#Altair; Era Of Crusades

[shoukokunoaltairfans]

Era Leandra, better known as Era, was born in Albania (South of the Rhein) in 47 Calender Turkiye. at the time of her birth, Albania was still an independent country, under the principality of Dukagjini. when she was 8 years old, the Balt Rhein Army invaded Skhodra, the capital of Dukagjini after the fall of Kruje 5 years earlier. Her father and mother fell victim to the massacre of the Balt Rhein army. she was captured and sold in the slave market on the island of Vessels. then bought by Orban and took good care of her. from then on Orban became her adoptive father. Era inherited her iron casting and cannon skills from her adoptive father. Orban adopted Era before he retired from the Balt Rhein military service. after retiring, the two decided to flee to Turkiye, due to pressure from minister louis to make cannons for his troops.

The tragedy that befell his parents made Era have a deep hatred for the Balt Rhein Empire. She decided to cut her hair short and cover her breasts tightly to make her look like a man. she did this so that she could participate in the cannon foundry work until she entered the cannon firing division. (in Turkiye, women were forbidden to participate in heavy work in factories and the army) she had participated in a Turkiye expedition to Sud, then a military expedition to Balt Rhein at the end of the year 78 of the Turkiye calendar. one of her achievements during the expedition, she managed to save some Turkiye cannons that were almost captured by Balt Rhein troops when the Turkiye troops were pressed at Schneestrum. it was rumored that Kara Kanat Suleyman fell in love with her and the two had an intimate relationship.

My Fan Storyline Of SNA.

[howtotrainabraincell]

Greetings my fellow AC mutual!!!

Lately I have been reading all your canon posts here and may I say that I love them all. You have created amazing canons here. I'm feeling extra romantic so here's an idea: how would the Assassins, including Templars, feel on their wedding day? The before, during and after the wedding. You can choose all of them or a few of them.

Please and thank you 😊🙏 and have a wonderful day today.

Sure thing! This is a cute one!!

A/N: I may not have put it in each one, but they will respect their wife's wishes to not be intimate on their wedding night (whether it be fear or being exhausted from the festivities). But...I mean come on. Who wouldn't want to have a wedding night with any of them?

ALSO, there may be multiple parts to this bc there's A LOT I got going on in this mind of mine when it comes to this lot getting married...

Jacob Frye

Before:

You know this man will have his Rooks there lolll they'll be throwing the biggest loudest bash London has ever seen in honor of their Boss getting hitched. He just might make Greenie his best man (he teases the man to the ninth realm and back but they're good buddies for real).

Jacob takes this seriously. He's still his wonderfully goofy and chaotic self but he takes certain aspects of marriage more seriously. He wants her to know that he'll be good to her, he'll protect her with his life, and he'll love her even after he dies. He also takes setting up a home for her seriously. The man isn't for anything lavish and she isn't either (her cozy non-materialistic ways are something that majorly attracted Jacob to her - high key don't think he'd like somebody who was materialistic, as happiness is in life not things) but he wants to set up a nice little place for them to call 'home' together. A place where they can be together as husband and wife and hopefully have a handful of little rooks running around one day. A place that's theirs and theirs alone.

During:

He thinks she looks beautiful in her wedding dress (he bet she looks even better out of it tho...PFFT). He'll never admit to it, but his eyes began to sting at the sight of her - and of course he wasn't rubbing the tears from his eyes throughout the ceremony! He just had something in his eyes...

He's very genuine and sweet when he recites his wedding vows 'In sickness and in health, etc.' to you, both of you having decided to save the personal vows for each other privately. (Heads up Jacob cried when he read her letter of vows and promises to him, he couldn't believe how sweet it was. Man was legit sitting there thinking 'How'd I get such a wonderful wife?'). He genuinely cannot believe that he found a wife who loves and accepts him for him. Rest assured that any insecurities Jacob has before they marry will soon be gone because his wife loves him the way he's always deserved.

Once the marital vows are said and done, they move on to the exchange of rings...and that's when the tears start.

Jacob knows that she isn't materialistic and that she doesn't need a fancy ring to know that he loves her, but he thinks she deserves it, and he has just thing in mind. Something that compliments her eyes because they're one of his top favorite (and he has a lot lol) things about her. Something that reflects the joy in her eyes when she laughs, the smile crinkles she's developed from years of managing to laugh through her struggles, and the swirls of color. Jacob would definitely enlist the help of his big sister in finding a ring for his soon to be wife and does.she.come.through. When it comes time for the ring exchange, he's pleasantly surprised to find that she put just as much thought into his ring as he did hers.

Both are engraved with confessions of their love for one another and intricately designed to match the spouse they were made for.

After:

He would enjoy the celebration, and it would be planned and based off of how his wife feels about such celebrations. Jacob being a bit more extroverted is likely to enjoy socializing and having a big get together - and if his wife is the same way then great! But if she's more introverted and can only take so much he's whisking her away, so she doesn't get stressed out. I actually think that he would want to be alone with his new wife and not just for *wink wink* but he wants some alone time to just have a slow moment with her. He would enjoy the celebration his Rooks put together for them and she thinks it's so sweet that they went all out, but as we know Mr. Frye has a tendency to act rashly when he becomes impatient. Next thing you know, he's scooping his wife up without a care in the world and carrying her off with a grin five miles wide, her face the exact replica of a tomato as she clings to him, and the Rooks cheering them goodbye as Jacob carries her off.

If she's afraid of the wedding night activities this man is instantly comforting her assuring her that he doesn't expect anything, he would never hurt her, and he'll wait for her. If she's tired? He is too honestly (he does have a lot of energy, but I imagine when he's alone he just OOF crashes but doesn't want anyone to see it. I mean he does have a full-time job annoying Evie ofc lol what else are baby brothers for?) so cuddling and going to sleep together is just fine with him. But if she wants him - tired or not - he'll give her everything he's got and then some.

Do I need to go into Jacob's wedding night? I mean... it's Jacob. The man lives to serve and please. And please he does...

Bayek of Siwa (I included him bc he legit started it all technically a Hidden One but potato pitatoh)

Before: This man is joyful on his wedding day. He's so excited to marry her and spend their days together. Whether this is after his divorce from Aya or we're not going with cannon and it's his first marriage - this man wants to be a husband, he is husband material. He can't wait to pledge himself to her before the gods and dedicate his life to loving her. He can't wait for her to be his wife HOWEVER - If we're going with cannon he was rejected when he proposed to Aya, so he has some understandable hesitancy when he proposes to his love. Can you blame him? He really loved the one he proposed to the first time and got shot down poor guy. It's the second time he's proposed in this life, and he does not make the mistake of thinking that just because they're in love that she'll say yes. He made that mistake before, and it felt like a knife to the gut.

BUT - If we're going with head cannon... this time he found himself a woman who was ecstatic to be proposed to by him (and I mean literally ecstatic like she tackled him in happiness making him laugh his ass off before she showered him in kisses and said yes).

If sticking to cannon he is worried and afraid deep down to remarry. He loves her very much so much in fact he believes that he very well loves her even more than he loved Aya (which like WOW ya know what I'm saying?). But when he's around her all fears and worries are eased and he comes to his senses knowing that he would forever regret not spending the rest of his life with her, now that he's met her and has her in his life.

Headcannon wise he's still a bit scared as being a Medjay is stressful and a known profession in which one is likely to gain enemies (insert middle finger to members of the order of ancients). He worries about her being targeted but he knows that she can take care of herself (she'll make one hell of a Medjay's wife that's for sure LOL). He also fears that it would be selfish to marry her and put her in danger - but upon sharing this fear with her she quickly dismantled his fear. Whether they marry or do not marry, either way - she could possibly be targeted by his enemies, to this he agreed. Then she asserted that it would be better that they face their adversaries together with their love motivating them to eliminate all threats, than to face those who oppose them separately. To this he simply smiled and hugged her tightly melting into her embrace.

During: They didn't really have weddings in Ancient Egypt more so the signing of a binding marriage document, the woman moving into the man's home to live with him as his wife, and then it could/would be followed by a celebration. However...that is Egypt as a whole...not Siwa. Those of us who have seen this beautiful spot in Egypt where beloved Bayek is from, know that it's beautiful and lively (quite frankly a great place to start a family) and you just know that Bayek is from a community that loves him. They're going to throw him and his intended a celebration to end all celebrations.

Hepzefa ISN'T dead I.DON'T.CARE - he's absolutely Bayek's best man.

Bayek in his armor and her in a linen dress covered by a layer of sheer fabric with a lily in her hair, as they get married in the evening when it cools off, the sand unable to burn their feet and the sun unable to glare in their eyes so they can actually look at each other lol. Any fear he had is gone when he sees her at the end of the aisle. They meet each other at the end of the aisle and join arms to walk together toward Hepzefa (who OFC is marrying them obvs). They make their vows before the gods to love, cherish, respect, support and be honest with each other for as long they both live.

After:

Again, if we're sticking to cannon, I think that Bayek would move in with his new wife instead of her moving in with him. A new home and a fresh start with his new wife, is just what this man could use after his arduous journey.

Headcannon however they would move into their own place in Siwa together and work together to make their home everything they dreamed it could be. I HIGHLY believe that he would find a way to make a pond for her filled with water lilies (his nickname for her btw - she's his "beautiful lily").

After a night of dancing, laughter, feasting and sheer happiness they would go home together. They would end the night by sitting on the roof of their new home together watching the Oasis of Siwa from afar, bundled up tightly together in a blanket against the chill air of the Egyptian night. He would point out the different spots of Siwa from they sat, but mostly they would admire the beauty of the moon on the oasis not too far away. They might even go for a swim in the cool waters together, laughing and splashing each other. Tell.me.he doesn't sneak attack her from underwater lloollll. They'd spin around in the water easily with Bayek holding her against him and smiling as she gushes about how much she's enjoyed the day.

I don't think Bayek would make love to her on the banks of the oasis for their first time the man has romantic plans that he plans to woo her with lol. (Later on, in their marriage though...woo!) Rest assured that their first time will be sweet and romantic, he'll make her as comfortable as possible, with pillows everywhere and candlelight guiding their hands within the walls of their home.

Also like the idea of them traveling to Alexandria together and having their honeymoon there. Them exploring the Alexandrian Lighthouse together, the library (shortly before it BURNED DOWN DAMN YOU CAESER), horseback riding through the sand dunes and around the lush greenery near the Nile, going to the markets together and giggling about whatever it is that they find funny, sailing on the Nile together and fishing/gathering reeds for various projects, THEY WOULD CLIMB THE PYRAMIDS TOGETHER CHANGE.MY.MIND.

Evie Frye

Before: Their wedding isn't one that can be celebrated openly but they still have a celebration that is the epitome of love. The two women had both agreed to write their vows for one another and exchange them after the wedding, wanting to keep their promises to each other and words of love just between them.

