Templars

"May the Father of Understanding guide us."

- The Templar motto.

The Templars, also known as the Order of the Knights Templar, were a monastic military order-turned-corporate giant, which was formed during the prehistoric era. The Templars sought to create a perfect world, although the means by which they sought to do so - through force and control - were questionable.

Because of this, they were the sworn enemies of the Assassin Order, who believed that mankind should always have the ability to choose; to have free will, even if it meant a flawed humanity. With these conflicting ideologies, the two groups have fought over the course of thousands of years for the control and fate of humanity.

Prehistory
The organization that would later be known as the Templar Order was likely founded by Cain, whose 'mark' was used as the Templars' crest. They quickly became the archenemies of the Assassins, who, as opposed to the Templars, fought to allow the people to retain free will.

Aiding the Achaemenid Empire
During the Achaemenid Dynasty of Persia, the Templars aided King Darius I when he overthrew the usurper of the Empire and became the king of Persia.

The Templars continued to aid his son, Xerxes I, during his invasions of Greece.

Assisting Alexander the Great
The Templars' influence reached out to Macedonia, where they succeeded in allying themselves with Alexander the Great. As a symbol of their alliance, the Templars entrusted Alexander with one of the Staves of Eden, which helped Alexander to create one of the largest empires in history and become one of the most successful military commanders. However, Assassin interference resulted in Alexander's poisoning in 323 BCE, by the Babylonian Assassin Iltani.

Infiltrating the SPQR
During the Roman era, the would-be Templars heavily influenced and manipulated the leadership of the Roman Empire, namely its emperors and the ruling body, the SPQR. Their intervention in the empire's actions was continuously thwarted by the Assassins, however. A notable example of this was the plot against Gaius Julius Caesar, who was heavily influenced by the Templars, who was appointed as a dictator for life. Forty Assassins, most notably Marcus Junius Brutus and Gaius Cassius Longinus, had infiltrated Caesar's inner circle as senators. They planned to assassinate Caesar, a plan which they successfully executed on 15 March 44 BC. Sometime later, the Templar-allied queen of Egypt, Cleopatra, was killed by the Assassin Amunet in 30 BCE.

Additionally, on 24 January 41, the Assassin Leonius stabbed Caligula, another Templar-influenced emperor, with a dagger.

Crucifixion of Jesus
During the 1st century, they found out that one of the Pieces of Eden, the Shroud, was in the hands of Jesus Christ. Wanting the Piece for their own purposes, the would-be Templars crucified Jesus in order to gain it.

Retrieving of the Ankh
By 259, the would-be Templars still had positions within the Roman Empire. However, during the same year, the Assassin Aquilus, guided by his father Lucius, had begun taking down a number of Templars, until he got to his third target: the Roman general Gracchus. Being given entrance to Gracchus' military tent, he confronted Aquilus with the information he had gathered on the Assassin's activities. Trying to prevent Aquilus from killing him, Gracchus stabbed Aquilus in the chest; however, the wound was not fatal, and the Romans were quickly attacked by Alamans.

Around this time, the Roman senator Caius Fulvus Vultur - a secret Templar - traveled to Lugdunum to meet with his old contact Lucius; at the same time, Aquilus was traveling home to Lugdunum, carrying with him the Ankh, an ancient artifact capable of reviving the dead which Aquilus retrieved from his Alaman cousin Accipiter. Lucius and Aquilus, both unaware of Vultur's affiliations, had Vultur stay in their home temporarily. The same night, Aquilus interrogated the Templar priest Faustin, whom Lucius suspected on having informed Gracchus. Simultaneously, Vultur betrayed Lucius, killing him and taking possession of the Ankh. Faustin revealed Vultur's ties to Aquilus, who rushed back home, only to find his father dead and the Ankh gone.

Formation as a Knightly Order
In 1118, Bernard de Clairvaux decided the Templars needed the Church as an ally. He sent nine men to Solomon's Temple: upon their return nine years later, Grand Master Hugues de Payens and Bernard created the Latin Rule, and reorganized the Templars into a public Order of knights, whose apparent sole purpose was to protect pilgrims to the Holy Land.

In the 1129 Council of Troyes, the Order was officially recognized by the church, and in 1139, Pope Innocent II granted them diplomatic immunity in all provinces and territories and exemption from taxes. This allowed the faction to grow in numbers, strength and wealth quickly, and as they became a larger force, their responsibilities increased accordingly: the Order's many members were prominent figures in the Second Crusade.

Quest for the Chalice
In 1190, the Templars had come into possession of a powerful artifact simply known as the Chalice. Hiding it away in the Temple of the Sand, and needing three keys to unlock it. The Assassin Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad managed to obtain the keys and break into the Temple in search of the Chalice. Taking the Chalice back to Tyre, the Templars prepared to set sail with it, however they were again confronted by the Assassin, who managed to kill Lord Basilisk. The Templars, however, succeeded in taking the Chalice.

