Nikolai Orelov

Nikolai Andreievich Orelov (Russian: Николай Орлов) was a Russian Assassin who lived during the late 19th and early 20th century. A member of the Russian sect of the Assassin Order, the Narodnaya Volya, he was the great-grandfather of Daniel Cross.

Early life
Orelov was born in the later half of the 19th century to a member of the Narodnaya Volya. His father decided for Nikolai to become an Assassin as well, and thus had him start his training at a young age. In the Assassin Order, he befriended Aleksandr Ulyanov and his younger brother Vladimir Lenin.

On May 20, 1887, Nikolai witnessed the execution of Aleksandr after the latter was captured after a failed assassination attempt of Tsar Alexander III. As the rope was put around Aleksandr's neck, he pointed his finger towards Nikolai, meaning that he found Nikolai guilty for not rescueing him. This event caused Nikolai to have nightmares for the next year.

Borki train disaster
Sometime in 1888, Nikolai woke in bed after having another nightmare about the death of his close friend, Aleksandr Ulyanov. He confided in his partner, Anna, that he felt deeply responsible for his death. She told him that Alek knew the risks when he joined the Brotherhood. Nikolai then told her that he had been tasked with assassinating Tsar Alexander III in order to loosen the Templar grip on the region. Anna wished him safety in his mission, for she needed him to help raise their child, with whom she was pregnant.

Nikolai rode on horseback for Crimea the next morning, chasing the Imperial train. After infiltrating the train and making his way to the royal carriage, Orelov was surprised to find the entire Royal family travelling, when he had been told only the Tsar was aboard. Alexander III attacked him from behind and the two fought as the train careened off the tracks and crashed. Whilst Nikolai was recovering from the crash, Alexander III pulled out the Staff and challenged the Assassin to kill him with it, throwing the Staff to him. Despite wielding the Staff and relying upon his Assassin training, Nikolai was defeated by the physically superior Alexander, but was spared death when the Tsar's children came into view. Nikolai fled to report his failure to the Order.

Nikolai and Anna's child was somehow "lost", before or after it was born, causing Nikolai to become bitter and filled with anger, which caught the attention of his Brothers.

Tunguska event
In 1908, the Assassins captured a Templar named Dolinsky and Orelov tortured the man in order to reveal where the Staff had gone following his failure. Two other Assassins were present and one noted that his methods were extremely harsh, while the other replied that it was because Orelov had previously lost a child. Under threats to his family, Dolinsky revealed that the facility that housed the Staff was located in Siberia and Orelov set off for Tunguska.

The Mentor requested that Nikolai and his fellow Assassins would destroy the Staff, which was being tested with electrical machines stolen from their ally, Nikola Tesla. While approaching the facility, which had a Tesla coil built above it, Orelov explained to the others that Tesla stood ready with his teleforce weapon, in America, ready to destroy it.

Nikolai and his comrades stormed the facility, killing all of the Templar guards within. When Orelov reached the top, the Staff had been activated by the electrical current. He heard voices coming from it, saying things like "Always the fighter," "Adam, I have it," "Just like your father," and "Eve." At that moment, Tesla activated his weapon with the words "Rot in hell, Thomas," and the tower was destroyed. Orelov was the only survivor, laying with his clothes in tatters, on the edge of the explosion mumbling that the Staff had been destroyed. Nikolai returned home to Anna, "bleached and broken," who welcomed him with a look of horror and grief.

Nikolai and Anna had another child, a daughter, a few years afterwards.

Russian Revolution
In 1917, Vladimir Lenin was leading a revolution against the Tsarist royal house. Lenin had personally sent a letter to Nikolai, asking for him to dispose of Tsarevich Nicholas II and thus eliminate the last symbol of Imperialism. Nikolai did infiltrate Nicholas II's residence, asking him for the location of the Staff, which he had spotted on a picture of the Tsarevich. Nicholas II, threatened, brought Nikolai to the Staff, though Nikolai was quickly able to conclude that it was a fake. He said that the real Staff had a light shining from within and that when looked into it, one could see "the turn of the world and a glimpse of what lies beyond." He broke the fake Staff, proving it was indeed a replica. When Nicholas II asked him to spare his family just like he spared his father's if he would kill him, he replied that he wouldn't kill him, saying that he did "not care any longer" and that he only wanted to make sure that the Staff was indeed destroyed. He did warn Nicholas II that the next Assassin to come after him wouldn't be as objective as him, however. Nikolai proceeded to leave the building via a window, but not before hearing Nicholas II inform him that Grigori Rasputin wore a splinter around his neck, which was of the same material as the Staff, according to Nikolai's description.

Nikolai and two other men went to search for Rasputin's grave and dug him up. Nikolai examined the corpse, searching for the splinter, until he found what he was after and returned to Anna, who was waiting in their carriage.

Later life
Nikolai chose to retire and abruptly cut his ties with the Assassin Order, which had no trace of him afterwards. Along with their daughter, they crossed Russia's borders and boarded a ship bound for the United States of America, where they started a new life together and had at least one more child.

Appearance
Orelov wore a large fur coat with the traditional Assassin's hood. He wielded one Hidden Blade, a dagger, a sabre and a rifle. He wore a sash and a baldric with the Assassins' emblem on it.

Trivia

 * Nikolai's surname, Orelov, is not a Russian name; the closest match being "Orlov" (Оpлов), which means "сын орла" (syn orla), or "son of oryol," where "oryol" means "eagle." It could also come from Orel, which is Czech, Slovenian and Bulgarian for "eagle." This is in continuation of the series' tradition of referencing the protagonist's name to that of the eagle in the Assassin's native language, or some derivation.