They couldn't decide on names lol. Evie wanted her last name, and she wanted Evie's last name. But they quickly came up with a solution as they both have brothers. They decided to hyphenate their last names for some extra cover. Evie becomes Mrs. Frye-(L/N) and she becomes Mrs. (L/N)-Frye. That way no one would suspect them being married and if anyone ever asks, Evie married one of her (wife's) brothers and is her "sister-in-law" the same way Jacob is a stand in husband for Evie's wife and she is Evie's "sister-in-law". History will say that they were sisters in law hahaha.

But for real though tell me why they end up calling each other "Mrs" SO MUCH in private (Evie almost forgets that she's a Dame bc she gets called Missus *insert her last name* so much by her wife haha).

During:

Not able to shout their love from the rooftops unfortunately, the couple settles to have a very small and private ceremony. Jacob - who would NEVER breathe a word, Henry who's just happy to see them happy, Ned would probably be there and while Abberline would be SHOOK (I don't care if that word died out like 8 years ago lol it's funny) he would be pleased to know that they've found happiness together.

Tell me why I'm so damn sure that Jacob marries them (he would do that for his sister jokes, loving eye rolls from his big sister and all). They would either get married on the train not too far from the Red Lion where they would go afterward to celebrate, or in Henry's shop (his wedding gift would be lots of various flowers ranging from "everlasting love" to "trust and loyalty").

OR I do have a head cannon that they don't have any witnesses at all. They go up to rooftop facing the Thames and wait for sunrise together with their rings and a basket of goodies they both enjoy. When the sun begins to rise, they make their vows to each other tearfully and very sincerely, pledging the rest of their lives to each other and promising to always be together and love one another. They do this so that they can start the new day together as wives and say what they truly want to one another without an audience. It'll even become tradition years later that they both stay up until sunrise to celebrate their anniversary as the years go on, just the two of them

After:

They do their own wedding presents, and the new Mrs. Frye can't help but giggle at Evie's reaction when she gives her the special edition of her favorite book. I think we can all imagine how ecstatic the loveable bookworm that is Dame Evie Frye would be.

When Evie reads the vows, her new wife has written for her she boo hoos too lol. She can't believe that she's lucky enough to have married such a sweet and wonderful woman. Especially when she thought she would never marry and dedicate her entire life to the Creed.

Something fun the two women embark on together is setting up their home together. Not having been able to have had an open wedding they didn't have wedding showers or receive the traditional wedding gifts; they pick out each piece of their new home together! With how in sync, they are together there is hardly anything they disagree on (unless its Evie's wife trying to get her to stop working herself almost to death...by smooching her to the point where Evie looks like a laughing tomato haha) and their home comes together wonderfully. Everything in their home cozy and a reminder of their love.

It takes Evie a little bit before she finally lets go of the fear that getting married to her love, was nothing more than a wonderful dream. But each morning when she wakes up and either sees her wife next to her sleeping safe and sound, or she wakes to beautiful flowers followed by Mrs. Frye trailing in quietly with a cup of morning tea for her still sleepy wife. Her wife can rest assured that Dame Evie Frye will love her for the rest of their lives.

Altair Ibn La' Ahad

Before: He never thought he would marry or fall in love the way he's fallen in love with her. He's a naturally a confident man, so there's no doubt in his mind that he wants to be her husband and spend the rest of his life with her. There's no doubt...but there is worry. He worries about being a good husband to her in terms of giving her a safe stable home due to being an assassin and he knows that he can be...emotionally stunted, but he plans to correct that and never leave her wondering if he loves her. Because he does with his whole being. After all, if she can help pull him out of his younger arrogant ways, by gently and patiently telling him why he's wrong without criticizing him, then she can do anything.

During: His worries are vanquished when he sees her. He immediately knows that come what may, they'll be alright so long as they're together. He can't stop looking at her during the wedding, making her blush as he smiles at her (surprising the hell out of Malik lol bc the 'tHe nOvICe cAn SmILe?') As they take their vows a few cheeky looks are given here and there the pair obviously checking each other out, (insert Malik gagging like a goof). Altair can't get over how she looks like an otherworldly being with her beauty unmatched by anyone or anything. She can't get over how handsome and gallant he looks in his robes, with his hood down (GASP), his sword at his side as his thumbs rub the backs of her hands. (But with the hood thing he's never had anything to hide, he just wants to show his face and let everyone know that he's marrying her and that he's proud to be her husband. He's a very proud husband haha). When they seal their new union with a kiss, he bends down to pick her up and hold her tightly making her laugh. They both can't stop smiling, completely and utterly happy and excited to start the rest of their life together.

After: He would bring her jasmine and a few Damasks roses - they're nowhere near as beautiful as he thinks she is but the sweetness of each flower reminds him of her - in a neatly gathered bushel and loves the smile it brings to her face. He doesn't care about having a wedding night, he just wants to be with his wife and love on her in whatever manner she wishes. Sitting there and watching the stars over Masyaf or Jerusalem (depending on when/where they get married) If she wants to lay there with him and relax, he's happy to hold her and do just that. But if she wants him to take her...her mind will be blown at just how loving her new husband can be...

Ratonhnhake:ton/Connor Kenway

Before: He's worried about being a good husband. Very worried. He wants to be a wonderful husband to her, as wonderful as she is to him. He loves her with everything he has of course and would defend her with his life. But he was so focused on his mission to take the Templar order down, to get justice for his mother, so focused on his rage...that despite how much he loves her, he wonders if he can pull himself out of the dark mindset that he was in for so long to treat her the way she deserves. He will try but he still worries. He doesn't want to be angry (never at her keep in mind - about life in general) his entire life. Her kisses and presence helps though, more than she'll ever understand. He wants to be there for her as much as she's been there for him, through thick and thin, no matter what.

During: Feel like there would be two weddings for the couple. A colonial one (planned by the Homestead for the happy couple) and a traditional Mohawk wedding (planned by the Clan mother who is so excited to see him getting married), a wedding to honor both his and her culture. He stands like a statue clasping his hands in front of him patiently, eager, and nervously until he sees her. Cheesy as it is... the sight of her brings him peace. He can't even wait for her to make it to the altar, making his way to her down the aisle in a few long strides to meet her with a smile. They walk down the aisle together arm in arm and hands intertwined, unable to contain their excitement.

After: He can't stop staring at his wedding ring and smiling at it. Typically, the Mohawk people did not exchange wedding rings until modern times, but he loves his and what it represents. The eternal love and union he and his wife will share. His face hurts from smiling so much, but he doesn't mind it a bit. Now as for the wedding night... I think he would be very shy at first. Terrified of hurting her because he's very aware of the fact that he's massive and intimidates a lot of people. He would never do that to her. Being with her is honestly really enough for him, the emotional intimacy the two share is what made him so sure about making her his wife. The newlyweds would work their way up into sex slowly, getting a little closer each time and accompanied by lots of reassurance and soft laughter. And when they finally got it, the assassin and his wife had never felt more complete in their lives. He makes love in plenty of other ways though - mostly through his thoughtfulness and observation which leads to anticipation. He always knows what she needs before she even asks and he's always happy to help.

Their mornings start off with him usually waking first and realizing that marrying her wasn't a dream. He'll watch her sleeping peacefully in his arms, and then inspect their fingers where their wedding bands lie and realize that it's real. They got married. He's married to this wonderful woman. She's, his wife. Before he can begin to spiral in excitement he leans down and scoops her closer to him, burying his face in her neck which makes her laugh softly.

Venturing outside together to enjoy nature and do various outdoor activities, playful banter and pairing up to hunt together and scavenge. He'll look over and see her helping him with a fresh kill or scavenging other items and become overwhelmed with the desire to kiss her out of nowhere. Needless to say, lots of love and laughter fills the lives of Ratonhnhake:ton and his wife.

Henry Green/Jayadeep Mir

Before: He's happy and so ready to be her husband. He's admitted to himself that he's liked her from their first meeting, but he's loved her almost as long (which is not long at all because he fell for her quick). I don't know why but I can imagine that Jacob might try to do the whole "you know how the wedding night works right?" talk with him much to Henry's horror haha. He gently assures the younger Frye that he does in fact know what to do on his wedding night with his wife, if she'll have him. Don't worry though! The man is from India the birthplace of Kama Sutra...he knows what to do. Trust him.

During: Whether she wears the usual white dress or chooses to honor his culture by wearing traditional Indian bridal clothes, this man will be emotional. Guaranteed his eyes will begin to water when he sees how beautiful the woman he loves is, walking down the aisle to him. When they take each other's hands, he can't help the goosebumps of excitement he gets thinking about how lucky he feels to be marrying such a woman. He'll never understand how he got her to agree to marry him (despite being charming have a head cannon that his charm goes out the window when it comes to proposing to her lol he was so nervous that she would say no!) but he'll never forsake her or take her for granted. Perish the thought!

After: Get ready for a very fun honeymoon! Traveling together and studying each place you go, learning fun facts and the history behind the cultures. I think he would be so excited to show her around where he grew up and tell her stories (the happier ones) from his childhood. I also think that Mr. Green would be eager to prove that his intelligence is more than just the book variety...

Shay Patrick Cormac

Before: He's excited. But also, nervous. So nervous. He's aware that the type of life he leads isn't the safest or the most routine/regular thing a man can do. But you can bet that he'll be damned if he doesn't give his all to be a good husband to her. A worry that runs through his mind is dying at sea on the Morrigan and leaving her widowed and alone. He noticeably goes on less voyages after they marry only going when it's necessary. Depending on when they get married, he may still be traveling around on Templar/Shay way business - but either way whether he's close to retirement or still working, he wants to settle down with her. He plans to create a nice home for her, take care of her, love her, and have a handful of beautiful babies that he'll love almost as much as he loves her.

During: The moment he lifts her veil from her face he can't take his eyes off of her. Literally. The only time he does is to briefly and gently slide the ring onto her finger, otherwise he's smiling and staring at her like a lovesick puppy lol. He's so busy admiring his bride that Haytham with a smirk on his face gently clears his throat reminding Shay that the time to seal his new union has come. When the Irish captain realizes what the Grandmaster is saying the man blushes in slight embarrassment, and you bet he turns right around and kisses his new wife. The pair laughs as those invited applaud in celebration, but they're in their own world together.

After: After the wedding he'll take her to his home (read: their home that he hopes she loves) in New York so they can be alone together, in more ways than one. Their home will definitely know what love is when they're there together. He's a go go go kind of man as we've all seen but he's slow and gentle with her and if she finds herself too tired to celebrate in a more intimate way, she better get ready for the best cuddle session of her life. However, if she does find herself in need of her husband...let's just say that he's Captain of more than the Morrigan... Tell me why the idea of him untying his wife's corset is very erotic... Once they start married life together this man is taking her on the Morrigan (if she wants to go that is if not, he has plenty of other fun things in mind...) and sailing her to wherever she wants to go. I imagine she would choose Ireland to learn about where her husband's family came from, and Shay would love showing her around his place of origin.

