The West Indies Brotherhood of Assassins, also known as the Caribbean Brotherhood of Assassins,[1] was the guild of Assassins located in the Caribbean region, founded in the early 16th century after the Assassins' spread to the New World. As of the 18th century, the Caribbean Assassins mirrored the organizational structure of the Levantine Brotherhood, with their headquarters located in Tulum and bureaus placed in Havana, Kingston, Nassau, and the Cayman Islands.
Under the leadership of the Mentor Ah Tabai in the early 18th century, the Caribbean Assassins focused on locating Bartholomew Roberts, a Sage who knew the location of the Observatory. As their enemies, the West Indies Rite of the Templar Order, sought to use the Observatory to control world leaders, the Assassins hoped to keep Roberts and, by extension, the Observatory out of the Templars' hands.
However, the Brotherhood's efforts were sabotaged by the pirate Edward Kenway, who inadvertently helped the Templars by selling them a set of stolen maps detailing the locations of the Caribbean Assassins' bureaus. Although Edward would thereafter work with the Assassins, most notably his friend Mary Read, on several occasions, Ah Tabai refused to acknowledge him as an ally due to his past transgressions.
Following Mary's death, Edward sought to join the Assassins and was welcomed by Ah Tabai into the Brotherhood after the pirate demonstrated a genuine desire to better himself. Thanks to Edward's efforts, the West Indies Templars were wiped out, allowing the Caribbean Assassins to regain dominance in the region and secure the Observatory. Prior to Edward's departure to England in 1722, he gifted his hideout in Great Inagua to Ah Tabai, which became the new headquarters of the West Indies Brotherhood.
In the following decades, the Caribbean Assassins would become involved in the Maroon rebellion of Saint-Domingue, mainly through the actions of Adéwalé, Edward's former quartermaster who had similarly joined the Brotherhood. They would also be responsible for the establishment of two new Assassin branches: the Saint-Domingue Brotherhood, formed by François Mackandal in the 1730s; and the Colonial Brotherhood, founded by Ah Tabai's last student Achilles Davenport in 1746.
History[]
Early history[]
- "The Assassins and Templars have been at war for thousands of years, all over the world. The natives of this new world had a philosophy like our creed for as long as they've been here. And when Europeans arrived, our groups sort of... matched up."
- ―Mary Read, on the West Indies Brotherhood's origins, 1716.[src]-[m]
In 1503, the Italian Brotherhood's Mentor Ezio Auditore sent a group of Assassins to Constantinople, where they managed to retrieve maps of the New World from Piri Reis' workshop.[2] Realizing that the Templars were already expanding their influence to the newfound lands, the Assassins swiftly followed suit.[3] After these Assassin immigrants from Europe made contact with the indigenous peoples in the Caribbean, many natives joined the Order, finding similarities between their own way of living and the Assassin ideology.[4]
Miguel running from a wounded Ponce de León
By 1510, the West Indies Assassins were known to be located in Florida, where they protected the Fountain of Youth, a rumored Piece of Eden. That year, the Assassins welcomed the former slave and translator for the Spanish Army, Alonso Carlo, and his adopted son Miguel Ramón Carlo de Lugo, after their escape from persecution by Juan Ponce de León. In 1521, Ponce de León arrived in Florida searching for the Fountain of Youth, where he was halted by Miguel. After Ponce de León refused to stop his search, the Assassins shot him with poisoned arrows, ultimately leading to his death.[5]
Golden Age of Piracy[]
Rescuing Thom Kavanagh[]
- "Your Master host'd a Templar, and may now be one himself. Such Men are not to be trust'd with a Prize so valuable as you. Steer clear of them, for they seek the Knowledge that hides in your Minde. Your Dreames, your Memories, and the Location of a Place once dear to you... The Observatorie."
- ―Bahlam warning Kavanagh about the Templars, 1673.[src]-[m]
By the late 17th century, the West Indies Brotherhood operated out of the abandoned Maya city of Tulum and opposed the newly-established West Indies Rite of the Templar Order.[6] In 1673, Thomas Kavanagh, Jr., a native of Boston who worked at Peter Beckford's estate in Jamaica, was pursued by Laureano de Torres y Ayala, Grand Master of the Caribbean Templars. Knowing Kavanagh to be a Sage, Torres believed the man knew the location of the Observatory.[7]
West Indies Assassins at the Tulum hideout
In an effort to keep the Templars from learning the site's location, the Caribbean Assassins, led by Mentor Bahlam, intercepted Kavanagh and brought him to Tulum.[8] Kavanagh refused to share the Observatory's location with the Assassins and could not explain the visions that haunted him.[6] Bahlam accepted the explanation and, with help from his son Ah Tabai, transported the Sage to a nearby fishing village after cautioning him to be wary of the Templars.[9]
Search for the Observatory[]
- Ah Tabai: "It seems another Sage has been found, the race for the Observatory begins anew."
