Player Information Name: Lyn Age: Over 21 by far. Contact: PM, Plurk (ThatAlistair), email (rhaeve@gmail.com), or Disco (starsoverhead#4663) Other Characters: None Invited by: Churby
Character Information Name: Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad Canon: Assassin's Creed Canon Point: Before the Secret Crusade begins, after the Templar attack on Masyaf, in the first game. Age: 26
(Canon) Background: Altaïr was born into and raised by the Order of Assassins in Masyaf, otherwise known as the Levantine Assassins. His mother, a Christian woman named Maud, died in childbirth. He never knew her. His father, Umar Ibn-La'Ahad, had only a distant relationship with him as the Levantines preferred to keep any attachments at bay. Still, Altaïr knew his father and cared for him.
When Altaïr was eleven, Umar was sent on a mission to leave a message - a feather, symbolic of the Levantine Assassins - on the sleeping chest of one of the Saracens ensconced in a camp outside of Masyaf. That much was a success, but when leaving the tent, he was discovered by a noble and had to kill the man in order to escape. Another Assassin, Ahmad Sofian, was captured and tortured and gave up Umar's name as the Assassin who had killed the noble - and, being too honourable, Umar gave himself up and was executed in front of Altaïr's eyes.
Two weeks later, as Altaïr slept in the quarters he'd shared with his father, Ahmad came to him, sobbing, apologising, and slit his own throat. Altaïr ran to the Mentor of all the Levantine Assassins, Al Mualim, and told him what had happened and was told to keep it secret. He was then paired with Ahmad's son, Abbas, and told to treat one another as brothers. Abbas accepted him easily, but as they began their training, Altaïr watched how he missed his father. Abbas had been told Ahmad was on a mission. At last, Altaïr couldn't take it anymore and told Abbas what had happened. The next day at their training, Abbas requested they train with real blades - and attacked Altaïr in a rage. Altaïr was severely wounded but both of them were sent to the dungeons for their actions: Abbas for attacking a fellow Assassin, Altaïr for disobeying Al Mualim's orders. The difference, however, was that Altaïr was let back into the brotherhood sooner and preceded Abbas as a ranked Assassin by a year.
By the time Altaïr was 24, he was a Master Assassin - the youngest ever elevated to that rank. It was at that age that he was assigned to retrieve an artifact that the Templars wished to claim. It was called the Chalice. Only after he was deep into the quest that he found that the Chalice was in fact a woman by the name of Adha. As he helped her run from the Templars, they fell in love and spoke of leaving the Holy Land together to have lives of their own. Adha almost agreed except there was a man who had kept watch on her and she knew that if he was allowed to live, she'd never be free. But as Altaïr hunted him, Adha was captured by Templars. By the time he killed the man who had ordered her capture, she was held on a ship that had launched too far into the ocean for Altaïr to catch up. He managed to reach her months later, just in time for her to die in his arms.
This seemed to extinguish the last of his hope. He had already tended toward arrogance. This simply gave him coldness to go with his arrogance and he began to take one of the tenets of the Creed - Everything is permitted - far too seriously. He killed almost indiscriminately and looked down on anyone who tried to correct him. Innocent people fell to his blade, and he didn't care. All his life, the Brotherhood had trained him to be a killer and it succeeded.
He killed an innocent old man for having seen him, Malik, and Kadar Al-Sayf enter the tunnel of Solomon's Tomb. He directly attacked Robert de Sable and, in the end, retreated from the tomb unsuccessful and unknowing that he was followed by both Malik and the Templar forces, Kadar having died in the ensuing conflict. He helped the Brotherhood fight off the Templars within Masyaf - and then, being punished for breaking the tenets of the Creed, Al Mualim drove a dagger into his gut while he was held by those he had considered brothers. It was a betrayal that followed him into unconsciousness.
Abilities: Altaïr is a Master Assassin. He is an expert in defense with bladed weapons, blending in with crowds, social stealth, pickpocketing, and killing covertly. He is a master in free running/parkour as well, and can execute the Assassins' hallmark Leap of Faith.
He also has an ability that he calls Eagle Vision, which lets him see someone's intentions toward him by showing them as having a coloured aura. Red is hostile, blue is ally, white means they have information he could use, and gold means that they are either a target or a person of interest. In time, his sense may mature into the form it takes later on in his life (letting him see trails people have walked, "ghosts" left behind like psychic imprints of important events, or even letting him track people through walls, finding items that are useful to him), but as yet, none of this has matured into being.