Third Crusade
By 1191, the Templars had come under the leadership of Robert de Sable. The Templars joined in the Third Crusade that was waging in the Holy Land, and De Sable started secretly recruiting men on both sides of the war. Among these were Garnier de Naplouse, William of Montferrat and Sibrand on the Crusader side, and Tamir, Talal, Abu'l Nuqoud, Majd Addin and Jubair al Hakim on the Saracen side. Unknown to the Assassins however, was that Al Mualim, the Mentor himself had joined with the Templar cause, though only as a means to obtain the Apple for himself. These ten men found an Apple of Eden together in Solomon's Temple, and made a few discoveries with it.

When Robert de Sable and a few of his men went to retrieve it from the temple, though, their progress was delayed by a small group of Assassins consisting of Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad and the brothers Malik and Kadar Al-Sayf, who were sent by Al Mualim to retrieve the treasure. Despite Altaïr being routed, Kadar's death, and Malik losing his arm, the artifact was brought into Assassin possession. This event prompted Robert to lead his men to an attack on the Assassins' fortress of Masyaf, but as soon as they arrived at the fortress gates, they were routed by a wave of falling tree logs.

Al Mualim sent Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad on a quest to take down the [other] Templars. One by one, the Templars spread throughout the cities of Damascus, Acre and Jerusalem, fell to Altaïr's blade, until he was assigned to take down Robert de Sable. De Sable had foreseen when his time would come, and assigned Maria Thorpe to impersonate him at Majd Addin's funeral, while Robert himself would ride for Arsuf in an attempt to have the Crusaders and Saracens unite in the face of the “Assassins threat”. The Assassin fell for the trap, but quickly found out about Robert's true location. Robert and Altaïr engaged in a battle at Arsuf before Robert was successful in his plan, and Robert was defeated. Before dying, he revealed to Altaïr that the last Templar was his own master, and the Assassin rode off to his final target. After Altaïr killed Al Mualim, the Apple was ultimately lost to the Assassins.

Relocating to Cyprus
Control of the Order fell to De Sable's successor, Armand Bouchart. Not too soon afterwards, Bouchart bought the island of Cyprus from King Richard I, which was formerly ruled by the secret Templar Isaac Comnenus. Planning to retrieve all the artifacts that were hidden in Templar Archive underneath Limassol, the Templars set sail from Acre to Cyprus in Fall of 1191.

The Templars quickly expanded their reach, starting with building strongholds in Limassol but rapidly taking control of Kyrenia as well. As the Templars used brute force to stay in control, the people formed a Resistance force that aimed to route the Templars from Cyprus. Additionally, the Templars were followed by Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad, who had taken Maria Thorpe as a captive. Due to Altaïr's efforts, all of Bouchart's generals in Limassol and Kyrenia were assassinated, and the Templars began to lose grip of Cyprus.

Despite the loss of many men, the Templars were successful in their objective, because while Altaïr was busy with removing Templar control in Kyrenia, the Templars had shipped out all of the artifacts in the Templar Archive underneath Limassol. After all the artifacts were shipped out, Bouchart found himself confronted by Altaïr in the Archive. The two faced off in a duel, but Bouchart too fell to Altaïr's blade.

Returning underground
By 1307, the French King Philip le Bel was manipulated by the French Assassins into accusing the Templars of heresy, forcing Pope Clement V to disband them. The Grand Master Jacques de Molay allowed himself to be burned at the stake to fool his enemies into believing the Templars were destroyed. However, Jacques passed his knowledge of the Ancients to nine of his subordinates, allowing the Order to thrive underground.

In 1321, the Templars killed the Italian Assassin Dante Alighieri, making their existence known to the Assassins. Three years later, they also killed the Assassins Marco Polo and the father of Domenico Auditore.

Hundred Years' War
In 1337, the House of Plantagenet of England attacked the kingdom of France, ruled by the House of Valois. Around 1428, a French girl named Jeanne d'Arc, who had somehow obtained one of the Swords of Eden, joined the French front and lead the French to many victories. However, this caught the attention of the Templars, who had set their sights on the Piece of Eden she had in her possession. In 1430, Jeanne was captured and interrogated by the English, which caused her to lose the Sword to the Templars. In 1431, the Templars executed her by burning.

Renaissance
In the latter half of the 15th century, the Brotherhood had regained a stronger position of strength on the world stage, spreading deep into the Church and nobility of Italy. Under the command of Rodrigo Borgia, the Templars sought to unify northern Italy under their command, and regain the Apple of Eden which they knew to be buried in Cyprus.

