Assassin's Creed Encyclopedia

The Assassin's Creed Encyclopedia is a compendium of in-universe information created by Ubiworkshop. Initially intended as an artbook, the project gathered so much material that UbiWorkshop decided to expand it into an encyclopedia.

Artists like Craig Mullins, Tavis Coburn, 123Klan, Gabz, James NG, David Alvarez and many others were given free rein to draw an Assassin from the period and style of their choice. These artworks were included in the encyclopedia. There is a "cartes blanches" section that will feature artwork by other professional artists, and fans of the series. It also includes the storyline and the characters of Assassin's Creed: Revelations. The Black Edition will be released with the Animus Edition of Assassin's Creed: Revelations. The White Edition will be released through UbiWorkshop and with the Ultimate Edition of Assassin's Creed: Revelations.

The Encyclopedia is divided into four main parts:
 * 1) Factions
 * 2) Story
 * 3) Characters
 * 4) Places

Factions
The Encyclopedia begins by describing the three main factions in the Assassin's Creed Series: The Assassins, the Templars and the First Civilization.

Assassins
After a brief history on the Assassins, it explains the key aspects and affiliations of the Assassins, including their Creed, Eagle Vision and the Codex. Lastly it gives information on the weapons and gear used by the Assassin Order throughout the ages, which includes the Hidden Blade, Leonardo's machines and the various weapons and armor purchasable from Blacksmiths in the various cities in the game.

Templars
Again, after a brief history on their Order, the Encyclopedia describes the Templar's ideology and then introduces their founding of Abstergo Industries in 1937. After introducing Abstergo, it outlines the history of the company, comprising of their numerous ongoing projects, which leads to the Animus section. This section goes further and illustrates the genetic memory of humans, viewing inside the Animus and the Bleeding Effect's influence over prolonged Animus users.

First Civilization
Beginning with an introduction to who the First Civilization were, this section is full of the history of their race, their comprehension of science of technology and their creation of humanity. Additionally, it explains their legacy by including information on the Pieces of Eden and portrays each type of artifact, including the Swords of Eden, the Staves of Eden, the Shroud of Eden, the Ankh, the Memory Seals and the Crystal Skulls. The Apples of Eden have their own section due to their sophistication and the vast history of the multiple Apples that have passed through the hands of the many characters in the series.

Story
The Story is structured in chronological order and features the events that have taken place in the Assassin's Creed games.

The Middle Ages
It begins with the journey of Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad, in the Middle Ages, covering much of what happened during the first Assassin's Creed, and gradually moves up through Altaïr's battles in Cyprus and finishes on the fall of Masyaf in 1257.

The Renaissance
The next section is the most expansive of the Story, and summaries the events that took place during the Renaissance, detailing the life of Ezio Auditore da Firenze. It begins with the conspiracy of Florence uncovered by Giovanni Auditore, and then goes through the events of Assassin's Creed II, including the game's DLC's: The Battle of Forli and the Bonfire of the Vanities. Continuing on, the Encyclopedia explains the events of Assassin's Creed Brotherhood once again including it's DLC's: The Copernicus Conspiracy and the Da Vinci Disappearance. The Story then increasingly makes it's way to the end of Ezio's story, as it outlines the storyline behind Assassin's Creed Revelations and the revelations experienced within Altaïr's library. The last section on the Renaissance finishes Ezio's story by describing the events in the short film: Assassin's Creed Embers, and illustrates the arrival of Shao Jun to Ezio's Florentine villa and the conflict between them and the Emperor's henchmen.

The Renaissance Legacy
The Renaissance Legacy, includes the Defense of Monteriggioni, the Battle of Agnadello and the assassination of Niccolò di Pitigliano.

Imperial Russia
Imperial Russia details the events that took place during the time of Nikolai Orelov, and includes the conflict between the Assassins and Tsars of Russia and the destruction of the Staff of Eden in the Tunguska explosion.

Recent History
The Recent History follows the conflict between Assassins and Templars in modern day, and begins with The Great Purge of 2000. It then expands into the story of Desmond Miles, starting with his kidnapping by Abstergo and then his escape with Lucy Stillman. It describes the messages delivered by Minerva and then finishes with the conflict experienced within the Colloseum vault.

Desmond Miles
The Characters section contains profiles on all the characters features in the series, beginning with Desmond Miles and the allies and enemies he encountered. After this it details the ancestors of Desmond including Aquilus, Ezio Auditore da Firenze and Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad.

Aquilis
The profile of Aquilus describes the confrontations between him and the Templars, both in their struggle for the Shroud of Eden and the Anhk.

Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad
Altaïr's profile is expansive and details his entire life, finishing with his death inside his library in 1257. After his profile, it gives information on all his assassination targets, allies and other enemies he combated with in his time.

Ezio Auditore da Firenze
Ezio's profile is just as large as Altaïr's, once again detailing his life and the allies and enemies he encountered. It adds on however with explanations of the Venetian and Florentine conspirators and the confrontation in Constantinople.

Daniel Cross
Daniel Cross's section outlines what the Templar's did to him and his infiltration of the Assassins, whilst including profiles on the people he encountered, including Hannah Mueller, Paul Bellamy and the Mentor.

Nikolai Orelov
Expanding on the Imperial Russia section, this details the life of Nikolai and the people he was affiliated with, including the Tsars of Russia, Anna Orelov and Nikola Tesla.

Places
The last section of the Encyclopedia informs the reader on all the major cities and places visited in the Assassin's Creed series: The Assassin's Creed Encyclopedia has the largest selection of knowledge about the video game series with a total of 256 pages.
 * 1) Masyaf
 * 2) Jerusalem
 * 3) Damascus
 * 4) Acre
 * 5) Florence
 * 6) Rome
 * 7) Monteriggioni
 * 8) Venice
 * 9) Constantinople
 * 10) Cappadocia.

Black Edition
The Black Edition is included in the Assassin’s Creed Revelations Animus Edition only and does not include the "Cartes Blanches".

White Edition
The White Edition is available worldwide on Ubiworkshop and includes the "Cartes Blanches".

Second Edition
An updated edition incorporating Assassin's Creed III and Assassin's Creed: The Chain, and new "Cartes Blanches", will ship in October 2012. It will include 80 new pages of content, and a revised version of the first edition.

Trivia

 * On the spine of the Encyclopedia, there is a hidden message written in Unicode. Once translated and after removing the title in red, the message reads "Three lives toiled. Three lives lost. Three messages delivered: the greeting, the warning, the revelation."
 * On multiple pages, a molecule is drawn with a benzene ring with a hydrogen atom with two bonds. This implies that the molecule is manmade, as for hydrogen to support two bonds it must remain in an excited state.
 * The encyclopedia mainly uses concept art as pictures.