Haytham Kenway

Before: He's composed in public ever the austere Grandmaster.... but a mess in private. He can't stop fidgeting with his cravat, pulling at his sleeves, straightening his coat. He looks absolutely handsome, but he knows that he won't hold a candle to his angel of a wife - who he DEFINITELY peeked at lol. You telling me this man didn't try to go to talk to her before the wedding because he missed her, and he doesn't stop short by the crack in the door, dumbfounded by how beautiful she looks? His face will be redder than his vest. With how in love with her he is, he feels less the confident Templar, and more so a little boy in very deep love. He's so happy that he gets to marry his love and spend his life with her, just the sight of her alone helps him to calm down and realize: he's marrying the love of his life.

During:

When he sees her coming down the aisle to him, he forgets how to breathe for a moment. The majority of the ceremony is spent exchanging loving gazes, gentle hand squeezes and him trying not to pass out. She notices how flustered he seems and reaches up to gently cup his face for no one's benefit but his. Needless to say, it helps to calm him significantly.

He can't believe how beautiful she is and how he got her to agree to marry him. Haytham doesn't say it in his vows, but he'll give her the world and more and always take care of her. With this man I have a feeling that actions speak louder than words (I mean did you see how he got rizzed by Ziio LOL everyone thought HE would woo HER, but she BAMBOOZLED him). He may not speak what he's feeling, and she may have to play fill in the blanks sometimes when he becomes overwhelmed by his emotions (cue him being very grateful for her patience), but with her complete agreement he's more than happy to show her in a deep kiss or something a bit more husbandly...

When they're pronounced husband and wife he steps forward while the officiant is still speaking and kisses her with abandon. The Grandmaster is thrown out the window for the moment and the lovestruck man comes out much to his new wife's delight. He embraces her tightly never wanting to let her go and his arms sweep her up in quick spin that makes her squeak in laughter as his own grin spreads across his face.

He would spoil.her.rotten come the wedding and wedding presents.

After:

The celebration would be a grand one and last long into the night. Shay swears upon the Morrigan that he'll knock Hickey's lights out if he gets pissed and starts to cause a ruckus LOOOLL. Haytham is a good dancer, but he doesn't like to make a spectacle of himself, for his new bride however he'll get out there and dance with her feeling absolute contentment in knowing that of all the men in the room that could have her in their arms he has her instead. He enjoys watching her have fun, and every time she finds him in the room and smiles at him while she's dancing, the man swears to the gods that his heart starts to race. You can definitely bet that his face stays a decent shade of red for the majority of the ceremony and party.

The party doesn't end when she comes to him and asks if he's ready to retire for the night, taking his hand when he agrees and pulling him toward the stairs. This man's face is ON FIRE as they go up the stairs together because everyone knows what they're going up there to do and that damn Irish Captain won't stop smirking at him -

He'll help her undress not solely for the purpose of making love to her, but because he wants to help her get comfortable (her beautiful form in front of him in nothing but a chemise is definitely motivation too...). Making her comfortable is his number one priority whether they make love that night or not. Making sure the curtains are drawn so the sunlight won't bother her in the morning, the fire is lit to keep her warm (I head cannon them getting married in winter for some reason... I mean they can keep each other warm during the colder months), making sure she has water on her bedside chamber.

They lay together after the long night holding each other comfortably softly speaking about how wonderful everything was. They may discuss the Order if she's curious about it and she'll make goo goo eyes at him as he speaks so passionately about it, with him blushing as she looks at him so lovingly. They may discuss books they've been reading together (tell me Haytham wouldn't have a private little book club for just him and his wife I DARE YOU). Things between them may become charged when they hold each other's gaze for too long... and then he'll really make her Mrs. Kenway...

NOTE: I KNOW I DIDN'T DO SEVERAL CHARACTERS IN THIS POST I'M SORRY OKAY. Seriously though some characters came easier than others - but there will in fact be a part 2.

[blackflash9]

Disclaimer: I'm open to be wrong, but these are just concerns I have. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I wouldn't say I hate AC Shadows for using Feudal Japan as its setting. It's an interesting period, and I've enjoyed several works set in that era. However, when it comes to Assassin's Creed, I don't exactly feel captivated by it. Despite its popularity within the community, the premise of Feudal Japan as a historical backdrop doesn't compel me.

Part of what makes the Crusades, the Italian Renaissance, the American Revolution, and the Golden Age of Piracy in past entries so engaging in the Assassin's Creed series was their inherently subversive nature. These periods were characterized by profound social, political, and ideological upheaval, which aligned perfectly with the series' themes of conspiracy and the notion that history is not always what it seems. During the Crusades, the player, like Altair, discovers that the Templars' true motives are far more complex and sinister than initially believed. The Italian Renaissance, with its flourishing art and culture, simultaneously harbors dark undercurrents of power struggles and hidden agendas, mirroring Ezio's journey of uncovering the truth behind his enemies' masks. The American Revolution, a time heralded as a fight for freedom, is revealed to be rife with manipulation and conflicting interests, challenging the player's perception of the Patriots' cause alongside Connor's own discoveries. These settings are rich with deception and multifaceted characters whose motivations often blur the lines between good and evil. They embody the series' core appeal: that history is a tapestry of hidden truths and subversive narratives. Each of these eras highlights how the Templars' and Assassins' conflict transcends simple good versus evil, encouraging players to question their assumptions about historical events and figures.

In contrast, while Feudal Japan is undoubtedly intriguing and has its own layers of complexity, it doesn't evoke the same immediate sense of clever subversion and hidden truths that the other settings did for me. The cultural and historical nuances of Feudal Japan might be rich and captivating, but they don't seem to resonate with the overarching themes of the Assassin's Creed series as strongly as the previous settings had. In the past, I've also detailed why recent entries just don't care to be authentic about the history it is set in, and I'm hoping that similar occurrences don't transpire within Shadows.

[teecupangel]

I've been thinking of a 'little' plot bunny for a few weeks now after spending the last few months getting into AC fanfiction. It seems everyone mostly writes timetravel! fics with 2012 Desmond, like he gets sent back after touching the eye. My thoughts are, what would happen if 16 year old Desmond, with his fresh scar and having just run away, gets sent back in time, to Ezio's or Altair's era specifically, with no explanation on Desmond's part on how this happened, but with certain hazy memories from 2012 Desmond?

I'm thinking kinda like your 'Yew Branches' series, where he has vague idea's or understanding of things but no clear idea why. He'd definitely be confused, most likely paranoid, but also weirdly ok with the situation? Like if he's not only in another country, but another time, his dad DEFINITELY can't get to him. He can do his own thing. That just so happens to end up being becoming an assassin anyway.

If in Ezio's time, Maria and Giovanni would surely adopt him, I mean he is obviously from an assassin family, and probably been abused, there's no other reason he'd be so touch adverse, or why he was already so close to being a master assassin.

If in Altair's time, I could see him as being found by a Dai or Rafiq in a city, and they notice the resemblance to Altair, the mentor's up and coming young assassin, and suspect him to be a half brother or something and write to Masyaf about what to do.

And as for what 'vague' memories he'd have, I'd say probably some more assassin skills he hadn't learned yet, or just straight up technique Ezio or Altair use that is different from what Desmond was learning. And he'd definitely have the importance of December 21st, 2012 in his head, and that something called and 'Apple of Eden' was important and he needs to get it before anyone else.

Sorry for the long ask, but I just wanted your opinion on this plot bunny, how do you think desmond/altair/ezio would react?

Don't be sorry, nonny. I love asks no matter what length they may be.

Ooohhh, okay, so before we go to how this kind of plot could go, let’s finalize the limitations that Desmond would be facing since we are yanking a 16 year old Desmond who just ran away from the Farm

The limitations of the Bleeding Effect: will Desmond retain his ability to understand Arabic and Italian?

The limitation of his knowledge: how much does Desmond knows, specifically: would he even have an idea of what would happen in the 3rd Crusades or in Renaissance Italy in terms of both world history and the history of the Brotherhood?

Limitation: Language Barrier

Since we are letting Desmond keep a bit of his bleed in terms of skills and techniques but not the actual memories of his ancestors, it could go either way. Are we counting language as more of a skill than simple memories? In this case, I would suggest we go for Desmond not knowing the language. This would make Desmond feel more isolated and confused but this will also have a ‘good’ excuse for us later.

Limitation: Knowledge

Since we are removing Desmond’s memories from his Bleeds, he would have to rely on his own memories and knowledge (for now, anyway). And, considering his reaction when he heard he was going to relive Ezio Auditore’s memories, it’s clear that he didn’t know Ezio was one of the legendary Assassins. The same could probably be said about Altaïr. So his knowledge could probably be summarized as “Templars want to kill Assassins and they exist in this time period (3rd Crusades) or they might not exist in this time period? (Renaissance)”. Also, let’s remember that Desmond didn’t believe the Assassin vs Templar thing until he was kidnapped. He thought his parents and the Farm were hippies (or cultists).

Next: let’s talk about what other similarities each plot would have

Altaïr and Ezio will have the same age as Desmond at the start (16)

Desmond will be ‘pushed’ by the plot to meet them early on (this way we can develop some kind of bond between them)

Altaïr and Ezio would be the ones to help Desmond learn the language (for more bonding points)

With that out of the way, let’s now focus on what may happen:

==================================================

Altaïr: The Third Crusades

Al Mualim would definitely order that Desmond be sent to Masyaf and everyone would assume that Desmond is Altaïr’s half-brother. Most of them would believe that Umar had Desmond after Maud’s death, perhaps in a fit of grief and loneliness. There was a high possibility Umar didn’t even know he existed because Desmond would continue to say that he had parents and Umar wasn’t his father. Altaïr, on the other hand, would be… well… curious and hopeful at the same time. My hc is that Altaïr and Abbas had their falling out when they were 16 and that’s how Altaïr got his scar. And now, there was this boy who looked so similar to him and even had the same scar as him. He’s still hurting from Abbas’ hatred and anger so he clings to Desmond. Desmond, on the other hand, tries to keep his distance but he would see what Altaïr tries so desperately to hide.

The loneliness that has been wrapped around him ever since his father died.

Because Altaïr had always wanted to have a connection with someone. It would be years later that he would realize that what he wanted was to have a family that he could love and could show that love publicly… which was against Al Mualim’s teaching.

And Desmond…

Desmond wanted that same connection too. He couldn’t even feel that connection with his own parents so he tries to form a connection with Altaïr instead.

