Piece of Eden

"They're gifts, Mr. Miles. From Those Who Came Before"

- Dr. Warren Vidic on a Piece of Eden

The Pieces of Eden were technologically advanced pieces of equipment created by the First Civilization; each possessed unique properties, and all were known to be capable of bending the thoughts of one or more individuals to the will of the user.

History
"Current examination of Subject Seventeen indicates that aside from the Piece of Eden, all other artifacts related to Christ-figure are literary devices for derived from Piece of Eden, and not actual objects."

- Alan Rikkin e-mail on the Pieces of Eden adoption as biblical and historical artifacts

Those Who Came Before, also known as the First Civilization, were an ancient yet advanced race of beings that lived on Earth long before humanity. The creators of the Human race, the First Civilization used the Pieces of Eden to control their slaves through hypnotic trances. Whether humanity was created to be susceptible to the affects of the Pieces of Eden, or if the Pieces were created after humanity remains unknown; Minerva, a member of the First Civilization, attributed the peace between humanity and their "gods" to the affects of the Pieces of Eden.

Eventually however, two humans, Adam and Eve became immune to the hypnotic affects of the Pieces of Eden, and stole one of the Pieces – the Apple of Eden – from their masters. Soon after this war broke out, pitting humanity against their gods. Despite their strength in technology, the Pieces of Eden failed to protect the creators from the slaves, who heavily outnumbered the masters. The war ended catastrophically for both sides, and both humanity and their gods were forced to work together to rebuild their world. Eventually though, the gods became extinct, and their Pieces of Eden were lost to the annals of history.

Over the centuries, the Pieces of Eden resurfaced; seen as religious artifacts or holy relics, foremost among which being the Apple of Eden. However, as time continued, so groups of individuals begun to see the Pieces of Eden for what they truly were, advanced technologies to be exploited. As early as the 12th Century, the Knights Templar were actively seeking and obtaining numerous Pieces of Eden, in the hopes of uniting the world in peace much like Those Who Came Before had done , and in 1191, they sought the Apple itself.

Led by the Grand Master of the Order, the Knights Templar used the cover of the Third Crusade to infiltrate the catacombs of Solomon's Temple, in the city of Jerusalem, where they knew the Apple to be located. Unfortunately for them, Al Mualim, leader of the Order of Assassins and secretly also, a Knights Templar, had sent his best to capture the device. Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad and the brothers A-Sayf intercepted the Templars, and despite the death of Kadar and Altaïr being thrown from the battle early on, the Assassins prevailed and spirited the Apple to their fortress in Masyaf. For a year the Assassins and Knights Templar fought one another for control of the artifact, until finally the deaths of both Robert de Sable an Al Mualim at the hands of Altaïr ended the conflict. Originally intending to destroy the Apple, Altaïr found himself unable to do so, and instead decided to seal the Apple in the Limassol Archives after he had liberated it from the Templars; circumstances worked agsinst this however, and he decided to keep the Apple himself, lest it fall into the wrong hands. Ultimately, the Apple did find it's way to Cyprus, where it was buried away until it's discovery and exhumation by the Knights Templar in 1487.

Centuries later, whilst hacking into the Animus, the mysterious Subject 16, discovered that throughout history, the Pieces of Eden had had an extensive history of changing hands, with many historically notable figures, many Templars, laying claim to them; Napoleon Bonaparte, George Washington, Gandhi, Nikola Tesla, Thomas Edison, Tsar Nicholas II, Winston Churchill and even Adolf Hitler to name but a few. By 2012 however, many had fallen into the hands of the Knights Templar; seeking to obtain the rest, the Animus project was set up with the intention of mapping the location of, and securing the remaining Pieces of Eden.

This Animus project was also an important component in the Knights Templar goal of ensuring world peace, through use of the Pieces of Eden. By using the Pieces of Eden known as "the Apples", the Templars sought to manipulate the neuro-transmitters in the entire human race to achieve their goal. Eye-Abstergo, a branch of Abstergo Industries, planned to launch an "all-in-one telecommunication" satellite into orbit of the Earth; unbeknownst to humanity and indeed, many employees of Abstergo Industries, the satellite would contain at least one Apple, and spread it's power out on a global scale.

Abilities
Amongst the greatest tools known to man; by interacting with a neuro-transmitter located deep in the brain of the human body, the Apples of Eden could control the human mind. Other Pieces of Eden were capable of warping reality, creating illusions and ensuring total obediance; both the Knights Templar and the Order of Assassins believed that the Pieces of Eden were the sources of many historical tales and miracles, such as the Parting of the Red Sea, the Trojan Horse, and the miracles enacted by "the Christ-figure" who foreshadowed the Christian faith, and the Biblical plagues that ravaged Egypt, among other supernatural happenings. Some were known to intereact with and change the passage of time, possibly creating paradoxes, while at least one provided an inpenetrable barrier, that would protect the wearer from any attempt at penetration.

