British Rite of the Templar Order

"You have not encountered cunning or danger until you have faced a British Templar."

- Miko, 1751.

The British Rite of the Templar Order is the Rite of the Templar Order based in the United Kingdom.

Anglo-Saxon England
During the early 6th century, the leader who would later come to be known as King Arthur was a member of the Order of the Ancients. He came into possession of Excalibur, one of the Swords of Eden, an Isu relic which granted charisma to his wielder. He used it in defense against Saxon invaders and became King of Britain. However, he was later betrayed by those he loved, which led to his death.

Crusades
As the Order became public known in Europe as the Knightly Templar Order, the Templars could act in plain sight as a military force in Holy Land for the Crusades and as a bank service in Europe. During the 12th century, they constructed the Temple Church in London as their headquarters. At the same period, members of the Gift family from were active members of the Templar Order.

At the end of the 12th century, Maria Thorpe joined the British Rite and went to the Holy Land during the Third Crusade to serve the Grand Master of the Templar Order Robert de Sablé. In 1191, she was his body double to foil an assassination attempt organized by the Master Assassin Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad. As the Assassin discovered the trick, he decided to spare her life. After the death of the Grand Master by the same Assassin, Thorpe worked under the order of Armand Bouchart, a Master Templar who had the control of Cyprus. During the attack of Acre by the Levantine Brotherhood of Assassins, Bouchart let Thorpe be capture by Altaïr, who was at this moment the Mentor of the Levantine Assassins. As she saw the wrong that the Templars did in Cyprus during her journey with Altaïr, Thorpe defected the Order and joined the Assassins and married Altaïr.

First Barons' War
During the 13th century, the Templar Order was well implanted in England with the reign of John Lackland, with some of its members acting as advisors to the English King, whom they turned into their pawn. But the plans of the Templars were countered by the British Assassins, who rallied the English nobility against John's tyrannical rule during the First Barons' War. Led by Robert Fitzwalter, the Assassins were determined to end the rule of the Templars and allied themselves with the French Crown, who backed the rebellion against King John.

Hundred Years' War
After the public disbandment of the Templar Order in 1312, the British Templars worked in the shadow. Even if their power was weakened for a century in Europe, the Templars continued to act on the political field.

In the middle of the 14th century, the Houses of Valois and Plantagenet entered in the war for the Crown of France beginning the Hundred Years' War. The Templars backed the English kings as the Assassins was with the French rulers. In 1420, the Treaty of Troyes gave the Crown of France to the English King Henry V only after the death of the current King of France, Charles VI. But as the Henry died two months before the King of France, Charles' son, proclaimed himself as the king Charles VII of France. The English placed Henry VI, Henry's son, as king of France but due to his young age his uncle, John of Bedford, a member of the Templar Order, became the regent of France. John defeated numerous time the French troops until the arrival of Jeanne d'Arc, an Assassin's ally who was in possession of a Sword of Eden, which granted her a religious halo as she said God sent her to liberate France from the English. As she crowned Charles VII in Reims and won battles, the Templars saw her as a treat and captured her during the Siege of Compiègne in 1430, recovering the Sword for the Order in the process. Bedford sent Jeanne to an ecclesiastical court in Rouen where the French Templars condemned her for witchery.

Fighting for the Crown of England
During the late 15th century, the Templars made attempts to obtain the English throne. However, their plans were thwarted by Henry VII, as he imprisoned Lambert Simnel and had Perkin Warbeck hanged. In November 1503, the Templar Margaret of York and her co-conspirators were killed by a group of apprentices from the Italian Assassins sent by their Mentor Ezio Auditore da Firenze, who aided King Henry VII.

Afterward, several Templars instigating riots over Margaret's death but were killed by the apprentices. One of the Templars revealed that their Order had infiltrated Henry's Star Chamber. Later, a group of Englishmen signed Borgia documents, the infiltrators were killed by the apprentices who had searched for them.

On 19 July 1553, the Templar-affiliated Mary I ascended the throne of England and Ireland following Henry VII's death. As a monarch, she used violent attempts to restore Catholicism as the state religion of England, burning hundreds of Protestants at the stake in the process. She was killed by the Assassins on 17 November 1558 for her tyrannical rule over England and Ireland.

Starting the Age of Reason
In the 17th century, the Templars in Europe wanted to forget the Dark Age of the Order when Rodrigo Borgia was Grand Master. During his leadership, the Templars only searched power for their own benefits. The Templars rethought their role as advisors of the rulers and no more as rulers themselves. To achieve this, they used and influenced the works of intellectuals such John Locke, Isaac Newton and Francis Bacon to make philosophy and rationalism flourish in society to advance their goals. This period saw the scientific revolution, the beginning of empiricism and liberalism.

Salem witch trials
In 1692, in the city of Salem, Massachusetts, a young girl named Dorothy Osborne was in contact with an unidentified Piece of Eden which gave her the possibility to speak with Consus, a member of the First Civilization. This caught the attention of the Templar and Puritan minister Samuel Parris who began witch trials in the city after other women became "ill." His Templar brother William Stoughton served as the magistrate of the court during the trials, imprisoned suspect women to create more oracles like Osborne. During the trials, the Assassin and artifact hunter Thomas Stoddard arrived in the city to recover the Piece of Eden. With the help of the Assassin Jennifer Querry, the Assassins liberated Osborne but where tracked by the villagers under the order of the Templars who made them believe that Stoddard was the Devil in flesh. Once captured, the Assassins were interrogated by Stoughton. At this moment Osborne was possesed by Consus who delivered a cryptic message for Stoddard's descendant. After this Stoughton killed Querry but Osborne sacrificed herself in the flames to impeach the Templars to use her. Enraged, Stoughton tried to kill Stoddard but was shot by Parris, who was against the violent ways of Stoughton. Parris let Stodard leave the city with David, the son of Querry.

