Bastiano da Mezzo

Bastiano da Mezzo
Biographical information
Born	1485 Venice, Republic of Venice
Species	Human
Political information
Affiliations	House of Mezzo Assassins Italian Brotherhood Venetian branch

Bastiano da Mezzo (born 1485) was a member of the Italian Brotherhood of Assassins in Venice during the Renaissance. He is an ancestor of 21st century Assassin informant Dr. Kazui.

Biography

Early life

Bastiano was born in Venice in 1485 to a Venetian patrician family, as the only son of an absent and indifferent father, and a possessive and superficial mother. During his childhood, he oscillated between the suffocating love of his mother and the long periods when he was left to himself, mingling with the children of the poor neighborhoods.

In 1498, during one of his long escape out of his family home, Bastiano slipped unnoticed behind the scenes in a Venetian theater, where he became fascinated by the show. When the scene caught fire, Bastiano rushed in to the help the actors and was caught in the flames, suffering wounds and was heavily disfigured.

The incident infuriated Bastiano's parents; his father, furious and hurt by the image it gave his home, while his mother rejected him due to the physical deformation caused by the fire. Hurt both emotionally and physically, Bastiano left home, joining the theater actors that he had save. He was immediately welcomed by the actors, who adopted him and trained him to become an outstanding actor.

Joining the Assassins

Under the actors' tutelege, Bastiano became a master of disguise who often wore masks and completely changing his appearances without revealing his identity. During one of his performances, Leonardo Loredan, the Doge of Venice, was impressed with his performance and got him in touch with the Italian Brotherhood of Assassins, which he eventually joined.

Bastiano' stealth and disguise became an important asset for the Brotherhood in the state. He also forged a strong friendship with fellow Assassins Alessandra d'Avanzago and Alif, who both shared his throes of a difficult childhood and earned his trust.

Siege of Viana

Bastiano and his team infiltrated the Viana Castle while it was under siege

In March 1507, Bastiano and his team consisting of; Alessandra, Dariâ, and Claudio, accompanied Mentor Ezio Auditore da Firenze to Navarre, during his hunt for Cesare Borgia. Their team was personally picked by their Mentor, Bastiano and the others considered it a great honor. While Cesare was laying siege to the castle, the team of Assassins created a diversion and managed to distract the Templars long enough for their Mentor to enter the fortress. In the process however, the team were caught and imprisoned. Luckily they were able to send a carrier pigeon away to notify their allies of their predicament, sending for help. The four Assassins were then rescued by a group of fledgling Assassin Apprentices. Freed, they were then able to put into action the next part of their plan, disabling the pistol of Cesare Borgia.

Under the cover of darkness, while the castle was being overwhelmed by Cesare's forces, the team of Assassins snuck inside. Making their way to the weapons room they successfully sabotaged the pistol, allowing Ezio to approach Cesare without risk. One of the Apprentices also retrieved their confiscated Hidden Blades for them also which they took and equipped. While Ezio was facing off against Cesare, the team helped themselves to Cesare's personal effects and weapons, depriving the Templars of precious resources. After looting the place they came outside to witness Ezio dropping Cesare from the castle battlements.

Brotherhood of Venice

Founding the Venetian branch

Bastiano and the founding members of the Venetian branch

Following the events of the siege, Ezio returned to Rome to focus on his Mentor duties, and Bastiano and his companions were instructed to head to Venice to take over a recently abandoned Templar stronghold to strengthen their influence in the city for further operations. Unknown to the team, the Templar informant that told them about the base led them into a trap. The Templars had booby-trapped the entrance, triggering a collapse around the Assassins. Unknown to the Templars, the group survived and decided to rebuild the base under their nose. By 1509, they had fully repurposed the old Templar stronghold into a usable headquarters for their branch.

Investigating the Doge

Their first new mission was given to them straight from their ally Pope Julius II, to investigate Leonardo Loredan, another ally of the Brotherhood. There had been misgivings about his allegiance, the truth of the matter was hidden within the vault room of the Palazzo Ducale di Venezia in an encrypted document. The team of Assassins managed to steal both the vault room keys and a cipher used by Loredan to decode his messages from his residence. They then set about finding the secret room of the Palazzo, but not before Ezio summoned them and gifted them with a Auditore family relic as show of gratitude for their service.

At dusk, they infiltrated the Palazzo splitting up into groups of two. One group to retrieve the safe combination and send it via carrier pigeon to the other, and a second group to find the vault room and await the combination. Eventually they discovered that the Doge was being blackmailed by the Templars who were holding one of his daughters hostage. He was being forced to fight against the Pope and the Assassins, a situation Bastiano and the others sought to rectify. After identifying the blackmailer, the Assassins were led on a wild chase after he disguised two of his men as himself. Ultimately he was tracked down and assassinated, freeing the Doge and his daughter.

