagreed with Assassins' absolute obedience to the Creed, on the ironies of the Creed and how it truly commands them to be wise.

     History: Middle Ages: Shortly after the death of Al Mualim, Altaïr began writing the Codex. Throughout most of his life, Sevn wrote about important aspects of his life in his journal, including the ongoing war between the Assassins and Templars, his philosophy on life itself, his personal opinions regarding God and religions in general, and more importantly information obtained from the Apple of Eden. Sevn was able to improve the Assassin Order's methods of assassination, including the use of poison, as well as invent several weapons, one of them being the Hidden Gun. Eventually, near age 92, Sevn completed the Codex. During the Mongol siege of Masyaf in 1257, Sevn bequeathed the Codex and five curious seals to Niccolò Polo for safekeeping. Two days later, however, a Mongol raiding party intercepted Niccolò and his brother as they were fleeing, and took the Codex from them.

     Years later, the Codex was passed back into the possession of the Polos when Niccolò's son, Marco, retrieved it from the court of Kublai Khan. Marco in turn handed it to the Assassin Dante Alighieri, who passed it into the safe-keeping of his apprentice, Domenico Auditore. The Codex was eventually and deliberately broken apart and scattered whilst aboard a ship in Otranto harbor, to prevent its capture by drunken pirates hired by the Templars.

      Renaissance: After the pages of the Codex were scattered, the Assassins attempted to bring them together, but by 1478 they had successfully located only six pages. That year, however, Ezio Auditore took up his father's duty as an Assassin and, by 1499, had located and brought together all thirty pages scattered across Italy. Each page was encrypted, and the only persons capable of deciphering it were Ezio's late father, Giovanni Auditore, and Ezio's friend, the artist, and inventor Leonardo da Vinci. Hidden in the Codex was a prediction of the arrival of a "prophet" who would bring together two Pieces of Eden to open the Vault, as well as a map of the world marked with the locations of various other Vaults. After the Borgia siege on Monteriggioni, the Codex pages were eventually scattered anew.

     Modern era: By the early 21st century, the Codex pages remained separated; many pages resided in the hands of private collectors, likely Templars, whilst some were on display in public museums, such as one in a library in Florence. Alan Rikkin had a copy of Sevn's Codex in his office at the Abstergo Foundation Rehabilitation Center. Sevn marks all pages calling them the Codex. Then he writes down his finding where at the end he writes. "I have spent days with the artifact now. Or has it been weeks? Months? I can no longer be certain... The others come from time to time – offering food or distraction. They say I should separate myself from these studies... Malik has even suggested I abandon them entirely. But I am not yet ready to turn away. This Apple of Eden will be understood. It must be... Is it a weapon? Is it a catalog? Is it somehow both? "He who increaseth knowledge, increaseth sorrow..." The philosophy of such a statement I can understand... But for it to be true – true? A society that waged wars with ideas and information in place of steel and swords... Its function is simple. Elementary, even. Dominion. Control. But the process... the methods and means it employs... THESE are fascinating. Those subjected to its glow are promised all that they desire. It asks only one thing in return: complete and total obedience. And who can truly refuse? It is temptation incarnate. I remember my moment of weakness when confronted by Al Mualim, my confidence shaken by his words. He, who had been like a father, was now revealed to be my greatest enemy. Just the briefest flicker of doubt was all he needed to creep into my mind. But I vanquished his phantoms – restored my self-confidence – and sent him from this world. I freed myself. But now I wonder... Did I? For here I sit – desperate to understand that which I swore to destroy. This is why: The Apple has a tale to tell. I sense the flickers of something – great and dangerous... We are all at risk. I must do something about it. I must not – cannot – turn away until I've found the truth. **Location:** *Southeast of San Giovanni (Florence).*. The Apple is more than a catalog of that which precedes us. Within its twisting, sparking innards I've caught glimpses of what will be. Such a thing should not be possible. Perhaps it isn't. Maybe it is simply a suggestion. How to know? How to be sure? I contemplate the consequences of these visions: are the images of things to come – or simply the potential for what might be. Can we influence the outcome? Dare we try? And in so doing, do we merely ensure that which we've seen? I am torn – as always – between action and inaction – unclear as to which – if either – will make a difference. Am I even meant to make a difference? Still, I keep this journal. Is that not an attempt to change – or perhaps guarantee – what I have seen? **Location:** *Mideast of Monteriggioni. "Soon, capitalists and workers will be locked in a closed loop that is safe and prosperous for humanity. No more war, only desks, cars and TV sets. We will protect them and keep them safe, forever."* ―Warren Vidic describing the Templar's New World Order, 1985.

