Italian Brotherhood of Assassins

Ezio, my friend! How may I be of service? This article is in desperate need of a revamp. Please improve it in any way necessary in order for it to achieve a higher standard of quality in accordance with our Manual of Style.

Where are the paintings? This article is in need of more images and/or better quality pictures from official media in order to achieve a higher status. You can help the Assassin's Creed Wiki by uploading better images on this page.

"Nulla è reale, tutto è lecito."

―The Creed of the Italian Assassins.

Italian Assassins
Organizational information
Founder(s)	Niccolò Polo Maffeo Polo
Operational center	Venice (until 1320s) Monteriggioni (until 1500) Rome
Locations	Throughout Italy.
Historical information
Formed	1269

The Italian Assassins were the Italian branch of Assassins, existing since their formation during the latter half of the 13th century.

Primarily led by the Auditore family, the Italian Assassins were mainly involved with taking down the corrupt Borgia family, the ruling body of the Templar Order during the Renaissance.

History

Foundation

In 1257, the Venetian explorers Niccolò and Maffeo Polo were invited to stay at the Assassins' fortress of Masyaf by Darim Ibn-La'Ahad, the son of Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad. After training the two to become Assassins themselves, the elderly Altaïr entrusted them with creating some Assassins Guilds and guarding his autobiographical Codex. When the Mongols eventually attacked, the Polo brothers left Masyaf towards their home in Constantinople, where they were successful in creating a guild before journeying back to Italy.

Formation of the Auditore

During the Polo brothers' escape, a Mongol raiding party took possession of the Codex. Years later, the Codex was passed back into the possession of the Polo's when Niccolò's son, Marco, retrieved it from the court of Kublai Khan. Marco in turn handed it to the Assassin Dante Alighieri, who passed it into the safe-keeping of his apprentice, Domenico Auditore.

After Dante's death in 1321, Domenico set sail to Spain with his family. Midway through the voyage, due to an incoming storm, they stopped at Otranto Harbor, where the ship was invaded by drunken Templar-hired pirates in the dead of night. Hiding with his family in the hold while the pirates scoured the ship, Domenico broke the Codex into pages, placed them into various boxes and containers, and shortly after was thrown overboard by the pirates, along with his son and the corpse of his dead wife.

Returning to Italy, Domenico settled in Firenze with his son. Studying classics, music and architecture, Domenico adopted the name "Auditore" to impersonate as a Fiorentine noble while training his son in the Assassin's Creed. He subsequently purchased and renovated what would become the Villa Auditore in Monteriggioni, which served as the stronghold of the Italian Assassins until 1500.

Hiding the Shroud

Sometime in the thirteenth or fourteenth century, the Auditore wanted to hide The Shroud from the Templars. The Assassins payed several bribes to create a duplicate, replace the original, and stole the original from Geoffroy de Charny. The Auditore dug out the city well, and hid the Shroud in a chamber, setting many traps for any vistors.

Then the Assassins then burnt Church records, and their allies began to point out the flaws in the Shroud which they had replicated, to make the people feel that the Shroud was nothing more than a myth.

Under Mario Auditore

Mario Auditore and his brother Giovanni were born in the early 14th century. Both were raised from their birth to be Assassins and were trained from a very young age. At some point they seperated, Giovanni became a banker, while Mario remained the ruler of Monteriggioni.

Siege of Monteriggioni

Mario worked to renovate the city and improve it's defences. At one point he found that a Florentine spy, Luciano Pezzati, was operating within the town. He captured the spy, who told of an impending Florentine attack, led by Federico da Montefeltro.

Recovering the Shroud

Mario successfully beat back the attack. On further questioning Luciano, Mario realised that Federico was not there to take Monteriggioni, but an artifact beneath her. This artifact was the Shroud which had been forgotten by the Assassins over the years.

With the aid of his architects and historians, he tracked the Shroud to the town well. He excavated the site and lost many men to the traps set by his ancestor, himself losing an eye.

Mario and his troops were now wounded and exhausted. When they reached the Shroud, it offered to heal their wounds. Since Mario told them not to use it, as he was suspicious of the artifact, his men attacked him. He was forced to kill them, carried out the Shroud and sent it to his brother in Florence. Giovanni in turn, sent it to Agnadello.