Assassin-Templar War

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Charles Lee: "Why do you persist...? You put us down. We rise again. You end one plot – we forge another. You try so hard... But it always ends the same. Those who know you think you mad and this is why... Even those men you sought to save have turned their backs on you. Yet you fight. You resist. Why?"

Ratonhnhaké:ton: "Because no-one else will!"

—Charles Lee and Ratonhnhaké:ton discussing the conflict between their factions, 1782.

Template:War The Assassin–Templar War is a covert war waged between the Assassin Brotherhood and the Templar Order, spanning across most of the known human history.

History

The origin of the conflict is believed to stem from the killing of Abel by his brother Cain, to obtain his brother's Apple of Eden. However, more plausible explanations for the start of the war can be found in the aftermath of the Human-First Civilization War. The conflict was largely fought through proxy soldiers, by the manipulation of governments and organisations in order to achieve each faction's aims. It was rare for the conflict to ever become particularly conspicuous, although there were occasions, such as the Third Crusade, where the Assassins and Templars openly fought alongside those they were manipulating.

After Toba catastrophe, the surviving human leaders came into possession of several Pieces of Eden, debated on how to use them for humanity's benefit. They were aware of their former slavers interfering with their evolution, and sought to lead humanity on their destined path by any means necessary. In order to achieve this, they utilized the Pieces of Eden as tools, but were distrustful of any who attempted to make peace with the First Civilization.

However, others wanted to give humanity complete freedom, and envisioned a world where all beings could live according to their own will. As such, the maxim "Nothing is true, everything is permitted" became their philosophy, exemplifying the belief that all were free to determine their own path. They also believed that the misuse of the Pieces of Eden to control others was against all they had worked and suffered for, as it would enslave humanity once more.

Throughout the conflict's long history, a number of different powers became involved in it, such as the fledgling United States, Soviet Union, the Ottoman and Holy Roman Empires, aligning themselves with the Assassins, while the Byzantine, and British Empires, modern United States, and Nazi Germany, along with the Papacy controlled by the House of Borgia, supported the Templars. These alliances were rarely permanent, however, and often changed along with the leadership of a particular group.

By the 20th century, the conflict had largely removed itself from the public view, with the Templars operating mainly through their company front, Abstergo Industries, while the Assassins struggled to survive on the fringes of society.

The conflict was also integral to the plans of the First Civilization, namely Juno, Jupiter and Minerva, and their plans to avert the Second Disaster. In the Grand Temple in 2012, Juno commented to Desmond Miles that the two factions had wasted centuries by squabbling over the First Civilization artifacts, a time which could have been spent on locating the Temple and continuing the work meant to save the world from the solar flare.

Alliances

Assassins and Templars

Historically, the Assassins and Templars were not above working together towards a common purpose. The first example of such an alliance was with the Levantine Assassin Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad and the English Templar Maria Thorpe, who worked together to bring down Armand Bouchart, although their motives were initially vastly different.

Another notable alliance occured during the American Revolutionary War. When Benjamin Church turned on the Colonial Rite of the Templar Order, the Grand Master of the Rite, Haytham Kenway, pursued him with the help of his son, the Assassin Connor, whose aim was to recover the supplies stolen by Church, meant for George Washington's forces stationed at Valley Forge. After Church's death, the pair continued to work together, in order to allow the colonies to gain independence from the British Empire. However, when Haytham revealed Washington's intent to attack Connor's village of Kanatahséton for a second time, the Assassin severed ties with both of them.

During the French Revolution, the Assassin Arno Dorian and his adoptive Templar sister Élise de la Serre hunted the Grand Master of an extremist faction within the Templar Order, François-Thomas Germain, for his involvement in the assassination plot of François de la Serre, former Grand Master and father of Élise, who sought to maintain a truce between the Templars and Assassins. However, such truces were short-lived, since the leaders that succeeded those who brokered them, rarely honored the truce. Mirabeau, the Mentor of the French branch of the Assassin Order, was poisoned by Pierre Bellec, who held a fanatical belief of peace between two factions being impossible.

Other factions

Historical organizations

Besides working with Templar defectors, the Assassins also caught the attention of other organizations. During the Renaissance period, Mario Auditore led a band of mercenaries during various assignments for the benefit of the Brotherhood, such as the attack on Vieri de' Pazzi in San Gimignano.

In Venice, and later Rome, Bartolomeo d'Alviano led a company of mercenaries allied with the Assassins. Several brothels in Italy were led by Assassins, including Paola, Teodora Contanto and Claudia Auditore da Firenze, operating in Florence, Venice and Rome, respectively. Some of the thief groups were led by Assassins, such as La Volpe and Antonio de Magianis. However, others opted to stand with the Templars, such as the Cento Occhi gang in Rome, or some of the pirates in Nassau, such as Benjamin Hornigold, Josiah Burgess, and John Cockram.

Modern Organizations

In modern times, hacker organizations have gotten Assassin attention, such as the Initiates, who gave various Assassin information to a website, making their existence somewhat public, as is the knowledge that Templars who run Abstergo want to rule the planet. Another one is the Erudito Collective. Erudito might be one, many, or a group led by a man named Erudito, but their purpose is clear; they want to help Assassins in certain ways, such as in Abstergo's product Liberation, in which killing "Citizen E" characters allows you to see the "uncensored" versions of cutscenes and such in the game.

As for the Templar's side, there seems to be a third party that might lead this two-side war to become a three-way war; the Instruments of the First Will, a collection of people that have motives much like Templar motives, but choose to achieve it a way that neither Assassin nor Templar promotes; give power to the First Civilization being Juno and allow her to rule the world. The Templar agent Otso Berg mentions in a log entry that the Templars are using them to acquire Pieces of Eden, but are also using Templar resources to achieve their evil plan. Whether or not the rest of the Templar Order wants to destroy Juno is unknown at present.

Trivia

• Despite the secretive nature of both the Assassin Brotherhood and the Templar Order, the conflict sometimes gained the attention of a number of other, equally clandestine organizations. Such organizations included the Erudito collective, the Hermeticists, Initiates and Instruments of the First Will.