American Rite of the Templar Order

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Ratonhnhaké:ton: "What is it the Templars truly seek?"

Haytham Kenway: "Order. Purpose. Direction. No more than that."

—Ratonhnhaké:ton and Haytham Kenway, discussing the Colonial Templars' goals, 1778.

American Rite of the Templar Order
Organizational information
Founder(s)	Haytham Kenway
Leader's title	Grand Master
Operational center	Green Dragon Tavern, Boston (1754–?) Fort Arsenal, New York City (1756– c.1770) Fort George, New York City (c.1770–1781) Tammany Hall, New York City (c.1860s–?)
Locations	Thirteen Colonies
Historical information
Formed	1755

The American Rite of the Templar Order, formerly known as the Colonial Rite of the Templar Order is the Rite of the Templar Order whose operations are based in the United States. Haytham Kenway of the British Rite officially founded the Colonial Rite in 1754, becoming its first Grand Master, in order to find a suspected Precursor storehouse, on the orders of the British Rite's Grand Master Reginald Birch. Their operations were then within the British Empire in North America, with the majority of bases of being at New York City in the state of New York.

The Colonial Rite was well founded with resources from an infrastructure with wealth and allies, these resources were used by the Assassin turncoat Shay Cormac against the alliance between New France and the Colonial Brotherhood with an Assassin crime syndicate under the Mentor Achilles Davenport during the French and Indian War. The collapse of nearly the entire Colonial Brotherhood resulted in dominance by the British Empire in the eastern coast and a Templar fleet that strengthened Templars worldwide.

The disruption of the plans to the Colonial Rite by the Assassin Ratonhnhaké:ton under the Mentor Achilles Davenport, escalated into the American Revolutionary War. After attempts to avoid war failed, the Colonial Rite became active in the Continental and British Army during the revolution. As the revived and reformed Colonial Brotherhood allied itself with the Sons of Liberty while fighting alongside the Continental Army against them. Their leadership was dismantled through revolution, and after an attempted truce with the Assassins, the Colonial Rite ultimately collapsed.

Following the creation of the United States, the Rite had reorganized itself into the American Rite prior to the French Revolution and had contacts on both sides of the Parisian Rite. The earliest known Black Crosses appointed by the Inner Sanctum were from the American Bolden family, an influential Templar linage along with the Cormac family that used covert operations similar to the Assassins while they searched for Precursor artifacts and hunted Assassins.

By 1863, the American Rite was led by Grand Master William M. Tweed and was trying to influence the outcome of the American Civil War, they had directly influenced the Confederate States of America and infiltrated the Grant Administration during the Reconstruction Era through both his terms as President.

History

Pre-foundation

A New World

In 1398, the Scottish Templar Knight, James Gunn, was was said to have been part of Henry Sinclair's expedition to the New World. The expedition was believed to have reached Nova Scotia and Massachusetts.

In 1491, the Roman Templar Rodrigo Borgia unsuccessfully attempted to thwart Christopher Columbus' voyage to the West Indies, wishing to keep North America a Templar secret. During the collapse of the Roman Rite lead by the Borgia family, Templars were spreading their reach to the New World and their voyages were tracked by Assassins who followed. By the early 1500s, both groups had managed to establish presences in the New World through both old and newly recruited members.

Salem Witch Trials

"Our Order is not built on blood."

―Samuel Parris arguing with William Stoughton, 1692.

In 1692, once the Templars Samuel Parris and William Stoughton arrived in Salem, there they started a witch hunt for a precursor artifact. Having discovered that the Assassins Tom Stoddard and Jennifer Querry had come to Salem to hunt for the precursor artifact, Stoughton used Salem townsfolk to hunt and kill the Assassins, an idea that Parris objected. They eventually caught up to the Assassins in a swamp and Stoughton let the injured Querry go so that they could follow her to Stoddard and the seer Dorothy's location. Stoddard, thinking that Jennifer was a traitor, attacked her. Stoughton took this opportunity to assault Stoddard and tied the trio up.

Parris giving Stoddard the keys

Stoughton tortured the Assassins for information and threatened to hurt the mute boy David, secretly Querry's son. Querry offered to give them information when Consus once again possessed Dorothy, Querry took upon the opportunity to kill a guard and free Stoddard when Stoughton shot her dead. Then Stoddard then tried to free Dorothy and David when Stoughton shot him in the arm. However, after Stoughton revealed that he was going to experiment on the captured women to replicate the precursor oracle, Dorothy killed herself. Then Stoughton threatened to kill Stoddard when Samuel Parris interfered and shot Stoughton in both shoulders. Parris turned his pistol on Stoddard, declaring that he'll leave no witnesses to this horror. However, the Assassin was able to convince him to stand down and asked that he honor Osborne's death. Parris then gave Stoddard the keys to the cells so he would take the accused women and the mute boy named David to freedom, and reminded that not all Templars should be judged the same while declaring to Stoughton that their mission in Salem done.

Preparations for a Rite

"Master Gist, We are basically just sending letters out filled with secret plans and praying they arrive safely. We need a front company, or a series of companies, to double as a communications network."

―Lawrence in his letter to Gist, 1746.

The Wardrop Family was a Templar family active in the colonies since before the late 17th century, continuing in his father's footsteps, James Wardrop was inducted into the Templar Order in 1720 and was tasked to secure land and wealth, slowly and surely building up the foundation for a Templar Rite.

In 1738, Grand Master Reginald Birch named British Templar Lawrence Washington Master Templar of the British colonies in the New World, and tasked him with locating Precursor sites and other First Civilization relics. By 1744, Wardrop began to build a trade network for the Order that ran from the American colonies to the West Indies.

In 1746, Lawrence recruited the famed explorer Christopher Gist. Around this time, Gist hired Jack Weeks as an errand boy after Weeks attempted to pickpocket him and was impressed by his audacious attitude. The same year, Lawrence tasked Gist with expanding their communications network by recruiting Johnson into the Templar Order, Gist was successful through friendly appeals to Johnson. Together, they worked to build an infrastructure for the Order in the colonies with Johnson`s networks as appointed Colonel of the Warriors of the Six Nations, with well-established and good relations with the Kanien'kehá:ka.

In 1747, Lawrence worked with prominent businessmen and created the Ohio Company with the intent of opening trade to the interior of the American continent. Around this period, he hired Samuel Smith as the treasurer of one his businesses, and the Colonial Templars by extension.

Search for Precursor Sites

"Master Washington, I am less than pleased with paltry results coming from the colonies. I have other agents around the globe searching tirelessly for Pieces of Eden and you and your motley crew are busy building a postal service. What is more, I understand that an Assassin Brotherhood has taken root somewhere outside of New York. This simply will not do."

―Birch in his letter to Lawrence, 1750.

In 1750, Wardrop worked with Gist to acquire North American land for the Order, they evicted many native tribes from their ancestral lands. The same year, Birch sent the Templar agent George Monro to assist Lawrence in his search for the Temple. While operating in New York, Monro and Gist also worked alongside the Templar son of Barry and Cassidy Finnegan, both who shared a dream of renovating the city and getting rid of the Assassin-allied gang. That year, Gist also was tasked by Lawrence to secure alliances and commercial lanes for the Templars with the native tribes tribes west of the colonies, through the Ohio Company. By 1751, Monro officially inducted Gist and Weeks into the Order,

Templar reunion at Mount Vernon

That same year, after the earthquake of Port-au-Prince, the Templars took two relics from the Haitian Assassins, a Precursor box and the Voynich manuscript. After Washington returned to New York, he tasked his fellow Templars to research the two relics, who asked their learned allies in New York and allied native tribes of any information on it, none succeeded. In 1752, Thomas Hickey was stationed in Boston. There, he was assigned as an assistant to Johnson, joining the Order himself.