He has more than a rudimentary skill in First Aid though he's no healer or surgeon. He can patch himself up and roughly sew a cut if he needs to. It won't get infected if he has access to the right medicines, but it won't heal prettily without scarring. He is also a master in weapons maintenance and upkeeping his own leathers - scabbards, belts, etc. But ask him to make a belt from scratch or sew an entire tabard and he'll call you an idiot.
Personality: At this point in his life, Altaïr is bitter, prideful, and taciturn, angry that his Order, all he's known for all his life, now sees him as a traitor when he believes he did all he could in a situation that was stacked against him. He's in pain from losing Adha. And he has more than a small amount of pride in his abilities. All in all, Altaïr is not an entirely pleasant person. His kneejerk reaction, given all of his accomplishments, is that, in any questionable situation, he is the one who is right, like a child who has heard nothing but praise and has only recently gotten some of the wind taken out of his sails, thus descending into a full pit of sour grapes.
But all of this is overlaying a thoughtful man who truly does wonder about greater questions of life and the world, who wants to learn about things and wants to have a life beyond killing. He just doesn't think it's possible and has had no real framework to build that life onto. He isn't even conscious of his ability to change. In time, as he sees the world for a slightly less hostile place, he'll likely relax more into the considerate, wise, and forgiving Mentor that he could become. He's just really not there yet.
Inventory: Assassin robes (undershirt, pants, leather boots and gloves, tabard, and hood) & leather belts/scabbards containing his sword, a set of short blades, seven throwing knives (his belts can hold 20), an eating knife, and his hidden blade (a wrist-mounted weapon that extends and retracts a blade where his left ring finger would be). No money, no spare clothing. Only his weapons and the clothes on his back.
Which of the following would they most like to have in abundance: limitless good luck, the freedom to act without restraint, the ability to teach and to learn, or for everyone to just relax? If someone were to ask him, he would say that he already has the ability to act without restraint, so he would prefer good luck. In his heart of hearts, however, it is in him to become a caring father and mentor, so to teach and learn would suit him without his knowing.
Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad | Assassin's Creed | reserved
Name: Lyn
Age: Over 21 by far.
Contact: PM, Plurk (ThatAlistair), email (rhaeve@gmail.com), or Disco (starsoverhead#4663)
Other Characters: None
Invited by: Churby
Character Information
Name: Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad
Canon: Assassin's Creed
Canon Point: Before the Secret Crusade begins, after the Templar attack on Masyaf, in the first game.
Age: 26
(Canon) Background: Altaïr was born into and raised by the Order of Assassins in Masyaf, otherwise known as the Levantine Assassins. His mother, a Christian woman named Maud, died in childbirth. He never knew her. His father, Umar Ibn-La'Ahad, had only a distant relationship with him as the Levantines preferred to keep any attachments at bay. Still, Altaïr knew his father and cared for him.
When Altaïr was eleven, Umar was sent on a mission to leave a message - a feather, symbolic of the Levantine Assassins - on the sleeping chest of one of the Saracens ensconced in a camp outside of Masyaf. That much was a success, but when leaving the tent, he was discovered by a noble and had to kill the man in order to escape. Another Assassin, Ahmad Sofian, was captured and tortured and gave up Umar's name as the Assassin who had killed the noble - and, being too honourable, Umar gave himself up and was executed in front of Altaïr's eyes.
Two weeks later, as Altaïr slept in the quarters he'd shared with his father, Ahmad came to him, sobbing, apologising, and slit his own throat. Altaïr ran to the Mentor of all the Levantine Assassins, Al Mualim, and told him what had happened and was told to keep it secret. He was then paired with Ahmad's son, Abbas, and told to treat one another as brothers. Abbas accepted him easily, but as they began their training, Altaïr watched how he missed his father. Abbas had been told Ahmad was on a mission. At last, Altaïr couldn't take it anymore and told Abbas what had happened. The next day at their training, Abbas requested they train with real blades - and attacked Altaïr in a rage. Altaïr was severely wounded but both of them were sent to the dungeons for their actions: Abbas for attacking a fellow Assassin, Altaïr for disobeying Al Mualim's orders. The difference, however, was that Altaïr was let back into the brotherhood sooner and preceded Abbas as a ranked Assassin by a year.
