Secrets of London

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One of the music boxes

The Secrets of London were a collection of music boxes scattered throughout London by the Assassin Michel Reuge; inside the music boxes were discs, marked with the Assassin insignia, that acted as keys for Reuge's Vault, in which he presumably hid a Piece of Eden. When all the discs were found by the British Assassins Evie and Jacob Frye, the Aegis, an outfit worn by Minerva during war, was unlocked from the vault, and Evie claimed it for herself.

Secrets

• #01 - BUCKINGHAM
• #02 - CITY OF LONDON
• #03 - THAMES

  [[File:ACS Notebook 3.jpg|thumb]] With a thought a look for Maudlin, And a cruse of cockle pottage, With a thing thus tall, Sky bless you all,

  I befell into this dotage.
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But I will find Bonny Maud, merry mad Maud And seek whate'er betides her Yet I will love beneath or above

The dirty earth that hides her.

While I do sing, any food Feeding drink or clothing? Come dame or maid, be not afraid,

Poor Tom will injure nothing.

I slept not since the Conquest, Till then I never waked, Till the rougish boy of love where I lay

Me found and stript me naked.

There are so many things to relate, I hardly know where to start. It has been equal parts triumph and failure!

It seems that the Piece of Eden that Miss Thorne is seeking is a Shroud of Eden, which the Assassins recovered at some point before they left London. Where that Shroud is, or why Miss Thorne seeks it, are still a mystery.

I found a series of directions that pointed to a hidden vault within the Kenway house. It was once owned by Edward Kenway, a Master Assassin, and then passed to his son Haytham, a Templar Grand Master (one can only imagine the family dinners). After the Kenways' time, the mansion passed out of our history. Or so we thought.

I travelled there, accompanied by Mr. Green, only to find that the house is still being occupied by Templars. Indeed, it seems Miss Thorne has made it her principal place of business, for we saw her enter as we arrived.

I was determined to enter in any case, avoiding a direct confrontation if at all possible. We found Edward Kenway's hidden vault - a secret that has managed to remain hidden for more than a century.

Rather unfortunately, Edward Kenway's method of "concealing" a vault involved a player piano that alerted the guards to our presence. Mr. green and I had the barest amount of time to look around and see the treasures hidden within before we had to flee. I came away with a single piece of paper and a metal disk.

That sounds like very little, I know. However, the paper itself tells us the story of the London Assassins before they were wiped out. Several bolt holes are mentioned, any one of which might contain valuable information about our history. And the disk promises to unlock a key - a Precursor object, hidden somewhere in London.

(How strange, the phrase "to unlock a key". I wonder if it is an attempt at a joke on Kenway's part. Given the player piano, I have a low opinion of his sense of humour.)

We shall have to return to the Kenway mansion at a later time, to deal with the Templars in a more final manner, and reclaim the rest of the artifacts inside.

In the meantime, the information I* recovered points to the disk being a piece of the Monument, so I am headed there to discover what secrets it might hold.

Jacob has arrived and seems determined to accompany me, though I have not invited him.

*N.B (I wrote that before I thought. I should say 'we', for Mr. Green was there as well, and we are often together.)

Philip Twopenny, of the Bank of England, is dead.

And Jacob's flair for causing trouble has struck again.

It seems that despite warnings that he must exercise care and discretion when dealing with the Bank of England, Jacob has proceeded in his most heavy-handed manner. The newspapers are reporting the scandal, questioning the security of the nation's curreny, and it seems that in the ensuing chaos, a gang of counterfeiters managed to infiltrate the bank and make off with the printing plates for pound notes.

Actually endangering the security of this nation's currency!

I met Sergeant Abberline, who explained the situation while overseeing an unruly mob. Prices in the marketplace had already begun to rise, causing riots. The sergeant predicted nothing less than complete economic collapse. I attempted to calm his nerves but his concern was not misplaced.

However, between us we concocted a scheme to reclaim the plates and replace them in the bank. Once the bank staff "found" that the plates had never left the building and the newspapers began to report the mistake, the public seemed to disbelieve the stories about Twopenny as well.

Prices have stabilized, and any counterfeit currency has been destroyed.

I remain alert for Jacob's next adventure and what new trouble it may bring.

I realized today that I have not updated the story of my search for the Piece of Eden, though much has happened since then.

I travelled to the Monument, Jacob following along. He made several absurd comments about my relationship with Mr. Green, and how Father would have viewed it.

As if Jacob ever cared how our father would have viewed anything.

The clues I uncovered led me to St. Paul's Cathedral, where I was able to open a secret room, concealed in the very top of the dome. The room was empty except for a plinth, on which was the key that Kenway's manuscript had promised. The inscription on the plinth said Aegrescit medendo. (It's Latin: "The Remedy is Worse than the Disease.")