The Kenways
During the 18th century, the Templars recruited British merchants and tried to take advantage of the economic growth of the British Empire. In Bristol, the Templars Emmett Scott and Aubrey Hague founded the Trade Organization, an association of merchants protected by their Order, and destined to put the Bristolian commerce under their control. After Scott's daughter, Caroline, married Edward Kenway against Scott's wishes, he ordered the members of the Trade Organization to burn the farm of the Kenways, to prevent his daughter from coming back to the old couple after Edward's departure to the Caribbean Sea in 1712.

In 1714, the Templars at the East India Company had learned of Duncan's ties to the Brotherhood. At the, Henri Spencer, Esquire, a member of the company's Court of Directors and a Templar, according to his Mentor, Phillip Randall, was spotted by Duncan. From there, Spencer was tailed to a tavern, the Master Assassin decided to strike up a conversation with him, during which it became clear that Spencer was indeed a member of the Order and knew of Duncan's own allegiance. In spite of this, the exchange proceeded peacefully; after Spencer had departed, Duncan followed, intending to assassinate him.

Spencer was pursued by the Assassin via the rooftops and eventually Duncan leapt upon his target, who made no move to escape. With a Hidden Blade to his throat, Spencer explained that he wanted to recruit the Master Assassin for the Order. Convinced that the Templars would allow him to attain the fame and fortune he desired, Duncan accepted and met up with Randall the next day to accept the assignment, intending to use it to sabotage Assassin operations before officially joining the Order.

The burning of his parent's farm, the death of Caroline caused by her father's arrogance and his joining to the Assassin Brotherhood explained why, when he returned to Bristol in 1722, Kenway decided to settle the score with the Bristolian Templars. After having killed Scott and Wilson, Kenway went after Matthew Hague. Kenway was prevented from killing him by Robert Walpole, a neutral party who negotiated a truce between the Assassin and the Hagues, while moving Kenway to London.

By the mid-18th century, under the leadership of Reginald Birch, the British Rite held a leading position among the various Templar Rites. Birch became acquainted with the Assassin Edward Kenway in 1723. Knowing of Edward's research on First Civilization sites, Birch intended to steal the man's journal. Ten years later, Birch began to court Jennifer as a pretext to visiting the Kenway Mansion. Interrogating Edward's son, Haytham who unintentionally gave the location of the journal. Jennifer discovered that Birch was a Templar and Edward cut his ties with Birch.

In 1735, Birch orchestrated an attack on the Kenway household, hiring five mercenaries of his Templar brother and lieutenant of British Army Edward Braddock to kill Edward and obtain the journal. During the attack, Edward killed one of the mercenaries before being killed by a mercenary with pointy ears. Two others they kidnapped Jennifer and killed several servants of the mansion. The last mercenary was killed by Haytham but he was knock out by his father's killer. After the Assassin's death, Birch recruited Haytham in the Order, but hid his part in the assassination of his father. He promised to Haytham to find his half-sister, so the pair began a five year journey in Europe and Birch began to teach the Templar ideals to Haytham. They abandoned their research due to the War of the Austrian Succession. Birch took over the Droupt-Saint-Basle chateau near Troyes as a base of operation and trained Haytham there.

Search for the Temples
With the journal in his hand, Birch began scouring the globe, investigating several leads to the Precursor artifacts and sites. In 1738, Birch inducted Lawrence Washington into the Templar Order; Washington later rose in the ranks and became a Master Templar. Reginald tasked Washington with locating the Grand Temple in the British Colonies. The British Templar James Wardrop joined Washington in the New World and began to secure land and wealth for the Order. In 1744 Wardrop build a trade network from the Colonies to West Indies for the Templars. New men were inducted in the Order, as Samuel Smith who became the treasurer of the Templars in America and William Johnson who became Colonel of the Warriors of the Six Nations. Around 1746, the frontiersman Christopher Gist became an ally for the Order. In 1750, unimpressed with Washington progress to find the Grand Temple, along with the newly established Colonial Rite, Reginald sent another of his Templar agents, Colonel George Monro, to further their efforts.

In 1744, Haytham Kenway was fully inducted in the Templar Order and performed his first assassination in Liverpool, killing a greedy merchant to protect the interests of the Templars. He was an efficient killer for the Order and in 1747 was sent in Spain to kill Juan Vedomir, a Templar who stole Edward Kenway's journal to Birch. After completing his mission, Haytham investigated on what happen the night where his father was killed. He and Birch went in Germany to interrogate Jack Digweed, a servant of his father who was blackmailed to gave the key of the plate room to the mercenaries. Arriving in Digweed's cabin, the Templars discovered that Digweed was tortured by two British soldiers. Haytham pursued one of them and discovered that he was one of the mercenaries who attack the Kenway Mansion. He revealed to Haytham that his father was an Assassin and was killed for an object in his possession but he died before saying more. While Haytham pursued the mercenary, Birch killed Digweed to silence his implication with the mercenaries.

After this Haytham discovered document on the mercenary he killed informing that the man who killed his father was in Dutch Republic. Following this lead, he found the man but they were knocked out by British troops. The British Army, thinking that Haytham was also a deserter, wanted to hang the two men. Haytham broke free but the mercenary died on the rope. Haytham was informed by the Templar Edward Braddock that the mercenary was Tom Smith and one of his soldiers. In fact, Braddock hung Smith to cover Birch.

Haytham wanted to investigate to find the last mercenary in Braddock troops. Braddock accepted but with the condition that Haytham enlisted in his army during the war. Haytham accepted and aided the British Army to flew during the Siege of Bergen-op-Zoom. During this event, he witnessed that Braddock killed civilians in cold blood. As Braddock became crueler and more violent during the war, he decided to leave the Templar Order, thinking they were weak to not apply the sword more liberally and more often. After that, Haytham left Braddock Army with the soldier Jim Holden who became his right-hand man.

