Assassin's Creed: Outlaw - Book One

The Templar De Say

As it turned out Robin was highly interested in Alan's tale and the associated implications. Before long a small party consisting of Robin, John, Yughi, Alan, Much the Miller's Son and Dun set out for Derby. It was soon to be Yuletide and every church was preparing for the twelve holy days with a variety of lesser events.

The cathedral at Derby was no exception. The college of priests who ran the establishment under the deanship of Thomas de Say was preparing a grand feast for local nobles. The stated aim was to gather alms in preparation for the opening of the poor boxes on St Stephen's Day. If Alan's tale was true then any donations would more likely end up in the hands of the Templars, more specifically the Sheriff of Nottingham.

At first, Yughi had not been comfortable with the idea of Much and Dun being allowed to do much more than guard patrols. The two boys were naturals at tree running but they were still not formidable assassins or outlaws in many other respects. It was not Yughi's place to object, however, so he had kept his own counsel.

As the party reached the outskirts of Derby, Robin led them all into the shadow of a cave. Once safely hidden from view within the dark tunnels John lit torches and passed them out to Robin, Yughi and Alan, he lit a fourth and kept it for himself.

"I've seen you climb," Robin said to Yughi, "you are comfortable in the air."

"Rooftops offer a good vantage point and makes for swift transport between given locations," Yughi said.

"So you assassins go up," Robin said. "Outlaws? We go under. I will show you. Stick close everyone."

The cave tunnels spidered under the Sherwood Forest, seemingly stretching out forever in every direction. Robin and John lead the rest of them confidently across junctions and forks, evidently, they knew these tunnels well.

Alan and the boys looked a little nervous following along behind, Yughi could understand why. The eagle senses meant that Yughi could remember the passages taken and could find his way back out of here even in the dark. If one did not possess such a gift then it would be almost impossible to navigate the labyrinthine tunnels.

After walking for the best part of an hour the way ahead was mostly blocked by a gigantic wall, but there was a crack in the wall big enough for a man to squeeze through, widening at the roof of the cave. Tree roots wound around the blocks of the wall and down the sides of the tunnels.

"The Romans built sewer tunnels under Derby," Robin explained. "The system was elaborate. The cave system stretches back under Nottingham and intersects in several places with the main tunnel connecting Derby to Newark. The entrances have mostly fallen to ruin until now that is."

The party made their way through the crack in the wall. Yughi looked about as he crossed from the natural cave system into the Roman tunnels. They were wide enough for three or four men to walk abreast, they were not tall maybe seven feet, but they were sturdily built.

"These tunnels are too broad and wide to merely serve as sewers," Alan remarked inspecting the brickwork and the square support columns that were spaced around twenty feet apart and built into the walls. "Besides, I know what sewers smell like, and this is not what I remember."

"They haven't been in use for hundreds of years," Robin said. "There are parts that still gather pools of water and filth, they smell as you might expect."

"There has to be more to this than just a sewer system," Alan persisted. "This must have taken time and resources to build, far in excess of what a wise king would spend on such things."

"Before the assassins were the Brotherhood of Horus, known to the Romans as the Falconi," Yughi said. "Before the Templars were the Order of Mithras. They built tunnels like this under Constantinople, under Rome, under Cyprus, anywhere that their influence went. The original tunnel systems built under the Nile were constructed by the Brotherhood of Horus. It is the first thing the Templars stole from the Assassins, I doubt it will be the last."