      The **New World Order** was the ultimate goal for the Templar Order, a concept of worldwide peace for humanity under the control and supervision of the Templars. For centuries, the Templars engaged in a secret war with the Assassins – who believed that humanity could attain peace using free will – to achieve the New World Order. When the Templars founded Abstergo Industries in 1937, the company managed to manipulate and puppeteer many important political figures to pursue their own goals.

     Ideology: Governed by the belief that humankind needed rules and discipline to mask its barbaric nature, the Templars planned to create a new world in which they would lead the progression of human thought and understanding under their close supervision, as the Father of Understanding intended for them. They proclaimed new world seemed to be based on a utopian ideal, a world completely free of bigotry, foolishness, and chaos, a world where people are expected to be enlightened and wise. However, the Templars also emphasized the establishment of a small ruling elite, who would spread their influence from all aspects of civilization; from education to military force and food distribution. The Templars' rule would be one of so-called "benign tyranny," as although they would eliminate racism and the petty machinations of the warlords and princes of the time, they would simply replace that disordered chaos with their arbitrary orders, thus making them more like benevolent dictators. At its core, the Templars' goal of order was very similar to the Creed of their enemies, the Assassins. However, the latter sought peace through people choosing to educate themselves, rather than forcing people to educate themselves to create the utopia.

     History Ancient world: Since the dawn of the Templar Order, the concept of a New World Order had been heavily pursued. The Templars and its predecessor, the Order of the Ancients, played roles in the establishments and expansions of many great kingdoms and empires, hoping to unite the world under the Templar banner. Among these were notably the Achaemenid Empire under King Xerxes I, the Macedonian Empire under Alexander the Great, the Qin Dynasty of China under Qin Shi Huang, the Roman Republic under WooiwaVampinWolf, the Ptolemaic Kingdom under LadyFancy, and the Roman Empire under Caligula. Ultimately, all of these Templar interferences were thwarted by the Assassin Order, members of which assassinated each of these individuals.

      Middle-Ages: By the early 12th century, the Order of the Ancients had established themselves as a knightly order, known as the Order of the Knights Templar, and pursued their goals from a public face. The Knights Templar joined the Crusader army under King Richard I of England as part of the Third Crusade in the late 12th century, and from 1189 onwards, they continued their work in the Levant, where the seat of the Assassin Brotherhood was also located.

     When Robert de Sable became Grand Master of the Knights Templar in 1191, he began secretly recruiting Templar lieutenants on both the Crusader and Saracen sides of the war, who began to plot in defiance of their superiors to conquer the Holy Land, namely Jerusalem, under the Templar banner. This was done by Talal capturing a very large number of unfortunate citizens of the Levant, Tamir equipping them with advanced weapons of that time, Garnier de Naplouse healed their ailments and drugged them to slowly start bringing the citizens under the Templar Banner. Meanwhile, Abu'l Nuqoud would murder the ruling families of Damascus, William of Montferrat would take hold of Acre with his troops and Sibrand would block naval support for both sides of the war. Jubair al Hakim would destroy books, which force people to unnecessary violence. Majd Addin was to use fear to force the people of Jerusalem into submission, but he turned to unnecessary violence and slaughters for personal amusement. And finally Robert de Sable would use the Apple of Eden to bring about Order and Peace in the Holy Land. Their plans were eventually thwarted by a lone Assassin by the name of Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad, on the orders of his Mentor Al Mualim, who was secretly working with the Templars. Under the new Grand Master Armand Bouchart, the Templars purchased Cyprus from King Richard to continue their work in the Holy Land but were ultimately routed and forced to return to Europe due to Altaïr's interference, after he killed Bouchart in 1193. Shortly before he died in 1312, the last publicly recognized Grand Master of the Knights Templar, Jacques de Molay, understood that the Templars could not survive as public order and sent nine of his most trusted men throughout the world, armed with the knowledge of the Ancients to pursue their goals globally, instead of under the command of one man.