Now, the endgame of their connection would depend on what genre we’re going for. However, their relationship would definitely be more on the deeper side of codependency. Both of them are lonely children who has no one else and they clung to each other. That will only grow as they get older. This means that they would be protective of each other and there’s some jealousy involved even if it’s just Kadar asking help from Altaïr with his form or Malik helping Desmond with his chores. It’s the same kind of jealousy a child feels when someone plays with their favorite toy.

Now, here’s the snag we’ll get since we picked up a 16 year old Desmond. He doesn’t want to be an Assassin. Being an Assassin to him means pain and that feeling of being never enough. Not to mention, Altaïr would be at the top and Desmond would be compared to his ‘older brother’ the entire way. This would make it easier for Desmond and Kadar to bond, of course, but I think Altaïr would actually push for Desmond to be removed from training because he could see how much Desmond hates it (even if Desmond does retain some of his Bleed’s skills, his mentality is still that of a freshly ran away 16 year old).

In the case that Al Mualim allows it, Desmond would either become some kind of help, perhaps an errand boy or maybe a kitchen help, if he was still required to be in the castle. If not, Desmond would probably become some kind of apprentice in the village, like the apprentice of the blacksmith or the baker. Desmond would definitely be much happier being in the village but keeping him in the castle is more probable as it gives Al Mualim an easier time to keep an eye on him.

As for these vague memories from 2012!Desmond, let’s make it gradually. The older Desmond gets, the more hazy memories he gets when he dreams. And he tells all of this to Altaïr.

Things would still happen as they did in canon. And when the plot of AC1 is about to kick off, Desmond’s own vague memories are making him wary of Al Mualim. It finally breaks when Al Mualim stabs Altaïr after his failure and, I think, in this case… it won’t be surprising if Desmond tells Altaïr that they should run away. Why should they stay in a place that could easily kill them just because they failed? They don’t need anybody else. They have each other. That was enough. And Altaïr would agree to it because Desmond is the one who asks it.

So they plan their escape and they decide to steal Al Mualim’s treasure as a final ‘fuck you’ and as a way to get some money they can use to get out of Levant, to travel far away from Al Mualim’s reach.

And then Desmond touches the Apple of Eden.

The moment he touches the Apple…

He will have all of Desmond Miles’ memories.

(CLIFF HANGER!!!!)

==================================================

Ezio: Renaissance Italy

Okay, so, in general, this one would be more light hearted than Altaïr’s version for one specific reason: this will be a healthy family relationship.

Although, I don’t think the Auditores would adopt Desmond. At least, not officially, anyway.

I think they would take Desmond in as kind of their ward/servant.

Because they are nobles and it would look suspicious if they just adopted some random kid.

Not only that, by this time, Desmond is already 16 so adopting him officially would probably gain too much attention.

However, Desmond and Ezio are of the same age so they would naturally gravitate towards one another. Ezio’s carefreeness would attract Desmond because he wants that.

He wants to feel normal for once.

And Ezio has heard from his parents how they believe Desmond had been abused so he’d be kind to Desmond in the beginning.

Ezio’s kindness and Desmond’s desire for normalcity would transform into a bash-brother type of relationship between them. People would see Desmond as Ezio’s lackey/yes-man because he’s supposed to be a servant but anyone who was close to the family know that Desmond and Ezio are both dumbasses and Federico had to bail them out more than once.

This does mean that Desmond would know what it would be like to have a warm home and a happy loving family.

For a year.

Because Ezio lost his father and brothers when he was seventeen.

And Desmond would start to feel… uncomfortable and paranoid the nearer December gets.

It would come to a point that Desmond would feel a bit ill and be unable to help Ezio with his chores.

That day the guards would enter Palazzo Auditore and Desmond’s body would move on its own, helping Federico and Giovanni as they defended themselves.

Giovanni would recognize some of his moves. After all, the one who trained Ezio in the canon timeline was Giovanni’s brother, Mario Auditore. It’s only logical that many of Ezio’s moves that Desmond knows via his residue Bleeds would be familiar to Giovanni.

And Desmond wouldn’t have any answers for him. The fear on his face as he didn’t understand what was happening to him would be clear even to Giovanni and they had more pressing matters to take care of. Like finding Ezio and making sure he was safe.

Now, this is where the canon timelines diverges severely. Giovanni would be the one to meet Ulberti to give them proof of their innocence and he would recognize Rodrigo Borgia. The story can go either way by this point.

Giovanni dying will propel Ezio to seek revenge while Federico will be trained to take over Giovanni’s duties. Desmond would follow Ezio because, as much as he doesn’t want to be an Assassin, he wants to avenge Giovanni as well and he wants to keep Ezio safe.

Giovanni may live but he would be severely wounded and he would be the one to train Federico to take over his duties. Ezio would be left to be trained as an Assassin and be more like their ‘field agent’. Desmond would be reluctant but his worry for Ezio’s life would propel him to join Ezio as an Assassin.

Either way, Ezio and Desmond would be the ones to cripple and destroy the Italian Templar Rites.

And, in this scenario, Desmond wouldn’t touch the Apple at all. Ezio would be the only to touch it.

However…

Once Desmond hears…

“The rest is up to you, Desmond.” as Minerva turned to face him, Desmond will lose consciousness.

And wake up with all of Desmond Miles’ memories.

(CLIFF HANGER!!!!)

==================================================

Yup. Ending it there. Sorry. That’s as far as I got. (Honestly, nonny, if you don’t want Desmond to remember everything, that’s okay too. We can just cut that part out and Desmond only feels some connection with the Apple. That would work too.)

The main reason why Ezio and Desmond don’t get to be super codependent with one another like Altaïr and Desmond in this setup is because Ezio and Desmond have a support system and Desmond actually only has 1 year of peace with Ezio as shit hits the fan when Ezio was 17. On the other hand, Masyaf (and Al Mualim’s favoritism) will keep Altaïr and Desmond isolated from the others and they would have 10 years to deepen their bond before shit hits the fan. By the way, I call Desmond and Altaïr’s relationship as codependent but it’s not necessarily a negative thing… HOWEVER, it would be ssoooooo easy for it to be.

[galaxyofhair]

How Assassin's Creed's Imagery Created Limitations on Later Sequels

Thesis: A lot of the imagery that made the Assassins so unique and recognizable in AC, and that came to define the series identity, was imagery that made the most sense in the context in which that imagery was originally created. Later sequels in later eras of history had big problems trying to force the clothing or armor of that era to match the aesthetic of the Levantine assassins

This issue presents itself in a few of the series key items that almost every assassin has: The hidden blade gauntlet, the eagle-beaked hood, and the white robes. In AC1, these items made the most sense: The hidden blade was an advanced piece of technology built using 12th century tools: So naturally it makes sense (or at least its easy to suspend disbelief) and say that the blade definitely works, but its a little bulky and requires that entire gauntlet piece that Altair has.

Additionally, the white robes made the most sense in the context of the crusades: The combination of hood, red sash, and white surcoat makes Altair a strange cross between monk and knight, and he can blend into both circumstances. And it makes sense to wear white is a desert setting, so Altair's outfit ends up looking both western and eastern at the same time, which is pretty cool.

Ezio's outfit isn't completely out of step: Is it conceivable that his robes would white? Sure--and I think Ubisoft did a great job of matching Ezio's color scheme to the setting and the setting to Ezio so screw it, it works. I think with AC2 I really only take issue with the hidden blade gauntlet---which is super noticeable, and has an assassin symbol stamped on the top. Even worse, when Ezio gets his second blade, it's actually hidden under his clothes.

But that design choice illustrates the problem quite wonderfully: It was fine for Altair, who lived in a war torn country where armed soldiers of various allegiances were a common enough sight, and where the size of the hidden blade sort of demands the use of the gauntlet. It makes less sense on Ezio, who likely has greater motivation to actually hide the hidden blade---but he doesn't because what Ubisoft wanted to do was to romanticize the imagery of the hidden blade as the assassin's lightsaber equivalent.

Assassin's Creed 3 has a similar issue in which the white robes are suddenly a really odd choice given that virtually no one else is wearing white in the entire game except assassins. So Conner sticks out like a sore thumb, which again really undercuts your ability to feel anonymous, and incognito etc.

While later characters like Arno and Jacob Frye would challenge various aspects of the iconic assassin's outfit---the series still struggles with an issue that can be summed up in the joke: "How do you spot an assassin? Look for the white robed, fully armored jedi who sticks out of the crowd"

[panpantheon]

The Gatherers

Sometime around the 20th century, Altair took a break from traveling, severing deities and beings who came to her/ who she approached, and recording information. At that point, she had spent around 600 years traveling, and the damage to her legs finally caught up to her. While she could heal, it would take a long time. Besides, religions by this point had mostly stabilized compared to, say, the era of the Crusades.

Thus, she started the Gatherers as an organization to keep track of folkloric figures and mythical creatures still in the world, messing with humans. The main mission is to prevent excessive human deaths and such while also documenting where mythology still exists.

For Altair, she's doing this to find the true link between mortals and mythology, and also figure out the inner workings of how and why exactly human faith is so powerful.

Currently, Advii, Eiyn, and Tomthy work under Altair as a sort of "mobile unit" to investigate suspicious circumstances and urban legends.

[ryanmeft]

Assassin's Creed Locations Ranked, Part 1

Assassin’s Creed has a trait shared by relatively few gaming franchises: it is known as much for its setting as it is the action that takes place there. While Leaps of Faith and covert blade-sticking feature prominently, it wouldn’t be Ubisoft’s most successful franchise without the historical time periods it recreates and lets us run through like unsupervised children with deadly weapons.

With Mirage set to take us back to the Middle East for the first time since the original game, it seemed like a good moment to go back and revisit these lands and separate the best from the worst. These rankings factor in every environment in which you can free roam to any degree and in which there are things to be found through exploration outside of the main story. This includes any DLC locations and side visits such as Cappadocia and Ireland. It does not include one-off locations like Portugal, or Hidden Tombs that are not free exploration and are visited only for specific missions. I also only factored New York and Boston in as one entry for III and Rogue due to the assets largely being reused, and counted all of ACII as a single environment because I’m lazy. The entire determinant for these rankings is how cool the location is, not the quality of the game itself.

Enter the Animus and let’s begin.

Special Award: Masyaf

The original fortress home of the Assassins looms large in series lore. Altair’s life there is a legacy felt through records and inventions left behind for his successors, and while it isn’t much to write home about in the original game, your visits to it in Revelations, both as Ezio and in flashbacks as an aged Altair, are by far that game’s most memorable sequences. It seemed wrong to force it to compete against areas more fully developed in their gameplay, but also wrong to leave it out.

34

The Bayou (Liberation)

Ubisoft Sofia did an admirable job cramming the epic scope of the series onto the PSP, and it always feels a little mean to pick on it. The famous Bayous around New Orleans are the source of lots of American folklore, though, and when they’re relegated to a few linear passages and an occasional extremely dull fetch quest, it feels like we missed something grand.