In July 1752, in his plantation at Mount Vernon, Washington passed the two artifacts to Samuel Smith and James Wardrop, before being killed by the Assassin Shay Cormac. Afterwards, 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 make the box work. The British Captain, John Pitcairn became a member of the Templars in 1754, having proved his worth and used his Templar connections, the Templars had Commander Amherst arrange for him to be moved to the Copp's Hill Battery in Boston to assist the other Templars.

By April 1754, British Templar Haytham Kenway acquired a mysterious key when killing Miko, the leader of the British Assassins. After further examination, the Templars concluded it was the key to a Precursor site and Reginald Birch sent Haytham to the colonies to find the site. While abroad the Providence across the Atlantic Ocean, Haytham foiled an assassination attempt by the British Assassin Louis Mills, who had lead the Assassin ship Aquila to board the Providence.

Founding

Haytham's Operations

"Upon this paper are the names of five men sympathetic to our cause. Each is also uniquely suited to aid you in your endeavor. With them at your side, you will want nothing."

―Birch giving Haytham his mission, 1754.

Haytham Kenway, founder of the Colonial Rite, meeting Charles Lee at the Boston docks

In May 1754, following his return to America, Smith was killed by Shay Cormac, who claimed the box for the Assassins. On July 8th, Haytham arrived in Boston, and was greeted by Charles Lee, a hopeful young man wishing to join the Templar Order. With Charles' help, Haytham sought to gather four Templars that Reginald Birch had arranged for Haytham to recruit to his quest: William Johnson, Thomas Hickey, surgeon Benjamin Church, and the British captain John Pitcairn. Templar fleets where also attacked over the next decade by the Assassin Robert Faulkner, who sailed the Aquila and earned herself the moniker of "Ghost of the North Seas."

The Parisian Templar Charles Gabriel Sivert served as the colonial governor of Saint Pierre and Miquelon and Brigadier general in the French military, Sivert also ran an artifact smuggling operation. Through this, he funded Haytham's operations in the colonies, and was involved in a disastrous attempt to recover an unknown object.

Johnson with Franklin at the Albany Congress

Meeting Johnson in the Green Dragon Tavern, Haytham learned that the Assassins had stolen Johnson's research on the native tribes. With Charles and Thomas Hickey, Johnson's assistant and Templar, Haytham reclaimed the chest with Johnson's research. Now with his papers, Johnson concluded that the symbols on the Grand Temple key were from a tribe known as the Kanien'kehá:ka, and that they would need their aid to find the Temple. Afterwards, during the Albany Congress, Johnson came in contact with Benjamin Franklin to see if the scientist could make the artifacts work, however, Shay Cormac killed Wardrop before he could pass the manuscript over to Johnson and recovered the artifact. Johnson returned to the Green Dragon Tavern.

On July 10th, Haytham and Charles searched for Benjamin Church, but discovered that he had been abducted by Silas Thatcher, a cruel British officer who demanded protection money. Fortunately, Haytham and Charles managed to save him from Silas' assistant, Cutter. Three days later, Haytham and Charles tried to recruit John Pitcairn, but British General Edward Braddock, a former Templar and brother-in-arms of Haytham, refused to let Pitcairn leave the British Army, believing he was a deserter. Sometime after, Haytham and Charles attacked the guards who were escorting Pitcairn and freed him. Learning that Thatcher had a group of Kanien'kehá:ka slaves, Haytham and his brothers decided to infiltrate Southgate Fort as British soldiers and free the natives in exchange for the location of the Grand Temple.

The Templars infiltrating the Southgate's fort

The next day, the Templars stole a slave carriage where a native woman, Kaniehtí:io, was a prisoner. Arriving in the fort, the young woman fled the carriage to free the natives. The Templars and Kaniehtí:io succeded in liberating the slaves, which created a fight between the guards and the prisoners. During the battle, Church shot Thatcher in the head. When the natives left the fort, Kaniehtí:io smiled to Haytham as a sign of gratitude.

Official Establishment

"We need to redouble our efforts and expand our order, and establish a permanent base here. Although the site eludes us, I am confident we will find it."

―Haytham declaring the establishment of the Colonial Rite, 1755.

On November 15th of 1754, Haytham and Charles searched for Kaniehtí:io in the Frontier. When they found her, the woman tried to ran away but Haytham managed to catch her. The Templar explained to her why he needed her help but Kaniehtí:io refused before Haytham tried to prove that he could be trusted. Haytham promised to help the natives stop the British expeditions into their territory. During their investigation, they discovered that with the outbreak of the French and Indian War, the British Government had arranged for Edward Braddock to lead an expedition to the French-controlled Fort Duquesne.

In July, the combined assault of Haytham's Rite and the Kanien'kehá:ka tribes, together with a timely assault by the French Army, led to the destruction of the expedition, were Gist fought at Washington's side, ensured the presumed death of Edward Braddock at Haytham's hands. True to her word, Kaniehtí:io led Haytham to the Precursor site, though the latter was disappointed to find little more than a cave.

Charles Lee officially joins the Templar Order

Later, Haytham returned to the Green Dragon, and explained to his brothers that the Kanien'kehá:ka cave had led to nothing. He decided to officially establish the Colonial Rite of Templar Order with him as the Grand Master and inducted Charles Lee into their ranks. The Templars would continue to search the Temple and helped the unification of the Colonies by aiding the British Crown against the French. The Finnegan Templar of New York died and his robes remained with his parents at some point.

Towards the end of 1755, Monro's men saved Shay Cormac, who was left for dead after he betrayed the Assassin Brotherhood. On Shay, Monro found the Voynich manuscript and was tasked by Haytham to discover the purpose of it. Understanding his allegiance, Monro sent the Assassin to Barry and Cassidy Finnegan, a couple who had a son in the Templar Order, to recover from his wounds for weeks.

The Colonial Great Purge

Securing New York

"We shared a dream, he and I, that of making the world a better place. Mere survival is not enough. Full bellies, warm clothing... Freedom from want is the greatest freedom of all"

―Monro explaining his philosophy to Shay, 1756.

File:The Color of Right 1.png

Shay questioning Monro's motives

By June 1756, Shay had recovered and the Finnegans were attacked by an Assassin-lead gang on the orders of the Greenwich Assassin bureau leader, as they demanded protection money. Monro wanted to attack their headquarter but Shay, who had recovered, arrived first and killed the leading Assassin of the Greenwich gang headquarters under their captain. Seeing the potential of Shay, Monro convinced him to work for him without revealing he was a Templar. Shay agreed to help the colonel to rebuild the city. Following the encounter with Monro, Shay began rebuilding the city by fighting the Assassin's gang while renovating properties.

When Gist discovered that the gangs in New York were working on creating new weaponry. After informing Monro, he attempted to take down the criminals set up at Fort Arsenal. Later, Gist was captured by the same gang who attacked the Finnegans and intented to publicly hang him. Monro send Shay to save Gist in Fort Arsenal. With Gist safe, Shay reclaimed the fort as well as the Morrigan, his ship when he was an Assassin and made Gist his quartermaster.

Fighting the Assassins

Shay: "Kesegowaase... It didn't have to be this way."

Kesegowaase: "It did. You are an enemy. Achilles will see you dead."

—Shay and Kesegowaase during the latter's final moments, 1757.

