Grand Master of the Assassin Order

The title of Grand Master was the highest rank attainable within the Order of Assassins and granted the bearer full control over the Order. It was comparable to the Templar rank of the same name.

Upon being promoted, the Grand Master was from then on known as "the Mentor" by his fellow Assassins.

History

Middle ages

By 1191, the Order had located itself in the Kingdom of the Holy Land and the Grand Master had become an individual only known as "Al Mualim", who ruled from the Assassins' fortress in Masyaf. The following year, after the revelation of Al Mualim's membership within the Templar Order and subsequent death, the title was taken by his executioner, Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad.

Before Altaïr's death in 1257, he decided that the Order should be widespread all over the globe, and began to send the Assassins away from Masyaf. Various Assassins Guilds were founded, with each country getting their own Grand Master, or "Mentor". With the Mongol attack on Masyaf in 1257, Masyaf was completely abandoned by the Assassins.

Renaissance

Italy

Some time during the 15^th century, Mario Auditore became the Order's Grand Master and based its headquarters in Monteriggioni, which the Auditore family had ruled over for centuries.

In January 1500, Mario was killed by Cesare Borgia after Monteriggioni was besieged. Niccolò Machiavelli became the de facto Grand Master and based the Order in Rome, Italy, the center of the Templars' power. During his time as the Grand Master he, secretly, assisted or saved Ezio Auditore on several occasions: Machiavelli saved Ezio from the country roadside after he collapsed due to the injuries he acquired during the siege of Monteriggioni. Machiavelli was also responsible for the explosion at the Castel Sant'Angelo, which forced the guards to retreat, preventing Ezio from being entirely overwhelmed, additionally he had some mercenaries provide Ezio aid during the Passion Play disaster.

However, in 1503, Ezio Auditore da Firenze was given the title of Grand Master after Machiavelli passed the position onto him, realizing that Ezio was a stronger leader who built the Roman Assassins Guild from the ground up, he was actually the one leading the war against the Borgia in Rome, despite taking no credit, and that he would set a better example to the other members of the Order.

Modern times

The position of Grand Master still existed in modern times. During 1888, Nikolai Orelov, an Assassin during the Russian Revolution, receives his orders directly from "The Mentor".

A hundred years later, another Mentor was active in the Order, and still operated under the same name as his predecessors. In the year 1998, Daniel Cross began to seek him out after having a bizarre hallucination of Orelov. Eventually, he met the Mentor and assassinated him in his Dubai headquarters in 2000.

Known Grand Masters

International

• 
  Hassan-i Sabbah
  (1090 - 1124)
• Al Mualim[1] (? - 1191)
  Al Mualim
  (? - 1191)
• 
  Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad
  (1191 - c. 1225; c. 1247 - 1257)
• 
  Malik Al-Sayf
  (c. 1217 - c. 1225) (de facto)
• Abbas Sofian[5] (c. 1225 - c. 1247)
  Abbas Sofian
  (c. 1225 - c. 1247)
• "The Mentor"[3] (? - 2000)
  "The Mentor"
  (? - 2000)

National

China

• Fang Xiaoru[7] (? - 1402)
  Fang Xiaoru
  (? - 1402)

Italy

• Mario Auditore[8] (? - 1500)
  Mario Auditore
  (? - 1500)
• Niccolò Machiavelli[2] (1500 - 1503) (de facto)
  Niccolò Machiavelli
  (1500 - 1503) (de facto)
• 
  Ezio Auditore da Firenze
  (1503 - 1524)

Constantinople

• Yusuf Tazim[9] (circa 1511)
  Yusuf Tazim
  (circa 1511)