Shrouds of Eden

"A myth become miracle, the "holy winding sheet" has arrived..."

- An Assassin describing the Shroud.

The Shroud of Eden is a linen cloth bearing the image of a man suffering from some physical trauma. Numbered PE66, it is one of the many Pieces of Eden of Those Who Came Before.

It is described generally as a white cloth stained with blood, and is usually kept in a simple wooden box. The shape of a seemingly tortured man is also burned onto its surface, positioned with arms to his sides and palms forward. However, Church records note that the man's visage has changed multiple times throughout history.

Greece
The Shroud's earliest appearance seems to have been in Greek myth, where it was known as the Golden Fleece. A legendary object of strange power, it was recovered by Jason from a tree guarded by a serpent.

Rome
"Whatever power lies within this artifact, it has not returned our Brother to us."

- An Assassin commenting on the failed resurrection of Brutus.

The Shroud later came into the possession of the Assassins of ancient Rome for some time. After the assassination of Julius Caesar in 44 BC, and the subsequent suicide of Brutus in 42 BC, his fellow Assassins tried to reanimate Brutus using the Shroud.

Since they had never used it before, they feared its effects, but nevertheless wrapped Brutus in the cloth. Though the corpse opened its eyes and moved its arms, it neither breathed nor reacted to any touch, and eventually fell still in a seeming "second death." As some of the Assassins wept, Brutus was wrapped instead in a burial mantle, and the Shroud was returned to its wooden storage box.

Israel
In 1700 BCE, the Shroud was known as the famous multicolored coat given to Joseph by his father Isaac, and in 970 BCE, it was thought to be what aided David, second king of Israel, in his fight against Goliath.

However, the Shroud's most famous ownership was by Jesus Christ. It is unknown when he obtained the Shroud, but it was likely the source of his many healing myths. Upon discovering his ownership of the Shroud, the Templars (under the guise of the Roman Empire) had Jesus crucified circa 30 AD. However, Jesus' disciples were somehow able to recover the Shroud, and used it to resurrect him. After this, traces of the Shroud disappeared.

Monteriggioni
"What better place than our walled city to hide such abominations from mankind? We will bury it deep and set up measures to ensure it remains hidden."

- An Assassin regarding the concealment of the Shroud.

The Shroud eventually came into the possession of Geoffroi de Charney, a French Templar of the mid-14th century. It was stolen from him by the Assassins of Monteriggioni, who replaced it with a careful forgery. Upon confirming the Shroud's validity, an Auditore Assassin (likely a close descendant of Domenico Auditore) decided that the Shroud needed to be hidden. After concealing the artifact with claims of fraud and falsified Church records, the city well was drained and excavated further in order to store the Shroud.

The Templars eventually discovered the location of the Shroud, thus, in 1454, the condottiero Federico da Montefeltro was sent to besiege the city. Mario Auditore successfully repelled the attack, and through a confession from an enemy spy, Luziano Pezatti, he learned that the siege had merely been an attempt to gain access to something hidden under Monteriggioni.

With a team of historians and architects, Mario searched for any record of the artifact, but only found vague references to the city well. He and a team of soldiers eventually found a hidden entrance on the back wall of the well, and were led into a narrow corridor filled with traps. As they passed through it, many men lost their lives to the razor wires, pitfalls and tripwire arrows, with Mario himself losing his left eye to a swinging pendulum.

Eventually, the few remaining men reached the final room, which only contained a simple wooden box. All present heard a voice that promised to heal their injuries, but as Mario warned his men not to open the box, they attacked him. The condottiero was forced to kill them, and only just managed to return to the city, ignoring the screams and temptations projected into his mind by the artifact.

Fearing its powers, Mario hid the Shroud temporarily within his Villa, then sent for his brother, Giovanni Auditore, who took the Piece of Eden far away from Monteriggioni. The Shroud was no longer mentioned afterwards, and Mario dismissed it as "the Brotherhood's problem now."

Agnadello
"So... beautiful! It is a plain thing, carefully folded inside a simple wooden box, but it is also so much more!"

- Perotto Calderon first encountering the Shroud.

After fleeing his previous Borgia masters, the Assassin Perotto Calderon traveled to Agnadello to seek out the Shroud. His son, born to him illegitimately by Lucrezia Borgia, had been birthed deformed, and had been diagnosed to die within a few days. Determined to save him, he sought out Rinaldo Vitturi, who he knew was guarding the Shroud for the Brotherhood. Though he was forced to kill many of his own Brothers, Perotto successfully used the Shroud to heal his son, but was later executed by his fellow Assassins for breaking the Creed.