Sforza assassination
Under Rodrigo, the Templars sought to remove the Sforza family from power in Milan, thus destabilizing the city's relations with Florence. Their plan was to assassinate the Duke, Galeazzo Maria Sforza, on the Feast of Santo Stefano. Rodrigo, having made plans in Florence, left the city with a couple of henchmen, but was followed by Giovanni Auditore da Firenze, an Assassin. Rodrigo, frightened, left his henchmen to fight Giovanni while he made his escape. Giovanni managed to kill the henchmen, and take one captive. Giovanni brought this man to the Medici, where he was tortured by Lorenzo de' Medici and Uberto Alberti, who was secretly a Templar.

Having gathered enough information on their plans from Rodrigo's henchman, Giovanni hurried to Milan to prevent the Duke's assassination. However, the Templars Giovanni Andrea Lampugnani, Carlo Visconti and Gerolamo Olgiati killed the Duke when the church bell rang for the twelfth time. Visconti and Olgiati managed to escape, while Lampugnani was killed by a Sforza guard.

Auditore execution
Having been successful in their plan for Milan, the Templars switched their attention to the city of Florence. However, Florence's de facto ruler, Lorenzo de' Medici, was an ally of the Assassin Giovanni Auditore, and his family was a strong enemy of the Pazzi family; the Templars' main stronghold in Florence. In order to avoid further interventions from the Assassins, Giovanni Auditore and his two sons Federico and Petruccio were imprisoned in the Palazzo della Signoria, and they would be trialled by their former ally Uberto Alberti, who was corrupted by the Borgia.

However, the Pazzi guards were unable to capture Giovanni's remaining son; Ezio. Nonetheless, Giovanni, Federico and Petruccio were hanged in front of the Palazzo della Signoria. Ezio, who had attended the execution, realized that his family had been betrayed by Alberti, and after escaping, began making preparations for his revenge. Not too soon afterwards, Ezio, using his father's equipment, killed Alberti during an exhibition of Verrocchio's latest work.

However, the Borgia, believing their problems with the Assassins were solved, continued with their plans to take down the Medici.

Pazzi Conspiracy
Over the next two years, the Templars, majorly the Pazzi family, continued their schemes for control over Florence. In 1478, Rodrigo met with Jacopo, Francesco and Vieri de' Pazzi in San Gimignano, discussing everyone's tasks in the conspiracy. However, Vieri was killed right after the meeting ended by Ezio, who had attacked the town alongside his uncle Mario and his mercenaries.

Nonetheless, the Templars continued their plans, again arranging a meeting underneath the Santa Maria Novella not too long after the former meeting. Rodrigo, who had received Pope Sixtus IV's blessing on the conspiracy on the condition that nobody was killed, was again present, and made the final preparations. The following Sunday, the Pazzi attacked the Medici when they arrived at the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore for High Mass; the event that would be known as the Pazzi Conspiracy. Francesco successfully killed Giuliano de' Medici, stabbing him in the chest nineteen times, but the Pazzi Conspirators were only able to wound Lorenzo de' Medici, who was joined by Ezio Auditore in fighting off the Medici. With Ezio's help, Lorenzo managed to escape, but the Pazzi did not cease to cause trouble in the city. On Lorenzo's request, Ezio hunted Francesco de' Pazzi down and killed him.

With the Templars routed from Florence, Jacopo and the other conspirators fled to San Gimignano in Tuscany, where they had once again arranged to meet with Rodrigo in 1480. However, all four remaining Pazzi Conspirators - Bernardo Baroncelli, Antonio Maffei, Stefano da Bagnone and Antonio Maffei - all fell to Ezio's blade over the course of two years. Jacopo went to the meeting alone, where his failure and words angered Rodrigo; in the process, Jacopo was stabbed in the chest, nearly killing him. Sensing Ezio's presence at the meeting, Rodrigo sent his guards after the Assassin; nonetheless, Ezio was once again able to fend the guards off and put Jacopo out of his misery. With their plans for Florence thwarted by the lone Assassin, the Templars turned their attention to Venice.

Taking over Venice
By 1480 in Venice, Emilio Barbarigo was attempting to unite all the merchants in Venice's commercial district under his banner. Despite failed attempts from the city's Thieves Guild, Emilio was assassinated in 1486 by Ezio Auditore. A meeting between Carlo Grimaldi, Silvio Barbarigo, Marco Barbarigo, Dante Moro and Rodrigo Borgia took place soon afterwards, discussing their plans for Venice. They decided that they would kill the Doge, Giovanni Mocenigo, that same night and that Marco Barbarigo would take his place. In fact, the plan to take the Doge's seat was a plan to distract the Assassin from the Templars' real objective: retrieving the Apple of Eden from Cyprus.

Ezio Auditore, who had eavesdropped on the meeting, quickly devised a strategy to prevent the killing of Mocenigo and used Leonardo da Vinci's flying machine to infiltrate the Doge's residence, the Palazzo Ducale. However, Ezio was too late to prevent the Doge from being poisoned, but he managed to kill Carlo Grimaldi, who was responsible for the Doge's death.