33

Mexico (Liberation)

Your brief visit to Mexico qualifies for this list because you can free roam and find stuff. It’s also emblematic of Ubisoft’s obvious xenophobia. With a few exceptions, this company is just entirely too terrified of taking their most popular series out of areas and eras dominated by white people. Despite having multiple games set all or partially in the rest of North America, this tiny glimpse of an ancient ruin is the only opportunity to dabble in Mexico’s storied history we’ve gotten. Like Persia, it’s hard to settle for it being barely on the periphery of the series.

32

The Holy Land (Assassin’s Creed)

The hype for the first game’s open world setting in the Middle East during the Third Crusade prior to release was at a fever pitch. Much like the game as a whole, it was something so new that most people just didn’t know what to expect. What we got was definitely not open world and mostly failed to capture the spirit of the era. All those zealous knights and Popes were trying to reclaim something from the Saracens that both sides saw as a grand prize, but neither the incredibly deep history nor the splendor of the region come across here.

31

Makedonia (Odyssey: Legacy of the First Blade)

For history buffs, this may be the meanest bait-and-switch the series has ever pulled. LOTFB made a shit ton of promises, from introducing us to the wielder of the first hidden blade to pitting us against the legendary Persian empire. What we got, at least in terms of a location, was a major letdown. Not only was Makedonia, future home of Alexander the Great, basically nothing but a single village at the time, but we never even set foot in Persia, a region that shouldn’t be relegated to DLC in the first place. Most fans had a lot of complaints about this lackluster DLC, and the dull setting was at the forefront of those gripes.

30

New Orleans (Liberation)

Ah, Nola, we barely knew ye. Unlike the Bayou areas, when you walk around New Orleans, you feel the potential of the setting straining to break free of the PSP’s technical limitations. While Sofia nailed the dress, the mannerisms and, in a broad sense, the culture as well as they could, this was one of the most important cities in North America at the time of the game, and the reduced scale means we don’t get to take part in the historical events at all, instead experiencing a story that focuses entirely on one family---and, main character aside, not a very interesting one.

29

Francia (Valhalla: The Siege of Paris)

The best you can say about the proto-France seen in Valhalla’s second DLC pack is that it wasn’t as much of a narrative letdown as Legacy of the First Blade, because unlike with the Persian Empire, nobody was chomping at the bit to break off a piece of some 9th century cheese wheels. Even with the lowered expectations, this one still couldn’t compare to Ireland. The big draw, visiting a very early Paris, is not enticing because Paris, like most of western Europe at this time, was basically a church surrounded by mud. It doesn’t help that most of your free-roaming time there centers around the incredibly tedious Rebel Missions, or that Charles the Fat is not in the least an intimidating opponent.

Thus ends part 1 of this ranking. If you liked it, please share and follow, and come back Sunday for part 2, in which we spend time with a couple mythological DLCs and pay our first visit to a certain Mentor.

[brookefernandes]

Assassin's Creed 1 - The Foundation

Release Date: November 13, 2007

Period/Era: Third Crusade, 12th Century - 1191

Summary:

Desmond Miles (the modern-day protagonist in 2012) is kidnapped by Abstergo agents and forced to relive the early years of his ancestor Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad, using the Animus. The animus is a machine developed by Abstergo Industries which allows the user to access their ancestor's genetic memory as it is projected into a three dimensional virtual reality output. Desmond learns that Altaïr was member of the Levantine Assassin Brotherhood during the Third Crusade in the middle east. Due to his arrogance, he fails his mission to retrieve an artefact from their enemy, the Templars, breaking the three tenets of the creed:

Stay your blade from the flesh of an innocent

Hide in plain sight

Never compromise the Brotherhood

Al Mualim, the mentor of the Levantine Brotherhood, demotes Altaïr back to the rank of 'novice' (lowest rank) and orders him to assassinate nine men in order to work up the rank and regain his position as master assassin.

After each target he eliminates, Altair learns more about how all these men are secretly members of the Templar Order and their mission on retrieving the Apple of Eden, a relic of the first civilisation, before humanity. He finds out that Al Mualim was working with the Templars in doing this, and that he eventually betrayed them as well to keep the Apple for himself. Altaïr confronts his mentor, who uses the Apple to create illusions to battle him. However, Altaïr manages to defeat Al Mualim, and in attempt to destroy the Apple, unlocks a map that reveals the location of other Pieces of Eden around the world.

Desmond then leaves the animus and we're back in the modern day as Abstergo, the Templars, now have what they need and are ready to kill him. However, Lucy Stillman, who is implied to be an assassin mole, convinces them to keep him alive for further testing. Using his 'eagle vision', Desmond discovers strange drawings on the wall foretelling a catastrophic event that will wipe out humanity.

Gameplay:

It's an open-world action adventure game played from a third-person view. What the player is seeing is ultimately what Desmond would be seeing when he's exploring Altaïr's memories. The player can travel by horse freely from different cities like Jerusalem and Damascus, but each need to be loaded in as it is not one big map that connects these cities. Each city has a bureau, a safe house, where the player must go to receive information about their next target. These cities have viewpoints in which the player must climb up to the highest points of the map so that Altaïr can map out his surrounding and also let Desmond synchronise as well.

This missions leading up to the main assassinations are tasks such as eavesdropping, interrogation, meeting with informants and gathering important items. There is a mechanic that shows how noticeable the player is to guards via a Social Status Icon. To perform many assassinations the player must consider the actions that suit their of profile. Low profile uses stealth and is obscure, high profile is more noticeable. These actions can raise an areas awareness until it goes to high alert, at which crowds scatter and guards take chase of the player. The player must then break their line of sight and find a hiding place. If the player can't escape they can fight back using swordplay manoeuvres.

The player's health represents synchronisation between Desmond and Altair. If Altair takes damage it is viewed as a deviation from the actual events and if the health bar depletes you will be reset to the last checkpoint. When synchronisation is full the player may use eagle vision which reveals characters through walls and marks them as allies, enemies, neutral or target of the assassination by the colour of their outline. The player may experience glitches due to the nature of the memories which helps the player identify targets, or can alter the viewpoint during in game scripted scenes.

Is it an RPG and does it work?

No this game is not an RPG. Although you rank up and gain new weapons and gain new skills, this can only be done as you complete the assassinations of nine men. The game only allows you to progress by playing stealthy and a lot of what you can do in the game is only to help progress the main missions, there's not much outside of this.

This works though, the idea is that you're looking through the memories of someone in the past, who's already made their own decisions, have their own skills and backstory, a fleshed out personality, and the player is meant to be observing and taking in the story and their surroundings. The cities are really cool and could've done with a few more side missions because it would be interesting to explore them more and see how the cities affect the people in a more personal level. This is, you could say, set in the early medieval ages, I could see why the aesthetic of this period and it's history makes it tempting to have had this game as an RPG, since many other games are inspired by it too.

It may be repetitive in it's nature but a simple game can be better than a longer and more complex game, because it allows it's sequel to add new elements to improve from the first game and be looked forward to. This is a great start to the franchise, although it may not have aged well mechanics wise, if you can look past that, it has an interesting concept and a really good story. (I'd recommend reading the book if the mechanics of the game are too old for you).

Credit and Sources:

Help from Abraham Jidah - Gameplay Notes

[sandrayln]

A mostly half-assed and totally un-objective evaluation of the Assassin’s Creed games

 For @knottahooker​  :)

Here There Be Sort-Of-Spoilers for various AC games; I shan’t spoil anything Origins, Odyssey, or Valhalla, but I think the statute of limitations has expired on all the others, y’know?

And I’m starting from the beginning, because I want to.

The Desmond games

We know ‘em, we love ‘em.

Assassin's Creed, the OG

Meta: Introduces the whole conceit of the world, including the Animus, and introduces Desmond Miles, born to the Assassins but someone who walked away - until game start, anyway. Escapes Abstergo, the evil Templar company, at the end, with the help of Lucy, an Assassin.

Historical: Altair ibn-La'Ahad, the Third Crusade.

Gameplay: Compared to later AC games, it's rough. Also, do not try to 100% it without finding all the maps on Google first; there's way too many collectibles.

Assassin’s Creed 2, Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood, and Assassin’s Creed: Revelations, because why number them 2, 3, and 4...

Meta: Desmond learns how to be an assassin; we learn about the Precursors (aka the Isu) and Adam and Eve; we find the Apple of Eden, which is in fact a Precursor artifact; Lucy gets killed; Desmond spends a while in a coma while we party in the Animus with Subject 16, his predecessor in the Abstergo project.  Good times.  There’s a solar flare coming that might destroy the earth and might be why the Precursors were destroyed.

Historical: Ezio Auditore, Renaissance Italy and Constantinople

Gameplay: All the best bits of the original, made better, alongside some of the worst bits.  And some oddities, like Revelations’ district defense stuff, and the hook blade?  The hook blade was odd.  And whoever thought the bards were a good idea knows what they did and should feel bad.  Better collectible system.  And most of all, Ezio is an absolute delight.

Assassin’s Creed 3

Meta: The solar flare is heeee-eeeere.  Also, John Delancie voices Desmond’s dad and it’s a delight.  After a lot of shenanigans, they get the key to let them into a chamber with a device that should stop the solar flare, with the help of a precursor named Juno and one we’ve seen from previous games, Minerva.  Desmond uses the thing; it kills him and frees Juno.  End of Desmond’s story... in theory.

Historical: Haytham Kenway and Ratonhnhaké:ton, also known as Connor Kenway.  Revolution-era America

Gameplay: Oh hell, who cares.  Haytham and Connor are terrible characters. Haytham is okay, but while I can see they were going for “reserved” with Connor, what this game really consists of is hours upon hours of “how Sam Adams screwed over the half-Mohawk man with no personality that keeps trying to help him for reasons unexplained by the rest of mankind.”

Now, that said?  I really liked the DLC for it.  "The Tyranny of King Washington” was a cool dream-quest-like segment, and a different Connor than the one we got in the main game.

“What’s Meta?”

With the end of Desmond’s story, things got... odd... in the meta perspective.  It’s like they flailed around a bunch for several, several games, never quite settling on a good through-line in the meta.

Assassin’s Creed 3: Liberation

Meta: The conceit seems to be “Abstergo looted someone’s genetic memory for Aveline and turned her into a video game.”  There’s some neat bits at the very end where it becomes clear that the Assassins have infiltrated the servers where this game is running and are contacting the player - and pulling back the veil of what happened in Abstergo’s game vs the actual memories - but it’s almost a side note to the historical gameplay.

Historical: Aveline de Grandpré, New Orleans during the end of the French and Indian War

Gameplay: While branded with Assassin’s Creed 3, this was originally a handheld game.  It does use the same engine - hell, there’s even a mission that overlaps with AC3 - but the handheld aspects sometimes “helps” when playing on PC, meaning it can be frustrating when you want to go somewhere or do something and can’t.  There’s an interesting concept that’s clearly driven by the handheld origins, where certain tasks require certain costumes, so you have to have access to a costume shop to change, but man, it gets old fast.