Birch also had an eye on the Spanish colonies. In 1746, Birch liberated Antonio de Ulloa, a Spanish scientist who participated to the French Geodesic Mission. He introduced him to the Royal Society of London and to the Templar Order. Around 1748, on the demand of the Templar Madeleine de L'Isle, Birch used his influence to hinder the profit of the trade company of Philippe de Grandpré. With de Grandpré ruined, de L'Isle could marry him and approached and interrogated his placée, Jeanne, who had connections with the Haitian Assassins and the Heart of the Brotherhood.

In 1750, Rafael Joaquín de Ferrer, a Templar whose family had a debt to Birch, went to Havana to find a Precursor box to erase his family debt. He didn't found the box, but he stole a map to the Caribbean Assassin Rhona Dinsmore. He discovered the site of Chichen Itza and demanded for an excavation to uncover Precusor sites. The British Templar John Harrison, who searched many artifacts and Temples around the world, organized a slavery operation in Gorée Island to give manpower for Chichen Itza excavation. Fearing to be discovered in Africa, they replaced the slavery operation in Florida and later in New Orleans. Later, the Louisiana Rite of the Templar Order was created with Madeleine de L'Isle at its head.

In 1750, Monro recruited Christopher Gist to exploring the west colonies, as well as strengthening the Templars' relations with the indigenous tribes in order to secure alliances and commercial lanes. Gist also help Wardrop to acquire land. At some point, Gist encountered a young thief named Jack Weeks who attempted to pickpocket the explorer. Despite Weeks being caught in the act, Gist was impressed by his skill and audacious attitude, and took him on as an errand boy; Gist later began tutoring him upon the suggestion of Monro. A year later, Gist and Jack were inducted into the Templar Order.

The same year, Washington learned that François Mackandal, Mentor of the Haitian Assassins, had obtained two powerful Precursor artifacts, the Precursor box and the manuscript, which aided the Brotherhood in locating several Precursor sites, with one located in Port-au-Prince. Lawrence traveled to Haiti and tracked down Vendredi, one of Mackadnal's students who had indirectly triggered a massive earthquake.

When Vendredi attempted to escape the site, his legs were caught near a crevasse under falling debris. Washington promised to aid him if he in turn revealed Mackandal's location. Vendredi reluctantly agreed, but Lawrence then slit his throat. Washington then traveled to Mackandal's camp and managed to steal the Precursor box and manuscript. Traveling by sea, he was pursued by Adéwalé. However, Washington was able to evade him upon reaching New York. There, Washington gave the box to Samuel Smith and the manuscript to James Wardrop.

In July 1752, Lawrence Washington organized a party in Mount Vernon to cover a reunion with the Templars Jack Weeks, Samuel Smith and James Wardrop. As Washington was dying from tuberculosis, he demanded to his fellow Templars to not inducted his brother in the Order, a choice that the Templars respect. After the reunion, the Colonial Assassin Shay Cormac killed Washington who was pleased that his end was a quick one. With their leader dead, Wardrop took the leadership of the Templar in the Colonies and worked to translate the manuscript. Smith, who found nobody in the Colonies to make the box work, decided to travel to Europe to find some help.

In 1753, Birch held in hostage Monica Albertine, an ally of the Assassins who could decode Edward Kenway's journal. As she couldn't complete her work without her son Lucio, Birch send Haytham to Corsica to capture him. Lucio was protected by the leader of the British Assassins Miko, who also helped the Corsicans in their revolt against the Genoese. Haytham captured Lucio and beat Miko stealing the Assassin's hidden blase. A year later, in the Theatre Royal, Haytham assassinated Miko during a performance of The Beggar's Opera and took on him the Grand Temple Key. With the death of Miko, the Templars were able to gain complete control of London and kept it under their thumb well into the 19th century.

As John Harrison located the Grand Temple in the Colonies, Birch ordered Haytham to go there with the key to open it. Haytham took the Providence to go in Boston. Aboard, he was informed by the captain Samuel Smythe of a risk mutiny. Haytham accepted to investigate. He discovered that the sailor Louis Mills was in fact an Assassin who followed him after Miko's death. Mills threw barrels from the ship to be followed by the Aquila, the flagship of the Colonial Assassins Navy. Haytham killed Mills in a sword fight and the Providence escaped from the Aquila in a storm.

During Haytham's journey, the Assassin Shay Cormac killed Samuel Smith upon his returned from Europe and James Wardrop during the Albany Congress. So the Templars lost the box and the manuscript and the leadership of the Templars in the Colonies was again vacant.

Arriving in Boston, Haytham met an ally of the Templar Order, Charles Lee who was a soldier under the command of Edward Braddock who was at this time the commander-in-chief of the Colonies during the French and Indian War. Lee served as a contact between Haytham and the Templars in the Colonies and they installed their headquarters in the Green Dragon Tavern. Haytham first met William Johnson, who informed him that his research was stole by mercenaries who worked for the Assassins. Haytham and Lee teamed up with Johnson's assistant and also Templar Thomas Hickey to recover the research. With that, Johnson could affirm that the symbols of the Grand Temple Key were from the Kanien'kehá:ka.

While Johnson searched a more specific location, Haytham and Lee decided to recruit the captain and Templar John Pitcairn but he was arrested as a deserter by Braddock. As Braddock saw that Pitcairn was important to Haytham, he refused to liberate him. Haytham and Lee attacked the guardians of Pitcairn and rescued him. Next, Haytham and Lee saved the Surgeon Templar Benjamin Church who was in conflict with Silas Thatcher, a corrupt British officer.

