About: Deer Country

[theflyingone]

Basics

• Name: Altaïr ibn La-Ahad
• Canon: Assassin's Creed
• Canon Point: End of Assassin's Creed: Bloodlines
• Age: 25 (or 26 because Ubisoft can't count)
• Birthday: January 11
• Occupation: Arcane Scholar (secretly an Assassin)
• Residence: Masyaf Willful Machine
• Omen: Ruya, martial eagle (she/her)
• Patron Pthumerian: Never Mind
• Blessed Day: September 10 (approximate date of the assassination of his last target in Assassin's Creed

Appearance

6 ft (183 cm), 170 lbs (77 kg). Brown eyes, dark brown hair. He is not especially bulky, but very muscular like a rock climber. Scar on his lip on his right, around which his stubble grows. Left ring finger cleanly removed just past the knuckle years ago. Hands calloused from climbing and practicing with weapons. Without robes, most noticeable tan line is probably where his pants start. Francisco Randez was hired by Ubisoft as a model for his appearance.

Clothing is easy to move in, multi-purpose, and austere. From far away, he intends to blend into any culture's scholars to gain access to restricted areas (not always scholar-related). Up close, his white robes are a combination of Western and Near Eastern cuts and details. Likely very breathable linen, plain but well-made. The armholes of his overtunic have a little Syrian embroidery in black.

His leathers and weapons are Near-Eastern, well-made, and the most expensive things on him. He usually wears all of them: leather bracers, leather fingerless gloves, a longsword on his hip, short blade on his back, and 15 throwing knives on his shoulder strap, belt, and boot.

Demeanor

Altaïr's resting bitch face is focused and alert. He habitually walks quietly, and his movements are reserved, designed not to draw attention. Appropriate for the library or hiding from the city guard.

Sound

His voice is low and doesn't boom or ring, which suggests he doesn't raise it often or sing. His words are measured, and he doesn't speak too fast. Feel free to imagine an Arabic accent or not; canon media can't decide what he sounds like either.

Scent

Does linen have a scent? Leather. Steel, if he's wearing his weapons. Sweat, if he's been active. Whatever he ate for lunch. If it's available, he chews mint as a breath freshener. He regularly washes with Aleppo soap (olive oil, laurel oil) or whatever's closest to it and isn't strongly scented.

Unmarked spoilers for Assassin's Creed and Assassin's Creed: Bloodlines below.

Abilities

• Eagle Vision: Hereditary sixth sense that can be activated while standing still and uninjured. This intuition shows people's true intentions at that moment in the form of color-coded auras. Thus, it can see auras through illusions and disguises (but not walls). If there is a specific target Altaïr's looking for, the ~murmuring background voices~ will come from that direction. When he moves or gets hurt, it deactivates, but there's still a residual glowing aura about people for a short bit. Please fill out its permissions/opt-out form here to delineate what, if any, information can be gathered about your character.
• Apple of Eden: Secret ancient artifact that can create tangible illusions, control human minds, reveal its repository of information, look into possible future outcomes using the theory of probability, and impart knowledge of formulae and practices surpassing those of Altaïr's time. In the hands of someone with less [redacted], it can drain life and potentially alter behavior fatally. Altaïr guards the knowledge of its existence with his life.
• Blood Type: Paleblood. Canon power will be intact and more powerful. As a nerf and an unhealthy temptation, his Paleblood abilities will be directly proportional to how Corrupted he is. To start, weaponizing hallucinations is probably on his shortlist.
• Mundane Abilities
  • Sword fighting
  • Knife fighting
  • Throwing knives
  • Horseback fighting
  • Hidden Blade: Retractable blade hidden in the left bracer, for which an Assassin's left ring finger is removed.
  • Pickpocketing
  • Eavesdropping
  • Parkour: Also includes climbing almost any building
  • Leap of Faith: Experienced Assassins can jump from dangerous heights to land safely in a bale of hay/leaves. It's ridiculous.
  • Blending in: In addition to practicing social stealth, Assassin initiates had to be well-educated to help them infiltrate various cultures. Altaïr is able to blend in plain sight with groups of both European and Middle Eastern scholars of his time.
  • Drawing: 12th century Near East style, also borrowing European traits for some figures and Arabic decorative motifs.
  • Languages: When not using his default Arabic, he tends to switch to whatever language he thinks will be best understood and the least lost in translation. All but the Latin have changed a lot and may be unintelligible to the modern ear. Since many books in his fields of study were written in Persian, Latin, or Greek, it can be assumed that Altaïr also learned at least a little of these too.
    • Classical Arabic: native speaker
    • Turkish (likely Old Anatolian): fluent
    • Middle English: fluent
    • Old French: fluent
    • Middle High German: fluent
    • Classical Persian: working
    • Latin: working
    • Greek: working