I was musing on this and what it could mean when Miss Thorne overtook me.

I drew her out, asking about the Shroud and why she wants it. She revealed that the Shroud confers immortality. She attacked me before I could trick her into telling me more.

We fought. I thought I had her beaten, but she is not a woman who gives up easily. I misjudged her strength. At the last second we struggled, and she stumbled into one of the windows, which shattered. She fell, but as she did she grasped the chain around my neck which held the key. My neck was suspended above the jagged glass of the windowsill - a moment more and I would have been impaled - so I cut the chain that held her, and let her fall.

When I looked out the window a moment later, she was gone, and the key with her.

I have tried to find words to express my frustration, to no avail.

For now, Mr. Green and I are attempting to find what it is the key is meant to unlock, in the hopes that we may find it before Miss Thorne does. The shape is unique, and we are certain we will be able to find a mention of it in one of Henry's catalogues of antiquites.

I can only hope that Miss Throne is still searching, as we are. I have had no word of her whereabouts, not even from Clara, whose urchins see every going-on in London. Perhaps she is locked in her library, as we are.

I see that I have called Mr. Green very informally above. That is a habit I must try to curb. Perhaps Jacob is right. I must not allow emotions to compromise the Assassins.

Lucy Thorne is dead. I have recovered the key she stole from me, but I still have not found the Shroud.

Our searches of Henry's catalogues did turn up an image of the key, and the casket it is supposed to open. The casket was in the possession of the Royal Family, kept at the Tower of London.

I set out for the Tower alone. I feel that Mr. Green would have accompanied me, had I asked. I felt it was best that I carry out this task alone.

Miss Thorne was already there when I arrived. The Templars had thoroughly infiltrated the Yeomen, so it was with difficulty that I made my way inside St. John's Chapel, where Miss Thorne was continuing her search. She had not found the promised casket, but hoped still that it might be there, concealed in a hidden vault.

We fought. This time I did not let my guard down.

Miss Thorne revealed little upon her death, save for an admonishment that I do not know the true extent of the Shroud's power. It was likely a posture, but it is true that I know very little. I will find out more when the Shroud itself is in my possession.

In any case, the casket was not in the chapel. It must have been removed at some point in the last century, though when and to where, I cannot say. We _must_ find it before the Templars do.

I have examined and re-examined the notebook that we recovered from the dockyards, along with Edward Kenway's history of the Assassins, but the bolt holes revealed nothing relevant. Henry and I are at our wits' end.

We must assume that the Templars are no further ahead than we are.

Henry has arrived with some bit of news. He is obviously excited, so I will finish this later.

Mr. Green believes that the Shroud is in Buckingham Palace, moved in a hidden vault expressly built to house it.

I wish that were enough information to go on. However, Buckingham is large enough to make a search impractical. Mr. Green attempted to obtain a rare set of architectural plans that would reveal the location, but the Templars had stolen it first.

Our attempt to recover the plans was disastrous. Mr. Green was captured, and rather than acquiring the plans, I abandoned the mission to find and free him. I make no excuses for my clouded judgement. I fear my father would be disappointed in me.

My only comfort is that I still hold the key to the Shroud's casket.

In worse news, Crawford Starrick has hatched a plan to attack Buckingham Palace tonight. He means to kill the Queen and take the Shroud. Perhaps he thinks my key is unnecessary. I hope that he is wrong.

Jacob and I have agreed that this shall be our last mission together. His methods have become too chaotic for me to continue working with him. He has made it clear that he also finds my presence insufferable. It is for the best that we part ways.

I am not sure what will happen tonight, so I will focus on the mission at hand.

Crawford Starrick is dead, and with his death the Templar influence over London is broken. Few of his allies remain.

It's tempting to regard this as a complete victory. It feels like one. However, London's underclasses still live in abject poverty, ruled by a capricious and cruel elite. Women are still denied education, suffrage, and property rights. England's military still stretches out to steal wealth from other nations to build our own coffers. The Assassins still have much work to do if we wish for London to be truly free.

Jacob and I have mended our differences, for now. It remains to be seen if we can both bend enough in our philosophies to continue to work together, but I am optimistic.

One philosophy I have decided to abandon entirely - Father's adage that relationships will compromise the Brotherhood. I think his love for my mother proves that on this point, he was mistaken.

Henry has agreed to stay with me in London, for the moment. In exchange, I have agreed to travel with him to India in the near future.

He is waiting for me now, so I will close here.

Jayadeep Mir, AKA Mr. Henry Green

References

• Assassin's Creed: Syndicate