British Brotherhood of Assassins

The British Assassins were a Brotherhood of Assassins, based in the British Isles, who have existed at least since the early 13th century.

First Barons' War
The earliest known actions of the British Branch was its support of the French-supported baronial uprising against the King during the First Barons' War from 1215 to 1217. Led by Robert Fitzwalter, the Assassins were determined to end the despotic rule of King John, who they knew was nothing but a pawn of his Templar advisors.

However, the Master Assassin William of Cassingham, operating independently from the Brotherhood, led a guerrilla force supporting the King, firstly because he refused to side with the French but mainly because he was a staunch supporter of John's son, Prince Henry.

Contact with the Caribbean Branch
The Order still existed in the early 18th Century and had a Mentor within the ranks as well as various other senior members. Around 1700, an Assassin sailor introduced Duncan Walpole into the Brotherhood. Duncan eventually became a Master Assassin, though his immoderate temper and arrogance was seen as a liability to most of the Order. This lack of loyalty led to Duncan defecting to the Templar cause and began corresponding with Laureano de Torres y Ayala.

In 1714, Duncan was tasked with meeting Ah Tabai, Mentor of the Caribbean Brotherhood. After learning the locations of the Assassins' headquarters in the West Indies, Duncan sailed aboard the HMS Intrigue, with the hope of joining the Templar Order. His plan begun to unravel after the HMS Intrigue attacked the Jacobite, shipwrecking Duncan and a pirate named Edward Kenway, who ultimately killed Duncan at Cape Bonavista.

Around 1722, the pirate Edward Kenway, by now well on his way to becoming an Assassin, joined the British Brotherhood after sailing to London, where he raised his son Haytham to become an Assassin from an early age. Over the following years, Edward continued his research, attempting to locate First Civilization sites across the globe; he discovered numerous Temples located in Italy and Alamut, as well as the hidden library of Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad at Masyaf. Additionally, Kenway attempted to find the location of the Grand Temple and thus recorded his research into his personal journal.

Edward became acquainted with Reginald Birch in 1723 who, unbeknownst to him, was a member of the British Rite of the Templar Order. Birch planned to acquire Edward's journal, with a view to locating the Grand Temple himself. Birch succeeded in this endeavor in 1735, when a group of mercenaries hired by Birch killed Edward and obtained his journal.

Struggling against the Templars
During the mid-18th century, the British Brotherhood was at a disadvantage with their limited manpower and resources, and struggled to combat against their Templar counterparts.

Miko, another member of the British Order, became acquainted with Achilles Davenport, Mentor of the newly established Colonial Brotherhood. In 1751, Miko informed him that Reginald Birch had begun searching the world for various Pieces of Eden that would defiantly aid the British Templars in their search for the Grand Temple. More importantly, they feared that Birch would send his deadliest agent, Haytham Kenway, to the colonies. With this message, Miko was sent on an assignment in Corsica, but not before promising to contact Achilles as soon as possible.

By 1753, Miko had arrived in Corsica and was assigned to protect Lucio Albertine, a codebreaker and ally to the Order. However, with Corsica in the midst of a revolution, the two resided in an encampment along with several rebels fighting for independence against Genoa. One June night, their camp was attacked; while Miko fought against the Genoese soldiers, Lucio attempted to escape, only to be kidnapped by Haytham Kenway. With haste, Miko caught up and engaged Kenway in battle. Despite a valiant attempt, Haytham managed to fend Miko off. After climbing a rope, Miko was forced to end his pursuit of the Templar, for fear of falling to his death. Before he ended the chase, Miko promised Haytham that the two would encounter each other again, but only one would survive.

At some point after returning to London, Miko was entrusted with the Grand Temple Key. In 1754, Miko, accompanied by his nephew, attended a performance of The Beggar's Opera in the Theatre Royal. During the play, Haytham navigated through the theatre and assassinated Miko, taking possession of the key.

Following Miko's death, the Brotherhood tasked Louis Mills with pursuing Haytham and eliminating him. To execute his plan, Mills boarded the Providence posing as one of its crew members, and secretly threw marked cargo overboard each night, leaving a trail for the Assassin vessel, the Aquila, to pursue the Providence.

The plan failed, however, as Haytham managed to kill Louis in a duel. Shortly after, the Aquila appeared in pursuit of the Providence, lured by Mills' trail of cargo. Haytham persuaded Samuel Smythe, the captain of the Providence, to sail through a brewing storm in order to lose the pursuers. During the storm, the Aquila was heavily damaged and forced to abandon the pursuit.

Industrial Revolution
During the late 1860s, the British Assassins were led by an Assassin Council, with Henry Green leading the weakened Assassins still in London. In 1868, the twins Jacob and Evie Frye, who were born into the Brotherhood, moved to London. While there, the two worked to eliminate the oppressive Templar presence.

Members

 * Samuel Bellamy
 * Robert Fitzwalter
 * Cecily Frye
 * Ethan Frye
 * Evie Frye
 * Jacob Frye
 * Henry Green
 * Annie Horniman
 * Edward Kenway
 * Moina Mathers
 * Medic
 * Miko
 * Louis Mills
 * Michel Reuge
 * Bernard Ruddock
 * Duncan Walpole
 * George Westhouse
 * William of Cassingham

Allies
 * Frederick Abberline
 * Lucio Albertine
 * Monica Albertine
 * Alexander Graham Bell
 * Henry VII of England
 * Clara O'Dea
 * Agnes MacBean
 * Robert Topping

Trivia

 * In the non-canon modern part of the French comics, the Assassin cell based in London is composed of Stella Crow, Jonathan Hawk, Nancy and Steve.