Background

Deer Country application
Fandom.com entry

Altaïr lived in the 12th century, during the High Middle Ages and the events of the Third Crusade. Most of his cultural influence will have come from the concurrent Islamic Golden Age, and anything European travelers might have brought over. However, his worldview is aligned with the Assassins. In this series of historical fiction, they viewed themselves as apart from society. They recognized not divine rule, but the practicality of laws, which in the end are mutable. Their main goal was peace, in all things.

"Nothing is true; everything is permitted."

This maxim is subject to a wide array of interpretations. The maxim as Altaïr understands it can best be summed by Al Mualim's Socratic questioning:

Al Mualim: What is the truth?
Altaïr: We place faith in ourselves. We see the world the way it really is, and hope that one day all mankind might see the same.
Al Mualim: What is the world then?
Altaïr: An illusion. One we can either submit to, as most do, or transcend.
Al Mualim: What is it to transcend?
Altaïr: To recognize nothing is true and everything is permitted. That laws arise not from divinity, but reason. I understand now that our Creed does not command us to be free. It commands us to be wise.

Tenets of the Assassin's Creed:

1. Stay your blade from the flesh of an innocent.
2. Hide in plain sight.
3. Never compromise the Brotherhood.

Core Relationships

Al Mualim: Altaïr saw Al Mualim as the closest thing to a father. Emotion was a weakness in the mentor Al Mualim's eyes. Al Mualim called him his favorite student, but he was also harsh and abusive with him. Al Mualim's betrayal rocked Altaïr's foundation. It filled him with bitterness, sorrow, and the fear that he might become like the one who taught him everything he knew: harsh, manipulative, controlling, selfish, and dishonest with those close to him.

Malik Al Sayf: Altaïr's brashness in Solomon's Temple cost Kadar's life and his brother Malik's arm. Malik acted as Altaïr's acerbic conscience and greatest critic. Just before leaving for his last target, Altaïr finally apologized to Malik, owning up to his inflated pride and huge mistakes. Malik, having already observed Altaïr's change of heart over the months, said Altaïr was no longer the man he once was, and therefore had nothing to apologize for. When Altaïr became Mentor, he named Malik his second in command.

Maria Thorpe: He spared Maria Thorpe because she was not one of his nine targets, though she was trying to kill him. Altaïr was looking to do away with needless murders, and he was impressed and curious about the intelligent formidable fighter who shamelessly bucked tradition as a woman in her position as Robert's steward. During his missions in Cyprus, Altaïr endeavored to turn Maria to the Assassins' side, but his assassination of Robert had caused her a lot of trouble. She had to see for herself the Templars' treachery and how much she disagreed with their ideas. She and Altaïr now have a budding alliance and friendship.

Personality

The most striking aspect of Altaïr's personality throughout the first Assassin's Creed is how dramatically it changes. The once arrogant and brash fighter exchanges his pride for wisdom, discretion, reminds himself of the compassion he extended to friend and foe, and confronts the terrifying truth that he has more in common with his sworn enemies than he wanted to admit.

