Merchant (Savonarola's lieutenant)

The Merchant is one of Girolamo Savonarola's nine Lieutenants. He worked with Savonarola, getting the people to follow his ideals until he was killed by Ezio.

Challenge
The merchant is stationed on a ship, and has many guards on the ship patrolling constantly, including two armored guards, Ezio must not draw any alarm before he strikes, or the man will escape. To accomplish this, Ezio quietly kills nearby patrols, then swims to the back of the boat and climbs just to the edge, so that he can drag the two guards patrolling the back of the vessel to their watery deaths, next Ezio uses poison to silently kill the two guards by the helm without attracting attention, allowing him to hide as the other men leave their posts to investigate. This is when Ezio takes his chance to leap down on the unsuspecting merchant, silencing him.

One can get rid of the two guards warding the entrance of the pier by throwing a smoke grenade and killing them in the confusion created; the archer guarding the rooftop at the left end of the pier can be killed by getting to him either by climbing the ladder while he is not watching, or by climbing to another rooftop and closing in when he has his back turned to you.

The other people one needs to get rid off are the man guarding the pier itself, who presents an annoyance during the rest of the mission; and the four men patrolling the boat: two patrolling the lower deck, and two patrolling the upper deck. The two best spots to accomplish this are the gangplank-posts at the railing and the upper deck aft (or stern, if you prefer) railing: hanging from there allows one to assassinate the guards with the assassination techniques da Vinci decoded for Ezio from the Codex.

Using the poisoned blade will result in chaos, and guards potentially killing each other off by mistake, which can be of great benefit. Avoid using any projectiles, as you will be detected immediately (all guards need two of the throwing daggers to be killed).

Final Words
Merchant: What... What have I done...

Ezio Auditore: You tried to force devotion.

Merchant: Sometimes the people must be told what to think.

Ezio Auditore:''No good has ever come of that. Benché il mio cuore sia turbato, la mia mente è lucida (Though my heart may be tormented, my head is clear)... Requiescat in pace (Rest in peace).''

Trivia

 * The Merchant, like many of the other lieutenants, do not have their identity revealed to players.
 * The Merchant talks aloud on the boat before his assassination; and speaks of his intentions to withhold food from the people until they submit to Savonarola's rule, and how Savonarola will lead them into a new era of justice.
 * It appears that the Merchant was once a supporter of the Medici family until Savonarola used the Piece of Eden to make him hate and disgust them.