Feather

Assassin's Creed
In the first game, Feathers are used by Assassins such as Altaïr to prove that an assassination target is dead. By staining a feather with the blood of the slain, they prove their accomplishment. Assassins' Bureau leaders always give the chosen Assassin a feather, symbolizing that they are ready to perform the assassination. In the case of Altaïr, he must perform his own investigations, so the leader decides whether or not his investigation is sufficient.

Among Assassins, a "feather on one's head" means a mark of death. For example, an Informant assassin in the Rich District of Damascus makes the remark "I hear there is a feather on Abul Nuqoud's head," implying that he is marked for assassination.

Assassin's Creed II
In Assassin's Creed II, Petruccio asks Ezio to collect three feathers for him. After the murder of Ezio's father and two brothers (Federico and Petruccio), his mother, Maria Auditore prays over Petruccio's feather. As Ezio travels across Italy (with the exception of Rome and the Apennine Mountains) he is able to collect more feathers and return these to a box in Maria's room in the Auditore Family Villa.

After collecting 50 Feathers Mario Auditore speaks with Ezio and lets him know that there is a new weapon, the Condottiero War Hammer, waiting for him at the Monteriggioni blacksmith.

After collecting 100 Feathers, Maria thanks Ezio for not giving up on her, and presents him with the Auditore Cape.

Achievements
Collecting all 100 Feathers gives the Achievement/Trophy "In Memory of Petruccio" and the Auditore family Cape. Owning the Auditore Cape is necessary to complete the "Show Your Colors" Achievement/Trophy.

Locations
The website The Hidden Blade has maps for Monteriggioni, San Gimignano, Tuscany, Romagna, and each district of Florence and Venice with numbered markers for the locations of every feather. When you hover your mouse over a marker, a screen shot of the feather in-game pops up. Click on the marker for a high resolution version of the screen shot. The maps also include glyphs in the same manner. These maps were created by Asaic and thus do not infringe on the copyrighted maps from the Official Game Guide by Prima Games.

Beneath each map is a video walkthrough of all the feathers and glyphs. These videos demonstrate an efficient collection route and follow the numerical order of the feathers on the maps. They were created by stabguy and IanXO4 to assist players who wish to quickly collect all of the feathers and glyphs or recheck a district for one missing feather. Total running time of the walkthrough is 65 minutes including unedited travel from one feather to the next.