However, some aspects remain the same: He is still a young(ish) man with something to prove, a humanitarian, hardworking, insatiably curious, and a firm believer in killing a few key people for the greater good. He has always been passionate about a person's right to free will, disillusioned by the holy wars, prone to emotional excesses tied up with his desire to protect others, and longing to overcome his stunted emotional growth in his personal relationships. He is just prideful and self-destructive enough to believe that if he works hard enough, he can turn the tide of the bloodbath in the Holy Land, or at least safeguard all the things and people he cares about.

Altaïr only places trust in what he sees with his own eyes. It was Al Mualim who taught him to question the world, and Malik who counseled him to never know, only suspect. Altaïr has little patience for the manipulation of himself or others.

Altaïr is habitually to-the-point. He demanded (later, asked politely) information quickly, and gave large amounts of information back succinctly, not stopping to make small talk. Altaïr is a changed man now, but sometimes his impatience or imperiousness flares up.

Altaïr followed the Creed closely—first to regain his rank and keep his life, then because he felt remorse for his mistakes. Altaïr began to see his own arrogance reflected in the cruel men he was sent to kill.

He still has difficulty connecting with people on a personal level, despite his empathy for them. He has trouble putting into words doubts and insecurities. Altaïr harbored affection privately. His time with Adha a year before the events of Assassin's Creed had him considering laying down his blade. Though Altaïr killed the Templars responsible for her murder, revenge did not bring him peace. He would respond to innocent inquiries about her whereabouts with silence.

Though generally standoffish, Altaïr is not without a sense of fun. He loves a good sword fight, as evidenced by his occasional shit-eating grin when successfully dispatching several opponents in a row.

Altaïr could not bring himself to destroy the Apple. Altaïr is consumed by an insatiable curiosity. Altaïr harbors a fear of becoming like Al Mualim, who sought to control the Holy Land with the Apple's powers, including mind control. Even if Altaïr's intent is to use it to better the world, he will tend towards studying it in secret against the advice of those closest to him.

When faced with the cruelties people inflict on others, his high respect for life makes an exception. He kills people when diplomacy and education fail. He seeks peace, but pursues it with violence. He promotes free thinking and warns of the dangers of blind faith, but requires unwavering obedience from his Assassins. Despite ruminating on the dichotomies and contradictions of the Assassins' way, he is prepared to embody many opposites simultaneously.

Inventory

• Clothes (Assassin outfit and leathers)
• Hidden blade
• Longsword
• Knife/short blade
• Set of 15 throwing knives
• Apple of Eden
• Welcoming Bag
• Welcoming Robes: dark gray, indestructible, resistant to blood and liquid
• Omni
• Incense sticks
• Canteen
• Journal
• Lunar Orb
• Lamp Friend
• Miscellaneous supplies from one of D's caches
• Feather Wreath
• Gray fur-lined hooded winter cloak
• Paleblood stones (Corruption-inducing) from Paul Atreides

Locations Discovered

• Darcmouth District
  • Farther Shores
  • The Boardwalk 💡
  • The Lighthouse 💡
  • The Docks
  • Achelliac
  • The Rocks
  • Pthumerian Ocean
  • Sanguine Station 💡
  • Sanguine Graveyard
• Gaze District
  • Archaic Archives
  • School of Mutter 💡
• Lumenwood District
• The Lumenarium 💡
• Blood Bank
• Ursula's Ink
• Soma
• Peggy's Aid
• Cassandra District
• The Pale Sanctuary 💡
• Disciple's Defense
• Odd End
• Willful Machine District
• The Canals 💡
• The Stables
• Cellar Door District
• The Red 💡
• Earworm
• Goat Turning
• Prufrock District
• The Gate 💡
• Glover Lover
• Shape of Blood
• Sapphora
• Crenshaw District
• The Watch Tower 💡
• Koz Orphanage
• Other
• Sleepy Town
• Sewer System
• Trenchwood
• Feed
• Ache
• Shiver
• Waystation 💡
• Salt Lake
• Unfathomable Mass
• Pthumerian Skies