American Rite of the Templar Order

2014-12-07T23:05:08Z

64.228.197.190: /* Destruction of the Assassins and rise to power */

{{Era|AC3|ACRG|Templars}}
{{Dialogue|Ratonhnhaké:ton|What is it the Templars truly seek?|Haytham Kenway|Order. Purpose. Direction. No more than that.|Ratonhnhaké:ton and Haytham Kenway, discussing the Colonial Templars' goals, 1778.|Assassin's Creed III}}
{{Faction Infobox
|image = ACIII-BraddockExpedition 3.png
|founder = [[Haytham Kenway]]
|leader = [[Grand Master]]
|headquarters = [[United States|Thirteen Colonies]]
|locations = [[Boston]]<br>[[New York]]<br>[[Philadelphia]]<br>[[Frontier]]
|related = [[Templars]]
|formed = 1754
|collapsed = 1782
|notable = Haytham Kenway<br>[[Charles Lee]]<br>[[William Johnson]]<br>[[John Pitcairn]]<br>[[Thomas Hickey]]<br>[[Benjamin Church]]<br>[[Shay Cormac]]<br>[[Nicholas Biddle]]}}
The '''Colonial Rite''', later known as the '''American Rite''' following the American Revolution, was one of a number of autonomous factions, in operation during the mid 18th century, that composed the [[Templars|Templar Order]]. [[Haytham Kenway]] founded, and became the first [[Grand Master]] of the Colonial Rite in 1754, in order to find a suspected [[Grand Temple|Precursor storehouse]], on instruction of the Templar Grand Master [[Reginald Birch]].

The Colonial Rite played a significant role in guiding the course of the [[American Revolutionary War]], with an aim to usurp control of the newly forming nation; in this, however, they were ultimately stopped by the [[Colonial Assassins]].

==History==
===Founding===
In the year 1754, Haytham arrived in [[Boston]], and was greeted by [[Charles Lee]], a hopeful wishing to join the Templar Order. With Charles' help, Haytham sought to gather four individuals that Reginald Birch - the Grand Master of the British Rite - had arranged for Haytham to recruit: [[William Johnson]], [[Thomas Hickey]], [[Benjamin Church]], and [[John Pitcairn]].

With the outbreak of the [[French and Indian War]], the British Government had arranged for General [[Edward Braddock]], another member of the Templar Order, to lead an [[Braddock Expedition|expedition]] to the French-controlled [[Fort Duquesne]]. In order to enlist the aid of the [[Kanien'kehá:ka]], whom it was believed knew the location of the Precursor site, Haytham willingly agreed to side with them in their ambush of Braddock's forces.

The combined assault by Haytham's Rite and the Kanien'kehá:ka, together with a timely assault by the [[French Army]], led to the destruction of the Expedition, and the death of Edward Braddock at Haytham's hands. True to her word, [[Kaniehtí:io]], the Kanien'kehá:ka whom Haytham had agreed their alliance, led the Grand Master to the Precursor site, though the latter was disappointed to find little more than a cave.

===Destruction of the Assassins and rise to power===
By 1759, the Colonial Rite was in full conflict with the Assassin Brotherhood in the region; When [[Shay Cormac]] defected to the Order, the Templars spent much of the Seven Years War hunting down the Assassins with Shay's help, killing them off one-by-one. After tracking the last two Assassins to a Precursor Temple in the Arctic, Shay killed [[Liam O'Brien|Liam]], and Haytham forced the only surviving member of the Order - [[Achilles Davenport]] - into exile, on the condition that he retire from his life as an Assassin and live quietly in his manor, but not before crippling him with a shot to the leg.

After a few more years, the Templars had allied with the [[British Army]] to focus on more "practical pursuits". When the [[American Revolution]] broke out, the Templars attempted to take advantage of it. Unbeknownst to them however, the Colonial Assassins had returned to the scene with the recruitment of [[Ratonhnhaké:ton]], the illegitimate child of Haytham Kenway and Kaniehtí:io.

Over the course of the Revolution, Ratonhnhaké:ton assassinated William Johnson, John Pitcairn, [[Nicholas Biddle]], Thomas Hickey and during an alliance with [[Haytham Kenway|Haytham]], killed Benjamin Church, who had betrayed the Colonial Rite.

===Collapse===
{{Dialogue|Charles Lee|Why do you persist...? You put us down. We rise again. You end one plot; we forge another. You try so hard... But it always ends the same. [...] Yet you fight. You resist. Why?|Ratonhnhaké:ton|Because no one else will!|Charles Lee and Ratonhnhaké:ton, 1782.}}
In 1781, after cutting off ties with his father, Ratonhnhaké:ton, seeking out Charles Lee, confronted his father in the Templar stronghold at [[Fort George]], [[New York]]. After a brutal fight, the Templar Grand Master was killed, and Charles Lee rose to the position in his stead.

At least three months later, in 1782, a funeral was held for Kenway and presided over by Charles Lee, but it was interrupted with the arrival of Ratonhnhaké:ton. Charles had the Assassin detained, before making preparations to travel to Boston. Eventually, the Assassin caught up with Lee once more, and after a rugged pursuit, tracked the man down and killed him in Conestoga Inn, [[Monmouth]]. Lee's death marked the collapse of the Colonial Rite and the end of Templar involvement in North America, at least for a time.

==Members==


<div style="float:left; width:48;">
*[[Haytham Kenway]] ([[Grand Master]])
*[[Charles Lee]]
*[[William Johnson]]
*[[Thomas Hickey]]
*[[Benjamin Church]]
*[[John Pitcairn]]
*[[Nicholas Biddle]]
*[[Shay Cormac]]
*[[Christopher Gist]]
*[[George Monro]]
*[[Jack Weeks]]
*[[James Wardrop]]
*[[Lawrence Washington]]
*[[Samuel Smith]]
</div>
<div style="float:right; width:48%;">
*[[George Dorrance]]
*[[Johann Rall]]
*[[Johann de Kalb]]
*[[Jonathan Trumbull]]
*[[Matthew Davenport]]
*[[Eleanor Mallow]]
*[[Gerhard von Stantten]]
*[[Gillian McCarthy]]
*[[Federico Perez]]
*[[Victor Wolcott]]
</div>
{{-}}
'''Allies'''
*The "[[Coyote Man]]"
*[[John Boyd]]
*[[Hugh Jackson]]
*[[Barry Finnegan]]
*[[Cassidy Finnegan]]

==Reference==
*''[[Assassin's Creed III]]''
{{AC3}}
[[Category:Templar Rites]]

Assassin's Creed Wiki - User contributions [en-gb]

American Rite of the Templar Order