Nikolai Orelov (Russian: Николай Орлов) was a RussianAssassin who lived during the late 19th and early 20th century. A member of the Russian sect of the Assassin Order; the Narodnaya Volya, he was closely tied with Aleksandr Ulyanov and Vladimir Lenin. He is the great-grandfather of Daniel Cross.
Orelov lived during the late 19th and early 20th century and operated mainly in Petrograd, Russia. In 1888, Nikolai was personally tasked by "the Mentor" with the assassination of Tsar Alexander III of Russia and the acquisition of the Royal Staff.
The Borki Train Disaster
Sometime in 1888, Nikolai wakes in bed after having another nightmare about the death of his close friend, Alek. He confides in his lover, a woman Anna that he feels deeply responsible for his death and she tells him that Alek knew the risks when he joined the brotherhood. Nikolai then tells her that he has been tasked with assassinating Tsar Alexander III in order to loosen
the grip the templar have on the region. Anna wishes him safety in his mission, for she needs him to help raise the child they are having together.
After infiltrating the train and making his way to the royal carriage, Orelov was surprised to find the entire Royal family traveling, when he had been told only the Tsar was aboard. Alexander III attacks him from behind and the two fight as the train careens off the tracks and crashes. Whilst Nikolai was recovering from the crash, Alexander III pulled out the Staff and challenged the Assassin to kill him with it, throwing the Staff to him. Despite wielding the Staff and relying upon his Assassin training, Nikolai was defeated by the physically superior Alexander, but was spared death when the Tsar's children came into view. Nikolai then flees to report his failure to the Order.
The Tunguska Event
In 1908, The assassins capture a templar named Dolinsky and Orelov leads in torturing the man in order to reveal where the staff had gone following his failure. Two other assassins are present and one not
e that his methods are extremely harsh, while the other replies it is because he lost a child, possibly the one Anna had been pregnant with. Under threats to his family, Dolinsky reveals that the facility that houses the staff is located in Siberia and Orelov sets off for Tunguska.
The Mentor requests that Nikolai and some other assassins take back the staff, which was being tested with electrical machines stolen from their ally, Nikola Tesla. While approaching the facility, which has a Tesla coil built above it, an assassin with Orelov tells him that Tesla stands ready with his teleforce weapon, a particle beam weapon, in America, ready to destroy it.
Nikolai and his comrades storm the facility, killing all of the templar guards within. When Orelov reaches the top, the staff has been activated by the electrical current and he hears voices coming from it that are saying things like “Adam, I have it”, “Just like your father”, and “Eve”. Tesla activates his weapon with the words “Rot in hell, Thomas” and the tower and staff are destroyed by Tesla’s weapon. Orelov is the only survivor, and he lays, clothes in tatters, on the edge of the explosion mumbling that the staff has been destroyed.
Appearance
Orelov wore a large fur coat with the traditional Assassin's hood. He wielded one Hidden Blade, a dagger, a sabre and a rifle. He wore a sash and a baldric with the Assassins' emblem on it.
Trivia
The Russian surname Orelov (Орлов) means "сын орла" (syn orla), or "son of oryol," where "oryol" means "eagle." It could also come from Orel, which is Czech, Slovenian and Bulgarian for "eagle." This is in continuation of the series' tradition of referencing the protagonist's name to that of the eagle in the Assassin's native language, or some derivation.
In Assassin's Creed: The Fall issue two, he was interogating a Templar with two other Assassins. During File:Nikolaiorelov.JPGthe interogation, one Assassin asked, "Are Brother Orelov's methods always so... savage?" The other one replied, "He was a gentler man when I met him, years ago. Before they lost the child," Indicating that Nikolai's child died at sometime before the Tunguska event. Eventually one of his children lives long enough to have a child, for his great-grandchild is Daniel Cross.
Nikolai and the Staff of Eden.