Christopher Gist and George Monro with the former Assassin Shay Cormac

With Gist safe, Shay reclaimed the fort as well as the Morrigan, his ship when he was an Assassin and made Gist his quartermaster. Afterward, Shay, Gist and Monro navigated through the River Valley to attack a French fort which was disrupting Monro's operations. Shay infiltrated the fort and met Le Chasseur, an Assassin ally, who was surprised to see Shay still alive. To prevent le Chasseur to reveal it, Shay was forced to kill him. In his last moment, le Chasseur revealed that the Assassins planned to poison the officials of New York City. Shay returned to the city to stop his former allies. With Monro, he planned to destroy the gas factory of the Assassin. After the explosion, Shay was joined by Monro, Gist, William Johnson, and Jack Weeks. Surprised, Shay understood he had helped his former enemies, but kept his thoughts to himself.

In 1757, George Monro was assigned to Fort William Henry which was threatened by the French. So, Monro sent the Voynich manuscript to Shay to keep it safe and revealed his allegiance. Shay decided to save the colonel with Gist and Weeks. After the Siege of Fort William Henry, the British troops were authorized by Louis-Joseph de Montcalm to leave the fort but were attacked by the Abenaki led by the Assassin Kesegowaase. Shay arrived to save Monro but was recognized by Kesegowaase. During their escape, Shay wounded the Assassin with an explosion which left scars on his face.

Monro giving his ring to Shay

Later, Monro learned that Kesegowaase prepared an attack on Albany. The colonel decided to prepare the defense of the city and send Shay helped the Oneida, a native tribe allied to the British troops, who were attacked by Kesegowaase's men. In November, Shay arrived at Albany when the Assassins attacked the city. In the fort, Shay gave the Voynich manuscript to Monro. Kesegowaase arrived but was killed by Shay with a Puckle gun. At the same time, Monro was mortally wounded by the Assassin and Shay's former best friend Liam O'Brien who took the manuscript. Shay arrived in the burning house to save the colonel but it was too late. With his last breath, Monro passed his Templar ring to Shay, trusting him to continue his work.

Turning the War

Gist: "He's a powerful man in his own right, and a symbol of hope for the Assassins. Eliminating him would shake them to their core."

Shay: "It would, I know. But it seems a shame. He's a good man, Gist."

—Gist and Shay, discussing killing Adéwalé, 1758.

The Experto Crede chased aground by the Morrigan

In 1758, Shay was officially inducted in the Templar Order by Haytham Kenway who was returned from Europe. Learning of Assassins activities near Louisbourg, Shay, Gist and Haytham joined the captain James Cook on the HMS Pembroke. The captain informed them that a British fleet would attack the fort. Concerned about the defense of the fort, the Templars decided to help the British, with Shay commanding the Pembroke. During the battle, the Experto Crede, the ship of Adéwalé, a Caribbean Assassin, helped the French Navy. The Assassin ship fled the battle but the Templars decided to destroy the fireships and were later joined by the British Navy. With the British victory, the Templars could focus on the Colonial Assassins. Since returning, Haytham started writing serval letters to his step-sister, Jennifer Scott, about Haytham's dream to conciliate the Assassins and Templars.

Later, Shay, Gist and Haytham found Adéwalé and after a battleship between the Morrigan and the Experto Crede, the Assassin beached his ship to escape from his enemies. Haytham decided to serve as a diversion thereby Shay could kill Adéwalé. With the death of Adéwalé, the Assassins suffered a loss of morale.

Shay observing Hope and Liam

By 1759, the Assassin Mentor Achilles Davenport, Liam O'Brien, Hope Jensen and le Chevalier de la Vérendrye met in New York to use the Voynich manuscript and the Precursor box to find another Temple. Shay eavesdropped their conversation and informed Haytham and Weeks about the Assassins plan. With the help of Weeks, Shay impersonated a gang member and turned the British guards against the Assassins which led to the attack of Hope Jensen's mansion. On the roof, Shay saw Liam leave with the box and the manuscript but Hope shot on the window where Shay was spying. With Shay on the ground, Hope tried to poison him with gases but the Templar left the mansion. Hope, seeing that, threw a poisoned knife on Shay and Shay was forced to kill her to take the antidote. In her last moment, she gave the information that Chevalier had the artifacts.

Conquest

Gist: "The Grand Master is pleased, Shay. What you did in New York... Well, it's only a matter of time now before order is restored."

Shay: "New York was never "orderly", Gist... With Hope gone, perhaps..."

—Gist and Shay discussing the collapse of the Assassins` gang, 1759.

After the assassination of Hope Jensen. Shay and Gist assisted the Royal Navy against the French Navy during the Battle of Labrador in Labrador, Canada, New France. They fought off the first wave of the French fleet sent to protect their coast, and afterward sunk French flagship, the Couronne and her supporting ships. In late 1759 in the North Atlantic, Shay Cormac and Christopher Gist sailed with the Royal Navy to hunt down the most dangerous pirates operating in the far North who had made a fortune terrorizing the trade ships of the North Atlantic. Shay sank the Cauldron captained by William Crest and the Pilgrim captained by Joseph "The Aristocrat" Reed supported by the French, eliminating one of the few remainders of piracy in the Atlantic.

The Storm Fortress, an Assassins flagship

Around the same time, the English had established dominance over the Arctic seas, and the French prepared a fleet lead by the Assassins' most powerful ship, the Storm Fortress, in a desperate attempt at regaining control. Shay and Gist sailed the Morrigan with the support of British gunboats, when they neared the Storm Fortress in the midst of a storm, the gunboats were destroyed by its carronades. When the Storm Fortress was damaged severely, it was joined by two other Men O' War, the Argonaut and the Sceptre. However, the Morrigan was able to sink the Storm Fortress and her escorts, thus maintaining the British hold on the Arctic seas.

The Precursor Site

"Shay was right."
"What would he know?"
"More than me, apparently."

―Achilles and Liam O'Brian, as the former realizes the scope to which he has erred, 1760.

The same year, Shay was promoted to Master Templar after he defended their hold of the region, ensuring the established British dominance of the east coast. Once back in New York, Shay walked into the trap orchestrated by a group of Assassins and their enclave of gang members from Hope`s gang. They used Marla Capps as bait and ambushed Shay, the trap failed and Capps was saved.

Shay and Haytham confronting Achilles and Liam in the Arctic Temple

In 1760, with the help of James Cook, Shay found the location of de la Vérendrye in the North Atlantic and aborded his ship, the Gerfaut. After a duel, Shay defeated Chevalier but discovered that the Assassin served as a diversion to give enough time to Achilles and Liam to reach the Temple. In his anger, Shay threw the Assassin in the cold water.

By March 1760, the Templars had tracked Achilles and Liam to a a Precursor Temple in the Arctic Ocean. Shay and Haytham infiltrated the Assassins camp and arrived in the vault at the same time as Achilles and Liam. Achilles understood that Shay was right about the Seismic Temples and forbid Liam to touch the object. Shay and Liam argued and Liam tried to shoot Shay, but Achilles interrupted him which cause the fall of the artifact and the collapse of the Temple. During their escape, Liam revealed he had the manuscript but that Chevalier hid the box. Shay managed to reach his Liam to fight him but the ice platform collapsed and the two former friends fell in a waterfall. Shay survived but Liam died from the height. Recovering the manuscript, Shay joined Haytham who had follow Achilles and bested the Mentor in a sword fight. While Haytham wanted to execute him Shay demanded to spare his life to let the Assassins knew the Precursor sites are dangerous. Achilles agreed, but as a mean of insurance, Haytham crippled him with a shot to the leg.

The Final Assault

Shay: "So what happens now?"

