Assassin-Templar War

He who increaseth knowledge, increaseth sorrow. This article contains spoilers, meaning it has information and facts concerning recent or upcoming releases from the Assassin's Creed series. If you do not want to know about these events, it is recommended to read on with caution, or not at all. This template should be removed from the article 10 February 2021.

Ezio, my friend! How may I be of service? This article is in desperate need of a revamp. Please improve it in any way necessary in order for it to achieve a higher standard of quality in accordance with our Manual of Style.

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. Those who know you think you mad and this is why... Even those men you sought to save have turned their backs on you. Yet you fight. You resist. Why?"

Ratonhnhaké:ton: "Because no-one else will!"

—Charles Lee and Ratonhnhaké:ton discussing the conflict between their factions, 1782.

The Assassin–Templar War is an ideological, sometime military, conflict between the Assassin Brotherhood and the Templar Order, that has spanned across the entirety of known human history. The two factions often took part in, or even precipitated, military conflict between nations to further their own agendas within their war, largely in the shadows of conventional politics.

History

Mythical origins

The conflict between the Assassins and the Templars traced back millennia ago, taking its roots in the Isu Civilization, a race of highly advanced precursor who ruled the Earth centuries before Humans.

Creation of the hybrids

During Isu Era, the Isu Authority in Eden launched the Project Anthropos, whose aim to create the human race as a docile slave workforce. The Isu Phanes was the first in succeeding to create humans, but as they weren't subservient, the Isu used Apples of Eden and implanted neurotransmitters into human brains to control them. However, Phanes fell in love with a female human, removing her neurotransmitter, and fled with her to Atlantis. Together, they had a daughter, Eve, the first of the hybrids, a subspecies of humans immune to Pieces of Eden and having access to the Sixth sense.

Some Isu interbred with humans, leading to a generation of hybrids. Other Isu, like Juno and Aita, feared that the human could be the doom of their civilization. In 75 010 BCE, with the hybrid Adam, Eve stole an Apple of Eden and led the Humans in a war against the Isu. Ten years later, the war ended with the Great Catastrophe, a cataclysmic event that destroyed Earth and left only few survivors on the two sides. Isu, hybrids and humans worked together to rebuild the world. The hybrids and humans perpetuated while the last living Isu disappeared on Earth.

Some data linked the hybrids as the ancestors of the Assassin Brotherhood, due to their capacity to resist Pieces of Eden and their Eagle Vision.

Foundation of the Order of the Ancients

The Order of the Ancients

Circa 1334 BCE, the Pharaoh of Egypt Smenkhkare founded the Order of the Ancients, a secret organization dedicated to imposing order and peace on society, as they saw humans as inherently predisposed to chaos and violence. As the Order tried to emulate the Isu civilization, who were seen as gods from different pantheons, the Pieces of Eden were a key part of their New World Order. The Ancients saw the hybrids as a heresy and a source of chaos, referencing them as Tainted Ones, and trying to eliminate them.

Contestation of the Order

With time, the Order of the Ancients infiltrated different empires, inluencing their leaders, while some descendants of the hybrids were perceived as heroes and protector of the people. Many factions were created to thwart the influence of the Order.

Achaemenid Empire

For decades, the Order of Ancients had a firm grip on the Achaemenid Empire, influencing its kings. Darius I of Persia and Xerxes I of Persia led two invasions of Greece on the advice of the Order. In 480 BCE, the king Leonidas I of Sparta, a descendant of the hybrids, wielded a spear of Eden and led his troops at the Battle of Thermopylae against the Persians. Even if the king of Sparta was killed with his men at the battle, his sacrifice permitted to the Greek cities to repel the Persians at the Battle of Salamis.

Artabanus killing Xerxes

In 464 BCE, a group composed of the Persian officials Artabanus, Amorges and Pactyas planned to assassinate the king Xerxes to protect Persia from the Order. Feigning a massive attack, Artabanus stealthly approached Xerxes and assassinated the king with a weapon of his creation, the Hidden Blade.

As Xerxes' son Artaxerxes became the new king, Artabanus feared that the Order manipulated him and decided to assassinate him. Amorges and Pactyas were against his plan and joined the Ancients to impeach this. Amorges prevented his former friend to kill the king. Artabanus fled with his family as he was tracked by the Order. This led to the deaths of his wife and children. With his last son Natakas, Artabanus hid for many years, taking the name of Darius.

Greek city-states

Pactyas dying before Natakas, Darius and Kassandra

In 429 BCE, Pactyas led the Order of Hunters in Makedonia to kill the misthios Kassandra of Sparta, deemed as a Tainted One as she was the granddaughter of Leonidas I. Burning the village of Potidaia to attract her attention, the Order was confronted by Kassandra but also Darius and his son who were hiding in the region. The three joined their forces and eliminated the Order of Hunters, killing Pactyas. After that Darius and Natakas left Makedonia.

Later, the Order of the Storm led by the hybrid Phila located Darius and Natakas in Achaia and organized a blockade. Kassandra helped them once again, destroying the fleet of the Storm and killing Phila. Together, they decided to live in the village of Dyme. Natakas and Kassandra had a son Elpidios. As Amorges discovered that, he led an attack on Dyme, killing Natakas and abducting Elpidios.

Kassandra and Darius confronting Amorges

In Messenia, the Order gave Elpidios to the Prince Darius. Kassandra and Artabanus went into Messenia and confronted the Order of Dominion. In their assault, Darius killed Amorges who revealed the location of Elpidios but warning them that he wasn't in security with Kassandra. Recovering the child, Kassandra agreed with Darius to be separate from Elpidios to protect him. Darius went in Egypt with his grandson to investigate the Order of the Ancients while Kassandra stayed in Greece.

Empires of the East

By 333 BCE, the Order of the Ancients allied with the Macedonian king Alexander and gave him a Staff of Eden with the Trident of Eden, permitting his conquest of Achaemenid Empire. A secret Babylonian organization saw Alexander as a great danger. One of its member Iltani poisoned Alexander, killing him in 323 BCE. She also tried to recover the Staff but it was buried with Alexander in his tomb in Alexandria.

By 221 BCE, the Order of the Ancients reached China and helped the king Qin Shi Huang to reform the first Empire of China. In 210 BCE, the individual known as Wei Yu assassinated the emperor with his spear to end his tyrannical rule.

Hunt of the Medjay

Under the Ptolemaic dynasty, the Order of the Ancients tried to unify Egypt through hellenization. As the Medjay, an elite group who protected the Pharaoh and people of the Old Kingdom, was a symbol of the Ancient Egypt, the Order wanted them eliminated.

In 70 BCE, the Ancient Raia hired the mercenary Bion to exterminate the three last bloodlines of the Medjay. After he killed the Medjay Emsaf and Hemon and their families, the last Medjay Sabu of Siwa trained his son Bayek to become a Medjay. He taught him every technic of the group, even the Leap of Faith. Bayek passed his knowledge onto his lover Aya, a descendant of Elpidios. In 56 BCE, Bion killed Sabu and kidnapped Aya, as she was pregnant of Bayek. Bayek killed Bion and Raia, protecting for a time his family from the Order.

Alexandrine Civil War

Main article: Alexandrine Civil War

Khemu's death

In 51 BCE, after Ptolemy XII Auletes' death, the Order of the Ancients controlled Egypt via their puppet Pharaoh, Ptolemy XIII. Led by the Roman Proconsul of Cyrenaica Flavius Metellus, the Order had control on the royal court, the Saqqara Nome, the Faiyum Oasis and used the Gabiniani as their military force. In 49 BCE, the Order of the Ancient led a war against the Queen Cleopatra as she refused to join them.

The same year, the Order uncovered an Apple of Eden. Metellus and four other masked Ancients went in Siwa to open the Isu vault under the Temple of Amun. They abducted Bayek and his son Khemu to force the Medjay to open the vault. As he resisted and freed himself, a fight occurred between Bayek and Metellus, resulting in the accidental death of Khemu.

After their son's death, Bayek and Aya decided to avenge him. For a year, Bayek tracked the masked men of Siwa. His first victim was Rudjek, the nomarch of Saqqara. Returning in Siwa, Bayek discovered that the Ancient Medunamun took the control of the city as the Oracle of Amun. Bayek killed him, smashing his skull with the Apple of Eden. Meanwhile, in Alexandria, Aya entered in the service of Cleopatra and her trusty follower Apollodorus. Aya killed the Ancients Actaeon and Ktesos but she was forced to hide as the Phylakitai Gennadios, who worked for the Order, tracked her.

Bayek just after he killed Eudoros

As Aya received her ancestor's Hidden Blade from Cleopatra, she gave it to Bayek. Bayek killed Gennadios and the Royal Scribe and Ancient Eudoros, accidentally cutting his own left ring-finger with the Hidden Blade. Believing they killed all the Ancients responsible of Khemu's death, Cleopatra revealed to the couple the real purpose of the Order. Making Bayek Medjay of all Egypt, she tasked him to kill the Ancients in the region of the Nile.