Following the destruction of the second Piece of Eden during experimental use at Denver International Airport, the Knights Templar found themselves in need of another artifact with similar properties. Needing access to a map that indicated the location of all Pieces of Eden, the Templar front company Abstergo Industries kidnapped the descendant of Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad – Desmond Miles – in order to view the memories of his ancestor. This would allow them to view the very same map Altaïr had viewed in 1191.

Each Pieces of Eden contained a great deal of energy stored within, and the destruction of one would cause an explosion on the same scale of a nuclear blast. One such blast occured in 1908, in the region of Tunguska, Russia, when the Piece of Eden known as "the Staff" was seemingly destroyed by Nikola Tesla as a strike against the Knights Templar.

Resistance
"I KNOW WHAT YOU'RE DOING. I KNOW WHAT YOU DID. I SAW HIM. HE HAD A METAL BALL. IT OPENED. THEY WENT CRAZY. SHOOTING. STABBING. TORE EACH OTHER TO PIECES. I KNOW IT WAS YOU PEOPLE. SAW THE LOGO. HEARD THE NAME. I'M GOING TO TELL. ANYONE WHO WILL LISTEN. YOU'LL BE EXPOSED. THEY'LL KNOW THE TRUTH. AND THEN YOU WILL PAY. YOU CRAZY BASTARDS. YOU'LL PAY."

- An unidentified individual's e-mail to Dr. Warren Vidic Although the First Civilization created humanity with a neuro-transmitter that forced them to accept the will of the Pieces of Eden, eventual cross-breeding between the gods and their slaves bore a hybrid species. These new humans passed some of the natural abilities of their gods, but most notably, were free of the neuro-transmitter that binded them to the will of the Peices of Eden. The first two known individuals to be born immune to the affects of the Pieces were Adam and Eve, who later stole the Apple of Eden and precipitated the war that followed. Members of the lineage also inherited these natural abilities and immunity to the mind-control of the Pieces, although the Pieces' ability to physically control them remained. Individuals such as Altaïr and his descendants Ezio Auditore, Subject 16 and Desmond Miles all possessed these enhanced abilities, and presumably, an immunity to the Pieces of Eden.

By the early 21st Century, the Knights Templar were aware of both the existance of Those Who Came Before and the fact that some humans were immune to the mind control of the Apples of Eden, and as such actively sought other devices to compensate for this. One at least one occasion Dr. Warren Vidic, an employee of Abstergo Industries, recieved an email from an unknown individual who had not been affected by the powers of the Apple, and threatened to expose what he had seen.

Confirmed Pieces of Eden
Below is a list of known Pieces of Eden to exist, including their owners;

01: The First Apple, aka the Apple of Eden


 * Use: Designed to create illusions and control men's minds; can be used in conjunction with the Staff.
 * Status: Destroyed during the Denver Incident. (Mentioned in dialogue with Lucy during the first Assassin's Creed).
 * Neutral Ownership: Those Who Came Before, "Christ-figure", Girolamo Savonarola, Houdini.
 * Assassin Associated Ownership: Adam and Eve, Abel, Al Mualim, Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad, Ezio Auditore da Firenze.
 * Templar Associated Ownership: Cain, Al Mualim, Napoleon, Knights Templar, Rodrigo Borgia.

02: The Second Apple


 * Use: Designed to create illusions and control men's minds; can be used in conjunction with the Staff.
 * Status: Caught in an explosive satellite malfunction. Possibly survived, but, if so, it is impossible to retrieve in the darkness of space.
 * Neutral Ownership: Those Who Came Before, Elizabeth I of England, Gandhi.
 * Assassin Associated Ownership: None.
 * Templar Associated Ownership: Mary I of England, Knights Templar.

03: The Third Apple


 * Use: Designed to create illusions and control men's minds; can be used in conjunction with the Staff.
 * Status: Unknown.
 * Neutral Ownership: Those Who Came Before, George Washington, Franklin D. Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy.
 * Assassin Associated Ownership: None.
 * Templar Associated Ownership: Lyndon B. Johnson.

04: The Fourth Apple


 * Use: Designed to create illusions and control men's minds; can be used in conjunction with the Staff. Possibly helped in the development of weapons and technology throughout the centuries.
 * Status: Unknown
 * Neutral Ownership: Those Who Came Before.
 * Assassin Associated Ownership: Nikola Tesla, Assassin Order.
 * Templar Associated Ownership: Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, Adolf Hitler.

05: The Fifth Apple


 * Use: Designed to create illusions and control men's minds; can be used in conjunction with the Staff.
 * Status: Unknown
 * Neutral Ownership: Those Who Came Before.
 * Assassin Associated Ownership: None.
 * Templar Associated Ownership: NASA.

25: The Sword


 * Use: Unknown.
 * Status: Unknown.
 * Neutral Ownership: Those Who Came Before, Perseus, King Arthur, Sigurd, Joan of Arc.
 * Assassin Associated Ownership: None.
 * Templar Associated Ownership: Alexander the Great, Attila the Hun, Genghis Khan, Knights Templar.

