Niccolò Polo

Niccolò Polo (c. 1230 - unknown) was a Venetian merchant and explorer, and the father of the famous explorer Marco Polo. Working with his brother Maffeo for the majority of his life, they established trading posts in Constantinople, Sudak and in a western part of the Mongol Empire.

In 1257, Niccolò and Maffeo were trained into the Assassin Order by the Mentor of the Syrian Assassins, Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad, and his son Darim. Entrusted with Altaïr's Codex and the future of the Assassin Order, the Polo brothers established various Assassins Guilds, like in Constantinople and Venice.

Having lost the Codex to the Mongols in 1257, Niccolò, Maffeo and Marco later traveled to the Mongol Empire, where they met Kublai Khan and retrieved the Codex, bringing it with them to Venice.

Early life
Niccolò and his brother Maffeo were both born in Venice, circa 1230 CE. Born and bred to be explorers, they left Venice for Constantinople in the Byzantine Empire in the 1250s, hoping to easily obtain money from the Latin occupation of the city. They established a trading post in the city, from where they began their trading.

They traveled between Constantinople and Florence over the following years, and Niccolò's son Marco was born in Venice in 1254. Despite this, the brothers quickly returned to Constantinople after Marco's birth, leaving Marco to grow up with his mother.

In 1255, Niccolò and Maffeo met Darim Ibn-La'Ahad, a high-ranking member of the Syrian Assassins, and quickly befriended him. Eventually, their friendship resulted in Darim inviting the brothers to the Assassins' headquarters in Masyaf. In 1256, Niccolò and Maffeo sailed south to Acre, and proceeded onward to Masyaf some time later, arriving there circa January 1257.

Training into the Assassin Order
Arriving at Masyaf castle, the Polo brothers found themselves in the presence of the legendary Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad, the Mentor of the Syrian Assassins and Darim's father. In July 1257, the Polo brothers were trained to become Assassins themselves by Altaïr and Darim, and Niccolò frequently met with Altaïr, hearing the Mentor's life story.

During their stay in Masyaf, Niccolò in turn told Altaïr's life story to Maffeo, who had at first grown a displeasure for the Assassins and Masyaf. Maffeo, moved by Altaïr's tragic life, became dedicated to the Assassins' cause, and Niccolò started writing a journal, detailing Altaïr's story and Niccolò's own conversations with Maffeo, which he would later title "The Secret Crusade".

In August 1257, Masyaf was attacked by the Mongols, who had destroyed several of the Assassins' fortresses in the Levant the previous year under the command of Hülegü Khan. Having spent a little over a month in training, Niccolò and Maffeo made preparations to leave Masyaf and were given several of Altaïr's books to take with them. Niccolò met with Altaïr on Masyaf's castle wall, where he was handed Altaïr's personal Codex. Additionally, the Polos were tasked with the future of the Assassin Order, as Altaïr had burdened them with the objective to establishing various Assassins Guilds around the world.

Niccolò and Maffeo were personally escorted by Altaïr out of Masyaf, who used his "Apple of Eden" - an ancient artifact from the First Civilization - to fend off the attacking Mongols. Arriving at Masyaf's gate, Niccolò was finally given five Memory Seals, which Altaïr had turned into keys needed to open his personal library.

Return to Constantinople
"Ahead of us lay at least two years' work, which would be even more demanding without the wisdom of the Codex to guide us. Even so, we decided that, yes, we had lost the book, but in our heads and hearts we were Assassins, and we were goin to put our freshly acquired experience and knowledge to good use."

- Niccolò mentioning their resolve to form an Assassins Guild in his journal.

The Polos proceeded to make their way back to their home in Constantinople, though the brothers were attacked by a Mongol attacking party two days after leaving Masyaf. Niccolò and Maffeo, barely alive, saw the Mongols take the Codex from them, and they were left with the shame of losing the book.

Arriving in Constantinople a few weeks later, Niccolò finished his journal on 1 January 1258, and he and Maffeo started the long process of establish an Assassins Guild soon afterwards. The Assassins Guild attracted people from various places in the Byzantine Empire, including Greeks, Turks, Albanians, Jews, Genoese and Arabs.

By 1259, the Assassins Guild was fully running, but the thought and shame of having lost the Codex was never far from Niccolò's and Maffeo's minds.