During his journey, Bayek killed Taharqa who tried to rebuild the ancient city of Letopolis, inspiring fear and terror on those who oppose him as the Scarab. The Medjay also killed Khaliset who performed human sacrifices in the Isu complex under the Great Pyramid of Giza to ressucite her daughter. Bayek stopped the plots of the priest Hetepi who poisoned the city of Memphis to create the illusion of a curse and killed him. In the Faiyum, Bayek killed the nomarch Berenike who controlled the region through violence. On sea, Aya and the Captain Phoxidas sank a fleet of the Gabiniani and later secured an alliance between Cleopatra and the Roman Consul Pompey.

After their heavy loss, the Ancients planned to assassinate Cleopatra and executed Pompey in September 48 BCE. Bayek and Aya protected the Queen against Venator and killed him. As they discovered the death of Pompey, they went to Alexandria with the Queen to secure an alliance with the Roman Consul Gaius Julius Caesar. On the sea, they were attacked by Ptolemy fleet but escaped during the battle. In the Ptolemaic Royal Palace, Cleopatra became Caesar's lover, rallying him to their cause. In February 47 BCE, Aya and Bayek opened the sealed tomb of Alexander the Great for Cleopatra and Caesar. The Ancients took the Staff of Eden in Alexander's sarcophagus.

File:Origins Quest20BattleForTheNile Part18.PNG

Caesar and Cleopatra siding with the Order

Later, the Ancients with Ptolemy army besieged Alexandria. Bayek and Aya helped the Romans and fought during the Battle of the Nile. Bayek confronted the Ancient and regent Pothinus on his Elephant and killed him. Aya was tasked by Cleopatra to kill her brother, but she stopped her mission when she saw a crocodile attacked the pharaoh's boat, drowning him. As Bayek defeated the Ancient and Gabiniani leader Lucius Septimius in a duel, he was stopped by Caesar on the advice of Metellus, who secured an alliance between the Order, Caesar, and Cleopatra, giving them for a time the Staff of Eden. Bayek and Aya were dismissed by the two leaders.

The Hidden Ones versus the Order of the Ancients

With Caesar in their ranks, the Order of the Ancients controlled the Roman Republic. Furious of their misjudgment, Bayek and Aya met the allies they made on their journey: Phoxidas, Aya's cousin and poet Phanos the Younger, the High-Priest Pasherenptah and the huntress Tahira. Together they decided to form a brotherhood to fight the influence of the Ancients and defended the People against tyrants.

Birth of the Hidden Ones

File:Origins Quest22TheFinalWeighing Part13.PNG

A dying Metellus before Bayek

As Apollodorus protected the Apple of Eden, the Ancients killed him and took the artifact. With the Staff and the Apple, Metellus and Septimius attacked Siwa, killing Bayek's friend Hepzefa and opening the vault. This activated the powers of the Apple that Metellus used to control Cyrenaica while Septimius secreted the Staff to the Order. Following the Ancients, Bayek decided to go to Cyrene to confront Metellus while Aya went to Alexandria to track Septimius. In the Temple of Mars, Bayek fought Metellus who used the powers of the Apple, but he succeeded to kill the Ancient and took the artifact.

In Alexandria, Aya met the Roman senators Marcus Junius Brutus and Gaius Cassius Longinus and allied with them to fight the Order in Rome as Septimius and Caesar went there. When Bayek hid the Apple of Eden in the den under the Library of Alexandria, he discussed with his wife trying to convince her to stay in Egypt. Understanding that their cause was more valuable than their love, they broke up and officially formed the Hidden Ones, a secret organization dedicated to killing the tyrants of the world to protect human liberty.

In 46 BCE, the priest Menkhtu impersonated Medunamun as the Ibis Reborn and formed with the remnant of the Order of the Ancients the Sect of the Ibis Reborn to take control of Egypt. As they entered the Isu complex under the Great Pyramid of Giza, the Hidden Ones killed Menkhtu and his followers.

Assassination of Caesar

Main article: Assassination of Julius Caesar

File:FallofanEmpireRiseofAnother11.jpg

Aya stabbing Caesar

In 46 BCE, Aya and Phoxidas were attacked by a fleet of the Ancients but were helped by the fleet of Brutus and Longinus. Arriving in Rome, the three Hidden Ones rallied other senators in their ranks. As Caesar became the dictator of the Roman Republic and the new leader of the Ancients, they planned to assassinate him. On 15 March 44 BCE, Aya killed Septimius in a fight and gave the first stab at Caesar before being followed by the other senators and Brutus gave the final blow. Three days later, Aya warned Cleopatra to leave Rome and to become a good Queen for Egypt, or otherway she will kill her. Cleopatra followed her warning and dissociated with the Order.

After Caesar's death, the Order was led by his adopted son Octavianus. Allying with Marcus Antonius, he tracked the Hidden Ones responsible of Caesar's death, especially Brutus and Longinus. This led on 3 October 42 BCE to the Battle of Philippi, where Augustus and Antonius defeated the troops of Brutus and Longinus, who committed suicide.

Confrontation in Sinai

By 38 BCE, the Order of the Ancients led by the Roman General Gaius Julius Rufio took control of the region of Sinai, pillaging the monuments, temples and inspiring fear in the population. Tahira installed a bureau in Klysma Nome and helped the Nabatean revolt led by Gamilat against the Romans. After the Order killed two Hidden Ones, Bayek, then Mentor, arrived in Sinai and helped the bureau and the Nabateans. Bayek assassinated the Ancients Tacito, who executed the population, Ampelius, who blocked the economic roads, and Ptahmose, who organized the pillaging of the temples.

Rufio last moment

After this, the Order burnt the Klysma bureau and captured the Hidden Ones. Bayek was saved from crucifixion by Aya, who renamed herself Amunet. Together they liberated the other Hidden Ones but Tahira died due to her burnings. Bayek and Amunet led an attack on the Roman soldiers to reach their fleet. Bayek infiltrated Rufio ship and killed him, liberating the Sinai from the Order for a time.

Conflicts in Roman Empire

In 30 BCE, Octavianus was the de facto ruler of the Roman Republic and led a military campaign against Antonius and Cleopatra. The leader of the Ancients wanted to capture the Queen and kill Caesarion, the son she had with Caesar. Amunet infiltrated the palace and gave to her former ally poison to commit suicide and promised to protect her son, inducting Caesarion as a Hidden Ones. The Queen accepted her fate, ruining the plan of Octavius.

By 41 CE, decades after Octavianius founded the Roman Empire, the Order of the Ancients influenced the emperor Caligula, who was a bloodthirsty tyrant. The Hidden Ones Leonius and other members stabbed the emperor to death, liberating for a time the Empire from the influence of the Ancients.

Viking Age

In 975 CE, the Scandinavian iteration of the Hidden Ones poisoned the harsh King of Svealand Olof Björnsson. Their Mentor Torgny the Lawspeaker elected on the throne Olof's brother, Eric the Victorious, instead of Olof's son Styrbjörn the Strong, who was too much like his father. Taking refuge in the Kingdom of Denmark, Styrbjörn allied with the King Harald Bluetooth who was a member of the Order of the Ancients. Understanding that Styrbjörn was a descendant of the hybrids, Harald gave him the prong of Devotion to lead his army against his uncle.

Styrbjörn defeated Palnatoke, the founder of the Jomsvikings, taking the control of the faction with their former leader as his second-in-command. Circa 984 CE, the armies of Styrbjörn and Eric fought at the Battle of Fýrisvellir. The Hidden Ones Thorvald Hjaltason killed Palnatoke and recovered the prong of Devotion after Styrblörn died during the battle. To protect the artifact, Thorvald gave it to the farmer and warrior Östen Jorundsson who hid it near his house.

As public organizations

At the turning point of the 12th century, the Hidden Ones and the Order of the Ancients reorganized themselves to become public organizations. In 1090, under the leadership of Hassan-i Sabbāh, the Hidden Ones became the Assassins, installing their headquarters in the fortress of Alamut in Persia and establishing a network of strongholds. In 1129, it was the turn of the Ancients under the leadership of the abbot Bernard de Clairvaux to become the Order of the Knights Templar, a monastic-military order officially founded to protect the pilgrims and the Solomon's Temple of Jerusalem. The Templars also established a network of fortresses and a financial infrastructure in Europe and Levant.

Templars taking Assassins as hostages

Even if officially, the Templars sided with the Crusaders and the Assassins with the Saracens, the two factions had members and allies on the two sides. As a result, the two factions fought more directly. In 1189, during the Third Crusade, the Assassin Haras joined the Templars and led an assault on Masyaf, the headquarters of the Levantine Brotherhood of Assassins. He captured the Mentor Al Mualim and other Assassins as hostages. Al Mualim's disciple, Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad, repelled the Templar attack and killed Haras, saving the Mentor who granted him the title of Master Assassin.

Quest for the Chalice

Main article: Quest for the Chalice

In 1190, the Templars attacked the Assassins fortress of Alep. Altaïr once more rescued his brothers and sisters. As the Templars tried to find the Chalice, an artifact that could unify Holy Land under their banner, Al Mualim assigned Altaïr to recover it before them. As the Chalice was locked in the hidden Temple of Sand, the Grand Master of the Templar Order Basilisk had one of the keys of the Temple. Altaïr traveled in Damascus, Tyre and Jerusalem, collecting the two other keys, stealing the third one and recovering the map leading to the Temple of Sand.