Haytham: "Master Gist will be in charge of eradicating any remaining traces of the Assassins. Master Weeks and the others will assist him, of course."

—Shay and Haytham discussing the final assault, 1760.

Later on the Morrigan, Haytham tasked Shay to find the Precursor box while Gist was afterwards tasked by Haytham to lead the continued eradication of any remaining Assassins and would receive assistance from Weeks, as well as others at their disposal. Under Gist leadership, a Templar raiding party killed the father of Atasá:ta, a Kanien'kehá:ka Assassin. The Templar Federico Perez from Florida, also hunted Assassins, preferring to hang any Assassins in the land he operated.

Lee strangling the future Assassin Ratonhnhaké:ton

In November 1760, a group of Templars led by Lee assaulted a young Kanien'kehá:ka boy named Ratonhnhaké:ton, who unbeknownst 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. Although the village was burned down by George Washington, Ratonhnhaké:ton believed Lee and his cohorts were responsible. Finally giving up their search for the Grand Temple, the Templars focused on strengthening their influence in the colonies.

During the Assassin purge lead by Gist with the aid of Weeks, the Assassin Pierre Bellec witnessed Templars massacre an entire village to eliminate a single Assassin, Bellec managed to escape the purge in 1762 before the Colonial Assassins was were crushed entirely. 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. The Assassin Benjamin Tallmadge, Sr. narrowly survived the attack. At some point Edmund Judge joined the Templar Order.

By 1768 and after decades of attacks on their Templar fleets by Robert Faulkner, the Templars prepared a trap against the Aquila after they uncovered the Assassin flagship had not been destroyed. Three British frigates ambushed the ship and nearly destroyed it, Faulkner survived the trap and managed to escape, and later returned to the ship and took it back to the Davenport Homestead.

Revolutionary War

After defeating the Assassins, the Templars gained more influence with the accumulation of the taxes and the lack of representation in Parliament, a revolutionary fever begun to grip the British Colonies. And the Templars attempted to influence both sides, in order to achieve a less violent independence of the Colonies and to create a Templar state. Johnson traded with the natives to protect them. Pitcairn, who became Major, was known as a peacekeeper and was respected by Boston citizens. Church joined the Sons of Liberty, a Patriot group that collected information, but he also betrayed them and the Templars by communicating with the British forces. Unknown to the Templars, however, the Colonial Assassins had begun to rebuild; Ratonhnhaké:ton, the illegitimate son of Haytham Kenway, had begun his training with Achilles Davenport.

Assassin Interference

Connor: "Is that my father...?"

Achilles: "Yes. Which means trouble is sure to follow. I need you to tail his accomplice. This crowd is a powder keg - we can't allow him to light the fuse"

—Achilles telling Connor to prevent their plan, 1775.

Lee triggering the Boston Massacre

Then on 5 March 1770, in Boston, after the Private Hugh White wounded Edward Garrick, a crowd mobbed around the Old State House to reclaim justice. Haytham sent one of his associates to shoot on the soldiers and cause an outbreak of fighting, but Ratonhnhaké:ton killed him before he could complete his mission. As a backup plan, Charles Lee shot into the air. The British soldiers, believing it was the crowd, opened fire on the mob, killing five people and leaving many wounded. This event increased the anger of the people against the British Crown. Six months later, Church inducted in the Templar Order a junior officer of the British Navy: Nicholas Biddle. While the Templars fully controlled their cities, they were hunted by the Assassin Atasá:ta.

In 1773, Templar ships began to attack the Nantucket's coasts as British ships to make the region unstable. The same year, William Johnson sought to purchase land from the Iroquois to protect from when the colonists wanted to take their territory. To finance his project, a local Templar Taxman organize to smuggle tea in Boston for Johnson, which was more expensive after the Tea Act and also extorted the citizens of Boston with tax collectors. The Templar Taxman was later attacked by Stephane Chapheau, plunging his butcher knife into his shoulder, for the having his footlocker stolen by British soldiers and Stephane finished him off quickly to end his suffering, at the advice of Connor.

A Templar Mercenary that lead northern Boston used mercenaries to control the district and was also opposed by Connor while he was in Boston. Under his leadership, they held citizens captive and demanded protection money from local merchants, these efforts were undermined with along Duncan Little, they assassinated the Templar Mercenary while he operated in the docks. Afterwards, with the help of Stephane Chapheau and the Sons of Liberty, Ratonhnhaké:ton foiled Johnson`s plan and threw his tea in Boston Harbor during the Tea Party, something that resulted in a temporarily setback to get the funds. Six months later, Johnson gathered the money to purchase the Iroquois land but during the meeting with natives, Ratonhnhaké:ton killed him.

Preventing War

Connor: "Why them and not the Redcoats?"

Pitcairn: "Do you not think we asked the same question of the British? These things take time. And it would have succeeded, had you let me play my part."

—Connor and Pitcairn discussing the revolution, 1775.

The Templar Recruiter

In 1775, a Templar Recruiter in the British Army drafted citizens for training to become regulars and other citizens were under prison escort, however some citizens volunteered to fight. During these operations in southern Boston, the Templar recruiter also organized for a ship to pick up recruits for Templar training. Connor ended these when he infiltrated one operation and ordered his assassination with the aid of Clipper Wilkinson, who fired from a nearby roof. Additionally, the four Templars that patrolled Boston was assassinated and the Templar Captain in charge of the Fort Independence.

In April 1775, John Pitcairn hoped to end the budding Revolutionary War before it truly began. With a British Army, the Templar went to Lexington to arrest Samuel Adams and John Hancock and negotiate with them. But the meeting of the British Army and the Patriots turned in a armed conflict. In Concord, Pitcairn retreated after his troops suffered heavy loss by the militia commanded by Ratonhnhaké:ton. With the began of the Siege of Boston by the Patriots, the war was declared.

Pitcairn ordering his troops to fall back

With the creation of the Continental Army, Templars placed many men on the rebel side. Charles Lee, who wanted to become the Commander-in-Chief, was made the second-in-command as George Washington was elected as the Commander of the Continental Army. Church became the Surgeon General, Hickey a private guard of Washington and Biddle a captain of the Continental Navy. During the Battle of Bunker Hill, Pitcairn tried to negotiate the peace but was killed by Ratonhnhaké:ton who believed he wanted to assassinate Adams and Hancock. At the end of the year, Church was arrested for intelligence with the British and expulsed from the Templar Order.

War Plans

"'Ere is 'ow it's gonna work. First we bind ya and bring ya to your cell. Then, tomorrow, you go before the court, accused of plottin' to kill good ol' Georgie. Maybe we could pin the murder of the Warden on you too. You did kill 'im, after all. And who wouldn't take the word of Charlie over here? Once that's all squared away, well then..."

―Hickey revealing their plan to Connor, 1755.

During the revolution, the British Army officer and Templar, Matthew Davenport, fought fiercely and with equal skill to that of his strategizing. Matthew also sent his daughter, Eleanor Mallow, on Templar-related missions of the most sensitive caliber against the Assassins and Eleanor also hid her identity. The Templars also hired the Hessian soldier and fellow Templar, Gerhard von Stantten, for the British Army to carry out Templar missions. A group of Templars also attacked friends of Caleb Garret, Garret joined the Assassins afterwards.

In 1775, the former slave and Louisiana Templar George Davidson abandoned the Patriot cause to serve in Lord Dunmore's Ethiopian Regiment and reunited with Titus Cornelius to fight together against slavery once he was informed that Lord John Murray Dunmore, Governor of Virginia, had issued a proclamation offering freedom to any slave who would join the Loyalist forces. The Templars also tried to kill Lord Dunmore, however the operation was thwarted by Assassins.