34: The Staff


 * Use: Designed to control men's minds and bodies; it has a spot in the headpiece where an Apple of Eden can placed to enhance the mind control powers. Its bottom end is sharpened and can be use as a spear in combat.
 * Status: Either Destroyed in the Tunguska Explosion or blown to an unknown location by the blast.
 * Neutral Ownership: Those Who Came Before, Egyptian Pharaohs, Moses, Saint Peter, Czar Nicholas II.
 * Assassin Associated Ownership: Ezio Auditore da Firenze.
 * Templar Associated Ownership: Alexander the Great, Rodrigo Borgia, Rasputin.

66: The Shroud
 * Use: Unknown, possible function is to heal any ailment, wound, or even resurrect the dead. The Templars were behind the crucifixion of Christ, in order to gain the Shroud. Somehow, the disciples stole the Shroud back and possibly used it to resurrect their Messiah. After this, traces of the Shroud has disappeared. It was definitely used to heal, as in the story of the lady who touched Jesus' robe and was healed from sickness to perfect health.
 * Status: Unknown
 * Neutral Ownership: Those Who Came Before, Jason, Joseph, David, Jesus.
 * Assassin Associated Ownership: None.
 * Templar Associated Ownership: Rasputin (possible)

Known locations of Pieces of Eden


Following the death of Al Mualim and the Apples projection of a map indicating the location of all Pieces of Eden, Altaïr copied the map and included it in his Codex, hidden away so that only one of his bloodline might see it. Based off of the locations given on the Codex map, the following locations can be identified as containing a Piece of Eden ;


 * 1) Giza, Egypt
 * 2) Lake Victoria, Africa, more on the Kenyan side
 * 3) The Gambia River, Gambia
 * 4) Timbuktu, Mali
 * 5) Taza, Morocco
 * 6) Canary Islands, Spain
 * 7) The Southern tip of the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia, curiously near the volcano of Opala
 * 8) Odessa, Ukraine
 * 9) Kharkiv, Ukraine
 * 10) Rennes-le-Château, France
 * 11) Salisbury Plain, England
 * 12) Loch Ness, Scotland
 * 13) Maroantsetra, Madagascar
 * 14) Nara, Japan
 * 15) Somewhere close to Goodhouse, South Africa, near the border between South Africa and Namibia
 * 16) Kuwait
 * 17) Delhi, India or the Taj Mahal in India, just a short distance south of Delhi
 * 18) Persepolis, now mordern day Shiraz, Iran
 * 19) Jerusalem, Israel
 * 20) Colombia, South America, around the area of the Igara Paranda River
 * 21) Nazca, Perú
 * 22) Colombo, Sri Lanka
 * 23) Hellissandur, Iceland
 * 24) The area of Sabiene Island, Nunavut, Canada
 * 25) Phoenix, Arizona, or somewhere outside the city
 * 26) Washington D.C.
 * 27) Juneau, Alaska
 * 28) An area close to Pulau Ratewo, Papua
 * 29) The middle of the South Pacific Ocean
 * 30) The Pacific Ocean, close to the coast of Mexico
 * 31) The South Pacific Ocean, close to the Assassin's temple located at 91 degrees W
 * 32) The Atlantic Ocean, in an area where it was believed that Atlantis was believed to have existed
 * 33) The Atlantic Ocean, a few hundred miles off the coast of Brazil
 * 34) The Antartic Ocean, on the side of Antartica facing up towards the Atlantic
 * 35) The Indian Ocean, almost cross sectioned with the tips of Inda, Africa and the Southwestern tip of Australia
 * 36) The Antartic Ocean, the side of the Antartic ocean that faces up towards the Indian Ocean
 * 37) Archangel, Russia
 * 38) Andorra le Vella, Andorra
 * 39) Imperatriz, Brazil
 * 40) Barrow, Alaska
 * 41) La Rioja, Argentina
 * 42) An area close to Hervey Bay, Queensland, Austrailia
 * 43) An area around South Cross, in Western Austrailia
 * 44) Somewhere in the middle of the Island of Sumatra, Indonesia
 * 45) Beijing, China
 * 46) Somewhere in the Atali Mountains in southwestern Mongolia
 * 47) Somewhere along the northern Coast of Chukotka province, Russia
 * 48) An area close to Tiksi, Russia

The other two that made up the last of the 50 pieces; one of the Apples and the Staff, were both destroyed in the DIA Satellite Incident, Tunguska blast respectively.

Trivia

 * According to the glyphs and Truth files, many legends and myths throughout human history are actually historically accurate. The supernatural or paranormal parts of each can be explained by the protoganist in each having acquired his or her own Piece of Eden, i.e.: the Greek myth of Perseus, King Arthur, et cetera.
 * In Assassin's Creed II, during the battle against Borgia in the Sistine Chapel, Ezio creates copies of himself, much like Al Mualim did against Altaïr. If Ezio is customized, his copies will appear with different sets of armor and colors whereas when if he is not customized, each clone will be perfectly identical to the real Ezio. (Unconfirmed)