Hidden Ones of the Great Desert

I wanted to ask you something. Which is... what's your name? This article title is conjecture. Although the article subject is canon, no official name for it has been given.

"The important thing is that we are here now. The important thing is that we are watching over this great desert."

―Éléna, 751

The Hidden Ones of the Great Desert

During the 8th century, a group of Hidden Ones operated in the western reaches of Tang China. Led by Éléna at mid-century, it was composed of people of various ethnicities, including Byzantines, Sogdians, Tocharians, Indians, and Arabs. They regarded it as their duty to protect the people of the deserts northwest of China.

Their activities lent them a positive reputation among the locals, as the Tang poet Li Bai native to the region spent his childhood impressed by stories of these legendary heroes.

In 751, Éléna led the Hidden Ones on a hunt for the Abbasid Caliph Abul Abbas As-Saffah and his troops. Arriving at the aftermath of the Battle of Talas, they rescued a Tang crossbowman named Li E making a lone last stand just before he could be cut down by the victorious Abbasids. Subsequently, they recruited him into their ranks. Under Éléna's tutelage, Li E grew to become an exceptionally skilled Assassin, learning techniques such as the Leap of Faith.

By 754, the year before the outbreak of the An Lushan Rebellion, this branch of the Hidden Ones had been all but exterminated, with Li E as the sole surviving member. At some point, As-Saffah had sent his forces to besiege their headquarters, and Li E only managed to escape by jumping into a carriage and returning to the lands of the Tang.

Behind the scenes

The Hidden Ones of the Great Desert debuted in a flashback during the opening chapters of Beacon Fire, the second volume of the manhua Assassin's Creed: Dynasty. They were, however, mentioned indirectly as early as the first chapter of the volume one by Li Bai. They serve as the Assassins who trained the main protagonist Li E.

Their name is derived from a line spoken by a hallucination of Éléna to Li E in chapter 33, "The Hidden Ones (Part 1)":

「你要一直记得，你是大漠最后一个无形者。」
"You must always remember: you are the last Hidden One of the Great Desert."

The syntax of the original Chinese text suggests that the term may be more descriptive than nominative. (cf. 「你是最后的大漠无形者。」"You are the last of the Hidden Ones of the Great Desert") although it does not preclude that it may be intended to be both. Regardless, it is the closest to a name for this group of Hidden Ones to date.

"The Great Desert" is a historical Chinese name for the Gobi Desert, but the territory this branch of Hidden Ones is shown to preside over is beyond the desert's western extent, corresponding more closely to the Taklamakan Desert. Talas itself is situated on the other side of the Tian Shan from either desert.

Appearances

• Assassin's Creed: Dynasty