As Thatcher enslaved native peoples, the Templars decided to attack Southgate Fort and liberated the slaves to make an alliance with them to find the Grand Temple. Haytham and his brothers infiltrated the fort with British uniforms and a carriage with slaves. On the carriage was Kaniehtí:io, a Kanien'kehá:ka from the village of Kanatahséton. Haytham spoke with her about their plan but she flew to liberate her people all alone when they arrived in the fort. Haytham and the Templars liberated the natives who attacked the soldiers in the fort. During the fight, Church shot Thatcher in the head. As Kaniehtí:io saw that the Haytham held his promise, the Templar expected that the Kanien'kehá:ka would help in the search of the Grand Temple.

During the winter 1754, Haytham met Kaniehtí:io in the Frontier. He asked her help to find the Grand Temple. She only accepted if Haytham helped her first to fight Braddock, who took lands from the natives. Haytham accepted and they discovered the Braddock prepared an expedition to take Fort Duquesne. In July 1755, the Templars prepared an ambush with the Lenape, the Shawnee, the Abenaki and the French troops. Haytham infiltrated Braddock army with a British uniform and when the attack began, Haytham pursued Braddock and mortally wounded him. Haytham took Braddock's Templar ring and lied to Kaniehtí:io about the fact he was dead.

After that, Kaniehtí:io showed to Haytham the cave near her village where the enter of the Grand Temple was. Haytham used the Grand Temple Key but nothing happened. Even if Haytham was disappointed, he thanked Kaniehtí:io for her help and the two became lovers. Later Haytham returned to Boston in the Green Dragon Tavern and informed his fellow Templars that he didn't discovered the Grand Temple but they were closed to it. Together they officially founded the Colonial Rite of the Templar Order with Haytham as their Grand Master and Charles Lee was inducted as their first member.

Later, Haytham broke up with Kaniehtí:io when she learnt that he lied about Braddock's death. She also discovered his allegiance with the Templar Order. Haytham returned in Britain unknowingly that Kaniehtí:io was pregnant of him. In London, Haytham said to Birch that he didn't found the Grand Temple but had a clue of a Precursor site in Middle East. In fact, Haytham was informed by Holden that Jennifer had been found at Topkapı Palace in Constantinople and he required a pretext to save his half-sister. In 1757, Haytham and Holden discovered that Jennifer served as a concubine but she was moved to Damascus. Haytham and Holden, disguised as eunuchs, rescued Jennifer but Holden was captured and was sent to the Abou Gerbe monastery on Mount Ghebel Eter in Egypt to undergo operations to become a eunuch. Haytham arrived too late to save his friend from the operation but he avenged him by killing the priests and burning the monastery.

Jennifer revealed the truth on the night when their father died. Discovering that Birch lied to him all along, Haytham decided to avenge his father death. With Jennifer and Holden, they attacked Birch's chateau in Troyes, killing John Harrison and also Birch. Haytham liberated the Albertines but was stabbed by Lucio. Even after this action, Haytham let the Albertines lived. Haytham was nursed back the following months and in January 1758, when Haytham was in full health, Holden committed suicide, unable to cope with his own injury. Haytham decided to return in the Colonies to lead his Rite and Jennifer would live in the Kenway Mansion. The two stayed in touch writing letters and Haytham protected Jennifer and the Mansion from the British Rite as long as she lived.

In 1773, just prior to the American Revolution, the British warship Windermere sailed around the Bahamas carrying a mysterious shipment of Templar interest. The ship and her fleet were destroyed by the Aquila at this time command of the Assassins Ratonhnhaké:ton, Haytham's son, and Robert Faulkner. Later that same year, the Leviathan, another British warship, attempted to sail from the Bahamas to England with an important Templar emissary, but it too was destroyed by the Aquila.

French Revolution
In the years leading up to the French Revolution, the British Templars became worried about the political and societal turmoil growing in France and by the rising power of the reformist faction in the Order of their French counterparts. As such, the Carrolls, a high ranking family of the British Order, took it upon themselves to eliminate the wife of the traditionalist Grand Master François de la Serre. De la Serre's wife, Julie de la Serre had the ear of her husband and, although moderate, was herself a reformist. One of the British Templar, Frederick Weatherall was the lover of Julie before her marriage and he became her confidant and the sword master of her daughter, Élise de la Serre.

In 1776, the Carrolls made an unsuccessful attempt on Julie's life; one of their hitmen, the former Assassin Bernard Ruddock, left a clue of their involvement, which prompted Élise to travel to London, ten years after her mother's death of consumption in 1778. During her trip, the Carrolls discovered that Élise, as the future French Grand Master, wasn't herself a staunch supporter of the monarchy and of the old Templar ways, but they decided to use her to recover Haytham Kenway's letters which were in the Kenway Mansion. The Carrolls wanted to burn the letters as Haytham had the idea of uniting the Assassin Brotherhood and the Templar Order, which was an heresy for the British Templars. The Carrolls killed Monica and Lucio Albertine in order that Élise posed as one of their descendant, Yvonne Albertine. While Élise recovered the letters from Jennifer Scott, the Carrolls took in hostage Weatherall and tried to kill Ruddock. But Élise saved her mentor and arrived to warn Ruddock to leave. She gave to the Carrolls the letters of her lover, Arno Dorian, saying there were Haytham's letters. They burnt them and so tried to kill Élise. However, their daughter, May, was killed instead and Élise fled with the help of Weatherall who lost his leg after being shot.

At the eve of the French Revolution, the British fears came true when François was killed by the reformist Templars loyal to François-Thomas Germain, who became the new Grand Master of the French Templars. Later, as Élise tried to claim back her birthright and avenge her father, the feud between her and the Carrolls prevented her from counting on any help coming from the British Templars, who had been turned against her by the vengeful parents. Only Frederick Weatherall helped Élise in her quest for revenge.