Arriving in the Temple of Sand, Altaïr was confronted by Basilisk who revealed to him that the Chalice was in fact a woman. The two escaped from the collasping Temple, and later fought in Tyre. Wounded, Basilisk revealed that the Chalice was in Jerusalem but also that the Templars planned to poison the water supply of Acre to end the siege. Altaïr decided to twart the Templar's plot before going to Jerusalem. He discovered that the Chalice was his lover Adha and he decided to leave the Brotherhood for her.

Altaïr duelling Basilisk

As Harash, the second-in-command of the Assassins joined the Templars and prepared an attack on Alep, Altaïr killed the traitor. Adha went to Tyre to leave Holy Land with Altaïr, but she was captured by Basilisk. Altaïr fought the Grand Master and killed him, but the Templars left the city with Adha on a ship. Later, the Templars killed her but Altaïr avenged her death.

Hunt for the Nine

Main article: Hunt for the Nine

Templars falling in a trap

In 1191, Al Mualim secretly allied with the Grand Master Robert de Sablé and his lieutenants Tamir, Garnier de Naplouse, Talal, Abu'l Nuqoud, William of Montferrat, Majd Addin, Sibrand and Jubair al Hakim. Together, they discovered Bayek's Apple of Eden under Solomon's Temple. The Templars wanted to use the artifact to control an army to conquer the Holy Lands. But Al Mualim wanted the artifact for himself and sent Altaïr and the brothers Malik and Kadar Al-Sayf to recover the Apple before Robert. Due to Altaïr harsh actions, Kadar died and Malik lost an arm but he recovered the Apple. Robert besieged Masyaf to recover the artifact but the Assassins repelled the Templars.

As Al Mualim wanted the Apple for himself, he revoked Altaïr from his title of Master for the events in the Solomon's Temple and tasked him to kill the nine Templars to recover his rank. Travelling in Damas, Acre, and Jerusalem, Altaïr killed the eight lieutenants, breaking the Templar influence in these cities, preventing the assassination of the King Richard I of England and thwarting their plan to create an army.

Assassination of Robert de Sablé

With all his men dead, Robert decided to secure an alliance with Richard I and Saladin to ally them against the Assassins as Altaïr killed men in both sides. Robert's lieutenant Maria Thorpe served as a decoy to lure Altaïr in Jerusalem while Robert went to Arsuf. After Altaïr discovered the truth, he went to Arsuf and dueled the Grand Master, killing him. In his last breath, Robert revealed the treachery of Al Mualim. Altaïr killed his Mentor, taking the control of the Brotherhood and recovering the Apple.

Confrontation in Cyprus

Altaïr capturing Maria

In October 1191, the new Grand Master Armand Bouchart decided to relocate his troops on the island of Cyprus where was the Templar Archive. As his men left Acre, a team of Assassins led by Altaïr infiltrated the city and captured the Templar Maria Thorpe. Altaïr decided to go to Cyprus with Maria and the Apple to stop the Templars.

The actions of the Templars on the island provoked the creation of the Cypriot Resistance. In Limassol, the Templar Osman secretly joined the Resistance led by Alexander. When Altaïr arrived in the city, he allied with Alexander, untrusting him Maria. The Assassin killed the captain of Limassol Castle who was replaced by Osman. The Templar defector reduced the castle watch, permitting to Altaïr to kill the Templar Fredrich the Red. After that, Bouchart ordered the execution of civilians and killed Osman as he questioned his methods. As Maria escaped she tried to warn Bouchart of the presence of Altaïr, but he ordered her death before leaving for Kyrenia. Altaïr saved Maria and decided to go to Kyrenia with her. The Templar began to move the content of the Archive.

Altaïr attempting to assassinate Moloch

Before Altaïr arrival, Bouchart executed the leader of the Resistance Barnabas and one of his agent impersonated him. Altaïr met the resistant Markos who kept Maria. Later, the false Barnabas misled Altaïr to kill Jonas, a merchant who was a resistant. This led to a riot of the population that the fanatic Templar Moloch wanted to repress. Altaïr killed Moloch and his agents, saving the population.

The Templar captured the Dark Oracle, a woman who was once a sympathizer of the Resistance. She gave the location of the Resistance's safe houses, leading to their capture. Altaïr saved the resistants and killed the Dark Oracle in the Buffavento Castle. Later, Altaïr tracked Moloch's son Shalim. With Maria, who joined the Assassin's cause, he confronted Shalim and his twin brother Shahar. As they killed the twins, the Templars fled Kyrenia.

Armand Bouchart's death

Returning to Limassol, Altaïr and Alexander discovered the truth about Barnabas. Later Bouchart agent killed Alexander and framed Altaïr for the murder. As the population turned against him, Altaïr used the Apple to convince them that the Templars were their true enemies. The agent was killed by Maria, who later confronted Bouchart in the Archive under Limassol Castle. She was knocked out but Altaïr killed Bouchart.

For the next three decades, the island of Cyprus was under the control of the Assassins. Circa 1228, the Templars attacked the Assassins who protect the Archive. As the Mentor Abbas Sofian didn't send reinforcement, the Templars killed the Assassins.

First Barons' War

By 1215, the Templars influenced the King John of England. As the King refused to apply the Magna Carta, the Assassin Robert Fitzwalter rallied the barons and led a civil war against the King. As Fitzwalter allied with the Kingdom of France, the Assassin William of Cassingham sided with John and his son Henry as a lesser of two evils.

Mongol Empire

With the rising of the Mongol Empire under Genghis Khan who possessed a Sword of Eden, the Assassins and Templars took interest in the new empire. In 1227, Altaïr, Maria and their son Darim allied with the Mongolian Assassins Qulan Gal and Nergüi to kill Genghis and his son Jochi Khan. In 1241, during the Battle of Legnica opposing the combined forces of Poles and Moravians against the Mongols, a young Templar was capture and brought before Genghis' son, Möngke. The Templar taught him about the Templar Order, Möngke becoming the founder of the Mongolian Rite of the Templar Order. This year, Qulan Gal and Nergüi assassinated Genghis' sons Chagatai Khan and Ögedei Khan.

Altaïr using the Apple of Eden against the Mongols

In 1256, with his great father's Sword, Hülegü Khan led the siege of Alamut. The Assassins surrendered without a fight. In 1257, his troops arrived in Masyaf. Altaïr repelled one of their assault using the Apple of Eden. Preparing for years the dismantlement of the Assassins as a public organization, Altaïr ordered the evacuation of Masyaf. Before locking himself in his library with the Apple, Altaïr gave his codex and his library keys to the brothers Niccolò and Maffeo Polo, two Venetians explorers that were inducted as Assassins. On their way to found an Assassin Guild in Constantinople, the Polos were attacked by Mongols who stole the Codex. The brothers tried to recover the book for a decade in vain.

By 1259, Möngke Khan became Khan of the Mongol Empire and had the Fear prong. In August, he led the siege of Diaoyu Castle in China. A commander of the Song dynasty who was also an Assassin attacked with his archers the Mongols troops at Diaoyu Castle. The Mongol Bayan killed the Assassin. The next day, Zhang Zhi, the Assassin's daughter, infiltrated the Mongol's camp and killed Möngke Khan. Bayan crippled the Assassin apprentice and later joined the Templars as he was inducted by Möngke's son Asutai.

The death of Möngke Khan, who was buried with the prong, led the Mongol Empire in two civil wars with the Assassins manipulating each side. In 1263, Nergüi assassinated prince of Novgrad Alexander Nevsky as was allied to the Golden Horde. In 1265, Nergüi killed Hülegü Khan in retaliation for the fall of Masyaf.

In 1271, the Polo's brother went to Asia with Niccolò's son Marco. In 1275 they arrived before Hülegü's brother Kublai Khan, founder of the Yuan dynasty of China. Marco entered in his service for 17 years and recovered Altaïr's Codex, bringing it with him in Venice.

Persecution of the Templars

Main article: Persecution of the Templars

Arrestation of Jacques de Molay

In 1307, the Mentor of the French Assassins Guillaume de Nogaret allied with the King Philip IV of France to arrest the Templars. On 13th October, the Master Assassin Thomas de Carneillon and Assassins disguised as Flemish mercenaries attacked the Temple, the Templar headquarters in Paris. The Grand Master Jacques de Molay tasked his his advisor to hid a Sword of Eden and his Codex Pater Intellectus before being arrested. The advisor hid the two artifacts in the de Molay's vault before being killed by de Carneillon.

The Templars were charged with many crimes, including heresy, blasphemy, and the worship of a deity known as Baphomet. In 1312, the Pope Clement V, under the influence of the Assassins, disbanded the Knights Templar in his papal bull, Vox in excelso.

The last Templars burning at the stakes

In fact Jacques de Molay was a Sage, a reincarnation of the Isu Aita. He saw the public organization of the Order as a heresy, turning the Templar from their true purpose. So the public arrestation of the Order will permit his rebirth in the shadows. He sent nine of his trusted men, who possessed knowledge of the Templars, the Isu, and the Assassins, out into the world to continue his work. De Molay hid in his cell the Heart that enhance the power of the Sword. On 18 March 1314, the Grand Master and Geoffroi de Charney were burnt at the stake before King Philip and Pope Clement. The Sage cursed them until the thirteenth generation.