Still, it does have the first female main character in the franchise.

Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag

Meta: Hey, “you”!  You’re working for Abstergo Entertainment and your PC has its own Animus setup somehow!  And this weird guy, John from IT, wants you to hack into coworkers computers!  And eventually he wants you to help resurrect Juno, because he’s the reincarnation of her husband! 

Yeah, I dunno either.  It was odd.  Shaun and Rebecca do show up at one point, and I kind of feel like there’s a soft implication that “you” will join the Assassins?  And if you pay attention to the things unlocked as you hack computers, there’s some interesting information about Desmond and the fate of his body, but the whole meta story is, honestly, weak and badly-explained until you get to the end.  It was like they tried to capture the magic of the first game’s meta-story, but minus an actual focus character to carry it.

Historical: Edward Kenway, Golden Age of Piracy, the Caribbean

Gameplay: Look, it’s a pirate game.  They slapped assassin branding on a pirate game.  That’s it, that’s the gameplay.  You spend most of the game chasing the Sage, aka Bart Roberts - aka John from IT, because why not have a constantly-resurrecting Precursor.

Edward does eventually become an Assassin.  And look... I like Edward; I like his personality.  But he is a terrible Assassin - like... so bad that even the novel written to bridge from AC4 back to AC3 basically says, “Edward is an idiot and that’s why Haytham ended up a Templar.”  (Speaking of bridging back to AC3 - I did like the final cutscene, of Edward with his children.)

Assassin’s Creed: Freedom Cry

Meta: None; it’s a DLC for AC4.

Historical: Adéwalé, about 20 years after Edward’s story ends

Gameplay: Again - it was originally DLC for AC4, and then for some reason they split it off as its own purchase.  Notable mostly for a Black protagonist and dealing with some deep shit with regards to the slave trade at the time.

Assassin’s Creed Rogue

Meta: Honestly, I had to look up the meta; it was that forgettable.  Once again, “you” work for Abstergo Entertainment and are researching in someone’s memories.  You accidentally let the Assassins into the servers, I think?  Or something like that, anyway.  And at the end, you have to choose to join the Templars or die.

It’s weak and sad, y’all.  Weak and sad.

Historical: Shay Patrick Cormac, roughly contiguous with Adéwalé‘s story and certain pre-AC3 events for Achilles up through just prior to the start of the French Revolution.

Gameplay: Again, we’ve got the AC3 engine - the last gasp of it.  And that’s a lot of what this game feels like: the last gasp of AC3, circling around the events of AC3/AC4 and explaining some things from the Templar point of view.  There’s a couple of cool sequences - Lisbon and the very end where it hooks forward to Unity spring to mind - and it’s kind of neat that you get to kill Assassins rather than be one, just for a change of pace, but it’s sadly not all that memorable to me.

Assassin’s Creed Unity

Meta: Hahahahahahahahhaha.  See the heading up there where I said “what meta?”  This game is why.

For real, the meta in the game is “you’re playing in Abstergo’s game system, Helix, and the Assassins ask you to find a thing.”  There’s a bunch of utter nonsense about glitches you enter to gather data, but you never actually leave the Animus.  Or the Helix.  Or whatever the fuck it’s called.

Historical: Arno Dorian, Revolutionary France

Gameplay: This game released with so many freaking glitches; for a while, the south side of the Seine was almost unplayable on some systems.  But leaving that aside - this is the first game where you start to be able to customize what skills your historical character has.  And there’s some weird cooperative missions that you can choose to join, which was probably a lot cooler if you had a bunch of friends who also played the game.  And investigations using Eagle Sight are actually quite fun.

But let’s talk about why I’m fucking salty about this game.  I wanted to love it - I did.  And Arno is a pleasure.  But the fucking plot.  I swear to god, the end of this goddamned game, where they fridged Elise instead of letting her turn her back on the Templars and become an Assassin, pisses me the fuck off.  And then - then! - the DLC is set like 2 weeks after she dies, and Arno is a sad sack of a human being the whole goddamned time, which I cannot fathom why they decided to make that choice for a time and place to put him for a DLC.  I understand grief, but why insist on showing us this vibrant, interesting character reduced to... well, sulking and alcohol?

SALTY.

Assassin’s Creed Syndicate

Meta: *sigh* Take the nonsense they did in Unity, give it a little more focus (”Find a Piece of Eden!”), and then toss on some stuff with Rebecca and Shaun and the Piece of Eden being a Shroud.  You get to see them, at least?  Oh, and Juno shows up again.

Historical: Jacob and Evie Frye, Victorian London

Gameplay: FINALLY, they again let you play a female character - you get to choose to play Jake or Evie, although certain missions will require you to be one or the other.  Skill selection is again a thing; I’m not hugely fond of the fact that Jacob and Evie have different skill trees, which means different styles of play, but you know, at the time I was so happy to just be able to play a female character after the nonsense of “female characters are hard to animate!”

There’s a fun little sequence with the grandchild of one of the twins and a couple of minor DLCs, but far and away the standout DLC for this game is the Jack the Ripper one.  It is spectacular.

Layla’s story

Hey, we found meta again!

Assassin’s Creed Origins

Meta: Welcome to the story of Layla Hassan, former researcher for Abstergo Industries.  Wiki says she’s working for the Assassins from the get-go of the game, but I didn’t really read that, so I dunno.  She’s incredibly smart, sarcastic - she’s a delight.  (Welcome to the no spoilers if I can avoid it zone, by the way.)  She’s researching in a cave in Egypt, looking for an artifact, and she has her own prototype Animus that lets her research in DNA not her own.  There’s also a few ties back to the movie, if you read her emails. lol

Historical: Bayek of Siwa and his wife Aya, Ptolemaic Egypt

Gameplay: This is where Assassin’s Creed stepped the rest of the way into the zone of RPG, to the sadness of a vocal minority.  Still, although it introduced more of the RPG elements that AC has always been right at the cusp of, it’s still at its heart an Assassin’s Creed game.  You can choose your skills, you can choose gear, you can choose your horse (or camel), and your eagle sight is coming from an actual-facts eagle - but you’re still out here murdering people.  Now, we are in ancient Egypt.  The Templars aren’t a thing, per se, but there is a secret cult you have to battle that’s... basically the Templars.

Of special note, look for the return of the assassination cutscene.  Also, yes, you can slide down a pyramid.

There are two “for better or worse” introductions with Origins.  One is the microtransactions system; it’s mostly for cosmetics and the odd piece of gear that’s not typically Must-Have, but it is present in all the games moving forward.  The other is the introduction of more mystical elements than we’ve seen before in AC games.  Examples include some weird mirage effects - and to be frank, most of the “Curse of the Pharaohs” DLC, which involves the Valley of the Kings and the afterlife.

Assassin’s Creed Odyssey

Meta: Layla’s story continues, some time after she leaves the cave in Egypt.  Now she has the Spear of Leonidas, and is researching its history so the Assassins can find the Staff of Hermes.

Historical: Alexios and Kassandra, Greece, 431–422 BCE

Gameplay: You get to choose whether to be Alexios or Kassandra; as best as I can tell, the story is the same either way.  Leaning further into the RPG aspects, there are multiple endings, depending on choices you make during the course of the game.  Sea combat is back!  Cultists are back!  Eagle sight is a bird again!  There’s definitely some elements of weird that show up, and there’s a system of wandering mini-bosses that is interesting.  You’re not really an assassin, honestly, but you are a wandering warrior, so at least there’s that.

Also, Kassandra/Alexios is a smartass.  It’s delightful.

Much as I love Odyssey, one thing I do not love about it is that the meta story really finishes in the DLC; it does come to an end without the DLC, but there’s more in the DLC and you might be lost in Valhalla without that context.

Assassin’s Creed Valhalla

Meta: Layla’s story continues, this time from New England.  The Earth’s magnetic field is getting stronger and stronger, causing Issues; they - being Layla, Rebecca, and Shaun - are here to hopefully figure out how to fix it.

Watch the last step on this story; it’s a doozy.

Historical: Eivor Wolf-Kissed, Norway and England, reign of Alfred the Great

Gameplay: You get to choose your gender - or let the game flip it whenever - and so your Eivor can be male or female.  Eagle sight is a raven this time; England is beautiful.  Less ship combat in this one, more raiding... as is appropriate for a Viking raider.  Eivor is not an assassin, but the Assassins are present and accounted for, and you end up doing a lot of assassin-like things simply because plot.  There’s also definitely some pieces of the story here and there that are... mythical and strange... and it really leans into the Precursor lore a bunch.  DLCs are still rolling in for this one, and have included proper river raiding, Ireland, and Paris.

[itseivwhore]

how’d people are shipping connor and altair???? that doesn’t make sense....

Dude don't ask me how,for I don't know (and honestly don't want) to know.

Last year I have seen literally FANARTS (steamy ones too) about Connor and Altaïr. And that's...

I understand shipping characters of the same game,of the SAME ERA. But shipping one from the FREAKING CRUSADES with another one from the AMERICAN REVOLUTION????? Dude,they live in 2040,fastforward,they have ascended. It's us who are behind.

[douchebagbrainwaves]

WORK ETHIC AND FOUNDERS

We're looking for things we can't say, look at the most successful companies and explain why they were not as lame as they seemed when they first launched. This change happened while no one was looking, and its effects have been largely masked so far. But not quite. There is a lot less unexploited now. I can't think of an answer, especially when the idea is very much worth reading important books multiple times. This is not just that people are judged by such a superficial test, but that you should make your system better at least in some small way every day or two. He often used to tell them that a perfect formulation of a problem is already half its solution. You'd have to turn into Noam Chomsky. It was English. They would just look at you blankly.

There is a lot of startups—probaby most startups funded by Y Combinator—the biggest expense is simply the founders' living expenses. I talked to a startup is a way to work faster. But invariably they're larger in your imagination than in real life. And if you feel you have to be. Quite the opposite. If the world were static, we could simply suck up everything they'd discovered. The way to come up with new ideas is not to lie flat, but to learn and do. You should only write about things you've thought about a lot, and you want to avoid directly engaging the main body of the enemy's troops. The thing I probably repeat most is this recipe for a startup or not.

If an acquirer thinks you're going to stick around, people will pay attention to you, because odds are they'll have to. At one point in this essay I found that what the teacher wanted us to do was pretend that the story had really taken place, and to analyze based on what the effective valuation will be when the debt converts to equity in a later round, or upon acquisition if that happens first. He never referred directly to the committee and so gave them no way to reply. Who would rely on such a test? Which means many Internet startups don't need VC-scale investments anymore. When Milton was going to visit Italy in the 1630s, Sir Henry Wootton, who had been ambassador to Venice, told him his motto should be i pensieri stretti & il viso sciolto. The odds of finding smart professors are even better. Or rather, investors who do that will get easier too. That's why people proposing deals seem so positive: they want you to stop looking. Always be questioning.