During the Reign of Terror, Templars of the Old Guard were guillotined in Paris by the radical faction of Germain. A British Templar decided to rescue them and took the name of the Crimson Rose and founded the Crimson League. The Crimson League was helped by Arno Dorian, who was an Assassin but ignored the fact that the Crimson Rose was a Templar. The two later discovered each other allegiance and the Crimson Rose and the members of Crimson League were killed by Arno.

In 1794, Élise died during a confrontation with Germain in the Temple of Paris. Before her death, she gave Haytham's letters to Weatherall who was in the Maison Royale de Saint-Louis with Élise's handmaiden Hélène and her husband Jacques. Élise also sent a letter to Ruddock where she promised he would receive the letters and be reintroduced in the Brotherhood if he contacted Arno, who was no more an Assassin but had helped Élise in her vendetta and killed Germain. But Ruddock was hired by the Carrolls to kill Weatherall and Hélène who were involved in their daughter death. As Ruddock tried to shoot Arno, Weatherall killed him with Élise's sword. So, Weatherall gave the letters to Arno.

In 1805, Jennifer Scott died and the British Templars purchased the estate to discover its secrets.

Conquest of India
At the dawn of the 19th century, the East India Company controlled the major part of the Indian subcontinent and the British Templars used the company as a mean to achieve their goals in India. Around 1830's, the Templars in India were led by Francis Cotton, a general of the British Army who had for mission to accompany William Hay Macnaghten, the aide of the Governor-General George Eden. Macnaghten became an ally of the Templar. Cotton was also in possession of the precursor box that the former Assassin turned Templar Shay Cormac recovered from Charles Dorian in the Palace of Versailles decades ago.

Another of the British Templars, William Sleeman, a captain of the East India Company, organized the suppression of the Thuggee assassins in India between 1835 and 1839. Sleeman believed that the Thuggee had a connection with the Indian Brotherhood of Assassins but it was never proved. Sleeman also met the Scottish explorer Alexander Burnes and inducted him in the Order. Burnes began to searched Pieces of Eden, especially the scepter of Alexander the Great which was believed to be in Afghanistan.

In 1839, the Sikh Empire was the last independent kingdom of India. Cotton planned to assassinate the sultan Ranjit Singh to take his empire and also recovered the Koh-i-Noor, a piece of Eden which look like a diamond. During a party in the Ranjit Singh's summer palace in Amritsar, Cotton met the Assassin Arbaaz Mir, who posed as an emissary. Each one understood the allegiance of the other, but even if Mir had for mission to prevent the death of Ranjit, he declared to Cotton that he had his own grieves against the sultan. In fact, Mir also searched the Koh-i-Noor and found it in a vault under the palace. Cotton alerted the palace guard of the presence of a thief, Mir was imprisoned in the palace. This act permitted to Cotton to have a private meeting with the sultan.

As Macnaghten discussed with Ranjit, Cotton poisoned the sultan's tea. Mir succeeded to escape from the dungeon with the help of Pyara Kaur, Ranjit's great-daughter, and he interrupted the meeting. But it was to late, the sultan already drank the poison and died soon after. Cotton ran away while the Assassin fought the palace guards. During his escape, Cotton saw Pyara with the Koh-i-Noor. Believing she was an Assassin, he tried to stab her but was arrested by Raza Soora, Mir's servant. As he tried to kill Soora, Pyara activated the Koh-i-Noor and was possessed by the Isu Durga. Scared, Cotton shot on the Koh-i-Noor, scattering the piece of Eden and creating an explosion which killed Cotton.

After Cotton's death, Sleeman took the head of the operation in India. He obtained the precursor box and the informations about Amritsar's vault and the Koh-i-Noor. In 1841, the Templars kidnapped the Mentor of the Indian Brotherhood Hamid and took the Koh-i-Noor. Sleeman entered in the vault under the palace with the two artifacts. Arriving in the Prophecy room, he used the Koh-i-Noor as a power source for the box and an holographic map appeared showing the location of another Isu temple in Herat, in Afghanistan. Sleeman was confronted by Mir, who had saved his Mentor and followed Sleeman in the vault. The Templar shot on the Assassin but Mir dodged the bullet. The shot provoked the collapsing of the vault. Sleeman escaped and went to Afghanistan with Burnes and an army.

Herat was a sieged due to the war between the British Army and the Afghans. While the British defended the fortress, Sleeman and other Templars entered in the temple under the building. They took an elevator and discovered a pedestal and Mir, who infiltrated the Citadelle and helped the Afghans to entered in Herat. Surrounded by too many guns, the Assassin surrendered and was knocked out. While Sleeman stayed in Afghanistan to fight, Burnes went to the Katasraj Temple with Mir to interrogate him. The Assassin escaped and stole the Koh-i-Noor and the precursor box. During his escape, he met Burnes who proposed a duel to death against him. Burnes used some tricks against Mir but the Assassin defeated him. The Templars was ready to be killed but Mir spared his life to remember that he was defeated by an Assassin.

Later Sleeman returned to Amritsar and the Templars invaded the summer palace. They took Pyara Kaur as an hostage to bring Mir with the pieces of Eden. The Assassin killed the Templars in the palace and confronted Sleeman who bargained Pyara's life against the box and the diamond. When Mir sent the artifacts, Pyara stabbed Sleeman and flew with the Assassin who recovered the Koh-i-Noor before they left the palace. Sleeman took the precursor box which stayed in Templar possession for decades.

During the 1842 retreat of Kabul, the Templar and British Army colonel Walter Lavelle deserted with a corporal named Cavanagh, who discovered his allegiance and wanted to use his influence in exchange of saving his life. The two flew with a sepoy and confronted Afghan hillmen. Cavanagh received a scar in the face during the battle. They disguised as the hillmen but met a group of Afghan. Cavanagh gave the sepoy as their prisoner and the two British went to Jalalabad. Years later, Lavelle returned in London with Cavanagh and introduced him in the Order. Cavanagh killed Lavelle with the consent of the Order.