With the Order officially disbanded, Thomas de Carneillon who was then a Mentor, traveled through Europe for a decade tracking the last Templars with his Assassin brethren. Their actions broke the power of the Templar for a century in Europe.

Renaissance

As the two factions returned to the shadows, their war resumed through conspiracies, political manipulations, and fight by proxies. As the two organizations were less centralized, many Templar Rites and Assassin Guilds fought their counter-part at a regional level. Regularly, the Assassins and the Templars implemented themselves in a preexisting conflict between two factions. While under Altaïr's reforms the Assassins focused more on the humankind Freewill rather than peace, de Molay's reforms were corrupting at the end of the 15th century, the Templars seeking control for power and not order.

War in shadows

By 1321, the Assassin and Florentine writer Dante Alighieri planned to travel in Spain to hide Altaïr's Codex. As he was killed by the Templars, his disciple Domenico pursued his mission. The Templars hired pirates to attack Domenico's ship at Otranto and to recover the Codex. Domenico broke the spine of the Codex and placed its pages into various boxes and containers of the ship. The pirates sexually assaulted Domenico's wife Isabetta, before killing her. They also stole the cargo oblivious of its contains and threw Domenico and his son Renato overboard.

Domenico and Renato survived and return to Venice. In 1324, the Templars killed Domenico's father and Marco Polo as they were Assassins. Discovering their bodies, Domenico relocated in Monteriggioni, a walled-city in Tuscany. Using Polo's fortune, Domenico founded the House of Auditore, impersonating a noble Florentine family of bankers who became the rulers of Monteriggioni. He constructed the Villa Auditore which became the headquarters of the Italian Brotherhood of Assassins. He also trained his son as an Assassin and tried to recollect the Codex pages, becoming a family duty.

In 1348, a group of Templars known as the Brothers of the Cross was in the German city of Essen which was hit by the plague. As the group promised his protection against the disease, the German Assassin Lukas Zurburg investigated as he believed they had the Ankh, a fable Piece of Eden. In 1350, the Brothers of the Cross and Zurburg disappeared.

By 1356, the Templar Geoffroy de Charny owned the original Shroud of Eden. The Assassins secretly stole the Piece of Eden and sent it to Monteriggioni. Renato Auditore decided to hide the Shroud in the cave under the Villa, staying there for a century.

File:ChineseAssassinsEscape.png

Li Tong and the apprentice leaving the burning temple

In 1402, the Templars influenced the Yongle Emperor to lead a purge against the Chinese Brotherhood of Assassins. The Templars launched a massive attack against the Assassins and executed their leader Fang Xiaoru. The Assassin Li Tong and an apprentice escaped the purge, taking with them an Apple of Eden. In 1424, Li Tong assassinated the emperor who attempted to suppress an uprising near the Gobi Desert.

During the Hundred Years' War, the Templars sided with the English, having one of their members, John Duke of Bedford becoming the regent of France for his nephew the young King Henry VI. The Duke Philip III of Burgundy also joined the Templar ranks. The French Assassins led by the Mentor and Queen Yolande of Aragon tried to place her son-in-law Charles on the throne. As a prophecy mentioned that a young woman would be sent by God to save France, the Assassins contacted Jeanne d'Arc, who had a high count of Isu DNA. Trained by the Assassins and wielding de Molay's Sword of Eden and the Heart, Jeanne led the French Army against the English, liberating Orléans in 1429.

In 1429, during the Siege of Paris, the Templar John II of Luxembourg captured Jeanne d'Arc. While hiding the Sword in the Temple, the Templar Pierre Cauchon charged Jeanne with sorcery and condemned her to be burned at the stake. The Assassins saved Jeanne, the former prostitute Fleur willingly taking her place on the stake. Jeanne granted her the Heart to give her strength. The artifact was later thrown in the Seine as the executioner Geoffroy Thérage believed it was the heart of Jeanne.

Conspiracies in Italy

Main article: Assassination of Galeazzo Maria Sforza

Main article: Pazzi conspiracy

Main article: Venetian Conspiracy

Main article: Battle of Forlì

By 1476, the Roman Rite of the Templar Order was led by Rodrigo Borgia, a cardinal who had a strong influence in Europe. He planned to take the control of Italian city-states through conspiracies and diplomacy. The Templars and the Assassins tried to collect the Codex's pages to discover the location of an Isu vault, rumored to contain a powerful weapon. A prophecy hid in the Codex explained that a person known as the Prophet could open the vault with two Pieces of Eden. Borgia believed that he was the Prophet and tried to recover these artifacts.

The Templars about to execute Giovanni and his sons

As the Republic of Florence was led by the de facto Prince Lorenzo de' Medici, an ally of the Assassins, the Templars broke his control by assassinating Lorenzo's ally, the Duke of Milan Galeazzo Maria Sforza. Borgia also ordered the public execution of the Assassin Giovanni Auditore and his sons. Giovanni's last surviving son, Ezio joined informally the Assassin and tracked the Templars responsible of his family's death. In 1478, the Templar House of Pazzi tried to take over Florence by killing Lorenzo but Ezio thwarted their plot and killed all the conspirators.

By 1481, the Templars turned their focus to the Republic of Venice. The House of Barbarigo tried to control all the merchants of Venice, and in 1485 they poisoned the Doge Giovanni Mocenigo to replace him by the Templar Marco Barbarigo. The Assassins Antonio de Magianis, Teodora Contanto and Bartolomeo d'Alviano fought the Templar influence and received the aid of Ezio Auditore, who killed every Venetian Templars. Marco's brother, Agostino Barbarigo became the new Doge but allied with the Assassins for a time.

Rodrigo and Ezio confrontation

In 1488, the Templars brought in Venice the Apple of Eden that the Ottoman Templar Cem hid in the Templar Archive of Cyprus. The Assassins and Ezio confronted Rodrigo Borgia who fled the city. In possession of the Apple the Assassin revealed that Ezio was the Prophet and inducted him in the Brotherhood.

Later, the Assassins entrusted the Apple to their ally Caterina Sforza, Countess of Forlì. Borgia hired the condottieri brothers Ludovico and Checco Orsi to attack Forlì to collect the map and the Apple. During the Battle of Forlì, Ezio and the Assassin Niccolò Machiavelli defended the citadel with Caterina against Orsi's troops. Ezio killed the Orsi brothers who had taken the Apple but lost it after falling unconscious due to his wounds. The monk Girolamo Savonarola took the artifact and fled the scene. Before leaving Forlì, Ezio received the map of Codex's pages from Caterina, permitting him to collect them from the Templars.

In 1492, Borgia was elected as Pope Alexander VI. The Templars had control on the Papacy and access to the Papal Staff of Eden, the second artifact which can open the vault which was located beneath the Sistine Chapel.

By 1493, the Templar Bonacolto Contarini entered in Florence and used his family's riches to strong-arm merchants and officials to recruit them to their cause. Those who refused were captured and sold as slaves to foreign merchants. Ezio discovered the Templar resurgence in his hometown and called aid to the different Assassin Guilds to stop this. investigated but Antonelli was captured. A team of Spanish Assassins worked with the Assassins Corvo Antonelli and Perina di Bastian and killed Contarini, ending the Templar influence.

In 1497, the Assassins and the Templars discovered that Savonarola used the Apple of Eden to take control of Florence. Alexander sent his troops to recover the artifact while the Assassins led a revolt against Savonarola. Ezio killed his nine lieutenant bewitched by the artifact, freeing the citizen from their control. In March 1498, Savonarola was attacked by an angry mob and lost the Apple. As a Templar guard grabbed the artifact, Ezio killed him and took the Apple.

Ezio and Rodrigo last fight

In 1499, the Assassins collected all the Codex's pages, and using the Apple of Eden, they located the Vaticano vault. While the Assassins created troubles in Rome, Ezio infiltrated the Vaticano District and confronted Alexander. The Assassin used the Apple of Eden while the Grand Master used the Staff of Eden. Even if Alexander had the upper hand, wounding Ezio and taking the Apple, the Assassin defeated him in a fist-fight. Alexander accepted that he wasn't the Prophet but Ezio spared his life. Opening the vault with the two Pieces of Eden, Ezio discovered what it contained: a message of the Isu Minerva who spoke to a man named Desmond about the Great Catastrophe and a Second Disaster. Leaving the vault, Ezio tried to recover the Staff but it descended underground. Then Ezio joined Mario and went to Monteriggioni with the Apple.

Fight for Rome

Main article: Liberation of Rome

As the Templars controlled Rome and the Papacy, the Brotherhood sent many Assassins in Borgia's court to report their activities. Bartolomeo installed a barrack in the Roman campaign, Niccolò Machiavelli was a diplomatic emissary, and Perotto Calderon serving as a courier.

