Maffeo Polo
Maffeo Polo (c. 1230 - unknown) was a Venetian merchant and explorer, the brother of Niccolò Polo and uncle of Marco. Maffeo and his brother were influential members of the Assassin Order, who founded several Assassin branches, such as in the Byzantine Empire and Italy.
Biography
Maffeo traveled extensively between 1252 and 1294, but it was in the year of 1257 that Maffeo and his brother traveled to the aged-fortress of Masyaf to meet with Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad, the Mentor of the Levantine Assassins. They spent six months in Masyaf, and while his brother spent much of his time with Altaïr, Maffeo grew restless, longing to set sail and leave the Assassin's fortress behind. To counter his brother's boredom, Niccolò told him about the history of the fortress.
During the preliminary Mongol attacks on the fortress in 1257, the Mentor gave the brothers his Codex, and guided them out of the fortress with the help of an Apple of Eden, an advanced technological device created by the First Civilization, to fend off Mongol invaders. At the bottom of Masyaf, Altaïr bequeathed five keys to Maffeo's brother, asking him to keep them safe. Although the brothers safely carried the keys in their travels, the Codex was lost two days later during an attack by a Mongol scouting party. Following these events, the Polos', now honorary members of the Assassin Order, returned to Constantinople; their mission was then to set up a trading post and found the Turkish Assassins branch.
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