Lee about to execute Ratonhnhaké:ton near the New York City Hall

The Templars wanted to kill Washington thereby Lee could take his charge. Haytham tasked Thomas Hickey to accomplice the mission. In June 1776, Ratonhnhaké:ton tried to kill him in New York but was arrested with his target for forgery, as Hichey trafficked false money in the city. Send in Bridewell Prison, Hickey and Lee managed to charge the prison director's murder on Ratonhnhaké:ton and also the conspiration of assassinated Washington. The next day, Lee put the Assassin on the scaffold but Haytham, who had understood Ratonhnhaké:ton was his son, threw a knife on the rope. With the panic, Hickey tried to kill Washington but was assassinated by Ratonhnhaké:ton. Templars were also hunted by the Assassin Joe in New York and the French Assassin William de Saint-Prix fought along the revolutionaries against them.

During the year, the Templars continued to attack the Nantucket with British ships to force the Continental Congress to give more ships to Biddle. With his ship the USS Randolph, Biddle was tasked to escort La Belladonna to supply the Continental Army but he sent Templar ships attacked La Belladonna. Ratonhnhaké:ton defended the ship with the Aquila and killed the Templar Admiral. At the end of the year, Lee was captured by the British Army and gave information on the Continental Army to weak Washington's position as commander. During the surprise attack of Trenton, the German colonel and Templar Johann Rall was killed by Assassins.

Losing Influence

Jacob: "Who was he, really?"

Connor: "There are powerful organizations who seek control, nothing more. This man belonged to one."

—Connor explaining the Templars to Jacob, 1777.

Aveline confronting George

In the winter of 1777, Officer George Davidson operated in a fort located in the New York Frontier. However his collaboration with the "Company Man" attracted the attention of the Louisiana Assassin Aveline de Grandpré, and Ratonhnhaké:ton who helped her seeking a Templar called "Officer Davidson". While Davidson and a few of his men was in the watchtower of the fort, Aveline infiltrated the fort and Ratonhnhaké:ton created distractions against Davidson's reinforcements.

When confronted by Aveline, who questioned Davidson's allegiances. Davidson replied that his freedom had been guaranteed by the Loyalists in return for his service. They subsequently engaged Aveline in battle until a sudden explosion set off by Ratonhnhaké:ton could be heard. Following this, Davidson locked Aveline inside the watchtower and attempted to escape the fort in a gunpowder carriage until fired at one of the barrels inside Davidson's carriage as he rode by, mortally wounding the Templar in the process. Davidson revealed her step-mother, Madeleine de L'Isle, was the "Company Man" before passing away.

The same year, a local Templar Hoarder that controlled northern New York used his military influence to hoard food and ordered the attack of any resisting farmer, other citizens had their families evicted. This operation was undermined when Connor protected these people and attacked the Templars distributing the food in the market, his fortified camp built around the main water supply in the area were everything was moved before being sold, was later attacked with the help of Dobby Carter that created a distraction while Connor assassinated the Templar Hoarder.

In western New York, the district was controlled by another Templar Mercenary who distributed blankets for the poor that contained smallpox, these mercenaries was killed and the blankets was burned by Connor. After having killed the rabbit dogs and taken the ill citizens to the local doctor, the Templar Mercenary ordered his men to attack the clinic of Jamie Colley. They failed the attack and the Templar was killed during their defense of the clinic with the help of Connor and his other Assassins that ambushed them.

The Templar Commander

The eastern district of New York was under control of a Templar Commander in the British Army in had put a bounty of Connor and gone into hidding while he ordered a curfew, he had his agents infiltrate patriots to list their local leaders and publicly executed patriot leaders. Connor swapped the lists they had with a fake documents and ended the public executions while local British leaders that patrolled the city was attacked and interrogated to find his hideout. Once his location was discovered, Connor with the aid of Jacob Zenger disguised themselves as British Regulars, Connor was escorted onto the Templar Commander's ship during his official speech until they dropped the pretense and assassinated the Templar.

Attempted Unity

Connor: "Come to check up on Church? Make sure he'd stolen enough for your British brothers?"

Haytham: "Benjamin Church is no brother of mine. No more than the Redcoats or their idiot king. I expected naiveté. But this... The Templars do not fight for the crown. We seek the same as you, boy! Freedom. Justice. Independence."

—Haytham`s ideals presented to Connor, 1777.

A family reunion

In late 1777, Benjamin Church was liberated and stole Continental Army supplies. Ratonhnhaké:ton was charged by Washington to find the stock and met his father, who wanted to kill Church for his treason. After an argument where Haytham exposed the true goals of the Templars to his son and offered a truce out of their common interests to kill Church, something Connor accepted,to Lee's dissatisfaction. The two went to New York but it was only a trap. Church had flown to the Martinique. With the Aquila, Ratonhnhaké:ton and Haytham aboard the Welcome and killed Church.

17 March 1778, Biddle patrolled the Caribbean where he had prepared a trap for Connor during the truce. The attack lead by the Randolph attacked the Aquila with the aid of two Men-of-War. They where unable to successfully defeat the the Aquila and destroyed the Men-of-Wars and successfully disabled the Randolph's mast with a single broadside of chained cannonballs. Ratonhnhaké:ton boarded the Randolph and defeated Biddle and allowed him to go down with his ship.

On 17 June 1778, continuing their alliance, Haytham and Ratonhnhaké:ton learned that the British would attack from New York. Haytham wanted to inform Lee but his son decided to reveal this information to Washington. Arrived in Valley Forge, to show Washington's true face, Haytham revealed that Washington burned Ratonhnhaké:ton's village eighteen years before. Washington also ordered a new attack on Kanatahséton, due to his suspicions of them allying with the British. Ratonhnhaké:ton understood that his father hid this information for a long time, then he decided to cut his ties with Haytham and Washington.

Kanen'tó:kon facing Connor

Lee informed Kanatahséton of the attack and convinced them to join the British. He also persuaded Ratonhnhaké:ton's friend, Kanen'tó:kon that the Assassin betrayed his people. During the Battle of Monmouth, Lee sabotaged the preparation of the Continental Army but Ratonhnhaké:ton helped the soldier to retreat. Afterward, Lee was judged as a traitor and was suspended from duty.

Collapse

"I never knew him. Not really. I thought I had, but it wasn't until I read his journal that I realized I hadn't really known him at all. And it's too late now. Too late to tell him I misjudged him. Too late to tell him I'm sorry."

―Ratonhnhaké:ton after reading his father's journal.

In July 1778, the Continental officer and Templar George Dorrance was killed by Assassins while fighting against the joint forces of the British Army and the Iroquois during the during the Battle of Wyoming. The next year, the Templar ally and British Colonel John Boyd was assassinated during the Battle of Kettle Creek. A few months later, the Patriot solider in the Continental Army, Hugh Jackson was assassinated during the Battle of Stono Ferry for his Templar connections. In August 1780, the major general and Templar Johann de Kalb was killed by the Assassins during the Battle of Camden.

The Grand Master being killed by his own son

In September 1781, Ratonhnhaké:ton, seeking out Charles Lee, who was in Fort George in New York. The Assassin infiltrated the Fort during the bombing raid by French ships but was hurt by an explosion. Ratonhnhaké:ton confronted his father, who let Lee flew with the Grand Temple Key. After a brutal fight, the Templar Grand Master forced his son to kill him, and Charles Lee rose to hold the position in his stead. Haytham`s Journal was also recovered by Ratonhnhaké:ton afterwards.