In 1496, the Pope waged war with the House of Orsini to seize their territory north of Rome and his son Cesare entered in the battle. Bartolomeo d'Alviano, who was married to Bartolomea Orsini, joined the fight against the Templar and stood until the reinforcement of Carlo Orsini.

One of the Crows, Cesare's Assassin hunters

In 1497, Cesare recruited the courtesan Fiora Cavazza to become an envoy between his many Templar agents operating throughout Rome. She also killed Cesare's brother Juan on his order to become Captain General of the Papal armies. With the Templar Baltasar de Silva, she studied the tactics of the Assassins, training a man known as Il Lupo to mimic them and kill the Assassins. Cesare also lured the Spanish Assassin Raphael Sánchez to train a group of orphans in the arts of the Assassins. In fact, Cesare used this orphans as the Crows to eliminate the Assassins.

By 1498, Calderon became the lover of Alexander's daughter, Lucrezia, who gave birth to their son Giovanni As the child was malformed, Calderon saved his son by using the original Shroud of Eden in Agnadello, killing the Assassins who protected it. As he betrayed the Brotherhood, Calderon was killed by his brethren. This created a schism inside the Assassins, Calderon's friends leaving the Brotherhood with among them the keeper of the Shroud Rinaldo Vitturi. Giovanni was risen by his uncle Cesare who pretended to be his father.

The Siege of Monteriggioni

Contrary to his father who used conspiracies to unify Italy under the Templar banner, Cesare wanted to conquer it with his army. Funded by his cousin Juan Borgia the Younger and allying with the French baron Octavian de Valois, Cesare tried to conquer Forlì for the Papacy. Caterina Sforza fled to Monteriggioni to secure the help of Ezio's mercenaries. On 2 January 1500, Cesare led the Siege of Monteriggioni with his troops, taking by surprise the Assassins. He killed Mario, captured Caterina, and took the Apple. The city then fell under the Templar influence.

Surviving from the attack, Ezio Auditore relocated in Rome. With Machiavelli, Bartolomeo, La Volpe and his sister Claudia, he established their new headquarters on Tiber Island and expanded their network in the city.

In November 1500, the freshly Templar and astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus wanted to expose his model of Heliocentrism to the public. The Templars targeted him to keep secret his research. Ezio intervened, saving Copernicus and killing the Templar and Master of the Sacred Palace Giuliano.

Ezio recruiting his first apprentice in Rome

In 1501, Ezio infiltrated the Castel Sant'Angelo to kill Alexander and his son to recover the Apple of Eden, but he only succeeded in liberating Caterina Sforza. As Cesare returned on the front, the Assassins decided to break the Templars' control over Rome. Ezio began to recruit in the Brotherhood citizens who were harassed by the Borgia guards. Ezio also killed Templar agents in Rome and destroyed the War Machines that his friend Leonardo da Vinci was forced to create for Cesare's army.

With the archer Cipriano Enu and the master of poison Tessa Varzi, Francesco Vecellio led a team of Assassins through Italy to thwart Cesare plans. Among their accomplishments, they reconciled with Rinaldo Vitturi and assassinated the Doge Agostino Barbarigo who joined the Templars. The team also associated with Fiora Cavazza who betrayed the Templars after the Templar serial killer Malfatto tried to kill her. Her informations permitted the elimination of the Templars Rocco Tiepolo, Cahin, Caha and Baltasar de Silva. Cavazza even killed herself Il Lupo and tried to recover the Apple but she was captured by Cesare. Vecellio's team was eliminated by the French Templar Charles de la Motte who was later killed by Ezio. Vecellio sought out his former master's son, Giovanni Borgia and recruit him in the Brotherhood.

Ezio recovering the Apple and confronting Cesare and his guards

In August 1503, Ezio assassinated Juan Borgia and the Baron de Valois. Without funds and troops, Cesare killed his father to acquire the Apple of Eden. Ezio recovered the artifact before the Templar and used it to fight his troops until Cesare's arrestation by the Pope Julius II, who allied with the Assassins.

Even after the fall of the Borgia, the Templars were active. The Assassin known as Lo Sparviero fought the Crows and killed their leader Sirus Favero in 1506, dissolving the group.

Ezio letting Cesare fall to his death

As Ezio saw through the Apple that Cesare will return in power, the Assassin decided to eliminate him. After he hid the Apple in the Colosseum Vault, Ezio confronted Cesare during the battle of Viana in 1507. Ezio threw Cesare from Viana Castle's walls, ending the influence of the Borgia on the Templars.

Spanish Inquisition

During the Granada War, the Spanish Rite of the Templar Order manipulated the Christian kingdoms to unify Spain while the Spanish Assassins allied with Muhammad XII of Granada, entrusting him an Apple of Eden. They also trained his spy Jariya al-Zakiyya as one of their own. The Assassins also had members in the Christian courts, Raphael Sánchez serving as the treasurer of Queen Isabella I of Castile and Luis de Santángel as the finance minister of King Ferdinand II of Aragon.

In 1483, the Master Templar Tomás de Torquemada became the first Inquisitor General of Spain, leading the Spanish Inquisition and branding the Assassins as heretics to eliminate them. Among his victim was the parents of Aguilar de Nerha who joined the Brotherhood after that. As the Assassin ranks were dwindling due to the Inquisition, the Mentor Benedicto tasked Aguilar and his master María to recruit civilians, Spanish and Moors, who lost close ones due to Templars actions.

In 1489, the Templars branded the family of the Hospitaller Horacio de Heredia as heretics and executed them as they refused to support the Inquisition. The Assassins allied with Horacio to avenge his family and killed the Templar commander Duran. Horacio joined the Brotherhood, infiltrating Templar stronghold due to his link with the Knights Hospitalier.

By 1491, a group of Italian Assassins composed of Ezio Auditore, Niccolò Machiavelli, Girolamo da Lucca and Lucas Bellini went to Spain for a mission and helped their Spanish brethren to fight Inquisition.

Besieging Granada, the Templars recruited the Assassin Ubayd Alayza who wanted to protect the citizens of Granada. Ubayd killed his father, an influential philosopher and astronomer in the Granada court, after he discovered his betrayl. The Templars decided to kidnap Muhammad's son Ahmed to force the Emir to give the Apple. The Assassins tried to save the Prince who was hidden in a village, but the Templar Ojeda captured Ahmed, Benedicto, María and Aguilar.

Aguilar escaping from the Auto-da-fé

In Seville, the three Assassins were condemned to be burnt during a Auto-da-fé. Benedicto died but María and Aguilar escaped from the Templars. In Granada, Torquemada and Ojeda exchanged Prince Ahmed against the Apple but the two Assassins confronted them. Ojeda killed María but was later killed by Aguilar who took the Apple and escaped from Granada. Aguilar entrusted the artifact to Christoffa Corombo, an ally of the Assassins who planned to search a maritime route to Asia by the Atlantic Ocean.

Between 1491 and 1498, the Assassins and the Templars tried to recover the Shattered Staff of Eden through Spain. The Templar Gustavo Ramírez recovered the first section and the Assassin Diego de Alvarado worked with him to find the two other parts. Diego killed Ramirez to give the Staff to Torquemada but was killed after that. In 1498, Torquemada went to the Monastery of Saint Thomas Aquinas in Ávila. Beneath the monastery, Isu ruins were containing the Forge where Torquemada had reconstructed the Staff of Eden. As he used the Staff to create an army of tangible holograms, the Assassins killed the Grand Inquisitor and broke the Staff, destroying the ruins with it.

By 1498, Luis de Santángel slowly poisoned Queen Isabella as he saw her influenced by the Templars. Unfortunately, he died before his plan came to fruition.

In 1499, the Templars Garza and Ubayd Alayza captured Assassins sympathizers in Granada. The Spanish Assassins intervened and worked with Ubayd's sister Najma, a Libyan Assassin who wanted to kill her brother for betraying the Brotherhood and their family. As Ubayd rebelled against the Templars as he saw that they didn't protect the population of Granada, Garza killed him. Later, Najma killed Garza and joined the Spanish Brotherhood.

By 1504, Ezio Auditore sent his apprentices to infiltrate the Castillan court. They recovered Santángel's journal and decided to pursue his plan. Isabella died and the Templars lost their influence in Castille.

In 1511, the Templars commandeered the forges of Toledo, their blacksmiths fleeing for Madrid. Ottoman Assassins sent by Ezio reclaimed the forges to their rightful owners. Later, the Templars plotted to kill King Ferdinand II but the Assassins thwarted their plans and killed the Templar leaders in Madrid.

Clash of Empires

Under the reign of the Byzantine Emperor Constantine XI Palaiologos, the Assassins were hunted down. After the conquest of Constantinople by the Ottoman Sultan Mehmet II who had an Apple of Eden, the Assassins could return in number in the city installing Assassin Dens. The two nephews of Constantine XI, Andreas and Manuel Palaiologos joined the Byzantine Rite of the Templar Order and went to Rome to receive the aid of the Grand Master Rodrigo Borgia to conquer their former empire.

