Assassin's Creed Mirage: Alamut, the home of the Assassins

Assassin's Creed Mirage

"Eagle's Nest". This is the meaning of Alamut, the name of the fortress of the Assassins located in Persia. Recognized as the capital of the Brotherhood, it has been the headquarters for many other castles built in the mountains of Persia and Syria, such as Masyaf. Assassin's Creed Mirage is getting closer and closer, and the new title of the historic Ubisoft series will inevitably lead us to talk about the fortress of Alamut.

So let's see what we know so far about the impregnable capital of the Assassin Brotherhood.

Alamut in history

The ruins of the fortress of Alamut, as they appear today In reality, the castle of Alamut was built in Persia (present-day Iran) in 840 and all that today it remains are some fascinating ruins. An imposing mountain fortress in the arid hills south of the Caspian Sea, reaching a height of 2,100 meters.

Famous for its splendid gardens, libraries and laboratories where philosophers, scientists and theologians could debate in full intellectual freedom, it was built along a road that had only one possible entrance, thus making the conquest of the fortress extremely difficult. And it is mainly for this reason that Alamut earned, at the time, the reputation of an impregnable fortress.

Although on balance, the outpost was the victim of numerous sieges: in 1090 the fortress was invaded and occupied by Hašīšiyyūn, a pejorative term of the time, which in Italian became "assassini" and rendered with similar forms in other European languages. Here it is quite clear how the organization was a great source of inspiration for Ubisoft in laying the foundations of the videogame Assassin's Creed.

The fortress will remain the seat of the assassins until its destruction in 1250 due to the Mongol invasion.

In the world of Assassin's Creed

The castle of Alamut in the world of Assassin's Creed As for the universe of the Ubisoft series, however, Alamut is built, unbeknownst to the Assassins of era, atop the site of a small Isu temple, which contains dozens of memory seals. Seals that have already been covered in the chapter of Assassin's Creed Revelations, when Ezio deepens his research on the life of Altair.

Under the leadership of Hassan-i Sabbāh (historically existed figure, commander of the fortress since 1090 to 1124) Alamut becomes the main base of the Levantine Brotherhood when the Order, from a secret sect, passes to a public dimension. In 1227, many sought refuge in Alamut: Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad, his son Darim, the wife of the deceased son Sef, and his grandchildren arrived at the fortress after the coup d'etat carried out by Abbas Sofian, in the attempt to regain command of the Order of Assassins.

Altaïr, protagonist of the first chapter of the saga, remains in exile in the fortress for almost two decades, during which he begins to make many discoveries, as well as creating a series of inventions through the knowledge acquired from the Apple of Eden . In this period he also discovers the remains of the first temple of Civilization and carries with him the six seals of memory, then using five of them as the necessary keys to open the library under the fortress of Masyaf.

Alamut then acts as a capital for the organization, and will fill this role from 850 until its fall by the Mongol Empire in 1256: the Assassins lose control of the fortress due to the invasion, and its famous library is destroyed by a fire.

It is also probable that the siege and the consequent fall of Alamut took place as an act of retaliation after the assassination of Genghis Khan by the hand of Qulan Gal, the legendary Mongolian assassin, already appeared in Assassin's Creed 2 , and Darim Ibn-La'Ahad, son of Altair.

The last assassin to visit its ruins, in the eighteenth, will be the British Edward Kenway, in the course of his search for sites related to the Isu.

Alamut in Assassin's Creed Mirage

Imma ncabile, the hidden blade will also return in Assassin's Creed: Mirage Next year, players will be able to explore the events that shaped the origins of Basim. In Assassin's Creed Mirage, we will visit the four districts of Baghdad, but a key role in the settings will certainly be entrusted to the fortress of Alamut.

As we have seen, in the history of Assassin's Creed, the fortress of Alamut is as important as that of Masyaf in the first chapter, and its inclusion within Assassin's Creed Mirage leads us to imagine that the lore of the franchise could be expanded considerably thanks to the new chapter coming.

In Assassin's Creed: Mirage, Basim will be the protagonist of an adventure shorter than usual, but which promises to be no less engaging Although there have already been several references to Alamut during the saga (in Valhalla, Rogue and in some parallel stories related to the franchise), Assassin's Creed Mirage will be the first game in the series to directly include the fortress. It will certainly have a key role in the story, although to date it would seem that it will not be freely explorable, given that during the period in which Mirage is set, the fortress should still be under construction.

It will probably be here that Basim's mentor Roshan will train our new protagonist in the Assassin's Creed. Moreover, it is precisely at the fortress that in 879, after the events of Valhalla, the Hidden ones will summon Hytham to learn of Basim's betrayal.

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