"They were dressed to kill - and in this case that meant that they looked exactly like everyone else. Part of the background. They moved closer and closer. No pushing, no shouting, just heading towards their target. But their progress was checked. There was a shout from behind as they walked on with studied nonchalance. Someone recognised a familiar face. An acquaintance, not a friend. They had no friends."
"Relations between the Assassins and Nur al-Din (a devout Sunni Muslim of Turkic heritage) had inevitably been difficult. The chronicler Abu Firas wrote of a time the fidais managed to penetrate his security while he slept. They left a dagger by his head, on which was engraved an unambiguous and suitably menacing greeting: 'If you do not leave tomorrow night, this dagger will be stuck in your belly'. Perhaps not surprisingly, when he died in 1174 Nur al-Din was said to be planning a major attack."
Elite fidais operated by blending into crowds, approaching targets without alarm and, when recognised, switching instantly to brutal, coordinated violence to assassinate. The Assassins used fear and symbolic messages, leaving engraved daggers as direct threats to rulers who opposed them. Relations with Nur al-Din were hostile; penetration of his household and threats prompted plans for reprisal. Saladin represented a far larger strategic challenge, consolidating Muslim powers into a single regime and presenting himself as a Sunni champion to legitimize his rule and counter various rivals.
Read at Medievalists.net
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