Marco had taken the position of Doge, never to come out to prevent the Assassin from having an opportunity to kill him. However, during Carnevale, Marco was obliged to show himself to the people at his personal party. Ezio had managed to obtain entry to the party, and as soon as Marco showed himself, the Assassin struck.

Due to the Assassin's efforts, the Venetian Templars had to rely on Silvio Barbarigo and Dante Moro. They had hired a group of mercenaries to strengthen their forces, and positioned themselves in the Arsenal of Venice, fighting with Venice's Mercenaries Guild led by Bartolomeo d'Alviano. Ezio Auditore joined forces with Bartolomeo, and together they managed to draw Silvio and Dante away from their troops. Without any protection, the two attempted to flee to their boat inside the Arsenal to sail to Cyprus, but they were killed by Ezio before they could set sail. Other boats had already managed to set sail, though, and were on their way to Cyprus.

Quest for the Apple
Despite the Templars facing "complications" on Cyprus, the Templar boat returned to Venice in 1488. A Templar courier was assigned to bring the Apple to a Templar guard post, from where the Apple would be escorted to Rodrigo Borgia. However, Ezio killed the guard assigned to carry the Apple, and put on his uniform; impersonating him. After the escort had reached Rodrigo, its members were killed by Ezio and the latter faced off in a fight with Rodrigo. Ezio was later joined by other members of the Assassin Order, and Rodrigo made his escape, leaving the Apple behind.

With the Apple in the hands of the Assassins, the Templars approached the Orsi brothers – Ludovico and Checco – to obtain a map detailing the location of the Codex pages from the wife of the Templar Girolamo Riario – Caterina Sforza. Invading Forlì, the Orsi brothers demanded the map, and the Apple in exchange for the lives of Sforza's children. The brothers were rebuked, and assaulted the Rocca di Ravaldino. Together with the city guards, the Assassins Ezio Auditore and Niccolò Machiavelli held off the assault, although a second succeeded in claiming the Apple briefly when Ezio Auditore left to kill Ludovico. After Ezio had returned successfully, he chased after Checco and assassinated the latter, taking the Apple with him.

Control over the Papacy
Despite the loss of the Apple, Rodrigo was ultimately unfazed. In 1491, he became a candidate in the Papal conclave and fooled the Spanish Inquisitor General Tomás de Torquemada into following his orders. Much of these orders involved annihilating the Assassins Guild in Barcelona, Spain, with Rodrigo claiming they were heretics. Rodrigo also made attempts to thwart Christoffa Corombo's journey to the New World, and planning to make the Templars journey there. However, all of these plans were thwarted again by Ezio Auditore, who had sailed to Spain.

In 11 August 1492, Rodrigo had become Pope Alexander VI after having bribed most of the cardinals. Being the head of the Christian church, the Templars became the most powerful force in Europe and based their headquarters in Rome. As the Pope, Rodrigo had access to the Papal Staff, which was in reality one of the Staves of Eden.

In the late 1490s, Rodrigo learned that the Apple had come into the possession of the monk Girolamo Savonarola, who had just become the ruler of Florence. Aiming to get the Apple back in their possession, the Borgia sent continuous waves of soldiers to Florence. However, the bodies kept being sent back, and the Borgia were disappointed when Savonarola was executed without them having the Apple in their possession.

In 1499, the leading Assassins in Italy travelled to Rome to distract the Borgia guards, while Ezio traveled along the Passetto di Borgo to St. Peter's Cathedral. Once inside, the Assassin lunged at Rodrigo Borgia while he was proclaiming the Nicene Creed in Latin to the congregation. Rodrigo shoved the Assassin away, then used the Staff to kill his entire congregation. A fight ensued with Rodrigo using the Staff and Ezio using the Apple. The power of the Staff was able to overpower Ezio, and after Rodrigo stabbed Ezio in the abdomen, he entered the Vault underneath the Sistine Chapel. Rodrigo wasn't able to enter the Vault, though, as only the "Prophet" could do it. Rodrigo was soon faced by Ezio again, and after one final fight in hand-to-hand combat, Ezio informed Rodrigo that he was not the Prophet and had never been. Broken by this revelation and accepting defeat, Rodrigo told Ezio to kill him and put an end to it, but unlike Ezio's other targets, Rodrigo was not killed as Ezio could not find a reason to do so, stating that killing him wouldn't bring his family back. As Ezio entered the Vault, Rodrigo fled back to safety.

Five days afterwards, Rodrigo's son Cesare, who served as the Captain General of the Papal Army, had slowly begun to take control over the Templar Order and laid siege to the Assassins' and Auditore's headquarters of Monteriggioni. In the process, the Templars captured Caterina Sforza, executed Mario Auditore, shot Ezio Auditore and obtained the Apple of Eden. After Monteriggioni lay in ruins, the Borgia returned to Rome victorious.