Starrick Industries
By the 1850s, Crawford Starrick, the owner of Starrick Industries, became the Grand Master of British Rite. Through his company and his leadership, the Templars had brought under their control almost all forms of governance within the city of London. With Starrick Telegraph Company, the Templars controlled the information in the city. Starrick's cousin, the Templar Pearl Attaway controlled the transport network while the political, medicinal and scientific fields were being guided by the Earl of Cardigan, Dr. John Elliotson, and Dr. David Brewster, respectively. In 1862, Starrick purchased Ferris Ironworks and inducted his owner, Rupert Ferris, in the Templar Order.

Moreover, by paying off criminals to form their own gang, the Blighters, and installing their own as their leaders, under the supervision of Maxwell Roth, in a decade the Templars had taken almost complete control of London streets and boroughs, and operated a monopoly on organized crime in the city.

The Templars searched also Pieces of Eden in the city. During an auction for a manuscript, Starrick was outbid by Lucy Thorne, a young occultist. As she refused to gave the manuscript, Starrick inducted her in the Order as his lieutenant and Thorne helped him to find Pieces of Eden. Around 1862, the Templars located under the Metropolitan Railway's construction site an Apple of Eden, an Isu technology who could control minds. They charged Cavanagh to recover the Piece of Eden but in fact Cavanagh wanted to use the artifact to usurp the position of Grand Master from Starrick.

Working as the director of the construction site, Cavanagh was associated with the Templars Marchant, manager of the construction site, and Robert Waugh, a pornographic photographer. Boot, Waugh's associate, was interrogated by the Assassin Ethan Frye to know about Templars activities. To hide his identity, Waugh shot in the head Boot and tried to kill the Assassin but accidentally killed a bystander girl. Frye killed Waugh an ordered to his apprentice the Ghost, Jayadeep Mir, son of Arbaaz and Pyara, to place the corps on the the Metropolitan Railway's construction site.

The body was discovered by the engineer John Fowler and the solicitor Charles Pearson and his wife. They called the Police Constable Frederick Abberline to investigate on the murder. As Cavanagh was interrogated by Abberline, Jayadeep, who posing as the worker Bharat Singh, took the defense of Cavanagh by leading the Constable and a false track and exchange Wauh's body with a dead pony. As he helped them, Jayadeep infiltrated the Templars.

As Abberline continued his investigation, the Templars beat his colleague the Constable Aubrey to sent a message. Cavanagh also suspected Jayadeep true identity, so he ordered to Indian Templars to capture the Assassins Kulpreet and Ajay. The first Assassin committed suicide but the second one accepted to join the Templars in London and revealed Jayadeep's true allegiance. Then Cavanagh ordered to Jayadeep to kill Pearson to prove his loyalty. Cavanagh wanted to frame the Assassin and recovered the Apple of Eden that Pearson discovered on the Metropolitan Railway's construction site and used as an ornament.

In September 1862, the construction of the Metropolitan Railway was finished. During the celebration, as Jayadeep refused to kill an innocent, Cavanagh assassinated Pearson and took the Apple of Eden. Cavanagh tried to kill Jayadeep and Frye with the Piece of Eden but the tunnel collapsed due to the Apple. As the two Assassins flew, Cavanagh was assassinated by Marchant on the order of Starrick, who knew about Cavanagh plan to usurp the position of Grand Master. The Templars also took revenge on Jayadeep by killing his friend Maggie who lived in the Thames Tunnel. Later the Apple was gave to the Dr. Brewster to be examine in his secret laboratory in Croydon.

In 1867, the Templar Philip Twopenny became the de facto governor of the Bank of England. The same year Starrick purchased the transport company of Malcolm Millner, who was known to sabotage the company of his competitors. Inducted into the Order, a rivalry began between Attaway and Millner to controlled the transport monopoly.

In February 1868, in the city of Croydon, Rupert Ferris and David Brewster were respectively killed by the Assassins Jacob and Evie Frye, Ethan's twins children. During the assassination of the Dr. Brewster, the Templars had connected the Apple of Eden to a machine which created an explosion destroying the laboratory and the Piece of Eden. Even if the Templars lost the artifact, Lucy Thorne was on on the track of another Piece of Eden, a Shroud of Eden, which could heal the sicks. Starrick wanted to use the Piece of Eden to be the sole ruler of London after the Templars eliminate all the heads of church and state. The only information on the Shroud was that Edward Kenway hid it in London a century ago.

After the double assassinations in Croydon, the Templars began to lose power in London as the Frye twins operated in the city. The two Assassins allied with Jayadeep, known at this time as Henry Green, and formed their own gang, the Rooks, to fight the Blighters. Their first confrontation was in Whitechapel, where the Blighter's leader and Templar Rexford Kaylock demanded a gang fight for the control of the borough. As Kaylock was killed, the Blighters under his controlled joined the Rooks who took also Kaylock's train as an hideout.

The Frye siblings continued to take the other boroughs of London by killing Templars, arresting Blighters for the Sergeant Abberline, liberating children in the Templar factories and attacking gangs strongholds. The Blighters' operations were also sabotaged by the Frye who worked with the criminal Ned Wynert who gave informations on the Blighters' contrabands. When the Rooks challenged the control of a borough, the Templar leader set a gang fight but the Frye twins every times won against their enemies.

As Starrick Telegraph controlled the information in London, the inventor Alexander Graham Bell allied with the Frye siblings to sabotage the Telegraph Company. With the informations they received, the Assassins destroyed a poison cargo. As the Templars tied to intimidate Bell, the Frye twins protected him.

