Rayhan

He who increaseth knowledge, increaseth sorrow. This article contains spoilers, meaning it has information and facts concerning Assassin's Creed: Mirage. 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 5 January 2024.

Rayhan was the Mentor of the Hidden Ones based at Alamut in the late 9th century. Alongside Fuladh and Roshan, he was part of the council that governed over the brotherhood.

Biography

Early life

At some point during his younger years, Rayhan learned about the Isu temple that Alamut Castle had been unknowingly built atop of and sought to explore it. However, as he was unable to find any way inside, he resolved to protect the site from the Order of the Ancients like the Hidden Ones that had come before him, assuming that the knowledge inside the temple was meant to remain a secret.

Mentor of the Alamut Brotherhood

By the early 860s, Rayhan had risen to become the Mentor of the Alamut Brotherhood and served the Hidden Ones as an important strategist. In this capacity, he was also a member of Alamut's council alongside the Eagle-Master Fuladh and the Master Assassin Roshan, making important decisions for the Brotherhood and ensuring the tenets were up-kept.

Rayhan meetin with Aban, the Tahirid emmisary

In February 862, Rayhan received Aban, an emissary of the Tahirid governor who came to discuss with him on the events in Baghdad causing issues to the Hidden Ones' alliance with the Tahirids. Aban told Rayhan that the powers behind the Caliphate were putting pressure on the Tahirids, for the Hidden Ones were supporting the Zanj Rebels led by Ali ibn Muhammad. Rayhan was warned that if the Hidden Ones persisted in aiding the rebellion, the Tahirids would not longer be able to provide protection from their enemies and his Brotherhood would have to act fast.

Aban's warnings came true that night when a group of mercenaries sent by the Order of the Ancients came to scout out the valley that the Hidden Ones' camp was situated in. Thanks to the watchman Nur and a new initiate to the Brotherhood, Basim Ibn Ishaq, the mercenaries were eliminated and the council were made aware of this intrusion. Together with the council, Rayhan decided to send someone to Baghdad to investigate the Order's presence in the city and seek the aid of Ali and the rebels, and Nur volunteered.

After Basim completed his training, Rayhan and the rest of the council were present to formally induct him into the Brotherhood. However, shortly after Basim's initiation, Nur returned to Alamut gravely wounded, as the Order had attacked him during his investigation in Baghdad and captured Ali and his rebels. Realizing that the Order held more power in the Abbasid capital than the Hidden Ones initially suspected, Rayhan decided to send Basim, Fuladh and Roshan to Baghdad to continue Nur's investigation and find and rescue Ali.

Attack on Alamut

After the Order made a deal with governor Muhammad ibn Tahir to remove the Tahirids' protection of Alamut, the Hidden Ones were caught by surprise when their base came under attack by a large Tahirid force, resulting in many members of the Brotherhood being either killed or captured. Rayhan was among those that were caught, and was subsequently interrogated by the Tahirid soldiers, who sought the location of the Alamut temple. However, as the Mentor refused to talk, the soldiers began executing his fellow captured Hidden Ones.

Rayhan was eventually rescued when Basim returned to Alamut and killed his captors, freeing the Mentor. After Basim revealed that the true reason for his return was to investigate the Alamut temple, Rayhan deduced that the Order chose to strike at that very moment was because they believed Basim was the key needed to access the temple. He then tried to dissuade Basim from seeking the knowledge inside the temple, claiming that it was exactly what the Order wanted, but the younger Hidden One argued that said knowledge could give them an advantage over the Order and finally bring an end to their war. Rayhan subsequently gave Basim his blessing to explore the temple and went to rendezvous with the other Hidden Ones.

Rayhan ultimately led the Hidden Ones to victory against the Tahirid attackers, saving Alamut. However, because of Rayhan's decision to allow Basim to seek out the temple, Roshan elected to leave the Hidden Ones, as she was aware of Basim's true nature and feared what the temple might awaken inside him. After an argument with Roshan, where she discarded her Hidden Blade, Rayhan was approached by Basim to discuss what the latter had seen inside the temple.

Basim's betrayal

By 867, Rayhan had noticed a change in Basim's character and became suspicious of his motives. As such, he secretly asked Basim's apprentice, the young acolyte Hytham, to spy on his master and sent him to accompany Basim on a mission to Constantinople, where the two Hidden Ones investigated an assassination plot by the newly-installed Byzantine Emperor Basil I against his son Leo.

In 872, Basim and Hytham journeyed to Norway to fight the Order's growing influence in Northern Europe, after allying themselves with the Raven Clan. The two subsequently settled in England, within the Raven Clan's settlement of Ravensthorpe, where they set up a bureau and began laying the foundations of a new chapter for the Hidden Ones. Around this time, Rayhan sent a letter to Hytham, commending the young acolyte's decision to accompany Basim and suggesting that he follow the example of his master if he wished to rise through the Brotherhood's ranks.

In 877, following Basim's betrayal and apparent death, Rayhan sent another letter to Hytham expressing his dismay, but not surprise, as he had noticed for some time that Basim's adherence to the Creed seemed secondary to a "personal mania". Rayhan also invited Hytham to attend a council hosted by Fuladh in the recently constructed Alamut Castle in two years' time, in order to give a full account of Basim's betrayal and to be promoted to a new rank.

Legacy

Folowing Roshan's encounter with the Raven Clan shieldmaiden Eivor Varinsdottir's in England in the late 9th century, the Viking acquired one of Rayhan's personal sets of armor.

Behind the scenes

Rayhan is a character first mentioned in the 2020 video game Assassin's Creed: Valhalla. With the addition of the Shared History update in late 2022, players could obtain his personal set of robes for Eivor to wear by completing the memory "The Raven and the Cuckoo". Rayhan subsequently made his first in-person appearance in the 2023 game Assassin's Creed: Mirage.

Etymology

The name "Rayhan" is a transliteration of the Arabic word ريحان, meaning "fragranced herb". Other meanings in other Arabic languages include "basil" and "myrtle".

Gallery

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  Close-up of Rayhan

Appearances

• Assassin's Creed: Valhalla (first mentioned)
  • Shared History (mentioned only)
• Assassin's Creed: The Golden City (mentioned only)
• Assassin's Creed: Mirage (first appearance)