Protecting Leonardo da Vinci

Needing to upgrade their base of operations, the team were recommended by their Mentor to seek out Leonardo da Vinci who was visiting Venice. Da Vinci however had gone into hiding after the City Guard wanted to use him to make war machines. In order to get to da Vinci the Assassins enlisted the help of his apprentice, Salaì. Unfortunately, Salaì had been captured and interrogated by the City Guard for which the Assassins quickly dealt with and freed Salaì. Via contact from a Brotherhood emissary, the Doge has promised that da Vinci will be left alone. A promise that was not his to make, as the City Guard was taken under the control of Niccolò di Pitigliano, a Templar-allied condottiere. The Assassins were able to extract da Vinci and his defensive tank out to their headquarters, while Pitigliano's forces overran his workshop. Bastiano and his companions planned to use the tank to fight back against the growing threat of the Venetian Navy.

After Pitigliano's forces took control of the navy, the Assassins discovered they had gained an experimental weapon―a naval cannon. Using Leonardo's tank the team were able to neutralize and recover the naval cannon for an upgrade to the tank. Trying to negotiate a ceasefire with Pitigliano the Assassins were appalled that he demanded a high price. On the suggestion of Ezio they enlisted the help of Niccolò Machiavelli to act as a go between. With Machiavelli's help they concocted a plan to steal the condottiere's own funds to pay him. A plan that was successful setting the stage for a meeting with Pitigliano. With Machiavelli's support the Venetian Assassins were able to strengthen their headquarters with the addition of Machiavelli's wheeled pistol.

The Staff of Eden

Retrieving the Staff

Pitigliano had agreed to an audience with the Assassins but had refused to tell his men to stand down. Bastiano and his team stealthily eliminated the alert before meeting with him. Pitigliano then promised to put a stop to the actions of his brutes against them and the Headquarters. During the meeting, the group overheard Pitigliano speaking with a Templar messenger about locating an artifact of great value. Informed by Ezio that said artifact could be a Piece of Eden, the team set about intercepting the messenger. Alessandra gave chase and the messenger was assassinated. Confirming Ezio's suspicions, the artifact was a Staff of Eden, the group had one clue, a doctor in the San Polo District.

The doctor they were searching for was last seen around the Ponte delle Guglie, unfortunately he had been warned and was awaiting them. The Assassins poisoned the doctor and threatened him with the antidote to give them information on the Staff. Revealing the Staff was possibly hidden near the Lion of Venice statue in Piazza di San Marco. The Assassins then convinced the doctor of their goals and he joined them at their headquarters.

Remaining as discreet as possible, the Assassins looked around the plaza for any sign of the Staff. Alessandra investigated an underground entrance, while the others investigated a hidden door, and a votive alcove near the canal, the Assassins turned up empty handed. After getting a higher viewpoint, the Assassins located and secured the Staff. Aware that the Templars would not stop at nothing to retrieve it and enact their master plan, the Assassins took it to their headquarters.

Protecting the Staff

As expected, the Templars launched an attack from Rome sending an elite unit of mounted guards. Carrying out a strategic defense from their Headquarters, the members of the Venetian branch successfully defended their base and repelled the invaders. After knowing about an unguarded entrypoint via an abandoned palace, Bastiano made it his mission to block access for the Templars. Determined to teach the guards a lesson, the Assassins trapped the remaining soldiers in the shipyard of the Venice arsenal and eliminated them all, sending a message to others who wished to do the same.

With the location of their stronghold compromised, the Assassins ascertained there was either a traitor in their midst, or an strong Templar informant. The latter proved true, when they discovered the culprit was one of the last remaining member of the Crows, a group of Assassin hunters thought to be dissolved some years ago. The Crow had disguised himself as Pestilence, one of the four Horsemen of the Apocalypse according to biblical writings, leading the Assassins to use it as a clue to search for possible accomplices.

Cornered by Templars on every side determined to steal the Staff, the Assassins met with Ezio in an abandoned palace to entrust the Staff to. Of which they able to, after a drawn out fight with Templar forces, the Staff was given to Ezio who in turn placed it underneath the Colosseum Vault for safe-keeping. With their headquarters safe, the team of Assassins were informed by their Mentor of his impeding trip to Constantinople. The Venetian Assassins were then free admire the new sense of peace over their city.

Personality and traits

A master of disguise and performance, Bastiano was below average height with a small frame but uses all tricks at his disposal to appear larger. Under his mask, the upper side of Bastiano's face was covered in burn scars from the Venetian theater fire.

Skills and equipment

Bastiano stealthily sneaks on a rooftop

Adorned in the garb of the Italian Assassins, Bastiano also wore a theater mask to hide his scars. Adept in stealth, Bastiano was also skilled enough to change his very appearance in his elaborate disguises. He also made use of the Assassin's signature weapon, the Hidden Blade, and knives and daggers keeping at least on his person at all times. His backpack contained all his disguise equipment, many smoke bombs, and explosive devices.

Behind the scenes

Bastiano da Mezzo is a character created for the tabletop board game Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood of Venice.

Etymology

Bastiano is an Italian derivation of the Greek name Sebastianos, meaning "from Sebastia." His surname da Mezzo signifies his lineage as part of the House of Mezzo.

Gallery

Bastiano's character card

Appearances

• Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood of Venice (first appearance)
  • Tokyo XXI (mentioned only)