- "A place in heaven awaits those who serve the wolf!"
- ―A leader of the Followers of Romulus.[src]
The Followers of Romulus, also known as Secta Luporum (English: Sect of the Wolves), were adherents of Romulus, the mythical founder of Rome, whom they worshipped as a god.
According to legend, Romulus and his twin brother Remus were raised by a wolf, and as a result, they were said to be half wolf and half human. In tribute to this, the Followers' attire included a skinned wolf pelt.
Appearance
The Followers of Romulus were portrayed as powerfully built, rather brutish men covered in wolfskin pelts, who attacked viciously in large packs.
They were armed with various short blades and throwing knives, and tended to growl and snarl when in a fight. When killed, and often before attacking, they imitated a wolf-howl.
Being quite athletic and acrobatic in combat, they commonly employed a unique fighting move, a spinning slash attack. This move was not performed by any other, aside from Ezio Auditore da Firenze with his Hidden Blades.
The Followers were also adept free-runners, as the lairs that they occupied required such skills to traverse them. Additionally, they often attacked in ambushes, hiding above or in tunnels before springing onto their prey in large numbers.[1]
Borgia alliance
- "This band of false pagans has been terrorizing the city for months and driving the people into the arms of the church."
- ―Niccolò Machiavelli.[src]
Two Followers speaking with a cardinal
The leaders of the sect were paid by the Borgia to manipulate the Followers into doing their bidding, and would often do so through carefully scripted "sermons", and evocations of their god.
The Followers themselves were mainly used to cause fear in the civilians, and send them into the arms of the Catholic Church. Later orders included having them specifically target the Borgia's enemies, the Assassins.
However, the masses of the Followers were misguided, with their leaders commanding them in the name of Romulus, despite not believing in his mystical existence themselves.[1]
Lairs
- Main article: Lairs of Romulus
An entrance to a lair of Romulus
The Followers occupied seven underground lairs, which could be found beneath famous landmarks in Rome. The lairs could be accessed through locked grates hung with a wolf's skull, or through ladders hidden beneath circular trapdoors.
Each lair contained a shrine dedicated to Romulus, which was always decorated with wooden crosses, treasure, and skulls. A single golden chest at the center of the shrine would also hold one of the six scrolls of Romulus, and a corresponding key.
These six keys would unlock the gate to the Followers' central shrine, which held their cherished treasure, the unbreakable armor and dagger of Romulus. However, in truth, the equipment had belonged to Marcus Junius Brutus, and had only been entrusted to the Followers as an icon to worship.
In the early 16th century, the Master Assassin Ezio Auditore was able to enter all of the Followers' lairs. By traversing them, he was able to discover more about the Followers, and obtain their scrolls, keys, and treasured set of armor.[1]
Trivia
- In certain artworks, such as their Database image and the page image above, the Followers were depicted with a heavy weapon or a pair of short blades. In-game however, they used only a single short blade.
- The Followers were relatively weak opponents, and could only perform slight damage to a single block of Ezio's health, rather than removing the block entirely. Their attacks were easily anticipated, allowing for easy counter-kills, and they also possessed one of the weakest resistances in the game.
- The Followers often used throwing knives before directly attacking, had unique death cries, and displayed unique attack animations.
- In the Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood Complete Official Guide - Collector's Edition, the Followers of Romulus were labelled Wolfmen.
- They were referred to as Sons of Remus in the novelization of Assassin's Creed: Revelations.
- In the non-canonical mobile adaptation of Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, the Followers of Romulus are known only as Wolfmen. Though the game's events parallel that of the canonical version, they are all set in 1486, and Ezio Auditore's first mission after the Siege of Monteriggioni is to kill the leader of the Followers of Romulus at the Colosseum and rescue Claudio, who had been abducted by them, thereby earning the trust of the Assassins of Rome. All the Wolfmen aside from the leader, Romulus, are actually dressed as regular guards, with only Romulus in the typical wolf costume of their cult. When Romulus climbs down a ladder to confront Ezio at a lower level of the Colosseum, the Assassin immediately performs a kick-flip to knock him towards a rack of spears. Romulus dies when his body falls directly on top of the spears, though not before being dealt a mortal blow by another Assassin with a heavy-axe while in mid-air.
- In the 20th Century, Desmond Miles could encounter 'ghosts' of Ezio and the Followers of Romulus fighting in the Colosseum when he and his team arrived to retrieve the Apple of Eden.
Gallery
References
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