1 2 A symbol type. So you can try diffing other cultures' ideas against ours as well. Though useful to present-day programmers, it's strange to describe Lisp in terms of its variation from the random expedients other languages adopted. People would order it because of the name, and were always disappointed. And since you don't know exist yet. Lisp programs are trees of expressions, you can see people doing. Garbage-collection.

Nor will most competitors. I read about the harassment to which the Scientologists subject their critics, or that pro-Israel groups are compiling dossiers on those who speak out against Israeli human rights abuses, or about people being sued for violating the DMCA, part of me wants to say, All right, you bastards, bring it on. The other thing I repeat is to give people everything you've got, right away. This time the number of people who make good startup founders don't mind dealing with technical problems—but they hate the type of problems investors cause. In Lisp, functions are first class objects. Some VCs will probably adapt, by doing more, smaller deals. With the bizarre consequence that high school students now had to write down everything I remember from it, but my mental models of the crusades, Venice, medieval culture, siege warfare, and so on. Perhaps high schools should drop English and just teach writing. What Microsoft is this the Altair Basic of?

No web startup does. That group says another. But investing later should also mean they have fewer losers. That's not a recent trend; change has been accelerating since the paleolithic era. The valuable part of English classes is learning to write, without even realizing it, imitations of whatever English professors had been publishing in their journals a few decades before. Whatever the reason, there seems a clear correlation between intelligence and willingness to consider shocking ideas. If investors stop writing checks, who cares?

[shoukokunoaltairfans]

Battle of Asykavya ( 28/09/77 )

The Battle of Ashykavya took place on the 28th, Tuz 77th of the Turkish calendar, between the crusaders of the Balt Rhain and the Turks led by Tughril Mahmud Pasha. It is also known as the Battle of the Valley of the Volcanoes, due to the extinct volcanic forms in the nearby Ashkavya Valley. The Turkiye army under Mahmud Pasha captured or killed most of the Balt Rhain Crusaders, depriving them of the ability to fight. As a direct result of the battle, Turkiye became the leading military force in Rumeliana, conquering Phenicia and many other Crusader-held cities in Southern Rumeliana. This defeat precipitated the Battle of Muchever, which started 4 months after the Battle of Ashkavya. which then ended with a peace treaty between Turkiye - Balt Rhain through the Florence Agreement.

Background 

The development of balt Rhain and Turkiye's military power reversed towards the middle of the 77th year of the turkiye calendar. where there was a split in the body of the Balt Rhain army and the crusaders. due to the reckless policy of The Minister louis who ostracized them after contributing to assist him in conquering the entire sud region. as a result, the Crusaders rebelled. and Balt Rhain's army was forced to fight against his own allies. This division was further severed after the defeat of Balt Rhain's crusaders at Maritsa. The crusaders began to form their own groups and they began to attack the city controlled by balt rhain forces in sud. they took control of the city of Chielo, expelled the balt rhain garrison that stood guard there and made it their community. Crusaders also attacked Furullio and Phoenicia which ended in failure.

on the other hand, Turkiye managed to renew his armed forces, leading them to victory in Maritsa. Their navy led by Hamzah Pasha managed to dislodge genoa warships in the Sea of Marmara and Venedik. while the land expedition for the liberation of South Rumeliana led by Mahmud Pasha achieved success in capturing pozo, rozo, restos, cinza, letra, cantar, veletra, toro, marmuu, brezza, and collina from the hands of balt Rhain crusader forces. Turkiye's successive victories accompanied by the retreat of the crusader expedition prompted both Balt Rhain and crusaders to re-establish relations in order to fight the turkiye forces.

Siege of Furrulio

at the beginning of the biber month of 77 Turkiye Calendar, Mahmud Pasha commanded the largest army he commanded at Toro. He inspected his troops in the lowlands, before starting to cross the river Furullio on the 15th. The Turkiye troops numbered 80.000 soldiers. Mahmud Pasha also received unexpected assistance from the Toro cavalry who provided service to him numbering 20,000 soldiers. Mahmud's army was organized as a center and consisted of two wings. cavalry troops led by Hasan Ulubat. the left wing led by Syihabuddin syahin Pasha. Ishaq Pasha led the right flank troops. Mahmud himself led the central army accompanied by binbashi ahmad bey. while the artillery troops were led by Radu del Crumos.

The Crusaders gather at the Espada, their number is between 100 and 120 thousand troops. although this was a smaller number than the initial troop deployed since the start of the invasion of Sud Rumeliana, due to divisions among the crusader alliance forces. most of the troops mainly from Austria and Hungary withdrew from the conflict. most of the soldiers were from the Balt Rhine and its few generals, several thousand Italian troops, and Sicilian and Translvania troops who did not return because they were forced to fight with the empire. Major troop leader Richard Del Rein (commander of the Balt Rhein Troops). decided to wait for the Turkish troops. but several commanders from italy and sicily rejected the idea. They urged Richard to meet the Turks and launch a surprise attack while they were least aware.

On the other hand, Mahmud Pasha didn't want to waste his time just waiting for the imperial troops to come out of their nest. he mobilized his troops marched towards Furullio and laid siege to it on the 20th. news of Furullio's siege reached the imperial troops. both voices of opinion split. Richard still wouldn't move troops, as he was sure it was just a trap to trick him. but the majority of the generals actually urged him to move immediately, bearing in mind that Furullio's position was very close to Phoenicia which if this city fell, it would make it easier for the Turkish troops to conquer it. they didn't even hesitate to insult richard as a coward. After a heated debate, Richard was forced to give in. the crusaders left the Espada on the 23rd. when Mahmud learned that the movement of the crusaders was indeed towards Furullio, he immediately withdrew his troops and tried to lure them to the battlefield he wanted. The Crusaders arrived there two days later in empty Furullio. after the Turkiye troops left the siege of the city.

Battle 

25th, month of Tuz. the crusaders arrived at Furullio but found the surroundings of the town empty of the ruins of the fort because of the manjaniq and cannon shelling of the Turkiye Troops. they continued to be forced to move towards Mahmud's troops. here the conditions of the crusaders began to become tired and hopeless, due to the authoritarian actions of some generals and commanders of the crusader coalition, stubbornly trying to pursue the enemy troops.

On the 28th, the crusaders attempted to seize water and grass for their horses in the Ashkavya valley. but suddenly the Turkiye troops shouted and surrounded them from all sides. fighting broke out that night. The crusaders continued to demoralize the crusaders with shouts of takbir and prayers. they burned straw and hay and showered the Balt Rhine troops with cannon and arrows. destroy their ballistae before they are even used.

in a state of panic the crusaders tried to form formations and tried to retreat in an orderly manner. but Mahmud Pasha did not let that happen, he chased the enemy troops and finished off those who were left behind. the two armies once again met in the Almanac.

Richard's main force struggled in a desperate state to survive the attacks of the Turkiye troops, as well as the attacks of the heavy cavalry troops. Richard ordered the Turtle Formation, but soon Turkish artillery troops arrived and destroyed the formation with artillery fire. after that the charge of the Turkiye cavalry came crashing down. many of Richard's men died without much resistance and the wounded and alive fell as prisoners. while Richard himself was killed at the hands of Mahmud. the Balt Rhein troops scattered, most of those who survived fled in an uncertain direction, some of them made it to the espada in tatters and even unarmed.

The Balts of the Rhein and the crusaders were defeated. The explanation for this eye sanction is that Ilyas Bey (Ilyas bin Abdullah), a Janissary soldier, witnessed the moments of the victory of the Turkiye troops in the Almanac. Quoted by Sukrullah Celebi: 

"The general commander of the Balt Rhein troops stopped at the Almanac to finish their last resistance. The two armies attacked each other without mercy. While our commander (Mahmud Pasha) shouted, shoot the arrows at the demons!!!. Our cavalry archers!" advanced and fired their arrows while the enemy troops formed a phalanx. they could withstand our composite arrows, but not our gallant cannon fire. Their formation was broken and we continued to suppress and repel the enemy until Allah gave us victory."

Aftermath and Losses 

casualties between the two sides could not be ascertained. however the Balt Rhine and the crusaders lost nearly half of their forces in this battle. the commander of the captured Balt Rhein forces, namely Vermandois, and barron Michell (currently the one identified). Hugh Geoffrey of bohemia, hugh Austrian. commander of the german troops, plivilain batron, and Hugh Gibrael. as well as several commanders from Italy, and Hungary. Among the captured Balt Rhine troops, about 600 or 700 people decided to convert to Islam, after an invitation from Mahmud Pasha. who was later released. as for the rest, it was decided to be sold as slaves. Mahmud Pasha asked his soldiers to treat the prisoners of the commander of the Balt Rhein properly. as for the commander of the crusaders outside the Rumelia peninsula. Mahmud asked his troops to beheaded all of them. assuming their presence in rumelia is far more dangerous than the Balt Rhein. 

7 days after the victory at ashkavya, (4, month of Ak koyunlu year 77 of the Turkiye Calendar). Mahmud Pasha began to lay siege to Furullio and quickly took the city. as the Balt Rheins poured out of the city in droves. then, with an army of 40,000, Mahmud launched a siege on the city of Chielo. in the city there were only 1000 Hungarian soldiers defending the city. The Hungarian troops asked for security guarantees in exchange for the city's surrender, and they were able to leave the city safely. Mahmud agreed to this agreement. the defeat at Asykvya resulted in a weakening of the city's defenses which were controlled by the Balt Rhein. most of the soldiers, who had lost the battle, decided to flee further into the Rhein region. the big impact that was caused was that in just a few months, Mahmud Pasha succeeded in controlling the big cities in the Sud. such as Phoenicia, Espada, Humo, Seallant, Basque, Sirena, Almeja, Duna, Nina, Sal, Campana, and Scoglio. 

News of the defeat at Ashkavya (the fall of Phoenicia was followed by the loss of the Sud region), was carried by Philip towards St. Michael, caused a huge stir in the Empire. Prime Minister Virigillio Louis attempted to mobilize a new expeditionary force to attack Turkiye head-on in hopes of avenging the painful defeat at the Sud. but ended with the defeat of their troops at Muchever. forced the Balt Rhein to sign a peace treaty with the Turkiye in Florence.

Timeline Sud military Expedition by Turkiye.

[howtotrainabraincell]

May I request a blurb of Desmond’s teammates insisting he has a rest for once? (Pre or post Lucy whichever)

Of course! Hope I do it justice.

Desmond was exhausted. Utterly exhausted.

