Russian Brotherhood of Assassins

The Russian Assassins were the Brotherhood of Assassins located in and around Russia, formed some time after the early 16th century.

By the late 19th century, the Russian Assassins had prioritized the abolition of the Tsarist autocracy in Russia, even more so when some of the Russian Tsars had allied themselves with the Templars, and would utilise the Narodnaya Volya in this regard.

It was the Russian Assassin Nikolai Orelov who caused both the Borki train disaster and the Tunguska explosion, two disastrous events in Russia's history, and the Assassins later stood alongside the Bolsheviks during the Russian Revolution.

History

Spying on the Kremlin

During the 15th century, the Italian Assassins sent several Assassins, including Pietro Antonio Solari and Ridolfo "Aristotele" Fioravant, to Moscow, where they were recruited by Tsar Ivan III Vasilevich as architects to work on the Kremlin. Unbeknownst to Ivan, they secretly kept an eye on his activities and ambitions, reporting back to the Assassins in Italy.

However, in 1493, Ivan found out that Solari and Aristotele were spies, and had Solari killed. Aristotele, realizing Ivan was close to uncovering who they worked for, turned himself into the culprit for the murder. Additionally, he began creating rumors about a revival of the Strigolniki Sect.

In the early 1500s, Ezio Auditore da Firenze sent a group of Assassin apprentices to Moscow to find out what happened to Solari. The Assassins infiltrated the Kremlin, knocking a group of guards unconscious and eventually finding documents pointing out that Aristotele murdered Solari. After a search for Aristotele's location, offering small amounts of coins for rumors, they were directed to a church where Aristotele was rumored to hide. Having threatened the priests to lure Aristotele out, he came out to protect his people and explained his actions to the apprentices. The apprentices carried out the plans Aristotele had made to fool Ivan into believing the Assassins were working for the Strigolniki Sect, until they found two of Ivan's top investigators. Killing the two men, they carved the bodies with the symbol of the Strigolniki Sect and left them hanging from church beams, with Aristotele leaving a note declaring himself the leader of the sect. The apprentices and Aristotele returned to Rome to question Aristotele, and new Assassin spies were sent to Moscow.

The Narodnaya Volya

In the late 19th century, the Russian Assassins became known to the public as the Narodnaya Volya, a left-wing organization quickly associated with terrorism. The Narodnaya Volya was founded with the sole purpose of opposing and removing the Russian aristocracy, following Tsar Alexander II's new-formed alliance with the Templars. The Narodnaya Volya made several attempts on the Tsar's life, until they were finally successful on 13 March 1881 when the Tsar was killed during a bombing.

Tsar Alexander II's son and successor, Alexander III, continued upholding the Templar ties his father had formed. The Narodnaya Volya continued their struggle against the House of Romanov, again making several attempts on the Tsar's life. In 1887, Alexander's secret police found out about an Assassin assassination plot against him and had the conspirators arrested. All conspirators were hanged two months later, among which was Aleksandr Ulyanov, brother of Vladimir Lenin.

The next year, the Mentor sent Nikolai Orelov on a lone mission to infiltrate the Tsar's imperial train riding from the Crimea to Saint Petersburg and kill him. Orelov, fighting his way through the train despite being told not to use violence whenever possible, arrived at the Tsar's dining cart only to find the Tsar's family present. Alexander himself attacked the lone Assassin from behind, and a fight ensued inside the carriage, eventually causing the train to derail; the event that would be known as the Borki train disaster. After rescuing his family, the Tsar pulled out his Imperial Sceptre - secretly a Staff of Eden - and dared the Assassin to fight him with. Alexander easily retook the Staff and overpowered Orelov, but spared the Assassin's life when he noticed his family was bearing witness to the scene.

Tunguska explosion

In 1908, Nikolai Orelov and two other Assassins found and interrogated a Templar named Dolinsky, who - under heavy threats from Orelov - gave up the location of where the Staff of Eden was located; Tunguska, previously taken there by the Templar agent Grigori Rasputin. The Assassins contacted Nikola Tesla, a scientist who was previously heavily discredited and slandered by industrialist Templars in the United States, and offered him a chance to take revenge on the Templars by broadcasting electricity to the Tunguska facility to destroy it, while Orelov and his two companions were ordered to retrieve the artifact from the facility.

The Assassins went into the research facility and killed the Templar guards inside, but were too late to complete their objective. As soon as Orelov reached out to grab the Staff, Tesla broadcasted electricity to the facility, causing the Tunguska explosion. Orelov was the only survivor.

Russian Revolution

In 1917, the Bolsheviks instigated the Russian Revolution against Tsar Nicholas II. The Russian Assassins strongly supported the Bolsheviks, hoping to abdicate the Tsarist throne. Under pressure from the Assassins, Nicholas formally abdicated the throne in 1917.

Vladimir Lenin, the leader of the Bolsheviks whose brother was an Assassin himself, requested his old friend Nikolai Orelov to assassinate Nicholas II, to bring the Revolution to an end. Orelov left for the Winter Palace, having seen a picture of Nicholas holding a staff similar to the one destroyed in the Tunguska explosion. Orelov infiltrated Nicholas' Winter Palace and confronted the Tsar, who showed Orelov the staff under pressure. Orelov, in his old age, spared the Tsar's life, feeling no obligation to do so.

Nonetheless, the other Assassins continued to support the Bolsheviks. Ultimately, the Assassins would lose control over the Revolution.