Lair of Romulus
The Lairs of Romulus are secret locations featured in Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood that are similar to the Assassin's Tombs from Assassin's Creed II. Each lair of the Followers of Romulus houses a shrine to Romulus, which contains a variety of treasures. These lairs are scattered all over Rome and require both platforming skill and puzzle solving to progress through.
Each of the six lairs also contains a key, and a scroll, which each hold portions of a letter written by Marcus Junius Brutus. Obtaining all six keys allows one to obtain the Armor of Brutus and the corresponding Dagger of Brutus, the two coveted treasures of the Followers.
On the map of Rome, each of the Lairs of Romulus are marked by a black wolf symbol. A seventh, gold version of the symbol marks the location of the aforementioned Romulus treasures.
These missions are side quests, as obtaining the Romulus treasures is not required to complete the main story of Brotherhood. The only the exception is the first lair encountered, the one beneath the Terme di Traiano, as it is a core memory, and is used to introduce the Followers of Romulus.
There are three Borgia flags in each Lair.
The Lairs
Terme di Traiano
- Main article: Terme di Traiano
- Mission: The Halls of Nero
This lair is the first one encountered, and its entrance is located at a low point of the Terme, down a flight of stairs. Although the entrance is located in the Terme, the memory itself takes place in Nero's Golden Palace.
After Ezio's first encounter with the Followers of Romulus, he enters Nero's Golden Palace, situated beneath the Terme di Traiano. After entering the Lair of Romulus, Ezio explores the ruins and solves some puzzles. Finally he arrives in a room filled with treasure and searches each of the treasures, taking what he can. He retrieves one of the Scrolls of Romulus with a key attached to it.
Piramide Cestia
- Main article: Piramide Cestia
- Mission: Wolves Among The Dead
The entrance, though located next to the Pyramid, leads into the Catacombe di Roma.
Ezio enters the Catacombe beneath the Piramide Cestia, in search of a shrine to Romulus. He traverses the Catacombs until he arrives at a large hall, where he encounters two Followers of Romulus. He attempts to converse with them, asking them for their leader.
Ignoring Ezio's request, the men hurriedly leave the hall through an exit at the upper level of the room, severing the rope used to escape. Ezio scales the giant hall and follows the path taken by the Followers, before arriving at another room. Here, he is surrounded by a group of Followers with weapons drawn.
The Followers attack Ezio, and after dealing with the first wave of attackers, he scales the multi-leveled room, defeating Followers on each of the floors. Upon reaching the top floor, Ezio leaves through an archway, and arrives at the shrine to Romulus. Opening the chest, he claims a scroll and the second key, to unlock the treasure of Romulus. Ezio then leaves the catacombs and returns to the city.
Colosseo
- Main article: Colosseo
- Mission: Thrown To The Wolves
This entrance is located at the ground level of the Colosseo between the inner and outer walls, just behind the stage of the Passion Play.
Ezio ventures to the lower levels of the Colosseo to uncover the conspiracy surrounding the Followers of Romulus and to continue his search for the shrines to Romulus. Upon arriving, Ezio makes his way through a decrepit corridor and soon encounters an individual sitting stationary on a chair. As Ezio reaches out to the man, he is revealed to be a Follower of Romulus, swiping his dagger at Ezio and smashing the chair against the wall. A voice bellows down from a raised platform further down the corridor, a leader dressed in a jubilee costume orders a group of followers to kill Ezio.
Defeating the attackers, Ezio is next confronted by the individual who ordered his death. The man denies Ezio's demand for answers and gives chase through a section of the Colosseo, eventually arriving at a crowded Jubilee. Upon discovering the leader hidden among the crowd, Ezio chases him to another large corridor.
Jumping on a horse, the leader makes another attempt at an escape but is soon followed by Ezio, who commandeers a horse of his own. After a short chase sequence, the pair eventually arrive at another room filled with Followers of Romulus. Ezio defeats his attackers and assassinates the leader. Performing a Leap of Faith, Ezio arrives at Juno's Temple and enters the shrine to Romulus, claiming a Scroll of Romulus and the third key of six. He then leaves the temple and returns to Rome.