- Edward: "Is that why we're whispering?"
- Ah Tabai: "This is your doing, Captain Kenway. The maps you sold to the Templars have led them straight to us. And now the agents of two empires know exactly where we operate."
- —Ah Tabai and Edward Kenway during the attack on Tulum, 1716.[src]-[m]
Four decades later, Ah Tabai became the Mentor of the West Indies Brotherhood, and made the recovery and protection of the Sage one of the Order's highest priorities. However, despite his efforts, the Assassins were not able to locate Kavanagh's successor before he was captured by the Templars.[10]
The Assassin bureau in Havana
Under Ah Tabai's direction, the West Indies Brotherhood expanded throughout the Caribbean, establishing bureaus in Havana, Kingston, Nassau, and the Cayman Islands.[11] Ah Tabai also maintained contact with the British, North American, and Chinese Brotherhoods at the time.[12]
In 1698, Ah Tabai recruited Antó, a Maroon leader who rose in the ranks of the Brotherhood, effectively becoming the Kingston bureau leader.[13] Some time later, Rhona Dinsmore, Opía Apito, Upton Travers, Vance Travers, and Mary Read were inducted into the Order, with the first four becoming bureau leaders of Havana, the Cayman Islands, and Nassau, respectively.[11]
In 1715, Ah Tabai tasked Duncan Walpole, a British Master Assassin who had travelled to the West Indies for further training, with leading a team to rescue the Sage. However, Walpole had secretly defected to the Templars and intended to help them capture the Sage.[12] Walpole ultimately failed to carry out his betrayal due to his demise at the hands of the pirate Edward Kenway,[14] who subsequently impersonated Walpole in the hopes of receiving payment from Torres. Edward thus unknowingly harmed the Assassins by delivering the locations of their bureaus in the Caribbean, as well as several blood vials, to Torres and the Templars.[15]
Assassins attempting to rescue Roberts
Torres revealed that the new Sage was a man by the name of Bartholomew Roberts whom they intended to interrogate to uncover the location of the Observatory. The Assassins attempted to free Roberts via ground assault in Havana and, though they were ultimately unsuccessful,[10] Roberts later managed to escape Templar custody by himself.[16]
In 1716, Tulum was attacked by a British regiment led by a Templar-allied slaver named Laurens Prins. Edward, with the help of Mary Read, managed to defend the Assassin encampment and push back the attackers,[4] though Tulum was continually assaulted by the Templars in the following years.[17] Edward became an uneasy ally of the Assassins, tracking the Templars who hunted the bureau leaders across the Caribbean.[11]
Edward joining the Assassins
In 1719, Adéwalé, Edward's quartermaster, became disillusioned with the pirate lifestyle and approached the Assassins with the intention of joining them, becoming a student of Ah Tabai.[18] Edward himself would join the Brotherhood two years later, wishing to make amends for his past misdeeds,[17] as per the final request of Mary Read, who had died while imprisoned in Port Royal.[19] With Edward's help, the Assassins eliminated most of the West Indies Templars and found the Observatory, which they then sealed away.[20]
In 1722, after repeated attacks on Tulum from both the Royal and Spanish Navies, Edward offered his hideout in Great Inagua to the Brotherhood before his departure to England. Ah Tabai accepted the offer and eventually moved the Order to the new location, though he expressed concern that their headquarters might be compromised again. He therefore decided to scatter the Order among the people, similar to what Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad had done with the Levantine Assassins in the 13th century.[21]
In 1723, Ah Tabai appointed a faction of Assassins to guard the Observatory along with the indigenous Guardians.[22]
Later activities[]
A Caribbean Assassin relaying information to Edward
In 1724, the Brotherhood intercepted an East India Company ship sailing from the South China Sea as it was passing through the Caribbean, and recovered a document mentioning the lost city of the Khmer Empire, which was believed to be a Precursor site. Adéwalé thought that the document would interest Edward, who by this point had helped the Assassins locate a number of similar sites around the world, and asked a mutual Assassin contact to give it to him during their next meeting.[23]
