Masyaf is the Assassins' headquarters during Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad's story in Assassin's Creed.
The mountain settlement is governed by Al Mualim, the mentor who leads the Levantine Assassins in 1191. Altaïr returns to Masyaf after missions in the major cities of the Holy Land, and the fortress serves as the order's strategic and ceremonial center.
Masyaf is not one of the three principal assassination cities visited during the game. Those cities are Damascus, Acre, and Jerusalem, while Masyaf acts as the framing location for Altaïr's missions and revelations. This distinction can cause confusion because the game repeatedly returns there.
The historical Masyaf is a real town in western Syria associated with the Nizari Ismaili state. The game uses that historical association but fictionalizes characters and events, including its portrayal of Al Mualim and the Apple of Eden. In later Assassin's Creed lore, Masyaf remains an important symbol of the Assassin Brotherhood and appears in other time periods.