Basilica di San Pietro
- Main article: Basilica di San Pietro
- Mission: A Wolf In Sheep's Clothing
The entrance is outside, to the right of the staircase that leads to the inner sanctum.
Ezio travels to the Vaticano district to uncover the conspiracy surrounding the Followers of Romulus and to continue his search for the shrines. Upon arriving, Ezio makes his way towards the Basilica di San Pietro, entering through a secret entrance located outside the pavilion.
Upon entering the Basilica, Ezio watches over the conclusion of mass. As soon as the prayers end and the populace of the Basilica begin to disperse, the Assassin uses his Eagle Vision to locate a corrupt Cardinal. Weaving between the crowds, Ezio tails his target, overhearing conversations of his actions in the city. Following the man to a corridor alongside the main hall, Ezio witnesses a meeting between false Followers of Romulus and the corrupt Cardinal. The Followers leave, having handed the Cardinal a key. Ezio slips into the corridor and confronts the man, resulting in a chase across the entirety of the Basilica. The chase concludes as Ezio corners the Cardinal in a room atop San Pietro. A brief altercation ensues, resulting in the death of the Cardinal at the hands of the assassin. Searching his body, Ezio retrieves the key and performs a Leap of Faith from the tower, entering the shrine to Romulus below. (Alternate ending: Ezio throws the Cardinal over the ledge of the scaffold, Ezio catches him before he falls to the main hall to retrieve the key. The Cardinal thanked God for saving him but still fell to his death, Ezio then wishes him to rest in peace before entering the shrine.) He claims a scroll of Romulus and the fourth key, to the treasure of Romulus and returns to Rome.
Palazzo Laterano
- Main article: Palazzo Laterano
- Mission: The Sixth Day
The entrance to the lair is located inside one of the gardens.
Ezio enters the maze-like ruins of the Palazzo Laterano, former residence of the pope. Making his way through the Palazzo, Ezio reaches a basilica, which is also the location of a shrine to Romulus. Realizing the chamber is inaccessible due to a large steel gate obstructing the path, Ezio scans the room for a solution to the problem. Knowing what he must do, Ezio seeks out the and destroys the sand bag weights holding a large chandelier in place, resulting in the chandelier breaking free of its supports, swinging through the room, knocking over a large cross, and destroying the gate in the process.
Ezio enters the shrine to Romulus, claims the fifth key and corresponding Scroll, before returning to the city.
Terme di Diocleziano
- Main article: Cloaca Maxima
- Mission: Leader Of The Pack
After Ezio has funded the renovation of all the damaged Aqueducts, he discovers an entrance to a Lair of Romulus located in the Cloaca Maxima.
Upon entering Rome's sewerage system, Ezio soon discovers three Borgia leaders disguised as Followers of Romulus. The men are crouched together, discussing their plans and mocking the blind faith that helps them to control the true Followers of Romulus. Ezio then decides to make his presence known, provoking the men to make an escape attempt and to mobilize their own group of followers. He chases one of the men through a sewerage tunnel, eventually falling victim to an ambush.
Defeating the group of attackers Ezio then gives chase after the leader once more, cornering him in a dwelling. The Borgia leader expects aid from his captain but is betrayed and left for dead, as his captain flees. Ezio defeats another group of followers in the dwelling before chasing the captain.
He locates the leader in a room at the end of a tunnel. The man orders his group of followers to kill Ezio. Failing in their attempts, the frustrated captain attacks Ezio himself but is killed in the process. With the captain dead, Ezio gains access to the shrine. Opening the chest inside, Ezio acquires a the final Scroll of Romulus and the last key. After claiming the treasures he vacates the Cloaca and returns to Rome.
Trivia
- The Palazzo Laterano is the only Lair to not feature Followers of Romulus.
- It is possible to enter the Terme di Diocleziano without renovating all of the aqueduct pieces, but requires the Climb Leap Glove instead.