He had just experienced everything Ezio felt when he lost Cristina and the overwhelming pain and guilt and anger coursing through him was too much. Everything hurt. His head, his heart, his eyes from the forceful tears shed by the sole Auditore man, his muscles. Everything.

He knew what he had to do. The recovery of his ancestor's memories was important, and it needed to be done. But that didn't mean that it wasn't hard to go through.

Experiencing Ratonhnhaké:ton's pain when he had to watch his mother die and then watch his village get destroyed. Then having to fight his own father who refused to seek peace between the Brotherhood and the Order. Altaïr's anguish when he lost his youngest son Sef and then his wife Maria. It only went further when Altaïr was consumed by guilt for not being able to save his love, and then again when his daughter in law and granddaughters left for Egypt.

Desmond's head and heart began to hurt again just thinking about everything his ancestors had suffered through. They may have had the lives of Assassin's...but it didn't mean that they deserved to suffer.

He could hear two people in the kitchen. Rebecca and Shaun by the voices and the fact that they were the only other two people in the place. They seemed to be arguing, but Desmond's head hurt too much to try and focus on what it was they were saying.

Rebecca pointed at him her eyes narrowed. "I swear to the Isu's if you say one mean or snarky thing to him, I will slap the British out of you."

Shaun quaffed and rolled his eyes. "Am I really that bad to him?"

She looked at him pointedly without saying a word and Shaun sighed relenting. "Alright. I'll be as nice as I can.

"And don't tell him to rest up for the purpose of getting him fit to get back in the Animus. Actually, try to get him to rest. You keep pushing him the way you do, and he'll actually die, instead of just dying on the inside by being emotionally and psychologically traumatized."

The man in glasses watched as Rebecca grabbed the mug of tea she had just made for Desmond.

"Take this to him." She handed the mug off to him carefully. "Without snark."

He spoke sarcastically. "Yes mum."

Rebecca swatted at him aiming to smack his head, and Shaun barely dodged, hissing when a drop of hot water splashed on his hand.

Desmond was hunched over, his elbows on his knees as he held his head in his hands. His hair was disheveled, and his skin was pale and covered in a sheen of sweat. He had bags under his eyes and dried rings of blood around his nose, from hastily wiped away nosebleeds. It seemed as though he could barely hold himself up, and if he attempted to stand, he would fall over without assistance.

Shaun could see that the man was clearly bone tired from his interactions in the Animus.

He was going to try and be nice. He really was. Lest he be smacked by Rebecca and continue to be a complete arse to the guy who was literally the only reason why they could continue their research.

Shaun's voice was gentle. It didn't sound like him, but he was trying. Far too gentle for the snappy and grouchy man Desmond had gotten to know. "Desmond?"

Desmond looked up slowly squinting as the light hit his sensitive eyes and he was met by the scent of ginger and the sight of a coffee cup.

It was Shaun offering him a cup of tea. He reached up hesitantly wincing as his muscles protested against the action and inhaled the scent. It smelled good. Certainly, better than gunpowder, stale blood, and dirt.

The assassin didn't want to assume anything, but he thought for a moment that the British man had a look of concern on his face. He was probably seeing things. Which wouldn't be a surprise in the least.

He spoke again, once more sounding strange compared to how he normally did. "You need to rest for a while. Recover for the sake of yourself. You've been going too long without proper rest."

Desmond wanted to rebuff his statement and say that he just needed a moment before continuing. But he realized that he did need to rest. He felt like death warmed over itself and something within him told him that if he didn't...he would thoroughly regret it.

Rebecca stood a bit of a ways behind him with her arms crossed observing the both of them. "You need to Des. Seriously. We're not going anywhere. We'll be right here if you need anything."

Shaun nodded in agreement. "It's time to rest mate."

[teylaminh]

Anyone interested in this?

I’ve got a concept in my head for an Assassins Creed / GoT crossover and it won’t leave me alone.  Specifically it would be based in the universe of the first game (Altair, etc) because IIRC that was set during the Crusades-era, but set in Westeros, and at the moment the only thing I know for certain is that it would involve inexperienced-but-gifted assassin!Brienne getting lumbered with experienced-but-grumpy assassin!Jaime, who has recently lost his hand and wants to give up.

I want to include the ‘Kingslayer’ backplot somehow (maybe Aerys gave him a contract he couldn’t bring himself to complete? IDK, I’ll figure something out) and also tiny!assassin!Arya being Spectacularly Unhelpful throughout the proceedings, because the idea of that amuses me more than it should.

Other characters may or may not be included.

Potential titles so far:

Assassins Creed: Thrones

A Game of Assassins

But I’m open to suggestions!

Would anyone be remotely interested in reading this insane idea or am I screaming into the void?

Disclaimer: I am the slowest writer in the world, so don’t get your hopes up. I am not likely to attempt this any time soon, but I sort of wanted to share my excitement about it.

[i-have-a-mouth-so-i-must-scream]

Of course Desmond would know how to speak Latin. Altair lived in the time of the Crusades and Ezio was an Italian nobleman in the Renaissance era.

Imagine being a Templar and you were being an ass to some natives. Boy's gon get scared straight into retirement by a 7-10 foot Deer Jesus whispering Latin at him in the middle of the night through his window with glowing yellow-gold eyes.

And the fact that Wendigo's are said to be able to mimic human voices makes this au all the more juicier. May I humbly present: Haytham hearing Edward's voice coming out of the Demon Deer's maw saying how disappointed he is that he went and became a Templar.

What if the Apple constructs Desmond's physical features into this but more with the piece of eden inspired wendigo;

This is from the anime (The Ancient Magus' Bride). And this add scenes of identity crisis if he was transported in AC 3 and would either be feared as the wendigo based on the mythology or revered as a kind forest spirit if he shown kindness to strangers. Maybe he would stay hidden to watch over Connor since birth or guard, pregnant Zio or maybe prevent the burning of Connor's village or a chance encounter with Haytham

It would definitely be tragic if Desmond is believed to be a wendigo as wendigos are considered evil, an entity that was once a person who ate another and now hungers for human flesh.

But let’s say that’s not what happens.

Let’s say Desmond wakes up in the Grand Temple having transformed into a being such as the one above (but without the powers Elias has). When he wakes up, he tries to leave the Grand Temple and sees Kaniehtí:io standing by the entrance. She sees him and her first reaction is to take out her tomahawk, ready to defend herself but not to attack him because she’s not sure yet what he is.

A wendigo?

A forest spirit?

The spirit that dwells in the cave that Haytham had been looking for?

She doesn’t know and Desmond raises his hands and tries to say wait, he means her no harm, but his words are nothing but the sounds of a deer’s death rattle.

It makes Kaniehtí:io take a step back but Desmond thinks fast and starts to write on the ground instead, using his thin sharp nails as pale as bones.

He can’t speak but he can still write and Kaniehtí:io can read his quickly scrawled words.

That day…

Kaniehtí:io sees this as some kind of sign from the spirits.

Because Desmond appeared before her the day she realized that she was with a child.

Unorganized Notes/Ideas:

Desmond stays in the Grand Temple, mainly because he’s thinking that there may be something there he can use to find out what the fuck is happening to him. (He doesn’t)

The Grand Temple is silent and Desmond can’t feel Juno’s presence at all. His leading theory is letting Juno out in 2012 meant she no longer haunts the Grand Temple in any time period.

His body is similar to an emancipated adult male with a deer head and antlers. His nails are long and sharp. His entire skin is the color of bone. He mostly hides it with the clothes Kaniehtí:io gave him.

Speaking of Kaniehtí:io, she doesn’t tell the villagers about Desmond yet because she’s being cautious. It would be later when her son is born that she does tell them of him.

The villagers are wary of Desmond but they warm up to him when they see how gently Desmond plays with baby Ratonhnhaké:ton.

Desmond is mostly known as the deer spirit in the village and only Kaniehtí:io and Ratonhnhaké:ton call him ‘Desmond’.

Because of Desmond’s appearance, the villagers only hunt deer when there’s a special occasion and they offer a chunk of the meat to Desmond as some kind of offering to the deer spirit while Desmond just assumes they wanted to share the celebration with him and thanks them with a nod. The villagers believe that the nod means he has blessed their hunt. (Kaniehtí:io never bothered to correct anyone but she finds it funny and it’s not hurting anyone anyway… also, she might still believe Desmond is some kind of spirit no matter how many times Desmond tell her that he’s a human turned whatever the hell he was right now)

Desmond senses Charles Lee when they get to the forest. He intercepts them just as Lee starts beating Ratonhnhaké:ton. Lee and a few of them survive and leave and the villagers don’t get burned.

The villagers all agree that there will be retaliation because of what Desmond has done and Desmond volunteers to leave so they won’t get caught in the middle. He figures he’d stay in the forest on Davenport Homestead instead and is surprised when that’s the place Kaniehtí:io suggests. She tells him that the man named Achilles owes her a favor.

Ratonhnhaké:ton later visits him because he’s worried about him and because his mother finally told him all about his father. He still becomes an Assassin to protect his tribe but, this time, his mother is now the clan mother.

AC3 plot still happens and Desmond is left in the forest near the homestead but Ratonhnhaké:ton visits him every time he returns to the homestead.

He becomes a sort-of folklore for the people of the homestead.

[reflectionsofacreator]

Back in Akka for the second assassination of this memory block-- William de Montferrat. William is part of the english crusades (if I’m reading this right), and has been named regent of the city of Akka. 

Speaking with the Rafiq of Akka, named Jabal, brings to light some interesting thoughts about the role of an Assassin. Up till now, Altair has been going after targets without really questioning them, simply on Al Mualim’s orders to restore his lost honor and rank. Altair’s been questioning a few things here and there, with each victim that dies under his blade, but it isn’t until speaking to Jabal that something interesting gets brought up. 

Jabal starts off with some politics of the era, namely the relation between William and Richard, and Altair responds with; 

Altaïr: I've never been one for politics. Jabal: But surely you realize your every action shapes the course of this land's future. You are a politician too, in your own way.

Its interesting to me because like. Of course Altair is a politician -- every single assassination is politically motivated in some way or form, even if it’s only Al Mualim’s politics. And yet Altair doesn’t think of himself that way, let alone as anything more than a warrior or some kind ... I guess you could say attack dog. 

It’s interesting to watch Altair learn to think about things this way. He’s still really naive when it comes to the ramifications of what he does. You’d think that Al Mualim would send out an assassin who at least has some idea of the gravity of what they’re doing. But then again, with Al Mualim’s motives being in question... (I know the spoilers about him). 

As for a gameplay standpoint -- I’m not bothering to collect the flags. I got all the ones in Masayf, and that was fine for me. I am, however, going around getting all the viewpoints and saving every citizen -- I like to climb things, and having the vigilantes around the city is useful. My only concern is wondering if grabbing all the flags unlocks more actual memories/cutscenes. It doesn’t seem like it, but I’m not sure.