Alruh

He who increaseth knowledge, increaseth sorrow.

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"This is my Great Work. I call it Alruh. It will take you on a journey to another realm."

―Fazil Fahim al-Kemsa to Basim Ibn Ishaq, 860s CE^[src]^-[m]

Alruh, (English: "The Spirit")^[1] also known as the "Great Work," was a machine built by Hassan whose purpose was to decipher the secrets of the Memory Seals by exposing its contents to a subdued subject. It was located beneath the House of Wisdom in the Abbasiyah district of Baghdad. According to its supervisor and Order of the Ancients' leader Fazil Fahim al-Kemsa, it served as a "portal" to a past world where an enlightened and exquisite paradise used to be.

History

By the 860s, Doctor Hassan started to design a machine that was capable of deciphering the secrets of Those Who Came Before and asked Ahmad ibn Musa for help in building it.^[2] According progress went, its pieces were delivered to the House of Wisdom.^[3] At some point, the device was partially functional, as both Fazil and fellow Order leader Mas'ood Al-Ya'qoob were able to witness an "experience" of another realm.^[4]^[5] However, to prepare its full function, he required more time to fully activate its potential, to which the Head of the Snake, Qabiha, gifted him several test subjects. However, as time went on, his progress diminished, much to his fellow Order leader Wasif al-Turki's annoyance.^[4]

To aid him, Fazil enlisted his Order subordinates Zahra and Hassan to decipher a old book^[6] and find a solution to enhance Alruh, respectively.^[7] Staging a book fire,^[8] Fazil allowed Zahara to secretly abduct Hunayn ibn Ishaq to translate the text^[6] meanwhile Hassan had a fellow engineer Ahmad ibn Musa unwittingly assist him to require new parts for the Great Work.^[7] However, their efforts were thwarted after being assassinated by the Alamut Hidden One Basim Ibn Ishaq.^[6]^[7]

During the Great Symposium, while giving his speech to his fellow scholars, Fazil retreated to the Alruh after being informed of Zahra and Hassan being killed. Despite having his work being in danger, he continued to experiment on his subjects. However, one of his subjects happened to be Basim in disguise. With the Alruh nearly being used on Basim, Fazil neared closer to Basim, who disagreed with the notion of knowledge being power. Too close, Fazil was assassinated on top of Alruh by Basim, who later escaped the basement.^[4] Basim reported back to the Rafiq Tabid Al-Nubi and gave him a bloodied feather from Fazil's assassination.^[9]

Behind the scenes

Similarities with the Animus

The Alruh machine shares the same namesake as the Animus, both mean "the soul" or "the spirit" in Arabic and Latin respectively. Similarly, akin to the Animus, it facilitates the subject’s journey into the past by unveiling the contents of the Memory Seals. This represents one of many early attempts of humanity in understanding the concepts of regression and genetic memory. Coincidentally, this attempt would be repeated eventually by the Order of the Ancients' successor, Abstergo, the public face of the modern day templars.