American Rite of the Templar Order

The Colonial Rite of the Templar Order was, prior to the American Revolutionary War, one of a number of autonomous factions in operation during the mid 18th century that composed the Templar Order. Haytham Kenway officially founded, and became the first Grand Master of the Colonial Rite in 1754, in order to find a suspected Precursor storehouse, on instruction of the Templar Grand Master of the British Rite, Reginald Birch.

The Colonial Rite played a significant role in guiding the course of the American Revolution, with an aim to usurp control of the newly forming nation. However, the Templars' plans were ultimately disrupted by the reformed Colonial Assassins, and in particular, the Assassin Ratonhnhaké:ton.

Pre-formation
In 1738, British Templar Lawrence Washington was named by his Grand Master, Reginald Birch, as Master Templar of the British colonies in the New Worl, and tasked with locating the Grand Temple, and other First Civilization relics. Once in the New World, Washington recruited a number of members into the Order, such as Samuel Smith and William Johnson, and also made contact with the famed explorer Christopher Gist. His goal was to secure the colonies with the development of trading and establishing good relations with natives.

In 1750, Birch sent the Templar agent George Monro to assist Washington in his search for the Temple. A year later, after the earthquake of Port-au-Prince, the Templar took two relics from the Haitian Assassins, the Precursor box and the Voynich manuscript. In 1752, Washington passed the two artifacts to Samuel Smith and James Wardrop, before being killed by the Assassin Shay Cormac.

Afterward, Wardrop took over as the de facto head of the Templars in the colonies, while Smith traveled to Europe in order to find a scientist who could understand how to work the box. In 1754, following his return to America, Smith was killed by Shay Cormac, who claimed the box for the Assassins. That same year, during the Congress of Albany, the Templars came in contact with Benjamin Franklin, who could make the two artifacts work, but Shay Cormac killed Wardrop before he could pass the manuscript over to Johnson.

Founding
In August 1754, Haytham arrived in Boston, and was greeted by Charles Lee, a hopeful wishing to join the Templar Order. With Charles' help, Haytham sought to gather four individuals that Reginald Birch had arranged for Haytham to recruit: William Johnson, Thomas Hickey, Benjamin Church, and John Pitcairn.

With the outbreak of the French and Indian War, the British Government had arranged for General Edward Braddock, another member of the Templar Order and a former acquaintance of Kenway's, to lead an expedition to the French-controlled Fort Duquesne. In order to enlist the aid of the Kanien'kehá:ka, whom it was believed knew the location of the Precursor site, Haytham willingly agreed to side with them in their ambush of Braddock's forces. Later, Haytham officially established the Colonial Rite of Templar Order with his fellow brothers, and inducted Charles Lee in their rank.

The combined assault by Haytham's Rite and the Kanien'kehá:ka, together with a timely assault by the French Army, led to the destruction of the expedition, and the death of Edward Braddock at Haytham's hands. True to her word, Kaniehtí:io, the Kanien'kehá:ka whom Haytham had agreed their alliance, led the Grand Master to the Precursor site, though the latter was disappointed to find little more than a cave.

Purge of the Colonial Assassins
By 1759, the Colonial Rite was in full conflict with the Assassin Brotherhood in the region. When Shay Cormac defected to the Templar Order during the Seven Years' War, the Templars focused on hunting down the Assassins with Shay's help, eliminating several high-ranking members of the Brotherhood, such as Hope Jensen, Kesegowaase, and Chevalier de la Vérendrye. Shay also managed to eliminate a member of the Caribbean branch of the Order, Adéwalé, who was working closely with Achilles and his allies.

Tracking the remaining two Assassins – Liam O'Brien and the Mentor Achilles Davenport – to a First Civilization Temple in the Arctic, Shay manage to secure the death of Liam, while Haytham bested Achilles Davenport in a sword fight and forced him into exile, on the condition that the Mentor retired from his search of the Precursor sites. Achilles agreed, but as a mean of insurance, Haytham crippled him with a shot to the leg.

In 1760, a group of Templars led by Lee assaulted a young Kanien'kehá:ka boy named Ratonhnhaké:ton, who unknown to them was the son of Haytham and Kaniehtí:io. They asked him for the location of his village, so that they could speak to the natives about the Grand Temple; stubbornly, the boy told them nothing, and was knocked out. After the village was burned by George Washington, Ratonhnhaké:ton believed Lee and his cohorts to be responsible.

Finally giving up their search for the Grand Temple, the Templars focused on strengthening their influence in the colonies. In 1763, the Colonial Rite launched an attack on the Davenport Homestead, which served as a base of operations for the remaining Colonial Assassins. Killing those who remained, the Templars once again spared Achilles' life when he agreed to cease all Assassin activities in the colonies. When, in 1773, revolutionary fever begun to grip the Thirteen Colonies, the Templars attempted to influence both sides, in order to achieve their desired outcome and maintain the status quo.

Collapse
Unknown to the Templars, however, was that the Colonial Assassins had begun to rebuild; Ratonhnhaké:ton, the illegitimate son of Haytham Kenway, had begun his training with Achilles Davenport. With the deaths of William Johnson, who had sought to purchase land from the native tribes, in 1774, and John Pitcairn, a British officer who had hoped to end the budding Revolutionary War before it truly begun, in 1775, the Templars' were powerless to prevent all out civil war.

Despite this, the Templars still hoped to control the conflict, by operating within the ranks of both factions. Eventually however, following the assassinations of Nicholas Biddle, Thomas Hickey, and Benjamin Church – who was killed by Haytham Kenway, in alliance with Ratonhnaké:ton, for betraying the Templars – the Rite's plans begun to falter.

In 1781, after cutting ties with his father, Ratonhnhaké:ton, seeking out Charles Lee, was confronted by Haytham in the Templar stronghold at Fort George, New York. After a brutal fight, the Templar Grand Master was killed, and Charles Lee rose to hold the position in his stead.

At least three months later, in 1782, a funeral was held for Kenway and presided over by Charles Lee, but it was interrupted with the arrival of Ratonhnhaké:ton. Charles had the Assassin detained, before making preparations to travel to Boston. Eventually, the Assassin caught up with Lee once more, and after a rugged pursuit, tracked the man down and killed him in Conestoga Inn, Monmouth. Lee's death marked the collapse of the Colonial Rite, and the end of Templar influence in North America, for a time.

Members

 * Nicholas Biddle
 * Benjamin Church
 * Shay Cormac
 * Matthew Davenport
 * George Dorrance
 * Christopher Gist
 * Thomas Hickey
 * William Johnson
 * Johann de Kalb
 * Haytham Kenway
 * Charles Lee


 * Eleanor Mallow
 * Gillian McCarthy
 * George Monro
 * Federico Perez
 * John Pitcairn
 * Johann Rall
 * Gerhard von Stantten
 * Jonathan Trumbull
 * Jack Weeks
 * Victor Wolcott

Allies
 * David Borgen
 * Conan Brown
 * John Boyd
 * Hugh Jackson
 * Charles Gabriel Sivert
 * "Twitch"