As control over the Templars slowly shifted to Cesare, he became the new Grand Master and strived to take over all of Italy, and later Europe. As the Templars were ruling the church, individuals such as King Louis XII of France, King Ferdinand II of Aragon and King Manuel I of Portugal all answered to the Borgia. Meanwhile, Cesare planned to strengthen his army with war machines created by Leonardo da Vinci, who had been forced into serving the Borgia. With his army, Cesare quickly conquered various states in he Italy.

However, Ezio Auditore had moved to Italy and started rebuilding the Assassin Brotherhood there. In Cesare's absence, Ezio destroyed the war machines and the Assassins killed most of Cesare's high-ranking generals, including his personal banker Juan Borgia and the French general Octavian de Valois. Control over Rome became lost to the Templars, and their plans couldn't be executed. Returning home from war, Cesare found all his support gone and his funds cut off.

Routing from Italy
On 18 August 1503, Rodrigo, who had begun to see Cesare as a threat, met with his son in the papal apartments of the Castel Sant'Angelo. There, he placed a bucket with poisoned apples on the table, and as planned Cesare took a bite from one of them. However, Cesare's sister Lucrezia had found out about Rodrigo's intentions and entered the room to warn her brother. Furious, Cesare shoved the remaining apple down Rodrigo's throat, asking him where the Apple was simultaneously. However, Rodrigo died and Cesare obtained the Apple's location after threatening his sister. Ezio Auditore entered the room after Cesare left, and also got the Apple's location from Lucrezia. Both Cesare and Ezio raced to the Apple, though the latter got to it faster. With the Apple, Ezio exterminated most of Cesare's remaining followers and Cesare himself was arrested on orders of Pope Julius II.

Cesare, who had become the sole ruler of the Templars, was able to escape his imprisonment in the Castel Sant'Angelo. He tried to escape by boat, but was captured by Ezio once again. The Pope had Cesare transferred to Castillo de la Mota, Aragon in Spain in 1504; a location that only the Pope was aware of.

In 1506, Cesare was freed from La Mota by Micheletto Corella, and together they rode to Valencia. There, Cesare started to raise an army, operating from the Lone Wolf Inn. Ezio, who had used the Apple to track Cesare, destroyed Cesare's encampment and twelve ships together with Niccolò Machiavelli. Cesare blamed Micheletto for the attack, and the latter attempted to strangle Cesare. Cesare gained the upper hand during the struggle, though, and shot Micheletto. Without any men, Cesare made his escape to the Kingdom of Navarre, ruled by his brother-in-law John III.

In March 1507, John III appointed Cesare to lead his forces during the Siege of Viana. During the battle, Cesare was once again faced by Ezio, who used the Apple to locate Cesare. Cesare made his escape towards the castle, but was ultimately confronted by Ezio atop the walls of Viana Castle. After being defeated, Cesare got thrown off the castle walls by Ezio. With Cesare's death, the Templars were no longer led by the Borgia and their quest to conquer Italy and the rest of Europe was at an end.

Expedition in Masyaf
In 1511, Byzantine Templars had invaded the abandoned Assassin Fortress in Masyaf, having learned of Altaïr's library and hoping to unlock its secrets. They had already recovered one of the keys to the library, which had been hidden underneath Topkapı Palace.

However, due to not having the other keys, they could not enter the library and were forced to attempt breaking the door open. Despite the fact that they had an expert working on it for months, they were not able to make any progress.

In March 1511, Ezio Auditore da Firenze, traveled to Masyaf. He too hoped to enter Altaïr's library. The Byzantine Templars, who were then led by Leandros, the man in charge of the Masyaf troops, were able to capture the Assassin. They attempted to hang the Assassin, but he managed to escape and started to make his way to the library door.

There, he learned of the existence of a journal, which was held by Leandros. The man working on opening the door then left with the Assassin, who started to chase Leandros to the village gates. From there, Ezio and Leandros started a chase, both of them using a carriage in an attempt to beat the other off the road.

Ezio's carriage was eventually thrown of a cliff, and Leandros made his way through Atlas Village. There, the Assassin sought Leandros out and managed to assassinate him and take Niccolò Polo's journal from him.

Struggle in Constantinople
The Templars' influence soon became apparent, as the Byzantine Templars planned an attack on Prince Suleiman during a banquet. However, their plans were ruined by Ezio and Yusuf, who infiltrated the party as minstrels and sought out the Byzantine Templars. Their plot was discovered and Suleiman started an investigation into the failure of the Janissaries and their captain, Tarik Barleti.