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, killed him at the Last Drink Inn in Monmouth, and took the Grand Temple Key. Lee's death marked the collapse of the Colonial Rite, and the end of Templar influence in North America, for a time.

By 1784, Edmund Judge had left the Templars, living and working by his own rules to the day he was killed by Aveline de Grandpré with the help of Patience Gibbs. In August 1785, the Governor of Connecticut and Templar Jonathan Trumbull was killed by Assassins.

The American Rite

"She gave me two hours with them. It was enough time to read them and form questions of my own. To know that there was another way. A third way."

―Élise's observation of Haytham Kenway's ideals, 1788.

By 1788, the reorganized American Rite had most likely been contacted by the exciled Parisian Templar, François-Thomas Germain, that contacted them and convinced them that overthrowing the De la Serre family was necessary, before Germain initiated the his coup d'etat of the Parisian Rite. The same year, Élise de la Serre was given Haytham Kenway's letters by his step-sister, Jennifer Scott. The Coyote Man was a Native American Templar and Assassin Hunter that killed of one of the Mentors of the American Assassin at some point during the 18th century.

In 1794, the American Rite was contacted by Frederick Weatherall, who sent appeals asking them to support the overthrown De la Serre family against François-Thomas Germain and his extremists. Though they lent their sympathies, they offered no support, as the Parisian Rite ran smoothly, making Élise de la Serre's request for support of marginal interest.

Jan van der Graff as the new Black Cross

The Inner Sanctum presumed the Black Cross Tavis Olier was dead following his investigation of the Koh-i-Noor, a piece of Eden, being possession of the Ottoman sultan Selim III, The mantle of Black Cross was passed to the American Templar Solomon Bolden. In 1805, Solomon traveled posing as a slaver to Libya to save Olier imprisoned in Tripoli and met the Flemish spy Jan van der Graff, who also searched for the diamond for the French Emperor Napoleon I, after having survived a pirate attack sent by Selim, the two men decided to work together, Solomon will protect Graff during the travel while the Flemish spy will help the Black Cross to infiltrate the dungeon where was Olier. By 1808, Graff traveled to America as a Black Cross with the Koh-i-Noor and told to Solomon's wife the fate of her husband. The two had a relation and a child who continued the Bolden lineage.

The Templars of New York struggled to maintain their control of the city against a single Assassin. The Templar, Cudgel Cormac, was in his youth trained by his grandfather, Shay Cormac, to hunt Assassins like his father before him.

Early modern era

American Civil War

During the 1860s, at the start of the American Civil War, the American Rite of the Templar Order was under the control of Grand Master William M. Tweed. Tweed was the "boss" of Tammany Hall, the Democratic Party political machine, through which he directly influenced the Confederate States of America. In order to regain a stronger position over the Assassins since their eradication during the American Revolution, the Templars hoped to create chaos in the political climate to reclaim power.

To this end, Tweed orchestrated the New York City draft riots with the aid of Templars controlling the police and the army. Templar agent Cormac managed to influence the New York gangs to instigate chaos and mayhem. The Grand Master knew the rioters would eventually turn against the black citizens of the city, which conflicted with his own opposition to racial segregation, but was deemed a necessary evil to realize their goals. Additionally, the Templar Charles W. Sandford purposefully hindered the efforts to stop the rioters, by holding back the State Malitia under his command. Cormac nevertheless decided to save the children of a black orphanage after it was set ablaze by rioters.

After Tweed received intel the Assassins intended to locate a Dagger of Eden, one of the prongs of the Trident of Eden, the Grand Master sent Cormac to intercept them and acquire the artifact. Cormac was unable to succeed in his mission and was stopped by the Assassin Varius and his ally Eliza, Tweed's maid. The Assassins handed the Dagger of Eden to General Ulysses S. Grant to turn the civil war in the favor of the Union against the Confederacy.

Reconstruction Era

In April 1865, during the American Reconstruction, the Templars ordered John Wilkes Booth to kill the President of the Union, Abraham Lincoln. Booth himself was killed by the Assassins the same month. After Grant's 1868 election as President of the United States, Templars infiltrated his administration and helped Grant master the powers of the Dagger, by granting him access to a Precursor box and pages of the Voynich manuscript.

File:Alice-0.png

Alice in London

Years later, Tweed`s corruption was brought forward by the Assassin Eliza and Tweed was arrested in 1871. By 1782, the Templar Alice was tasked to recover the Precursor box and Manuscript from Grant`s opponent during the election that Horace Greeley had taken from Grant's office. They poisoned Horace, later Alice posed as a nurse and infiltrated Greeley's house in New York City, there she succeeded in recovering the box but failed to eliminate Horace, being stopped by the Pinkerton Agent Tommy Greyling. Afterwards she traveled to London after getting word that several of the Manuscript's pages were stored in the British Museum, she managed to recover the pages and boarded a ship to return to the States until confronted by Tommy. Rather than letting the pages fall into the hands of the Assassins, she threw the Voynich pages into the sea and warned Tommy that his actions wouldn't go unnoticed by her fellow Templars, before committing suicide by jumping into the sea.

Founding Abstergo

"In 1937, we founded this company, this enterprise, with a purpose. The time to nurture it to fruition is upon us."

―An Abstergo employee, in a message to Templars around the world, 1944.

A group of Templars during the formative years of Abstergo, including Henry Ford, Thomas Edison and Harvey Firestone

In the early 20th century, the Templars created capitalism as a means to keep the working population in line and under their own tight control. The Templars Henry Ford and Ransom Eli Olds created the assembly line, and economist John Maynard Keynes created several new theories and forms of economics based on capitalism. Harvey Firestone, founder of the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company, was also a member. Throughout the 20th century, the Templars made use of puppet regimes and rulers to spread capitalism throughout the world, with the ultimate goal being the eventual collapse of democracy, creating an ideal situation for the Templars to introduce a New World Order.

In the 1900s, Nikola Tesla, a former employee of Templar Thomas Edison, invented the alternating current of electricity, which was more efficient than Edison's direct current. In addition, Tesla was also in possession of an Apple of Eden, which he planned to use to create a free information network across the entire world.

The Templars, however, most prominently Edison himself, opposed his ideas, as they would be a serious impediment to the Templar goals and Edison's own ideals. To this end, Edison demonstrated a series of experiments, such as the electrocution of a circus elephant that he released, as proof of Tesla's power being dangerous, causing public disapproval towards Tesla's invention. Along with his smear campaign, Edison also influenced his fellow Templar J.P. Morgan to cut funding for Tesla's famous Wardenclyffe Tower. As Tesla's credibility began to falter, Edison rose to prominence, with his innovations outshining his competitor's.

In November 1910, the Templars Frank A. Vanderlip, Paul Warburg, Charles Norton, Benjamin Strong, Jr., Henry Pomeroy Davison and Nelson W. Aldrich met in secret on Jekyll Island, where they designed the "Plan", a plot to control the capitalist market.

In December 1913, the Federal Reserve was established, and was secretly the first part of the "Plan".

Sometime later, Edison came into possession of the Apple after Templar agents had stolen it from Tesla's lab, and used it to help him create several commercially successful inventions. He later allowed his fellow Templar Henry Ford to use the Apple. On 5 January 1918, Ford announced that his company would pay its workers $5 per day. However, the supposed pay rise was actually a pay cut, as Ford has used the Apple to convince his workers otherwise.

After World War I, Albert Bolden had joined the Templars and becoming the new Black Cross. Bolden also posed as as the leading trumpeter in the jazz group Albie Bolden and the Harlem Hotsteppers, became feared among Templars as he travelled around the world killing corrupted Templars, eliminating Assassin cells and finding pieces of Eden.