By the time Altaïr was 24, he was a Master Assassin - the youngest ever elevated to that rank. It was at that age that he was assigned to retrieve an artifact that the Templars wished to claim. It was called the Chalice. Only after he was deep into the quest that he found that the Chalice was in fact a woman by the name of Adha. As he helped her run from the Templars, they fell in love and spoke of leaving the Holy Land together to have lives of their own. Adha almost agreed except there was a man who had kept watch on her and she knew that if he was allowed to live, she'd never be free. But as Altaïr hunted him, Adha was captured by Templars. By the time he killed the man who had ordered her capture, she was held on a ship that had launched too far into the ocean for Altaïr to catch up. He managed to reach her months later, just in time for her to die in his arms.
This seemed to extinguish the last of his hope. He had already tended toward arrogance. This simply gave him coldness to go with his arrogance and he began to take one of the tenets of the Creed - Everything is permitted - far too seriously. He killed almost indiscriminately and looked down on anyone who tried to correct him. Innocent people fell to his blade, and he didn't care. All his life, the Brotherhood had trained him to be a killer and it succeeded.
He killed an innocent old man for having seen him, Malik, and Kadar Al-Sayf enter the tunnel of Solomon's Tomb. He directly attacked Robert de Sable and, in the end, retreated from the tomb unsuccessful and unknowing that he was followed by both Malik and the Templar forces, Kadar having died in the ensuing conflict. He helped the Brotherhood fight off the Templars within Masyaf - and then, being punished for breaking the tenets of the Creed, Al Mualim drove a dagger into his gut while he was held by those he had considered brothers. It was a betrayal that followed him into unconsciousness.
Abilities: Altaïr is a Master Assassin. He is an expert in defense with bladed weapons, blending in with crowds, social stealth, pickpocketing, and killing covertly. He is a master in free running/parkour as well, and can execute the Assassins' hallmark Leap of Faith.
He also has an ability that he calls Eagle Vision, which lets him see someone's intentions toward him by showing them as having a coloured aura. Red is hostile, blue is ally, white means they have information he could use, and gold means that they are either a target or a person of interest. In time, his sense may mature into the form it takes later on in his life (letting him see trails people have walked, "ghosts" left behind like psychic imprints of important events, or even letting him track people through walls, finding items that are useful to him), but as yet, none of this has matured into being.
He has more than a rudimentary skill in First Aid though he's no healer or surgeon. He can patch himself up and roughly sew a cut if he needs to. It won't get infected if he has access to the right medicines, but it won't heal prettily without scarring. He is also a master in weapons maintenance and upkeeping his own leathers - scabbards, belts, etc. But ask him to make a belt from scratch or sew an entire tabard and he'll call you an idiot.
Personality: At this point in his life, Altaïr is bitter, prideful, and taciturn, angry that his Order, all he's known for all his life, now sees him as a traitor when he believes he did all he could in a situation that was stacked against him. He's in pain from losing Adha. And he has more than a small amount of pride in his abilities. All in all, Altaïr is not an entirely pleasant person. His kneejerk reaction, given all of his accomplishments, is that, in any questionable situation, he is the one who is right, like a child who has heard nothing but praise and has only recently gotten some of the wind taken out of his sails, thus descending into a full pit of sour grapes.
But all of this is overlaying a thoughtful man who truly does wonder about greater questions of life and the world, who wants to learn about things and wants to have a life beyond killing. He just doesn't think it's possible and has had no real framework to build that life onto. He isn't even conscious of his ability to change. In time, as he sees the world for a slightly less hostile place, he'll likely relax more into the considerate, wise, and forgiving Mentor that he could become. He's just really not there yet.
Inventory: Assassin robes (undershirt, pants, leather boots and gloves, tabard, and hood) & leather belts/scabbards containing his sword, a set of short blades, seven throwing knives (his belts can hold 20), an eating knife, and his hidden blade (a wrist-mounted weapon that extends and retracts a blade where his left ring finger would be). No money, no spare clothing. Only his weapons and the clothes on his back.
Which of the following would they most like to have in abundance: limitless good luck, the freedom to act without restraint, the ability to teach and to learn, or for everyone to just relax? If someone were to ask him, he would say that he already has the ability to act without restraint, so he would prefer good luck. In his heart of hearts, however, it is in him to become a caring father and mentor, so to teach and learn would suit him without his knowing.
Writing sample(s): Here on the TDM!