Bayan

Bayan was a warrior of the Buryat tribe who served as a commander for the Mongol Empire and its Great Khan, Möngke, during the 13th century. Bayan was recruited as a Kheshig, part of the Imperial Guard, and later joined the local branch of Templars at the invitation of Möngke's son Asutai. He was an ancestor of the 21st century teenager Natalya Aliyev.

Biography

Siege of Diaoyu Castle

In the summer of 1259, as Möngke Khan was on a campaign to conquer the Song Empire in China, Bayan was part of the army which besieged the Song forces entrenched in Diaoyu Castle. However, plagued by diseases and faced with the Songs' strong resistance, the Mongols were unsuccessful in their attempts to break the fortress' defenses.

When General Köke asked for volunteers for a new assault, Bayan offered himself and his men to join the attack. Led by Möngke's commander-in-chief Wang Dechen, the Mongols attacked the wall under the cover of night but the Chinese, somehow warned of their arrival, ambushed them with archers and cannons. During the battle, Bayan killed a deadly Chinese veteran, who unknown to the Mongol warrior was in fact a Assassin. After their retreat, Bayan brought back the seriously injured Wang Dechen to the Mongol camp, but the shaman's ritual failed to save him despite Möngke's command.

Several days later, as the Mongols' morale had fallen after Dechen's death, Bayan had come to believe in a secret entrance to the fortress, which could explain how the Chinese were able to set an ambush outside of their walls without being seen. After requesting permission, Bayan left the camp to scout around the walls, looking for a hidden cave. During his nocturnal exploration, he spotted what he believed to be a Song scout but failed to capture her, losing her tracks. Unable to find the entrance, the Mongol warrior decided to hide and wait for the return of the scout, planning to capture her and to extort from her the location of the hidden passage.

When the scout returned, Bayan loosed an arrow in her leg from his hiding spot, hitting her knee as she was freerunning. Facing the crippled woman, who was in fact Zhang Zhi, an Assassin apprentice and the daughter of the veteran he had killed several days before, Bayan had to retreat after Zhi shot him with a poisoned bolt and stabbed him with her Hidden Blade. Through sheer will and despite the poison taking its toll on him, the half-dead warrior dragged himself to the Mongol camp before falling unconscious.

Joining the Templars

When Bayan woke up, he learned from Prince Asutai that the Assassin girl had murdered Möngke before Bayan crippled her. Impressed by his skills, Asutai also revealed to Bayan that he planned to conceal his father's murder and would tell the army that the Khan had abruptly died from the same illnesses plaguing them. Asutai then promoted Bayan to the Kheshig, the Imperial Guard, and informed him that he would accompany him to Mongolia, where Möngke was to be buried alongside the other Great Khans.

One month later, on their way to Mongolia, Asutai informed Bayan of the Templars' existence and disclosed that he, his late father, and most of the Kheshig were Templars. He then invited Bayan to join them, and the Mongol commander, after thinking the offer over, accepted.

Legacy

Bayan eventually became an ancestor of the teenager Natalya Aliyev, who in 2016 relived his genetic memories at the Abstergo Industries facility known as the Aerie in search of a prong of the Trident of Eden, which had been buried with Möngke Khan. After escaping from the Aerie with the help of Owen Meyers and the Assassin Griffin, Natalay continued to explore Bayan's memories, though she purposefully desynchronized upon reaching Bayan's induction into the Templar Order, believing that neither the Assassins nor the Templars should find the prong.

Gallery

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  Concept art by Studio Lounak

Appearances

• Assassin's Creed: Last Descendants – Tomb of the Khan