World War II

"H. has [the Apple of Eden], so I assume the war will begin as soon as he can take over. We'll let him have his fun (Lord knows, that kind of purge will be good for Europe) and then end it with a bang, as planned. Out of the chaos of war a new order will emerge!"

―Henry Ford in a letter to Thomas Edison, 1930s.

In 1933, Ford shipped the Apple to Germany to pass it onto Adolf Hitler, who would go on to become the leader of Nazi Germany, laying the groundwork for the Second World War. During the war, the Templars used Franklin D. Roosevelt, who was the U.S. President at that time, as their secret puppet. Their intention for the company was to act as a global conglomerate secretly dominating the capitalist market in the wake of the war, and to dismantle communist governments.

In 1937, the formulators of the Plan established Abstergo Industries as a front for their activities. This enabled them a means to accumulate wealth and accelerate scientific progress, and largely anonymous, Abstergo's leadership claimed their duty was to "shepherd those beneath us through life, even if force is required".

However, by 1943, the Templars had lost control of Roosevelt and their other puppets, who each had their own ideas for the world's future. As a result, the Inner Sanctum decided to develop an atomic weapon to give victory to the Americans. However, Templar physicist John von Neumann proposed a more peaceful solution with the Rainbow Project. Using his theories on Die Glocke, an early version of the Animus, von Neumann believed it could allow them to alter the course of history and kill Hitler before his rise to power.

Agreeing to a temporary alliance with U.S. Colonel and Assassin Boris Pash, the Templars allowed von Neumann to subsequently work with Pash and Nikola Tesla on the USS Eldridge on Project Rainbow. However, the rogue Assassin Eddie Gorm killed Tesla onboard the ship, setting the project back. It was ultimately a failure, and the Templars moved von Neumann to the Manhattan Project to improve the Allies' position over the Axis.

By 1944, Abstergo and the Templars were prepared for the inevitable post-war era, where they would "ensure the development continues in the proper direction", and used the Bretton Woods Conference in July of that year as a cover for a meeting between their economic agents, including John Maynard Keynes and Harry Dexter White. On the last day of the conference, a speech was given to Abstergo Industries employees, economists, and world leaders, mentioning the formation of the "Plan" by Henry Ford and Ransom Eli Olds in 1910 and the threat presented by the communist system, as well as the efforts of Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin to create the "turmoil and fear necessary" for the implementation of the new economic systems.

In 1945, Abstergo sanctioned the Manhattan Project's tests of the atomic bomb, and on 6 and 9 August of that year two atomic bombs were dropped on Japan. Amidst the resulting chaos of the war, the Templars were able to guide the world's economic rebuilding towards the goals of their New World Order.

Cold War

"Democracy must die to ensure the stability of the world. Capitalism will end it. [...] The capitalists will do whatever we tell them to. We print the dollars they worship after all."

―An unknown Templar regarding their plans to dismantle democracy.

Following the war, White betrayed the Templar Order in order to warn the Soviet Government of Abstergo's capitalist plans, making him a top target of the company. In 1948, Abstergo operatives killed him in his home.

Abstergo agents in Pasadena

On 17 June 1952, agents from Abstergo Industries discovered that American rocket propulsion researcher Jack Parsons had solved a secret formula from occultist Aleister Crowley. To stop Parsons' research, they orchestrated the explosion of his laboratory in Pasadena, with Parsons himself still inside. Parsons died soon after of his injuries, and Abstergo agents kidnapped undercover detective Thomas Sean Morgan to cover their tracks.

During the 1950s, the Templars and Abstergo manipulated the CIA's actions in favor of their plans for a New World Order, notably through toppling democratic governments around the world and replacing them with Templar-influenced dictatorships. This resulted in the orchestration of the 1953 coup against the Iranian prime minister Mohammad Mosaddegh in order to place Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi into absolute power as well as the 1954 Guatemalan coup d'état in order to depose democratically elected Guatemalan President Jacobo Árbenz.

Vietnam War

"HQ has given the go-ahead to extract the resource. Negotiations are over. F. is planning to give the vote to everyone. Reason just doesn't work with someone like that."

―An Abstergo agent sanctioning Operation: New Frontier, Kennedy's assassination, in a letter, 1963.

On 8 February 1957, while von Neumann was in Walter Reed Medical Center, his guards were beaten unconscious by the Assassin Alekseï Gavrani under the command of Pash. Afterwards Pash went into his chambers, von Neumann had died and his Apple of Eden had been taken.

During the Vietnam War, Templars had infiltrated the US military and the Vietnamese regime with President Ngô Đình Diệm being their puppet in Vietnam, their Templar agent Cooper, was captured and interrogated by the secret Bloodstone Unit founded by Assassin and director, William King Harvey, under the authorization of their Mentor. The Templar puppet was later disposed during the coup orchestrated within the CIA by the leader of the unit, Boris Pash.

In 1963, Abstergo Industries aimed to remove President John F. Kennedy of the United States, as Kennedy did not serve Abstergo's interests. As a result, the company sanctioned his assassination, with the intent to install their puppet, Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson, as the new President. Unbeknownst to the Templars, Assassins under the leadership of the Assassin extremist Boris Pash had infiltrated their ranks to hijack the conspiracy.

Harvey gaining the Apple from Gavrani

The Assassin Harvey eventually betrayed the Assassins and served as a double agent for the Templars, afterwards Assassins from the Bloodstone Unit killed Kennedy and framed the Templars' shooter Lee Harvey Oswald, the Assassin William Greer – a CIA agent whom Abstergo trained for the mission with Apple of Eden #2 to bring them Kennedy's Apple – took the artifact to secretly bring it to Pash, but was halted by the rogue Assassin Alekseï Gavrani. They regained the Apple and William convinced Alekseï to hunt down the unit and stop Pash for breaking the the Creed and escalating the conflict in Vietnam.

Other activities

Negative of the real Moon landing photo

Kennedy's assassination paved the way for NASA, one of Abstergo's puppet companies, to organize the Apollo 11 spaceflight and allow Templar Buzz Aldrin to retrieve another Apple of Eden from the Moon's surface.

In 1973, Abstergo Industries wanted to overthrow the communist government of President Salvador Allende of Chile to maintain control over Chile's corporations, which Allende wanted to nationalize. In a plot devised by Abstergo's puppet Henry Kissinger, Allende was overthrown and killed, and the Templars' puppet Augusto Pinochet was installed as the leader of a new military junta.

In 1983, Abstergo Industries orphaned and kidnapped a young boy, who they brought to their Philadelphia facility. Where Warren Vidic began to experiment on Subject 4 of the Animus Project, a young boy who would later be named "Daniel Cross." Placing Daniel in the Animus to relive the memories of his ancestor. Using a replicated Piece of Eden, Warren embedded Daniel with a subconscious impulse to assassinate the Mentor of the Assassin Order, were he ever presented with the opportunity.

During the late 1990s, the Templars and Assassins were engaged in a solely political war for the Presidency, with the Templars using George W. Bush as their puppet and the Assassins supporting candidate Al Gore.

Modern times

The Great Purge

On 6 November 2000, Daniel Cross was granted an audience with the Mentor of the Assassin Brotherhood and, in a split moment, acted upon his impulse and murdered him.

Daniel returning to the Abstergo facility in Philadelphia

On November 21, Daniel eventually made his way back to the Abstergo research facility in Philadelphia. As soon as he arrived there, Daniel demanded that he be returned to the Animus; though it was only after an attack on an unfortunate secretary that Warren Vidic became convinced of his urgency. Daniel was placed into the Animus to freely explore the memories of his ancestor, Nikolai Orelov, which had a calming effect on Daniel himself.

