Zipline

"When he tires of running, an Assassin must take to the air."

- Yusuf Tazim.

Ziplines were ropes stretched between two structures that, when used in conjunction with the hookblade or tomahawk, allowed an Assassin to quickly navigate the city, or attack an enemy from above.

The speed of travel across a zipline could be controlled, based on the position of the user. Tucking one's limbs, thus lessening drag, could permit one to slide along the line more quickly.

Constantinople
As they were common around Constantinople, ziplines were often used by the Ottoman Assassins. Upon establishing Assassin Dens in certain districts, they would set up more ziplines in the area, to allow faster navigation.

Equally knowing this, Byzantines would attempt to destroy the ziplines whenever they captured any dens.

An Assassin was also able to use a zipline for an offense advantage, and could drop from them to perform air assassinations on enemies in the streets, or on a lower rooftop.

Additionally, should an enemy be standing at the end of a zipline, an Assassin could also use the momentum of traveling along the line to kill him, or knock him down.

Trivia

 * Ziplines can be jumped onto at any point along the line.
 * Parachuting onto a zipline is required to unlock the "Show Off" achievement.
 * On rare occasions, Byzantines can still be seen trying to destroy ziplines even if Constantinople is completely under Assassin control.
 * The starting pole of most ziplines has the Assassin insignia and a white flag on the top.
 * The zipline made a cameo appearance in Assassin's Creed III, when the Assassin Connor infiltrated Fort Wolcott.