Ezio Auditore assisted the prince in his investigation, following Tarik Barleti in the Grand Bazar to find out what he was planning. The Assassins discovered that Tarik was working with men named Manuel Palaiologos and Shahkulu, selling them weapons. The weapons were to be shipped to Cappadocia, and Ezio reported his findings to Suleiman. They then decided that Tarik, who worked with the Byzantine Templars, had to be assassinated.

Ezio acquired a Janissary uniform and infiltrated their camp, seeking out Tarik Barleti and managing to assassinate him from above. Tarik then revealed that he had planned to ambush the Byzantine Templars and strike them where they felt safest. Ezio, realizing his mistake, apologized and promised to take down the Templars, before returning to Suleiman and telling him what he had discovered.

Ezio then planned his journey to Cappadocia, but he soon discovered that the Templars had raised the Great Chain. Using a bomb to destroy the Chain, Ezio and Piri Reis set off for Cappadocia.

Collapse of Cappadocia
Upon his arrival in Cappadocia, Ezio sought out Tarik Barleti's spies in the city. However, he soon discovered that Dilara was the only one that had not been captured by the Templars yet. Soon after, they also managed to imprison her, and Ezio had to find the key to her cel to free her.

Dilara and Ezio sought out the Renegade, Shahkulu, who was torturing spies to death. Ezio managed to assassinate him, but only after a long and difficult fight. The Assassin then made his way to the Templar's weapon depot, where he managed to blow up their stash of gunpowder, causing heavy damage to the underground city and succumbing it into chaos.

Manuel Palaiologos appeared to calm his citizens, only to panic upon seeing the Assassin. After a short chase, the Assassin faced Manuel in a swordfight, but the aged Templar proved no match for the skilled Assassin. Manuel handed his Masyaf Key to the Assassin, who then prepared to leave Cappadocia.

As the Assassin prepared to leave the docks, he was confronted by Ahmet, Suleiman's uncle and one of the two candidates for the sultanate, revealing himself to be the Grand Master of the Byzantine Templars. He threatened to seek out Sofia Sartor to gain information about the Masyaf Keys, causing Ezio to hurry back to Constantinople.

Fall of the Byzantines
Upon Ezio's return in Constantinople, he immediately went to Sofia's bookshop, where he found several dead Byzantines, along with the body of his friend and fellow Assassin, Yusuf Tazim. The Assassins then launched a full-scale attack on the Arsenal. Ahmet and Ezio met, and they arranged to exchange Sofia Sartor for the Masyaf Keys.

They met each other near the Galata Tower, where Ezio handed Ahmet the keys before being able to rescue Sofia. Ahmet used a decoy to lure Ezio away from Sophia, but he managed to save her anyway. Ahmet then fled in his carriage. Ezio and Sofia then chased Ahmet's carriage in a carriage of their own. However, Ezio soon fell of his carriage, only being able to follow using a parachute attached to the carriage. The Assassin's carriage soon collapsed, and Ezio threw himself and Ahmet off a cliff, only using his parachute at the very last moment to land safely.

The Assassin then recovered the Keys from Ahmet, who was still alive, before they were confronted by Selim I, who revealed himself to be the new Sultan. Selim then threw his brother Ahmet off a cliff, killing him and thus ending the reign of the Byzantine Templars.

Aiding Jiajing's ascendance
In 1521, Emperor Zhengde of China passed away, and lacked a proper heir. The Chinese Templars, eager to gain power, aided in the ascendance of Zhengde's nephew Jiajing. With Jiajing as the Emperor, the Assassins in China were hunted down and nearly fully eradicated. The remaining Assassins were forced to flee, with Jiajing's men in hot pursuit. The imperial soldiers even followed the Assassins to Europe, where the Assassin Shao Jun had made her way to Italy in order to seek aid from Ezio Auditore, the now retired Mentor of the Italian Assassins. Jiajing wanted the Chinese Assassins eradicated at all costs, and the imperial guards even went as far to attack Shao Jun in Ezio's villa in Tuscany. However, Shao Jun and Ezio, then in his mid 60s, were able to defeat the soldiers.

Age of Reason
Templars looked at the Renaissance as a dark time for the Order: while other men progressed humanity's knowledge, the 15th century Templars led by the debaunched Borgia did not care for such ideals, using the Order as a platform to gain power and influence. By the 17th century, the Templars began adjusting their philosophy. Instead of making personal bids for powers, the Templars sought to influence rather than control the leaders and intellectuals of the new age.

War of Currents
By the 19th century, the Templars had established a major foothold in the American industry, with important figures such as Thomas Edison, Henry Ford and Harvey Firestone being Templars themselves.