Daniel was soon taken out of the Animus and tied to a medical bed. Under the supervision of Alfred Stearns and other high ranking Abstergo employees, Dr. Sung was forced to extract information from Daniel by administering SK-345 into him. Daniel subconsciously revealed the locations and secrets of the Assassin hideouts he had visited over the past two years, allowing Abstergo to initiate the "Great Purge", which nearly annihilated the entire Assassin Brotherhood.

The Templars overseeing the Great Purge

During the Great Purge, Assassin compounds in South Dakota, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas were located and destroyed by Abstergo. Nearly all Assassins within their camps, including children, were massacred by military agents under order of Abstergo Industries.

Without the Assassins' interference, the Templars were able to steer the election in their desired direction and Bush was assigned as President of the United States. Following the controversial 2000 presidential election, the Supreme Court heard the case Bush v. Gore, where the Court was asked to decide whether to allow a recount of the votes in the State of Florida or order the certification of the election in favor of Bush. Templar ally Justice Antonin Scalia convinced fellow Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, the swing vote on the Court, to rule in favor of Bush, appealing to her desire to retire under a Republican president.

The Templars spent the next several years routing out Assassin cells and safehouses. By 2002, various Assassins, including Paul Bellamy, were captured by Abstergo. Abstergo induced the subjects into a coma and bound them to Animi in the company's Philadelphia facility, where they explored the genetic memory of their ancestors.

In 2003, the Templars manipulated the Bush administration into starting the Iraq War in order to pave the way for Dick Cheney's military contractors to accept jobs from the government and escalate the war further. As a result, Templar's influence spread, and Cheney was able to strengthen the American armed forces, ensuring the war would continue. Abstergo also utilized the administration's loose regulation of the private sector to gain more influence.

Upon the resignation of O'Connor in 2005, Scalia ensured that President Bush was given the name of Templar John Roberts as her replacement. However, following the death of Chief Justice William Rehnquist less than two months later, Bush renominated Roberts to the position of Chief Justice. In 2010, the Roberts-led Court ruled against limitations on corporate contributions to political campaigns. This decision ensured the ability of Abstergo Industries to elect their chosen candidates to Congress and, eventually, the presidency.

Second Gilded Age

Sometime before October 2011, in an underground Abstergo Industries facility beneath Denver International Airport. Daniel Cross was the Project Lead on an experiment involving the Eye-Abstergo satellite, however Daniel fell under the influence of the project's Apple of Eden and killed everyone in the facility before the company's clean-up crew had arrived and the artifact was ultimately destroyed. Dr. Warren Vidic was responsible for preparing the final report of the incident.

Daniel confronting Desmond Miles

In 2012, Daniel tracked Desmond out of frustration that Abstergo had lost him, Daniel caught him in an offie in Manhattan stealing a First Civilization battery. Holding him at gunpoint until he was disarmed by him before he escaped.

As of 2014, there was a Grand Master operating in the United States. That year, Alan Rikkin sent a memo to Gramática informing him that, if they proceeded with his plan to excavate the Observatory located in Long Bay, Jamaica and retrieve the missing blood vials, which Gramática considered to be of critical importance to the Phoenix Project, he would contact the Grand Masters in Cuba, Mexico, and the United States to get a read on the situation.

In 21 October 2016, Dr. Sophia Rikkin had Callum's execution staged and brought him to the Abstergo Foundation. A Templar run initiative led by Sophia Rikkin in Madrid, Spain.

Members

Colonial Rite of the Templar Order

• Nicholas Biddle
• Benjamin Church
• Shay Cormac
• Templar Commander(New York)
• Coyote Man
• Templar Mercenary(New York)
• Matthew Davenport
• George Dorrance
• Christopher Gist
• Thomas Hickey
• Templar Hoarder(New York)
• Barry and Cassidy Finnegan's son
• William Johnson
• Edmund Judge (Left)
• Johann de Kalb
• Haytham Kenway (Grand Master; 1754-1781)

• Charles Lee (Grand Master; 1781-1782)
• Eleanor Mallow
• Man O' War captain
• Gillian McCarthy
• George Monro (British Rite)
• Federico Perez
• John Pitcairn
• Johann Rall
• Templar Recruiter(Boston)
• Gerhard von Stantten
• Templar Taxman(Boston)
• Jonathan Trumbull
• Jack Weeks
• Victor Wolcott

American Rite of the Templar Order

• Nelson W. Aldrich
• Buzz Aldrin
• Alice
• Richard B. Connolly
• Albert Bolden
• Solomon Bolden
• Shay Cormac
• Shay Cormac`s son
• "Cudgel" Cormac
• Daniel Cross
• Henry Pomeroy Davison
• Thomas Edison
• Harvey Firestone
• Henry Ford
• Jan van der Graff
• A. Oakey Hall
• Lyndon B. Johnson

• American Grand Master (Grand Master; c. 2014)
• John Pierpont Morgan
• John von Neumann
• Charles Norton
• Ransom Eli Olds
• John Roberts
• Charles W. Sandford
• Lucy Stillman
• Benjamin Strong, Jr.
• Peter B. Sweeny
• William M. Tweed (Grand Master; c. 1863)
• Frank A. Vanderlip
• Joseph Vidic
• Warren Vidic
• Paul Warburg
• Harry Dexter White

Allies and puppets

Colonial Rite of the Templar Order

Seven Years' War

• David Borgen
• James Cook
• Michael Crawley
• Benjamin Franklin
• Charles Gabriel Sivert (Parisian Rite)

American Revolutionary War

• George Davidson (Louisiana Rite)
• Hugh Jackson
• John Boyd
• "Twitch"
• Ratonhnhaké:ton (Colonial Brotherhood; 1778)
• Kanen'tó:kon

American Rite of the Templar Order

French Revolution

• François-Thomas Germain(Parisian Rite; Extremist faction)
• Frederick Weatherall(Parisian Rite; Moderate faction)

American Civil War

• John Wilkes Booth
• Ulysses S. Grant

Early 20th Century

• Franklin D. Roosevelt

Late 20th Century

• Gerald Ford
• Henry Kissinger
• Lee Harvey Oswald
• Ransom Eli Olds
• Richard Nixon
• William Greer

21st Century

• Dick Cheney
• Donald Evans
• Grace Collins
• Condoleezza Rice
• Donald Rumsfeld
• Antonin Scalia
• George W. Bush
• Paul Wolfowitz

Trivia

• Historically, the Albany Congress took place from June 19 to July 11 in 1754, and Franklin forwarded the Albany Plan on July 10th. Implying that Wardrop was assassinated after Haytham arrived and that Johnson was there for a short period.
• While Lawrence Washington established allies among native tribes with the alliances of William Johnson and Christopher Gist thought their occupations, no individual tribes from the Iroquois are specified as their allies.
• After the collapse of the Colonial Rite, Shay is the only known highest ranked member left and therefor he could take charge of the new American Rite, like other Rites with only a Master Templar instead of Grand Master, such as the Louisiana Rite.
• Since it is established that Haytham Kenway was responsible for a permanent foundation of a Colonial Rite, it is right to assume any previous Templar presence never remained permanent in North America.

Appearances

• Assassin's Creed II – Glyphs
• Assassin's Creed: Project Legacy
• Assassin's Creed: The Fall
• Assassin's Creed: Revelations – Abstergo Files
• Assassin's Creed III
• Assassin's Creed: Forsaken
• Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag – Aveline
• Assassin's Creed: Rogue
• Assassin's Creed Volume 1: Trial by Fire
• Assassin's Creed: Templars