Database: Aleksei Zima

Orthodox Priest

Born in Constantinople during the fifteenth Century [sic], Aleksei Zima was an Orthodox priest of Russian origins and a member of the Ottoman Brotherhood.

Driven by faith and a desire to help his fellow Orthodox Christians, Aleksei became a priest of the Greek Orthodox church at a young age, but soon discovered it was plagued by rampant corruption. Disgusted, he was easily convinced by agents of the Byzantine Rite of the Templar Order that the Ottomans were at fault, and restoring the Byzantine Empire was the solution. Hopeful it would change things for the better, Aleksei joined the Templars.

However, Aleksei's trust in the Templars was broken when he saw them ruthlessly killing an entire family of Orthodox commoners that had been witnesses to the murder of an Ottoman noble. He then realized that the Templars would stop at nothing to achieve their goals, no matter the costs to innocent lives.

Deeply disturbed and not knowing what to do, Aleksei was approached by Murat Bin Husn who introduced him to the Assassins' Creed. Murat explained the Assassins' timeless feud against the Templars and their dedication to defending the innocents regardless of religion, nationality or origin. Realizing they shared the same sincere beliefs, Aleksei defected from the Templars and joined the Ottoman Brotherhood.

Thanks to his public identity as a priest of the Orthodox Church and his past connection with the Byzantine Templars, Aleksei proved to be an invaluable informant for the Ottoman Brotherhood.

In 1495, this led him to uncover a Byzantine Templar plot about to unfold in Spain, and to accompany Ishak Pasha and his most loyal Assassins into a foreign land.