Later, the Dr. Elliotson, who was at this time the director of Lambeth Asylum, developped the Starrick's Soothing Syrup, a concoction containing distilled opium and datura stramonium which made the London's citizens more controllable. As the Syrup caused damages on the minds of the people, Jacob Frye and Charles Darwin destroyed the Syrup's distillation factory, ending the production of the concoction. Later the Dr. Elliotson was killed by Jacob in the middle of a public operation in Lambeth Asylum. With Elliotson death, the Templars coudn't reproduced the Syrup. Some criminals tried to sell their own concoctions but they made the children sicked. The new director of Lambeth Asylum, Florence Nightingale tried to treat the ill with the help of Evie Frye.

As Charles Darwin helped Jacob to destroy the Syrup, the Templars targeted Darwin, ridiculing his theories and trying to kill him. The Frye siblings protected Darwin and his work.

The rivalry between Starrick and Attaway grew as the Grand Master tried to buy Attaway Transport to control all the transport of London with Millner. As Millner sabotaged her carriage, Attaway associated with Jacob Frye, who was oblivious of her Templar allegiance. The Assassassin destroyed Millner's omnibuses and stole an internal combustion engines for Attaway. While Jacob assassinating Millner, Attaway met Starrick and bargained her reconciliation with Starrick against the internal combustion engines. In Waterloo station, while Attaway preparing the transportation of the engines in her train, Jacob killed her after he discovered her true allegiance. The Assassin stole another time the engines from the Templars. Attaway's death sentimentally destroyed Starrick, who reinforced the Templar presence in the city to track down the Fryes. With the death of Millner and Attaway, the transport monopoly was to take. The Blighters wanted to created their own company and forced the omnibus builder Edward Bayley to work for them. But Evie Frye saved Bayley and stole the deed to Attaway Transport from the Blighters.

As Lucy Thorne searched for the Shroud, she discovered a crate containing many objects, among them there was the Edward Kenway's journal. The Frye twins stole the crate but only recovered the journal as the Templars followed them. Later, Thorne investigated the Kenway Mansion to discovered clues about the location of the Piece of Eden but Evie Frye and Henry Green discovered a secret room before and took the objects in it before Thorne could catch them. Thorne decided to follow Evie to a secret vault in St. Paul's Cathedral, where was the key which opened the box containing the Shroud. The Templar and the Assassin fought and Thorne flew with the key. Later, Thorne located the Shroud in the Tower of London. With other Templars, she infiltrated the castle to search the artifact. They found no trace of the Piece of Eden but one of the guard brought Evie before Thorne. In fact the guard was an ally of the Assassins and it was a ruse to approach Thorne, who was killed by Evie, losing the key in the process.

With his position of governor of the Bank of England, Philip Twopenny, under the pseudonym of Plutus, organized heists to finance the plans of the Templars. His crime attracted the attention of the Sergeant Abberline and Jacob Frye, who later discovered that the heists were inside jobs. During one of his heists, Twopenny was killed in his personal vault by Jacob and his acolytes were arrested by Abberline. The news of the death of the Bank of England's governor lead to the near-total collapse of the British currency. Crawford Starrick increased the wages paid to his workers in order to stave off the effects of inflation, and maintain his grip on the workforce. Some of Twopenny's acolytes flew with the printing plates counterfeiting the money but Evie Frye took the plates back and burned the fake money, restoring trust in British currency.

As the new Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli wanted to pass the Corrupt Practices Act to reducing the electoral corruption, the Earl of Cardigan hired hitmen to kill him and stopped the vote. However the hitmen were stopped by Jacob Frye saving the life of the Prime Minister. During the vote session of the Corrupt Practices Act in the Palace of Westminster, the Earl of Cardigan was killed by Jacob, ending the political plots of Starrick.

As the Rooks took control of the boroughs of London, Maxwell Roth decided to rebel against Starrick and teamed up with Jacob to accomplish this. However, their alliance quickly shattered when Jacob realized Roth was willing to go to such extremes as bombing a factory full of child laborers in order to disrupt Starrick's production lines.

Left as the last member of the British Rite, Starrick accelerated his plans to obtain the Shroud of Eden, and eliminate the ruling class of England. The Templars recoverd plans of a vault in Buckingham Palace where the Shroud was hidden. During a party in Buckingham, the Templars infiltrated the Palace, some of them remplacing the royal guards. During this night, Starrick met Evie Frye and danced with her, stealing the key of the Shroud's box. While the Grand Master waited that the Templars disguised as guards shoot on the ruling class of the city, Jacob Frye killed the impostors and freed the real guards. Starrick flee with the key after Evie hit him in the groin.

Arriving at the entrance of the vault in the Buckingham's gardens, the Templars blew it up and entered in the vault. There, Starrick wore the Shroud and fought the Frye siblings. The Piece of Eden healed the injuries that the Assassins inflicted to Starrick and he succeeded to have the upper hand on the twins. But Starrick was confronted by Henry Green who was rapidly knocked out by the Templars. The Fryes attacked together Starrick and seperated him from the Shroud. Without the artifact, the Grand Master was defenseless against the attack of the Fryes, who ended his life. With Starrick's death, the British Rite had been brought to an end.

Loss of power in London
Despite Starrick's death, lower-ranking Templars of the British Rite scrambled to replace their leadership. One such faction attempted to regain their power by committing acts of terrorism against London. One of their attackd targeted the Palace of Westminster and to kill the Prime Minister Disraeli, but the Frye siblings killed their leader and stopped the bombs.

The Templars, led by Brinley Ellsworth later aligned themselves with the British Indies Company in attempting to stop Duleep Singh from reclaiming his birthright as Maharajah. Their plots involved stealing India's gold to attempting to frame Singh for stealing the Koh-i-Noor, but their plots were thwarted by the Frye twins. Ellsworth's true allegiances were exposed to Singh after the Assassin destroyed his factory concocting sleeping gas. Later, when Singh confronted Ellsworth, rather than let Evie Frye assassinate him, he chose to let Ellsworth live.