During the late 1880s, Edison, who had created a direct current (DC) for electric power distribution, became an adversary of Nikola Tesla, his former employee who had created an alternating current (AC). Jealous of Tesla's more efficient invention, the Templars began to spread propaganda slandering Tesla, like electrocuting an elephant with AC electricity on public television. Additionally, Edison contacted his associate J. P. Morgan, who was financing Tesla, informing him of Tesla's intentions to make electricity free to all people and telling him to cut off Tesla's funds. Eventually, the Templars' efforts worked in their favor and DC electricity was distributed across the globe.

During the early 20th century, Ranny Olds and Henry Ford developed and popularized the assembly line, a manufacturing process, to control both capitalists and workers.

Russian Revolution
During the late 19th century, the Templars started gaining strong influence over the Russian Empire and the ruling House of Romanov. Both Tsar Alexander II and Tsar Alexander III became strong allies of the Templar Order, and supported their goals. As a result, the Russian Assassins and its left-wing terrorist offspring the Narodnaya Volya targeted the Romanovs, eventually managing to kill Tsar Alexander II in 1881. The Assassin Nikolai Orelov made an attempt on the life of Tsar Alexander III, in which he was unsuccessful due to the Tsar's surprising strength, stamina and his possession of a Staff of Eden, and the event eventually turned into the Borki train disaster.

Tsar Alexander III died in 1894 of kidney failure. His son Nicholas II, who was not an ally to the Templars, gained control over the Empire, and the Templar agent Grigori Rasputin infiltrated Nicholas' close circle by "miraculously" healing his son. After being close enough, Rasputin replaced the Staff of Eden with a replica, taking the real artefact to a Templar research station in Tunguska.

In 1908, Orelov obtained the station's location and, together with a group of other Assassins, was sent to destroy the artifact. While the Assassins killed the Templars inside and secured the station, their ally Nikola Tesla sent a bolt of electricity from the USA, causing the station to explode and the Staff to be scattered into pieces; known commonly as the Tunguska explosion. Rasputin somehow managed to obtain one of those pieces and used it to hypnotize and control the Imperial family. Rasputin himself was later killed by the Assassins, and the Templars lost control over Russia.

The Russian Imperial family was overthrown during the Russian Revolution, and power shifted to Vladimir Lenin, an ally of the Assassins and leader of the newly formed Soviet Union. Unbeknownst to them, Lenin's subordinate Joseph Stalin was secretly a Templar and took over control of the Soviet Union after Lenin's death.

Founding Abstergo Industries
In 1937, the Templars founded Abstergo Industries, a secret company aiming to control capitalists and workers and neutralize communism. The Templars, who had previously created the capitalistic economic system, hoped to control the people through owning capitalistic companies, as opposed to having people own the companies. The company would go on to control a lot of corporations and organizations, including the Ford Motor Company, NASA, the CIA and BP.

World War II
In the late 1930s, Adolf Hitler, a secret Templar, began to take over political control over Germany. After having assumed full control, Hitler used an Apple of Eden to form Nazi Germany and hypnotize the population to join his cause. With this newfound support, Hitler began to declare "war" on Germany's neighboring countries, quickly conquering them. A worldwide war - World War II - soon erupted, but the entire war was a Templar plot to keep the people in control.

While the entire war was overseen by the Templars, the world was split between two forces. On one side of the war stood the Axis, primarily led by Hitler and Benito Mussolini. On the other side stood the Allied forces, led by the Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin; the Big Three.

On 30 April 1945, Hitler shot his own double inside his Führerbunker to make the people believe he had died, while the real Hitler planned to take the Apple of Eden and meet with Churchill. However, an Assassin had been biding his time outside the Führerbunker, and assassinated Hitler before the latter could make the meeting.

Overthrowing governments
During the 1950s and 1970s, Abstergo Industries heavily involved themselves with opening up the markets to capitalism.

In 1953, the Templars orchestrated the overthrowing of Iranian prime minister Mohammad Mosaddegh, to make the constitutional monarch Mohammad Reza Pahlavi into an authoritarian one. The Shah, SAVAK and Sha'baan Ja'fari terrorized citizens and protected capitalist oil interests, which Mossadegh wanted to go to the people.

Abstergo planned the 1954 coup d’état against Guetemalan president Jacobo Árbenz Guzmán.

JFK assassination and Apollo 11
In the 1960s, the Templars sought to obtain an Apple of Eden that was located on the Moon. However, President John F. Kennedy, who also had an Apple of Eden in his possession, did not share the Templars' motives and thus the Templars planned to get rid of Kennedy.

On 22 November 1963, Kennedy was planned to drive around Dallas, Texas, and the Templars appointed William Greer as his driver, while Lee Harvey Oswald would be the primary assassin and Abraham Zapruder the secondary assassin. Oswald shot Kennedy with several bullets, while Greer grabbed the Piece of Eden in the confusion. Moments afterwards, the Templars made a "phantom" appear on the hill in the background to cause more chaos. After Kennedy's death, Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson, who was also a secret Templar, became President of the United States.