In 1476, the Templar and Voivode of Wallachia Vlad Tepes led an uprising in Hungary against the Ottoman Empire. Tepes was defeated by the Ottoman Mentor Ishak Pasha. The Mentor established a truce between the Assassins and the Ottoman Empire

In 1481, Mehmet II died and his son Cem joined the Templars after he failed to procure the throne against his brother Bayezid II. As he wanted to unite the West and the East in one empire, Cem took his father Apple and hid it in the Templar Archive of Cyprus to use it as a means to bargain with Rodrigo Borgia. In Italy, Cem was placed under house arrest and made acquaintance with Borgia and the brothers Palailogos. Cem also wrote letters to his nephew Ahmet, inducting him in the ways of the Templars.

In 1495, the Spanish Inquisition acquired The Secret Crusade, Niccolò Polo's journal describing his journey to Masyaf and writing about Altaïr's library and the Masyaf Keys. The Byzantine Templars bought the journal and set a trap for the Assassins, making them believed that the journal was still in Spain. The Templar turncoat Aleksei Zima was unaware of this and informed the Assassins. Ishak Pasha, Zima, Murat Bin Husn and Yusuf Tazim went to Spain and worked with the Spanish Assassins to recover the journal. Discovering the trap, the Assassins survived.

Cem received Polo's journal and informed his nephew about what it contained, believing that the library could lead them to the Grand Temple that could permit them to destroy the superstitions that keep men divided. Shortly after, the Assassins killed Cem to thwart the Templars' plans and Ahmet received the journal.

In 1502, Yusuf and a contingent of Venetian Assassins went to Greece to put an end to the Ottoman–Venetian War. Borgia wanted to break the armistice the peace and his best killers. The Italian Assassins killed the Borgia guards before they left Rome.

In 1509, an earthquake in Constantinople permitted to the Templars to find a Masyaf Key under the Topkapı Palace. As the city was damaged and the Sultan left the city to fight in son Selim, the remnants of Byzantine Empire arrived in Constantinople and tried to take the control of its districts for the Templars. The Assassins and the Templars fought openly regularly in the streets to control the Assassin's dens.

In 1510, Ahmet entrusted Polo's journal to the Templar Leandros who took control of Masyaf, forcing miners to find Altaïr's library. In March 1511, the Italian Mentor Ezio Auditore, who also searched the library, arrived in Masyaf but was capture by Leandros. The Templars wanted to execute him but Ezio escaped and killed Leandros, taking Polo's journal.

Ezio organizing the defense of an Assassin den against Templars

Arriving in Constantinople in May 1511, Auditore allied with the Ottoman Assassin led by Tazim and fought the Templars in the city. The Italian Assassin recruited citizens who were harassed by the Byzantines. With them, he killed the Templars Vali cel Tradat, Georgios Kostas, Lysistrata, Cyril of Rhodes, Damat Ali Pasha, Odai Dunqas and Mirela Djuric. The Mentor also helped the thieves, mercenaries and Romani who were in conflict with the Templars.

In Bursa, the Templars held hostage the third son of the Sultan, Korkut. The Assassins killed the Templars and saved him. Later, a Turkmen philanthropist organized the kidnapping of his family by the Templars to extort money to the Brotherhood. The Assassins saved the family and killed the philanthropist. In Athens, the Templars bribed the Ottoman guards to loot the goods of the city, making the people questioned the Assassins honesty. The Assassins killed the Templars leader in Athens.

In Constantinople, Auditore associated with the librarian Sofia Sartor to find the Masyaf Keys before the Templars. Finding one of the keys and a map leading to books under Polo's trading post, the Assassin gave the map to Sartor who decrypted it. Auditore recovered the books which led him to the locations of the last three keys before the Templars. Through their quest, Auditore and Sartor began a romance.

Ezio distracting the crowd while Yusuf kill a Templar

Ahmet plotted the abduction of his nephew Suleiman by the Byzantines to later save him and become a hero before the population. Tazim, Auditore and Assassins thwarted the Templars plan as they infiltrated the party and killed the Templars. Suleiman hired Auditore to investigate on the Janissary Tarik Barleti as he suspected him to work for the Templars. In fact, Barleti fainted to join the Templar cause to find their hideout. The Janissary gave to Manuel Palaiologos and Shahkulu gunpowder and broken riffles. Auditore killed Barleti on the order of Suleiman but discovered his mistake. The dying Janissary gave to the Assassin the location of the Templar in Cappadocia to finish his work.

In March 1512, Auditore arrived at the underground city of Derinkuyu, where the Byzantine prepared the conquest of Constantinople. The Assassin allied with Barleti's spy Dilara. The Mentor saved other spies and killed the Templar Shahkulu. He destroyed the Byzantine gunpowder stock in the city, creating panic in the cave. Auditore killed Manuel Palaiologos and recovered the last Masyaf Keys. He was surprise by Ahmet who revealed his true nature. The Templar warned him to give the keys or they will kill Sartor. The Templars left on their ship and Auditore returned to Constantinople.

The Assassins confronting Ahmet

Before the Mentor arrival, the Templars captured Sartor and killed Tazim. The Assassins attacked the Harbor of Theodosius where the Templars took refuge. Auditore confronted Ahmet but the Templar convinced him to give the keys against Sartor's life. Meeting at the Galata Tower, the two factions proceeded to the exchange but the Templars used a lure. The two groups fought and Auditore saved Sartor. As Ahmet left the city with the keys. Auditore and Sartor followed him in a carriage. The Assassin took back the keys and while he was deciding if he must spare the Templar's life, the new Sultan Selim arrived and killed his brother, ending the return of the Byzantines.

Portuguese explorations

In 1500, the Templars manipulated the explorer Pedro Álvares Cabral to ferret the Assassin guild in Calicut. The Assassins poisoned the Portuguese commanders, leading to the depart of Cabral. On Templar advice, King Manuel I of Portugal built a massive fleet for his prize explorer, Vasco da Gama, planning retaliation at Calicut. Assassins in Lisbon discovered his plan and infiltrated the fleet to warn their brethren in India.

In 1503, Vasco prepared the bombardment of Calicut. The Assassins cleared their guild before the attack, hiding relics, documents, and their families. After the bombardment which killed many civilians, the Assassins rose an army in disguise to fight the Portuguese captains, crippling Manuel's efforts in Calicut.

In 1511, the Templar captain Francisco was in charge of the Order's overseas proselytizing, sending Templars as missionaries in India and diverting King Manuel's money to their cause. The Assassins discovered their actions, stole the money, and killed Francisco. As the Templars bought discoveries to explorers, the Assassins stole the information to challenge their enemies.

Mediterranean Defense

In 1511, the two factions fought to control the cities of the Mediterranean Sea, the Mentor Ezio Auditore sending his Ottoman apprentices to help their brethren. King Louis XII of France, manipulated by his Templars advisors, ordered the banishment of the Assassins from Marseille. The Brotherhood hid its presence, recruited French soldier in their ranks, and killed the Templar advisors. In Tripoli, the explosive expert and ally of the Assassins Pedro Navarro was abducted by the Templars. The Assassins saved him and killed the Templars in the city.

In Tunis, the Templars bribed the Hafsid King Muhammad IV to keep local goods from coming to market, and only Templar approved merchants were allowed to peddle their wares openly. The Assassins stole the bribes and redistributed them. Later, the King imposed quotas and mandates on local farmers that serve Templar goals. The Assassins protected the farmers and killed the extortionists. The Templars bribed ministers of the Hafsid in exchange for loosened restrictions on imports and exports. The Assassins killed the ministers, dissuading others to accept Templar bribes.

In the Mamluks Sultanate, the Templars targets the Assassins. In Alexandria, the Assassins recovered two Memory Seals from the Sultan soldiers. The Templars attacked the Assassins and stole the two artifacts. Later, the Assassins killed the Templars, taking back the seals. In Damascus, the Assassins stole the Templars' money to upgrade their guild in the city.

Tudor England

In 1485, the King Henry VII of England founded the Tudor dynasty. The Templar Margaret of York tried to place on the throne the pretendants Lambert Simnel and Perkin Warbeck. By 1503, the Templars also infiltrated the Star Chamber, England's secret high court. The Assassins poisoned Margaret and allied with the King, pretending to be only hitmen.

After Margaret's death, The Templars urged the people to rise against Henry's throne. The Assassins killed all but one of the Templar who revealed the presence of the Templars in the Star Chamber. The Assassins exposed the Templars and the King offered them a seat in the court.

By 1558, Henry's grand-daughter, Mary I of England, allied with the Templars, burning Protestants in her kingdom. The Assassins killed her and placed on the throne her half-sister Elizabeth I of England, an ally of the Brotherhood who had Altaïr's Apple of Eden.

Great Rites Controversy

Main article: Great Rites Controversy

The Chinese Assassins purge

In 1521, after the death of the Zhengde Emperor, the Templar eunuchs known as the Eight Tigers led by Zhang Yong took the opportunity to eliminate the Chinese Brotherhood in Beijing. The Imperial concubine Shao Jun discovered their plan and warned the governor and Mentor Wang Yangming, who trained her as an Assassin. The Assassins led an attacked on the Forbidden City to kill the Tigers but were defeated. The Assassins and their allies were executed by the Tigers Ma Yongcheng and Wei Bin. Yangming ordered the retreat of the Assassins and their allies from the palace and the Tigers placed the Jiajing Emperor as their puppet.

