Numa Al'Khamsin

Numa Al'Khamsin, better known as El Cakr(English: The Hawk), was a member of the Egyptian Brotherhood of Assassins. In 1340, he started a quest to regain the Scepter of Aset from the Templars.

Searching for the Scepter of Aset
In 1340, Numa was summoned by an Assassin elder and traveled with his apprentice to the Island of Philae from Alexandria via the Nile to meet him. Once there, he followed the old man to the Temple of Aset, where the old man showed him a wall painting of Aset and revealed to the younger Assassin that the Assassins had played a role in the fall of the Ayyubid dynasty in Egypt a hundred years earlier, by giving the rebels a Piece of Eden, the Scepter of Aset.

Since then, Egypt had experienced a period of prosperity under the Bahri dynasty, but the Scepter had been stolen by unknown assailants who had only left the fragment of a dagger's handle behind. To Numa, who wondered why the theft of such an object of decorum was so important, the old man revealed that the Scepter had real powers, as its wielder was imbued with great charisma and influence. The elder then entrusted him with the mission to retrieve the Scepter and Numa returned to the boat where his apprentice Ali was waiting and headed for Cairo, where the Scepter had been stolen.

On the boat, while Numa was in the process of examining his only clue, Ali had the idea to puzzle the dagger fragment together and discovered an emblem, showing it to his master on a drawing, which Numa easily recognized as the Templar cross.

Tracking the Templars
Two days later, in Cairo, not knowing where to find the Templars or even if the Piece of Eden was still in the capital, Numa went to a Hammam in search of information. Engaging in conversation with the regulars, the Assassin pretended to be a soldier of Sultan Al-Nasir Muhammad coming from Alexandria. Feigning solidarity, Numa deceived the other men by telling them that the stolen Scepter was a fake and that by reinforcing its security the Sultan wanted to fool the thieves into thinking their plot was a success while the real Scepter was safe.

One of the men, Hasdin Al-Bellal, suddenly feigned fatigue and concern for his wife in order to leave the Hammam in hurry; Numa slipped away discreetly in order to follow him on the roofs of Cairo as night fell. Unknowingly following the man to the opulent house of Bachir Al-Djallil, Numa heard his apprentice coming behind. Asking why the young boy had followed him, Ali showed his impatience to learn more from his master by blackmailing him into a trade: the promise of taking Ali with him to the house in exchange for the information that the boy had gathered on Al-Djallil during the day.

Feigning outrage, Numa accepted the trade and learned from Ali that Al-Djallil was a wealthy silk merchant who was also infamous for having raped and killed dozens of girls with complete impunity, before breaking his promise to his impetuous apprentice. Witnessing the departure of Al-Bellal, Numa jumped to the roof of the house and entered the estate to get the answers.

The Assassin neutralized Izmir, the servant of his target, and captured Al-Djallil, whom he ordered to be silent under the threat of his Hidden Blade. Khamsin tied the merchant to a chair and began to torture him by threatening to cut off his fingers and inflicting cuts on his flesh. Ultimately, Al-Djallil declared that the Templars and the Scepter were on their way to Karnak, after which a disgusted Numa killed him.

Journey to Karnak
In 1341, Numa sailed for Karnak together with his disciple, Ali Al-Ghraib, to search for the Scepter of Aset. On their journey the two discussed the recent murder of the Sultan Al-Nasir Muhammad and how the Templars played a part in it.

Arriving at night near the Temple of Amun, the two walked across a village, when Ali noticed a man wearing a dagger with the Templar cross on it. After telling this to his master, Ali started a fire as a distraction, so that Numa was able to look for the Scepter of Aset unnoticed.

However, the distraction was not effective and Numa became surrounded by Templars. While the Assassin engaged in battle with his enemies, Ali stole the Scepter from the Templars. Numa and his apprentice then fled from Karnak, taking the artifact with them.

Return to Caïro
Two days later, El Cakr arrived at the Sultan’s palace in Cairo. Although the Sultan’s Emirs expected Numa to hand over the artifact, the Assassin did not trust the Emirs and told them the artifact would remain in Assassin hands until a dignified successor to the throne would be presented.

The Emirs interpreted Numa’s words as an insult and locked him up in a prison cell. Numa shared his cell with a woman named Leila, a Templar agent who claimed to have murdered Sultan Al-Nasir Muhammad.[2]

Leila then told Numa about her story, how at seven years old she was taken into the Sultan's Harem and how the Templars came to her, offering to help her to avenge the humiliations she suffered during her life. She also told Numa that she wasn't a true believer in the Templar cause and that she only used them to kill the man she hated the most. Leila then offered her knowledge of the palace exits to Numa if he used his skills to help her to escape her fate.[3]

They escaped, Numa killing many guards, and then headed for the safe house that Leila had arranged in the city in order to lay low after the murder of the sultan. There Leila seduced Numa and the two had a sexual encounter, after which Numa slipped away during the night, leaving a rose on the bed which Leila found when she woke up.