On 20 July 1969, the Templar organization NASA had sent the Apollo 11 to the Moon to obtain the Apple of Eden, which turned out to be a successful mission.

Dissolving communism
During the late 20th century, Abstergo made plans to stand up to communism in several countries, being successful in overthrowing several communistic governments.

Abstergo manipulated the American Vice President Henry Kissinger into orchestrating the 1973 coup d’état against Chilean president Salvador Allende, who had gained much popularity with the people and wanted the people to own Chile's corporations. Abstergo removed Allende and replaced him with general Augusto Pinochet, who installed a military Junta. Abstergo promised the Chilean capitalists to ensure the Junta remained in power, they would transfer all corporate debt to Argentina.

During the 1990s, Abstergo manipulated Margaret Thatcher, a Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, to contact Boris Yeltsin and inform him that Mikhail Gorbachev, the head of the Soviet Union, did not bear the company's interest at heart. Yeltsin stood up against communism, causing Gorbachev to lose popularity. In December 1991, Yeltsin unseated Gorbachev and became President of the Russian Federation.

Animus Project
In the late 20th century, Abstergo began abducting people of Assassin descent to use them as subjects for their Animus project. In 1985, they captured a young American boy of Assassin descent who was named Subject 4; codename Daniel Cross. Doctor Warren Vidic used a "working prototype" capable of mimicking a Piece of Eden to plant an impulse into Cross' brain that would make him subconsciously infiltrate the Assassin Order and, when given the opportunity, kill the Order's Mentor. After the operation was successful, Cross was sent into the outside world.

In 2000, the Templars and Assassins both struggled for control over the United States due to the Presidential election. The candidate George W. Bush was used as a puppet by the Templars, while Al Gore was backed by the Assassins. However, before the eventual election took place, Daniel Cross had successfully infiltrated the Assassin Order and killed the Mentor, and Cross returned to Abstergo's Philadelphia facility. The Templars had obtained the locations of all the Assassin camps due to Cross' visits being in his memories, forcing the Assassins to operate in small teams, and the Templars had gained the upper hand in the election.

By September of 2012, sixteen test subjects had been "retired" before the company succeeded with the seventeenth – Desmond Miles, a descendant of both Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad and Ezio Auditore da Firenze.

Upon being captured by Abstergo, and for seven days, Desmond Miles was forced to relive the genetic memories of his ancestor Altaïr in order to reach one specific memory the Templars were seeking. The memory that was valuable to Abstergo registered the moment his ancestor found a holographic map containing the locations of all Pieces of Eden scattered across the world. With the information they had long sought in hand, the Templars set about gathering the remaining Pieces to ensure "absolute peace", although they soon found themselves in a race against the Assassin Order to obtain the Pieces first. They planned to send a satellite with a Piece mounted on it into orbit, with the launch scheduled on December 21, 2012.

Ideals and goals
"Non nobis Domine, non nobis, sed Nomini Tuo da Gloriam. Latin: Not to us God, not to us, but to Your Name Give Glory."

- The motto followed by the Templars during the Crusades.

The existence of the Templars became known to the public in 1129, when its military order was founded to counter the greatly increasing threat against the Holy Land by the Saracens, and to protect the city of Jerusalem. Over time, the Templars began to believe it within their power to unite the world in peace.

Their system of belief changed greatly upon the discovery of the Pieces of Eden; they began to speculate that God was a myth and this led the Order to become atheistic, although they publicly maintained the pretence of following the Christian ways so as to not lose the support of the Church.

Realizing the power that the Pieces of Eden held over man, the Templars began to seek out the artifacts. In 1191, Robert de Sable, then the Grand Master of the Order, personally sought the fabled Apple of Eden, buried in the catacombs of Solomon's Temple, beneath the Temple Mount. The theft of the Piece of Eden by the Order of Assassins renewed the sustained conflict between the two powers, ending with the death of Armand Bouchart in Limassol. Despite this setback, the Order maintained its belief in creating a world of peace through manipulation of the Pieces of Eden.

By their reasoning, with no afterlife or ultimate punishment or reward after death, there was no reason to oblige notions of morality or ethics: the end always justified the means, no matter how heinous those means were. With so many lower class people kept in line by the promise of an afterlife, and so many upper class men blissfully ignoring such ideals, the Templars vowed to make a better world; one of lasting peace, no matter what the cost. However, not all Templars are comfortable with this idea and many are simply unaware of the atrocities committed in the name of the greater good. Some, such as Maria Thorpe, choose to leave the Templar Order after realizing what the Templars do. Others are silenced before they are able to escape.

As time progressed, the Templars interest in the Pieces of Eden became more focused on seeking the power and domination that the artifacts offered. Their goals changed as they sought to control and unify the entire world using the Pieces of Eden to create a "New World Order".