In 1524, during the Great Rites Controversy, the Tigers attacked the headquarters of the Assassin in the Maijishan Grottoes and killed many Assassins in China. As Yangming disappeared, the new Mentor Zhu Jiuyuan trained Jun to become a full-fledge Assassin. As the last two Assassins in China, they went in Italy to have the aid of the retired Mentor Ezio Auditore. In Venice, Templar agents killed the Jiuyuan and Jun arrived alone before in Auditore's villa in Tuscany. First reluctant, the former Assassin trained Jun and fought with her the Templar agents. Before she left for China, Ezio entrusted her a Precursor box, a Piece of Eden.

Yangming and Jun watching Macau's port burning

In 1526, Jun returned to China and reconnected with Yangming who was reinstated as Mentor. Jun allowed herself to be captured by the Tiger Gao Feng who took the box from her and sent it to the Tiger Yu Dayong. She escaped and killed Feng while Yangming killed Yongcheng. The Assassins went to Macau and Shao killed Dayong, recovering the box. As the Tiger Qiu Ju discovered Dayong's body, he ordered to burn down the port to punish the Assassins. Yangming and Jun escaped.

In 1529, the Assassins arrived in Nan'an which was under the control of the Wei Bin. Shao killed the Tiger but Wang was killed by Yong who took the box and sent it to Templars out of China. In 1530, the Tigers forced the Empress Zhang, Jun's former friend, to set a trap to the Assassin. Arriving in the Forbidden City, Jun confronted Ju and killed him before escaping the burning city.

Shao Jun defeating Zhang Yong

In 1532, Yong planned to let the Mongols led by Altan Khan passed the Great Wall to assure his power in China. Jun thwarted his plan and killed the last Tiger. Becoming the new Mentor, Jun rebuilt the Brotherhood. In 1567, she ordered the assassination of the Jiajing Emperor, making him believed he drank the Elixir of life while it was, in fact, mercury, killing him.

Conflicts in Europe

After the Swabian War between Switzerland and Holy Roman Empire, the Grand Master Rodrigo Borgia hired some of the Swiss mercenaries as captains in Rome. The Assassins abducted them and sent them before Emperor Maximilian who cut his funding to the Borgia. In 1502, Borgia sent bribes to Elector of Saxony Frederick III to prevent him to construct the University of Wittenberg. The Assassins stole the money and donated anonymously the money to Frederick to construct the University.

In Paris, as King Louis XII was in a war against Ferdinand II of Aragon, the Borgia placed three Templars as ministers. They captured an Assassin who discovered their plan against the Orsini. They tortured him to have information. As the Templars targeted the religious reformist Desiderius Erasmus, the Assassins saved him and discovered about their brother captivity. The Assassins interrogated Georges d'Amboise who gave the names of the three Templars ministers. The Assassins eliminated them and tried to save their brother. Before dying he revealed that he gave false information to the Templars and also to be wary of the Orsini.

Giovanni fighting Templars

In 1515, the Templar Dei Petrucci had an Apple of Eden. A retired Ezio sent his apprentices Giovanni Borgia and Hiram Stoddard in Florence to recover the artifact but they failed. Later, the Brotherhood recovered the artifact. In 1527, a more experienced Giovanni and the Hermeticist Maria Amiel found in Paris the second half of Book of Abraham for the Assassin Bombastus. On their journey to Basel, they stopped in Troyes and were tracked by the Templar known as The Viper. Giovanni killed him and fled with Maria in the woods where Templars attacked them. Giovanni succeeded to drive them off.

By 1581, the Templars affiliated with Ivan Ivanovich, son of the Tsar Ivan IV of Russia. The Assassins killed Ivanovich but his death was recorded as an act of anger of his father.

Reaching new lands

With the Age of Discovery, the two factions established guilds and rites to assure their presence in this unexplored area, sometimes allying or fighting the indigenous populations. After the rule of the Borgia, the Templars were more focused on educated the ruling class than took the power themselves. The encounter between Ezio and Minerva pushed the Assassins to search more about the Isu and their artifacts.

Spanish conquest of America

File:DeLeónStruck.png

Ponce de León's death

By 1521, the Governor of Puerto Rico Juan Ponce de León was manipulated by the Templars to find the Fountain of Youth, a Piece of Eden localized in Florida. The Brotherhood sent the Assassin Miguel Ramón Carlo de Lugo, a Puerto Rican exiled by Ponce, to convince the Governor to turn back. As he refused, the Assassins shot him with poisoned arrows.

By 1533, the Spanish Assassin Gonzalo Pardo was sent to infiltrate the army of the Templar puppet Francisco Pizarro, becoming one of the favorite conquistador's killer. Pizarro captured the Inca Emperor Atahualpa and executed him. As Pardo failed his mission to save the Emperor, he began to drink.

In 1536, Pizarro organized with the high ranking Inca official Tuti Cusi the assassination of the Emperor Manco Inca Yupanqui. However, Cusi's daughter-in-law Quila uncovered the conspiracy. With Pardo's aid, she stopped Cusi who was killed by the Assassin.

In 1541, the Assassins killed Pizarro in his palace in Lima.

Sengoku period

By 1549, the Templar and Jesuit missionary Francis Xavier set his sights on Japan, seeing an opportunity to spread both Christianity and Templar influence on the island. However, the Templars' attempts to find new recruits were frequently hindered by the constant wars between clans, as well as their hostility toward outsiders. The Templars were also heavily opposed by the Japanese Assassins, who worked to prevent the spread of their influence in Japan and recruited individuals from the ranks of the ninja and samurai. The Assassins allied with Tokugawa Ieyasu, a daimyo opposed to the Templars' influence in Japan.

By 1578, the Templars inducted the daimyo Uesugi Kenshin who was killed by the Assassin Hattori Hanzō. By the 1590s, the Templars had managed to recruit the kunoichi Mochizuki Chiyome, a noblewoman who had created an all-female group of ninja agents in her service as the spymaster of her uncle-in-law, Takeda Shingen. Through Chiyome, the Templars gained a vast information network that helped spread their philosophy throughout Japan. However, Chiyome was eventually assassinated by Hanzō after he tracked her down to her residence in Shinano.

Salem witch trials

In June 1692, during the Salem witch trials, the English Assassins Thomas Stoddard and Jennifer Querry search a Piece of Eden in Salem. The Templar magistrate William Stoughton who conducted the trials encouraged the Salem townsfolk to hunt and kill the Assassins. Captured, the Assassins discovered that the Piece of Eden was in fact Dorothy Osborne, a young girl possessed by the Isu Consus. As Stoughton wanted to create other precursors' oracle, Osborne sacrificed herself in the flame. The Templar killed Querry, but Stoddard was saved by the Templar Samuel Parris who wounded Stoughton.

Search of the Observatory

In 1673, the Grand Master of the West Indies Rite Laureano de Torres y Ayala came into contact with the Sage Thomas Kavanagh who worked on the plantation of the Templars' ally Peter Beckford. As the Templars wanted him to open the Observatory, an Isu complex, the West Indies Assassins led by the Mentor Bahlam abducted the Sage and brought him to their headquarters in Tulum. Later, the Assassins let Kavanagh left them even if he refused to lead them to the Observatory.

The Assassin attempting to rescue Roberts

In 1715, Torres returned the British Assassin Duncan Walpole against the Brotherhood. On his journey to Havana, Walpole was killed by the pirate Edward Kenway who impersonated the Assassin and sold the information on the Assassin hideouts. As the Templars captured the Sage Bartholomew Roberts, the Assassins tried to rescue him in the streets of Havana but they were repealed by the Templars. Anyway, Roberts escaped from the Templars and Kenway was demasked.

Later, Kenway became the captain of his own ship the Jackdaw. As he saw the Sage, Kenway caught the attention of the Assassin Mary Read, who was impersonated the pirate James Kidd. After Kenway killed the Templar Julien du Casse, Read brought him to Tulum and revealed to him the existence of the Brotherhood and the Sage. At the same moment, the Templar ally and slaver Laurens Prins led an attack on Tulum. Kenway aided the Assassin to repeal the guards. Kenway became a hitman for the Brotherhood even if he searched the Observatory for himself.

Kenway and Antó killing Abraham

With the information that Kenway sold to the Order, the Templars attacked the Assassin bureaus in the Caribbean and led many raids on Tulum. The Templar Lucia Márquez led attacks against the Taíno Assassin Opía Apito in the Cayman Islands. The Templar General Kenneth Abraham fought the Maroon rebellion led by the Assassin Antó in Kingston. In Havana, the Templar Hilary Flint was forced to fight his former Assassin lover Rhona Dinsmore. The Templar Jing Lang returned the Assassin Vance Travers against his brother Upton. To make amends with the Assassins and recovered the Templar keys, Kenway helped the Assassins and killed the Templars.

In 1717, the pirate Assassin Samuel Bellamy attacked Laurens Prins' ship the Whydah and took the Fragment of Eden. He entrusted the artifact to the pirate Alonzo Batilla who later gave it to the pirate Olivier Levasseur. As the Templar Woodes Rogers tried to recover it in 1718, Batilla attacked the Templar ship to give enough time to Levasseur to escape with the Fragment.