Even if the Templar presence in London decreased, the Order continued to act in the city. In 1887, the Templars financed the occultist Samuel Liddell Mathers to found the Hermetic Order of Golden Dawn.

During the Autumn of Terror, the Assassin and serial killer Jack the Ripper captured Templars and sent them to his personal prison at Deptford. Some of them were killed during execution until Evie Frye rescued them. One Templar was interrogated by the police but was killed by the Ripper as the serial killer erased his traces.

Modern times
In 1900, the Templar known as the Secret Chief disolved the ties between the Templars and the Hermeticists.

During the World War I, the Templars organized a spy ring in London on behalf of the German Empire. This Templars were led by a man known as the Master Spy, who was also a Sage, a reincarnation of the Isu Aita. The spies became a part of the Instruments of the First Will, a group who worshiped Aita's wife, the Isu Juno, as the ruler of the humankind. The group caught the attention of Winston Churchill who worked with the Assassin Lydia Frye, Jacob's grand-daughter, to eradicate the spy ring. The Master Spy was killed by the Assassin in 1916 and his followers flew from London.

By 1927, under the leadership of Grand Master Thaddeus Gift, Gift corrupted the British Rite by stealing from his fellow Templars and using their contacts to embezzle money, tarnishing the reputation of the whole Order with his actions. The corruption lead to the The Nine ordering their feared inquisitor, the Black Cross, to execute him for his crimes. In February, in London, the Black Cross, Albert Bolden, tracked him across the streets of the city, the Black Cross eventually slit his throat and cut out his Templar ring finger. Leaving him dead in the street.

The Templars plotted World War II, a Templar plot devised to create their New World Order. Using Winston Churchill, who was the Prime Minister at this time, as their secret puppet. And worked with Adolf Hitler, in order to orchestrate the transfer of a Piece of Eden.

From 1979 to 1990, Margaret Thatcher was manipulated by the Templar shadow-company Abstergo Industries while she held the position of Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. During her reign, she installed Boris Yeltsin, another Templar puppet, as Russia's new president.

Members
Hundred Years' War Renaissance
 * John, Duke of Bedford
 * Margaret of York
 * Perkin Warbeck

Golden Age of Piracy
 * Christopher Condent
 * Hilary Flint
 * Aubrey Hague
 * Francis Hume
 * Samuel Parris
 * Benjamin Pritchard
 * Henri Spencer, Esquire
 * Emmett Scott
 * William Stoughton
 * Wilson

Georgian and Colonial Era


 * Reginald Birch (Grand Master; 1735-1757)
 * Edward Braddock (Left)
 * May Carroll
 * Peter Carroll
 * Mrs. Carroll
 * Benjamin Church (Colonial Rite)
 * Francis Cotton
 * Christopher Gist (Colonial Rite)
 * John Harrison
 * Thomas Hickey (Colonial Rite)
 * William Johnson (Colonial Rite)
 * Haytham Kenway (Colonial Rite)
 * Charles Lee (Colonial Rite)
 * George Monro (Colonial Rite)
 * John Pitcairn (Colonial Rite)
 * Crimson Rose
 * Samuel Smith
 * James Wardrop
 * Lawrence Washington
 * Frederick Weatherall
 * Jack Weeks (Colonial Rite)
 * Man O' War captain

Victorian Era


 * Pearl Attaway
 * Argus Bartlett
 * Rose Bartlett
 * Phillip Beckinridge
 * Thomas Blackroot
 * Louis Blake
 * Johnnie Boiler
 * Wallace Bone
 * David Brewster
 * Alexander Burnes
 * Hattie Cadwallader
 * James Brudenell, 7th Earl of Cardigan
 * Cavanagh
 * Charlie
 * Martin Church
 * Ada Cobleigh
 * Clyde Cobleigh
 * Edgar Collicott
 * Crimson Rose
 * Eveline Dipper
 * Harold Drake
 * Tom Eccleston
 * John Elliotson
 * Brinley Ellsworth
 * Rupert Ferris
 * Francis Fletcher
 * Josephine Fletcher
 * Lilla Graves
 * Beatrice Gribble
 * Samuel Hargrave
 * Hardy
 * Other Hardy
 * Kent Jekyll
 * Raphael Jekyll
 * Rexford Kaylock
 * Walter Lavelle
 * Victor Lynch
 * Marchant
 * Malcolm Millner
 * Peter Needham
 * Bloody Nora
 * Pearce
 * "Big" Pete
 * Myrtle Platt
 * Octavia Plumb
 * Benjamin Raffles
 * Reynolds
 * William Sleeman
 * Smith
 * Crawford Starrick (Grand Master; ?-1868)
 * Cletus Strain
 * Chester Swinebourne
 * Edith Swinebourne
 * Lucy Thorne
 * Philip Twopenny
 * Robert Waugh

Modern Era
 * Ferris
 * Thaddeus Gift (Grand Master; ?-1927)
 * Darius Gift
 * Simon Hathaway

Allies and puppets
Middle Ages
 * John, King of England

Renaissance
 * Alexander VI
 * Cesare Borgia
 * Lambert Simnel
 * Mary I of England

Colonial Era
 * Duncan Walpole
 * Rafael Joaquín de Ferrer
 * Élise de la Serre
 * Benjamin Franklin
 * George II of Great Britain
 * Jim Holden
 * Julian
 * Tom Cobleigh
 * Tom Smith

Industrial Revolution
 * Samuel Liddell Mathers
 * Maxwell Roth

20th Century
 * Winston Churchill
 * Margaret Thatcher

Appearances

 * Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood – Assassins Guild
 * Assassin's Creed: Project Legacy
 * Assassin's Creed III
 * Assassin's Creed: Forsaken
 * Assassin's Creed: Black Flag
 * Assassin's Creed: Rogue
 * Assassin's Creed: Syndicate
 * Assassin's Creed: Underworld