In January 1725, Adéwalé assassinated a Templar who was in command of an East India Company ship. Before dying, the Templar revealed that the information previously "acquired" by the Brotherhood was intended to lead Edward into a trap. Disturbed by the news, Adéwalé ordered that the British Assassins be notified immediately so they could hopefully thwart the conspiracy threatening Edward's life.[24]
In the mid-1730s, Ah Tabai recruited Achilles Davenport as his last student.[25] In 1735, Adéwalé intercepted a Templar ship containing a parcel, which inside held a Precursor box. In the process, the Assassin was shipwrecked and left marooned on Port-au-Prince,[26] during which time he aided the Maroon rebellion by recruiting warrior slaves to the cause, helping in their struggle against the French Army.[27]
In 1738, the leader of the Maroons, François Mackandal, broke from the West Indies Brotherhood with his own branch established in Saint-Domingue. Believing that the mainstream Assassins' preference for peaceful compromises was a weakness, he promoted his own radical reinterpretation of the Creed that permitted the use of any means fit to achieve an ends, rather than serving as a warning against extremism. He rejected Antó's offer for assistance and even threatened the West Indies Brotherhood should they interfere with his operations.[28]
Around 1740, Achilles was sent to the North American colonies to establish a local Brotherhood there. Ah Tabai continued to correspond with Achilles on his progress until his death around 1745.[29]
After Torres' death, Rhona Dinsmore's Assassins took control of the underworld in Havana. In 1751, the Templar Rafael Joaquín de Ferrer seduced Dinsmore, and was able to steal her maps of the Yucatán Peninsula. As she was too busy keeping Havana safe from conflict between the colonial empires, Rhona requested Achilles to eliminate de Ferrer if given the opportunity.[30]
Origins and appearance[]
The West Indies Assassins were composed of individuals from a host of different cultures and backgrounds; some had come from far overseas, while others belonged to local tribes.[11]
Generally, the robes worn by the West Indies Assassins' hearkened back to those worn by the Levantine Assassins, being white and ankle-length, accompanied by a red sash around the waist. The men's attire was heavier than that of the women, which appeared more heavily-influenced by tribal dress, baring the arms, middle, legs and feet. While the robes were hooded, they were not beaked.[11]
A few prominent Assassins within the West Indies Brotherhood eschewed the more traditional attire for unique robes; among these were the Mentor Ah Tabai, as well as Antó, Opía Apito, and Adéwalé. Edward Kenway, Mary Read, and Rhona Dinsmore opted for clothing that was more typical of pirates, which fit with their respective backgrounds. While Upton and Vance Travers' robes were the same as the men's attire of the West Indies Assassins', their robes were colored brown or greyish-green.[11]
Techniques[]
In the early 18th century, most, if not all, West Indies Assassins wore dual Hidden Blades. They also used blowpipes, smoke bombs, pistols, and rope darts.[11]
Members[]
Age of Discovery
- Golden Age of Piracy
- Adéwalé
- Ah Tabai (Mentor; 1713 - 1745)
- Antó (bureau leader, Kingston)
- Opía Apito (bureau leader, Cayman Islands)
- Bahlam (Mentor; c. 1673 - 1713)
- Chimalmat
- Achilles Davenport
- Rhona Dinsmore (bureau leader, Havana)
- Heloise
- Irekanni
- Edward Kenway
- Mary Read
- Jibral Bin Said
- Upton Travers (bureau leader, Nassau)
- Vance Travers (bureau leader, Nassau)
- Duncan Walpole (British Brotherhood)
Allies and puppets[]
- Golden Age of Piracy
- Alonzo Batilla
- Samuel Bellamy (British Brotherhood)
- Anne Bonny
- Augustin Dieufort
- Bastienne Josèphe
- Olivier Levasseur
- François Mackandal (Saint-Dominigue Brotherhood)
Appearances[]
- Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood (first mentioned) (indirect mention only)
- Assassin's Creed: Project Legacy (indirect mention only)
- Assassin's Creed: Revelations – Discover Your Legacy (first appearance)
- Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag
- Assassin's Creed: Black Flag
- Assassin's Creed: Pirates
- Assassin's Creed: Memories (mentioned only)
- Assassin's Creed: Rogue
- Assassin's Creed: Unity (mentioned in Database entry only)
- Assassin's Creed: Reflections
- Assassin's Creed: Rebellion
- Assassin's Creed: Forgotten Temple
References[]
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