In 1717, Read planned to kill Prins in Kingston but her plan was foiled as Kenway abducted Torres to lead him to Roberts who worked for the slaver. As the Templar and Prins escaped, Kenway killed the slaver for Read while the Assassin tried to find the Sage but he escaped.

Kenway killing Burgess and Cockram

In 1719, the Templars Josiah Burgess and John Cockram captured Roberts on the island of Príncipe. Kenway killed the two Templars and saved Roberts who became the pirate known as Black Bart. Kenway helped Roberts to have access to the Observatory. They captured the Royal Fortune containing Blood vials from members of the Templars and Kenway killed his former friend, the Templar pirate-hunter Benjamin Hornigold. When they entered in the Observatory situated at Long Bay in Jamaica, Roberts recovered a Crystal Skull and betrayed Kenway, sending him in Kingston's prison.

In 1720, the Templars interrogated Kenway but he refused to give the location of the Observatory. Meanwhile, Kenway's quartermaster Adéwalé joined the Assassin and convinced the Mentor Ah Tabai to rescue Kenway. In March 1721, Ah Tabai liberated Kenway, Read, and the pirate Anne Bonny from the prison but Read died due to illness. To honor her death, Kenway joined the Assassins and repealed a Templar attack on Tulum.

Torres' last moment

With Bonny as his new quartermaster, Kenway tracked the Templars in the Caribbean Sea. He stabbed Rogers who gave him the location of Roberts near Príncipe before leaving Jamaica. Kenway killed the Sage and threw his body in the Ocean to impeach the Templars to recover it. With the Crystal Skull, Kenway tracked Torres in Havana but fell in a trap as it was his bodyguard El Tiburón. The Assassin killed the bodyguard before going to the Observatory. As the Templars entered the Isu complex, Kenway killed Torres, destroying the Rite. Ah Tabai returned the Crystal Skull in the Observatory and tasked Assassins to protect the place. The Assassins left Tulum and relocated to Kenway's mansion at Great Inagua, protecting them from further Templar attacks.

Search of the Grande Temple

In 1723, Edward Kenway returned in Bristol to kill the Templar who attacked his family farm a decade ago. He killed his former father-in-law Emmett Scott and Wilson who were Templars. As he was about to burn alive Matthew Hague, the son of the Templar Aubrey Hague, Kenway received a pardon from the Prime Minister Robert Walpole who also assigned him as his senior assistant Reginald Birch, who was, in fact, a Templar.

For years, Birch tried to recover Kenway's journal which contained information on the Grand Temple. Birch even courted Edward's daughter Jennifer Scott and interrogating Edward's young son Haytham to discover the journal location. On 3 December 1735, Birch sent mercenaries to raid the Kenway Mansion, killing Edward and recovering the journal. Jennifer was captured and sent to Damascus as a slave while Birch trained Haytham to become a Templar.

In 1753, Haytham went in Corsica to kidnap the young rebel Lucio Albertine who could decipher his father's journal. Albertine was protected by the leader of the British Assassin Miko. Haytham defeated him and brought Albertine to Birch. A year later, Haytham killed Miko with his own Hidden Blade and recovered the Grand Temple Key. With the death of their leader, the Assassins left London and relocated their headquarters in Crawley while the Templars took control the capital.

Haytham was sent to the British colonies to find the Grand Temple. Aboard the Providence, the Templar was followed by the Assassin Louis Mills who threw painted cargo overboard permitting to the Colonial Assassin flagship the Aquila to track them. Haytham killed Mills and the Providence escaped from the Assassins by passing in a storm.

In Boston, the Assassins hired mercenaries to steal the research of the Templar William Johnson on the Grand Temple. With the Templar Thomas Hickey and the initiate Charles Lee, Haytham attacked the mercenaries and recovered Johnson's research.

Futher conflicts

It was rare for the conflict to ever become particularly conspicuous, although there were occasions, such as the Third Crusade, where the Assassins and Templars openly fought alongside those they were manipulating. Another example was during the Golden Age of Piracy, where many Assassins attempted to apprehend the Sage Bartholomew Roberts from a Templar convoy, ending in a giant battle in the streets of Havana.

By the 20th century, the conflict had largely removed itself from the public view, with the Templars operating principally through their front companies, like Abstergo Industries and the Abstergo Foundation Rehabilitation Center, while the Assassins struggled to survive on the fringes of society, living in secluded communes.

The length and devastation of the war had a significant effect on the plans of the Capitoline Triad to avert the Second Disaster. In the Grand Temple in 2012, Juno commented to Desmond Miles that the two factions had wasted centuries by squabbling over Isu artifacts; time which could have been spent on locating the Temple and continuing the work meant to save the world from the solar flare.

Alliances

Assassins and Templars

Historically, the Assassins and Templars were not above working when confronted with a common obstacle or purpose. An early example of such an alliance involved the Levantine Assassin Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad and the English Templar Maria Thorpe, who worked together to bring down Armand Bouchart, although their motives were initially vastly different.

During a Maroon rebellion in Port-au-Prince, the Assassin Adéwalé was led to helping the brothel owner and Templar ally Bastienne Josèphe defeat the murderous and merciless Marquis de Fayet, an infamous slave trader that had ordered a French ship to destroy an approaching slave ship during the rebellion. Following de Fayet's death, Adéwalé left Port-au-Prince, but relinquised Precursor box that Bastienne sought into her care. Sometime later the two met once more and had a son. Their grandson, Eseosa, became an influential part of the final Maroon rebellion, the Haitian Revolution and later joined forces with the Colonial Assassin, Connor.

Another notable alliance occurred during the American Revolutionary War. When Benjamin Church turned on the Colonial Templars, Grand Master Haytham Kenway pursued him with the help of his son, the Assassin Connor, whose aim was to recover the supplies stolen by Church, meant for George Washington's forces stationed at Valley Forge. After Church's death, the pair continued to work together, in order to allow the colonies to gain independence from the British Empire. However, when Haytham revealed Washington's intent to attack Connor's village of Kanatahséton for a second time, the Assassin severed ties with both of them.

During the French Revolution, the Assassin Arno Dorian and his adoptive Templar sister Élise de la Serre hunted Grand Master François-Thomas Germain, heir to François de la Serre, whom he replaced after his predecessors' assassination during the former's coup d'etat. François de la Serre had sought to maintain a truce between the Templars and Assassins, which was one of the reasons for his death. Such truces, however, were short-lived, since the leaders that succeeded those who brokered them, rarely honored the truce. Mirabeau, Mentor of the French Assassins, was poisoned by Pierre Bellec, who held a fanatical belief that peace between the two factions was impossible.

In 1868, the Assassin Jacob Frye temporarily aligned himself with the Templar Pearl Attaway, against Malcolm Millner and her cousin Crawford Starrick, Grand Master of the British Templars. Jacob was unaware of Pearl's true allegiance however, and immediately resolved to assassinate her upon his discovery.

In 2016, Templar Victoria Bibeau and Assassin Griffin agreed to a ceasefire so they could stop Templar turncoat Isaiah from acquiring the third prong.

Other factions

Besides working with Templar defectors, the Assassins also caught the attention of other organizations. During the Renaissance period, Mario Auditore led a band of mercenaries during various assignments for the benefit of the Brotherhood, such as the attack on Vieri de' Pazzi in San Gimignano.

In Venice, and later Rome, Bartolomeo d'Alviano led a company of mercenaries allied with the Assassins. Several brothels in Italy were led by Assassins, including Paola, Teodora Contanto and Claudia Auditore da Firenze, operating in Florence, Venice and Rome, respectively. Some of the thieves groups were led by Assassins, such as La Volpe and Antonio de Magianis. However others, such as the Cento Occhi in Rome, opted to stand with the Templars. Centuries later, some of the pirates of Nassau, such as Benjamin Hornigold, Josiah Burgess, and John Cockram also sided with the Templars. Another pirate, known as Le Chasseur, helped the Colonial Brotherhood during the Seven Years' War, but was killed by the Assassin-turned-Templar Shay Cormac before he could be inducted into the Assassin Order as a member.

In modern times, other organizations have taken notice of the conflict between the Assassins and Templars, such as the Initiates, a group of unidentified individuals with vast resources and connections, who eventually allied themselves with the Brotherhood. The hacker collective, Erudito, worked to uncover Abstergo Industries' plots to control humanity; one of their notable activities was hacking the Liberation video game developed by Abstergo Entertainment using edited versions of Aveline de Grandpré's genetic memories. While Abstergo planned to omit all references to the Templars and discredit the Assassins, the Erudito hacks allowed the user to see the original footage and learn the truth.

The Templars also came into contact with the Instruments of the First Will, a group who wish to grant control over humanity to Juno, who was now freed from her imprisonment in the Grand Temple following Desmond Miles' sacrifice in 2012. The Master Templar Juhani Otso Berg suggested using the Instruments to acquire Pieces of Eden, while the other group siphons Templar resources to achieve their own plan. However, the Templars do not consider the Instruments of the First Will to be a threat, and do not prioritize eliminating Juno, either.