Lonigo
"I have no choice. Whatever power this thing holds, I must try to unleash it!"

- Niccolò di Pitigliano, just before attempting to use the Shroud.

The Shroud then fell into the hands of Niccolò di Pitigliano, likely during or around the Battle of Agnadello, of which he was a participant. In 1510, the Assassin Francesco Vecellio was sent to kill Niccolò, and to retrieve the Piece of Eden.

Though Francesco succeeded in striking a deadly blow, Niccolò survived by touching the Shroud; which he was able to drag himself towards despite his injuries. Temporarily rejuvenated, he took the artifact from its hiding place and managed to flee his burning manor.

However, he wished to be healed completely, and thus wrapped himself in the cloth. At this point, though, the artifact turned against him and destroyed his body, finishing the Assassin's job. Francesco, who had anticipated this, reappeared and took the Shroud from his dying grip.

Milan
"Goose chase in the middle of a warzone while our own boys are dropping the bombs on me. For what? Chance that it may be the real thing? Right... been at this nearly twenty years and I don't even believe it exists."

- The Templar agent sent to search for the Shroud.

On Christmas day of 1944, in the middle of World War II, a Templar agent was directed to a restaurant in Milan, in order to purchase an artifact claimed to be the Shroud. Though dubious, he brought a large sum of money through the war zone and met with one of the Baguttiani family, who showed him a folded cloth in a wooden box. To his surprise, the agent was able to confirm the Piece of Eden's identity using a metallic company logo keychain, which vibrated upon being brought near the Shroud.

Use and Side effects
"The voice does not seem hostile, despite its urgency. Perhaps it does only wish to heal, but I will not take a chance!"

- Mario Auditore, regarding the use of the Shroud.

The Shroud has been used to heal wounds of varying severity, mending injuries ranging from stab wounds to birth defects. It speaks in an almost kind voice that constantly offers healing, and urges its users to not believe in their own frailty. However, it is also known to cause severe hallucinations, and (in extreme cases, such as that of Niccolò di Pitigliano) can also seem to tear a person from the inside out.

Giovanni Borgia in particular suffered lasting effects from the Shroud. Though the artifact gave him renewed life as a baby, he was left mentally unstable; and throughout his childhood, he would have vivid dreams of the memories of his ancestors, such as his father and Marcus Junius Brutus. Additionally, he frequently spoke with a being no one else could see, one he called Consus. In his later life, he would be known as one who "spoke" with Pieces of Eden, and was particularly receptive to their presence, leading to him being sent on a mission to identify and retrieve one such artifact in Tenochtitlan.

Status
Under Templar possession in 1944.

Owners

 * Those Who Came Before (? - ?)
 * Jason (? - ?)
 * Joseph (? - ?)
 * David (? - ?)
 * Fellow conspirators of Marcus Junius Brutus (? - ?)
 * Jesus of Nazareth (? - 33 AD)
 * Jacques de Molay (? - ?)
 * Geoffroi de Charney (? - ?)
 * Mario Auditore (1454)
 * Giovanni Auditore (1454)
 * Rinaldo Vitturi (? - 1498)
 * Perotto Calderon (1498)
 * Cesare Borgia (? - ?)
 * Niccolò di Pitigliano (1509 - 1510)
 * Francesco Vecellio (1510 - ?)
 * The Baguttiani (? - 1944)

Trivia

 * The Shroud is based on a real object known as the Shroud of Turin. It is kept in the royal chapel of the Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist in Turin, northern Italy.
 * Coordinates given to Ezio Auditore and Leonardo da Vinci in the Pythagorean Vault in "The Da Vinci Disappearance" DLC point to the city of Turin, New York.
 * Interestingly, in the French version of Assassin's Creed II, the Shroud was referred to as Piece of Eden #36, not #66. Whether or not this was a mistake in the translation is unknown.
 * In Assassin's Creed: Project Legacy, Erudito gives the user three memories of the Shroud as a "Christmas present."
 * In Project Legacy, one of Mnemonic sets from the Holiday pack is "Shroud of Turin" with the description "Greatest mystery, or clever hoax?" Its components are: Jesus of Nazareth, Jacques de Molay, Geoffroi de Charney and Cesare Borgia.