Followers of Romulus

"A place in heaven awaits those who serve the wolf!"

- A leader of the Followers of Romulus.

The Followers of Romulus, also known as Secta Luporum (English: Sect of the Wolves), were adherents of, the mythical founder of Rome, whom they worshipped as a god.

According to legend, Romulus and his brother Remus were raised by a wolf, and as a result, were said to be half wolf and half man. In tribute to this, the Followers' attire included a skinned wolf pelt.

Appearance
The Followers of Romulus were portrayed as powerfully-built, rather brutish men covered in wolfskin pelts, who attacked viciously in large poops.

They were armed with various short blades and throwing knives, and tended to growl and snarl when in a fight. When killed, and often before attacking, they howled like a wolf.

Being quite athletic and acrobatic in a fight, they commonly employed a unique fighting move, a spinning slash attack. This move was not performed by any other, aside from Ezio Auditore da Firenze (with his hidden blades).

The Followers were also adept free-runners, as the lairs that they occupied required such skills to traverse. Additionally, they often attacked in ambushes, hiding above or in tunnels before springing onto their prey in large numbers.

Borgia Alliance
"This band of false pagans has been terrorizing the city for months and driving the people into the arms of the church."

- Niccolò Machiavelli.

The leaders of the sect were paid by the Borgia to manipulate the Followers into doing their bidding, and would often do so through carefully scripted "sermons", and evocations of their god.

The Followers themselves were mainly used to cause fear in the civilians, and send them into the arms of the Catholic Church. Later orders included having them specifically target the Borgia's enemies, the Assassins.

However, the masses of the Followers were misguided, with their leaders commanding them in the name of Romulus, despite not believing in his mystical existence themselves.

Lairs
The Followers occupied seven underground lairs, which could be found beneath famous landmarks in Rome. The lairs could be accessed through locked grates hung with a wolf's skull, or through ladders hidden beneath circular trapdoors.

Each lair contained a shrine dedicated to Romulus, which was always decorated with wooden crosses, treasure, and skulls. A single golden chest at the center of the shrine would also hold one of the six Scrolls of Romulus, and a corresponding key.

These six keys would unlock the gate to the Followers' central shrine, which held their cherished treasure, the unbreakable armor and dagger of Romulus. However, in truth, the equipment had belonged to Brutus, and had only been entrusted to the Followers as an icon to worship.

In the early 16th century, the Master Assassin Ezio Auditore was able to enter all of the Followers' lairs. By traversing them, he was able to find out more about the Followers, and obtain their scrolls, keys, and subsequently, their treasured set of armor.

Trivia

 * In certain art (their Database image, and the image featured above), the Followers are depicted with a heavy weapon or a pair of short blades. In-game, they use only a single short blade.
 * The Followers are relatively weak opponents, and can only perform slight damage to a single block of Ezio's health, rather than removing the block entirely. They also possess one of the weakest resistance in the game.
 * The Followers often use throwing knives before directly attacking, have unique death cries and display unique attack animations.
 * In the Collector's Edition of the Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood Complete Official Guide, the Followers of Romulus are labelled as Wolfmen.