__________
A S S A S S I N' S
[SIZE=+0]C R E E D[/SIZE]
__________
L E G A C Y
O F
B L O O D L I N E S
__________
THEY CALL US MONSTERS, YET WE DEVOTE OUR LIVES TO TRUTH. YET LAST NIGHT, ONE OF THEIR OWN WAS CAPTURED. I COME TO CYPRUS FROM THE HOLY LAND AFTER MURDERING THE TEMPLARS THERE.
I FOLLOWED THE REST TO CYPRUS, EAGER TO DIP MY BLADE IN THE BLOOD OF THE LAST SURVIVING TEMPLARS. WORD OF MY DEEDS SPREAD BEFORE ME. THEIR FOLLOWERS SET A TRAP. THEY DID NOT SET IT TIGHTLY ENOUGH.
MY NAME IS ALTAIR IBN-LA'AHAD.
___________
DNA SEQUENCE ONE - MEMORY STRAND ONE
Altaïr wandered around Acre's self-designated "Rich" District. It was true that this section of Acre was where the wealthy gathered, socialized and lived in relative excess and splendor though then again the vast majority of these people were either from Europe or descended from people who had arrived here from Europe during the previous Crusades, like his mother, a Christian. The name was a misnomer. While many in this section lived in pure opulence, many more people in the district were either in poverty or close to it. It did not help that most of these people worked for the very families who show off their opulent amounts of wealth to one another, for little to no pay. The Assassin was angered.
He was by no means a Robin Hood nor had he ever entertained the thoughts of stealing from the rich and giving it to the poor, at least not since he was but a young child, a novice Assassin in training under the teachings of Al Mualim. He had come to accept the reality that in every society, there would always be a class of wealthy people and under them, a class of poor people though he was in the belief that those with wealth and power should use it responsibly, to better the people below them instead of just themselves. It was one of the many reasons why he and his brothers are opposed to the Templars who only wish to build a brand new world-wide utopian society that only suits them and why he is willing to put a stop to their plans, whatever they may be.
At least, Altaïr knew, that however despicable he saw the wealthy of Acre and the other cities, they were not agents or allies of the Templars, it was not their problem.
It was at this moment that he shook his head of his thoughts and stopped in the middle of the crowded street, taking a look around at his surroundings. As always, the beggars were harassing him to no end, pleading for a coin to spare. And as always, he scared them off by pulling out his hidden in a threatening manner. A couple of yards ahead of him, a group of Templar soldiers and their commander took attention to the flight of the beggars and eyed at Altaïr suspiciously. Altaïr cursed under his breath. He knew that this Templar commander and his guards, like all the others he has encountered, would head towards his direction and bother him. He resisted the urge to pull out his sword and cut them to pieces though the last thing he desired was to bring attention onto himself and risk failing his assignment from Malik. He did not want to repeat his mistake at Solomon's Temple, a mistake that costed Kadar's life, Malik's arm, and his own rank, honor and respect.
He proceeded to step back, turn around and find another way to Acre's stronghold. The Templar guards took notice of his retreat and jeered at him, calling him things such as a coward or a woman. He ignored them and continued on walking the opposite direction until he turned his head back and saw that they had disappeared, presumably to annoy some other unfortunate soul. He remembered the tenets of his Creed:
Stay your Blade from the Flesh of the Innocent. All true Assassins strive for peace, all murders committed by Assassins is done so to advance said peace. Innocent civilian bystanders were not to be murdered, regardless of circumstance, and swift punishment would be handed on any Assassin committed of such a crime. He of course knew from first hand experience how annoying people can get, especially in the case of the beggars. It always seemed easy to pull out his blade and kill them though Altaïr knew better than to tarnish the good name of the Order. Hence his reason why he blended with the monks.
Hide in plain sight. As an Assassin, it was pivotal that on assignments from the rafiq that he not draw the attention of the public and the guards to himself. That is, if he or she desired to pass the assignments that they were given. Yet this tenet is not just about purely hiding from the authorities but doing so while performing the mission, that is, under their noses. If Altaïr desired to succeed, he would need to abide by this tenet most strictly. So far, no one, not even the guards, suspected a thing. The guards did not hesitate to move aside and allow Altaïr and the scholars access into Acre's Citadel, which a few months prior had quartered King Richard the Lionheart and his Regent William of Montferrat.
And never compromise the brotherhood.His actions could not bring harm to the brothers and sisters of the cloak. All adherents to the Creed were to acknowledge and follow this most important tenet. He made a promise to Malik, Harash, Acre's rafiq and the Assassins in Masyaf that he would not fail, he would not repeat his past mistakes ever again. It was vital that he remained in the shadows, until the moment was right to break free from the scholars and seek out the Templar agent Maria Thorpe.
As he and the scholars passed entrance into the Citadel, memories flooded into the Assassin's mind. It was here within these walls that he took the life of King Richard's tyrannical Regent William of Montferrat in front of his men. He remembered the looks of shock and horror on the Crusaders' faces as he pulled out his hidden blade from William's skull; the blade drenched with his blood. He walked away without chase that day. Now not much has changed in the Citadel; it was effectively a city within a city, closed off to the garrison of Templar soldiers who lived and socialized here while off duty. Altaïr reminded himself to keep as low a profile as possible; he was neck deep in Templar territory.
He can not afford to fail the mission.
He let out a soft sight of relief observing that the attention of the Templar soldiers was devoted to the noise being made by the heralds. He found them to be quite irritating, for the simple reason that they are propaganda mouthpieces. They were not Templars but they might as well be Templars due to their willingness to be paid in Templar deniers to shout all sorts of lies and misnomers to the people. These were the people who are responsible for the Crusades, convincing many to join the Crusader and Muslim armies but this time, they were the perfect distraction for to the guards.
Altaïr separated from the scholars, without notice, and climbed up one of the mountains towards the top. He began jumping from rooftop to rooftop, heading to the Citadel's western wall.
.....advancing to a more recent memory.....
___________
Please comment people. I do want your input as well. Por favor?