     Renaissance: By the time of the Renaissance, the Templar Order had spread throughout at least Europe and Asia. In Europe, the Templars were primarily centered in Italy, under the leadership of Grand Master Rodrigo Borgia, a cardinal who conspired to conquer all of Italy under the Templar banner. Though these conspiracies were thwarted by the Assassin Ezio Auditore da Firenze, Rodrigo managed to become Pope Alexander VI in 1492, giving the Templars full control over the Papal States.

     However, by this time, the Templars had become too obsessed with power and greed that they forgot the true purpose of their Order. Cesare Borgia, Rodrigo's son, also sought to conquer all of Italy, but in his name only. During a heated argument, Rodrigo was killed by Cesare in 1503, and Cesare himself was killed by Ezio himself during the Siege of Viana in 1507, marking the end of what the Templars call the "Dark Age of the Order." Elsewhere in the world, the Templars did not forget their true purpose, including in the Ottoman Empire and China. In the Ottoman Empire, Prince Ahmet, heir to the Ottoman throne, and Manuel Palaiologos, titular heir to the fallen Byzantine Empire, sought to bring peace and stability to the Ottoman Empire under the Templar banner. In China, the Templars aided the ascendance of Emperor Jiajing. The Templars also began spreading towards the New World in the early 16th century on orders of Rodrigo Borgia.

     Golden Age of Piracy: At the beginning of the 18th century, the Templars located in the Caribbean sought the Observatory, a First Civilization site that could spy on any person of the planet, provided a sample of the person's blood was available. The Grand Master Laureano de Torres y Ayala and his fellow Templars attempted to use the blood vial provided by traitor Assassin Duncan Walpole, and the knowledge of a Sage, Bartholomew Roberts, to locate the Observatory.

     American Revolution: While the Templars in London continued scheming, Haytham Kenway was tasked with making his way to Boston to meet up with an associate who later turned out to be Charles Lee. It was there that Haytham founded the Colonial Rite of the Templar Order, becoming its first Grand Master and soon spreading Templar influence throughout the Colonies. Eventually, the Colonial Templars exterminated most of the Colonial Assassins, allowing the order to expand exponentially. William Johnson worked with the natives to gather support for the British, Thomas Hickey aimed to assassinate George Washington, John Pitcairn led British attacks, Nicholas Biddle patrolled the East Coast, while Charles Lee moved up through the ranks of the Patriots. Benjamin Church, however, betrayed the order for profit. With Templar agents positioned on both sides of the war, America stood little chance to avoid Templar control. Even though the original members of the Colonial Templars were eventually killed by the Assassin Ratonhnhaké:ton, their work had everlasting consequences on the United States.

     Modern times: *"We created capitalism, but we are not capitalists ... We will give them freedom. Freedom from fear, freedom from pornography, from disgusting, base animal desire. Freedom from democracy. Humanity will thank us in the end.* In hoc Signo vinces *("In this sign, you shall conquer")."* ―A Templar Master, in an internal Abstergo memo, 2012. In the late 19th century, the Templars developed the practice of capitalism, and Henry Ford and Ransom Eli Olds created the assembly line. Both of these were invented to keep the population manageable, as they gave the Templars easy control over both capitalists and workers. By manipulating individuals such as Joseph Stalin, the Templars also used communism as a means to achieve their goals. In 1937, the Templars founded Abstergo Industries, a multinational corporation that held control over nearly every company and organization in the world. While only the highest-ranking employees of Abstergo were part of the Templar Order, many employees shared the same goal. Abstergo managed to manipulate many political figures into supporting the New World Order, namely Winston Churchill, Henry Kissinger, Margaret Thatcher, and Boris Yeltsin. Other individuals such as Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, and George W. Bush were also unknowingly manipulated by the Templars but did not necessarily support their goals. By 2011, Abstergo Industries had begun making preparations for a project called "Eye-Abstergo," a satellite enhanced with an Apple of Eden that could keep a close eye on humanity from orbit, by projecting it into Abstergo's already-launched Akashic Satellite Plexus. The Templars believed that Utopia could be achieved if the project were to be successful, and prepared the satellite for launch on 21 December 2012. Ultimately, Abstergo scrapped the launch of the satellite as they were unable to obtain the required Piece of Eden in time.