Damascus
Damascus is the capital and largest ancient city of Syria. During the Second Crusade, around 1148, the city repelled attacks, finally being acquired by Salah Al'din in the mid 1100s. Salah al'Din granted scholars from far and wide the chance to study in one of the many Madrasahs scattered throughout the city's neighborhoods. Almost unaffected by the war, the city remained an extremely clean and gorgeous site.
History
Quest for the Chalice
The Assassin Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad visited the city in 1190. His first mission involved interrogating a merchant named Misbah and assassinating Tamir. He also made his way to the local circus, where he acquired more information on his current mission of gaining entrance to the Temple of the Sand. Furthermore, he managed to assassinate a local Templar member named Alaat, on Fajera's request.[1]
Hunting the Nine
In 1191, the city was divided into three major districts, which consisted of a poor, middle, and rich section. The Poor District was considered to be a very busy section, constantly packed with citizens, which caused a lot of traffic throughout the streets. Though there was a lot of people in the Poor District, it could be explained by the presence of the sprawling and very impressive Souk Al-Silaah, which was a major trading point within the city, and dominated the area as a major landmark. With its eloquent ceremonial courtyard, situated in the center, the Souk was the site where the arms dealer Tamir conducted his daily business, with guards positioned in the nearby corridors, attentively watching the crowd. Strangely, the security around the Souk was rather light.[2]
The Middle District contained the Sinan Pasha Mosque and Formal Gardens, and featured larger east-west thoroughfares connecting the different areas.This section of Damascus featured many places of learning, until Jubair al Hakim arrived and began a city quest to destroy all written text. The central feature was Jubair's Madrasah, where books were burned, thus destroying valuable knowledge. Destroying knowledge and blinding the people to outside information of the world was aimed at preventing them from repeating the past mistakes of their ancestors. When Altaïr traveled here to assassinate Jubair, the security was very high, due to the Assassins' continued success.[2]
Almost half the city in terms of size, it was the Rich District that possessed many of the structural landmarks that attracted outsiders to the city. The partially rebuilt Citadel of Salah Al'Din was a key fortification that demanded planning for a successful infiltration. The most impressive feature of the district, and probably the entire city, were the Umayyad Mosque and the Merchant King's Palace.[2]
The interior of the palace was lightly secured, unless one of the Merchant King's lavish parties was in full swing. Traffic around the palace grounds was rather light, given the location. Slightly north was the Sarouja Souk Market Quarter, where both traffic and security were moderate. Sarouja Souk held the reputation of being the largest market in the Holy Land. It was split into two separate structures that ran from west to east, and north to south.[2]
Though the Umayyad Mosque and Merchant King's Palace dominated the district, the Grand Courtyard north of the Mosque was equally an interesting place. Here, within the impressive district, Abu'l Nuqoud held immense power over the people.[2]
Assassination targets in Damascus
In Damascus, Altaïr was ordered to assassinate the following people:
- 1190
- 1191
- Tamir, an arms dealer and a merchant who ran the largest black market in Damascus. He was known as a corrupt death dealer, who would do anything necessary to make a profit. On the day he was assassinated, he was located in the poor district of Damascus, arguing with another merchant. Tamir was angered by the man who didn't comply to his large order, and fatally stabbed him. Tamir's actions were noticed by Altaïr, who had been sent by Al Mualim to kill the merchant. The Assassin swiftly moved in to stab Tamir with his hidden blade, and let the dying man share his last conversation with him. Tamir's intentions seemed more noble than others had thought of him, as he stated it was his place in the Brotherhood's plan that he had to do this.[2]
- Abu'l Nuqoud, the Merchant King who resided in his palace in the Rich District. He was the fourth person to be assassinated by Altaïr in his Hunt for the Nine. Abu'l was a fat man with a humongous appetite, who often threw parties for "those who matter" and always surrounded himself with all kinds of riches. He hated poor people and saw them as stains on the rest of the country. The day of his assassination, Abu'l Nuqoud had thrown a party in which he planned to either poison his guests or shoot the survivors with arrows. Altaïr, being at the party, saw the people around him poisoned as Abu'l had finished his speech. The Merchant King first proposed a toast to their generosity, but his mood quickly shifted as he spoke about the hypocrisy in their actions in supporting Saladin. In the commotion, Altaïr had climbed up to Abu'l and assassinated him. In his last words, Abu'l explained that he joined the Templars to create a better world instead of believing in a God that called him an abomination.[2]
- Jubair al Hakim, the Chief Scholar in Damascus. Despite being a scholar, he was a ruthless and rude man, responsible for the burning of books and paintings throughout the city. He was located in the middle district of Damascus, and was also known as the head of the Illuminated. He and his group believed that the knowledge written inside documents were the sources of evil such as the war between Crusaders and Saracens, which was the reason that the Illuminated hunted down and burned all these sources. Jubair, while burning a pile of books the day of his assassination, was watched by Altaïr as he threw a scholar into the fire, and stated that he should join the books if he believed the things written in them. Altaïr moved to Jubair and listened to him as he assassinated him. The Chief Scholar told Altaïr that he tried to free the people from the ignorance spread with books, that he was protecting them instead of simply vandalizing their property.[2]
Map
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| Rich District | Middle District | Poor District |
References
Gallery
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