Assassin Council

Arno Dorian standing before the French Assassin Council

Throughout the history of the Assassin Order, several sects of the ancient brotherhood adopted an Assassin Council, or Council of the Brotherhood, as their governing body. The statutes of the Levantine Assassins contained a provision for the creation of an Assassin Council, and the dissolution of the Council by the brotherhood's Mentor. During the Renaissance, the Mentor of the Italian Brotherhood led an Assassin Council comprised of several of local Order's Master Assassins. An Assassin Council governed the French branch of the Assassin Order during the French Revolution, and the British Brotherhood was also led by a Council during the Industrial Revolution.

History

Levantine Council

"A meeting of the council has been called for tomorrow morning."
"The what?"
"With Malik imprisoned, a council was formed to oversee the Order, in accordance with the statutes of the Brotherhood."

―Swami and Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad

The sect of Assassins operating in the Levant during the early years of the 13th century, held provisions for the establishment of an Assassin Council to oversee the Levantine Brotherhood in the event that a suitable Mentor could not be appointed. Following the departure of Mentor Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad from Masyaf—the Levantine Assassin's current seat of power—to combat the growing threat of the Mongol Empire, and the imprisonment of the interim Mentor Malik Al-Sayf on the charge of murder, the Assassins convened a council chaired by Altaïr's rival, Abbas Sofian. Sofian's council numbered ten Assassins in total, and upon Altaïr's return to Masyaf in 1228, it consisted of men the former Mentor considered to be among the Order's most weak-minded and conniving, including the likes of Farim. Soon after his return, Altaïr met with Sofian and the Assassin Council to discuss his quest to halt the Mongols' advances and his success in slaying the Mongol leader, Genghis Khan. Though the statutes of the Levantine Brotherhood once would have allowed the returned Altaïr to assume leadership again and dissolve the sitting council, Sofian's scheming had altered the statutes' ordinances to instead allow he and his council to retain power, having declared Altaïr too compromised to lead.

When Altaïr later took back the Levantine Order from Abbas Sofian's leadership in 1247, the Mentor elected not to continue the Assassin Council, though he retained several trusted advisers.

Italian Council

"Business first. I am calling a meeting of the Council of the Brotherhood here tonight."

―Mario Auditore

During the era of the Renaissance, the Italian Assassins maintained an Assassin Council, otherwise known as the Council of the Brotherhood. Comprised of several notable Master Assassins, often under the oversight of the current Mentor, the Assassin Council was responsible for choosing the Italian Brotherhood's leader and ratifying significant decisions regarding the direction of the Order.

The Italian Council meets to discuss the Borgia threat

In the year 1500, several members of the Italian Assassin Council—including the Assassin leader Mario Auditore and Niccolò Machiavelli—met at the Villa Auditore in Monteriggioni to hear Ezio Auditore da Firenze recount his confrontation with Pope Rodrigo Borgia and the discovery of the Vatican Vault beneath the Sistine Chapel. In the aftermath of Cesare Borgia's devastating attack on Monteriggioni that cost the life of Mario Auditore, Ezio and Machiavelli were appointed dual chiefs of the Council by virtue of their deeds furthering the Assassin cause. The Assassin Council later ratified the ascension of Ezio to the role of Mentor and leader of the Italian Assassins. During Ezio's tenure as Mentor, the Italian Assassin Council could count Machiavelli, Bartolomeo d'Alviano, Rosa, La Volpe, Paola, and Claudia Auditore among their number, each offering the Mentor aid, intelligence, and advice. When Ezio later stepped down as Mentor, and named Lodovico Ariosto as his chosen successor, the council was left to ratify his decision.

French Council

"Assassin, this Council charges you to go to la Cour des Miracles. Find there the Templar agent le Roi des Thunes. Learn his secrets, and bring him peace."

―Mirabeau

The French Assassin Council dispatched John de la Tour to the early American Colonies. Operating under the council's orders, de la Tour aided in the establishment of a new Colonial Brotherhood of Assassins around 1746, though his death at the battle of Louisbourg left control of the Colonial Assassins in the hands of Mentor Achilles Davenport. In 1748, Gaspar Velasquez and his associates in Spain began working on the blueprints for a powerful new brig to bolster the Colonial Assassins. However, they were unable to build the ship themselves due to the threat posed by the British Templars. The following year, the plans were given to the French Council, who had the ship—dubbed the Aquila—constructed in Brest, France, and delivered into the possession of the Colonial Brotherhood.

The French Council initiates Arno Dorian

By 1789, the French Council was led by the Mentor Mirabeau, and operated out of the Assassin sanctuary beneath the Sainte-Chapelle in Paris. At this point, the council was was composed of four other Master Assassins: Pierre Bellec, Sophie Trenet, Hervé Quemar, and Guillaume Beylier. In June of 1789, the French Assassin Council inducted Arno Dorian into the Brotherhood, and as the French Revolution broke out, the Council sought the means to bring about a peaceful resolution to the conflict.

In 1791, the Mentor Mirabeau was murdered by his fellow council member Pierre Bellec, for attempting to establish peace with Élise de la Serre, the would-be leader of the French Templars. Bellec, having been witness to Templar atrocities committed in the name of purging the Assassins, viewed Mirabeau's push for peace as treason against the Assassin Order. Bellec's crime was uncovered not long after by Arno Dorian, leading the two Assassins to engage in a fight that left Bellec dead, and the Assassin Council now deprived of two of its members. Chairmanship of the French Council fell to Sophie Trenet, who later lead the council to expel Dorian from the Assassin Order: the council did not approve of Dorian's selfish reasons for joining the Brotherhood, nor the manner in which he repeatedly acted outside the tenets of the Creed, brashly killing targets without the Assassin Council's consent, in order to pursue a personal vendetta against the rogue Templars who killed his adoptive father. The French Council banished Dorian, but did not seek to punish him further, and would ultimately welcome the young Assassin back years later, after he had matured and shown true dedication to the Brotherhood's cause.

British Council

"London must be freed. To provide a better future for all of its citizens."
"Well thank goodness the Council saw reason and sent you to aid us."

―Evie Frye and Henry Green

By the year 1868, the British sect of the Assassin Brotherhood was overseen by a Assassin Council. The British Assassin Council was reluctant to take action against the Templars that so thoroughly controlled London during the era. Against the orders of the council, the young British Assassins Jacob and Evie Frye nevertheless traveled to London, to help the leader of the weakened Assassins who still remained in the city, Henry Green.