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"The sword is not of this earth. It binds men to it who might otherwise be disloyal."
―Chaya Shirōjirō Kiyonobu about Oda Nobunaga's Sword of Eden.[src]

The Swords of Eden are Pieces of Eden created by the Isu in the manner of swords. Invented by Hephaestus and Consus for the War of Unification, since the fall of the Isu, the Swords have been most commonly used by influential humans in war and conquest.

History[]

Antiquity[]

The first known human user of a Sword of Eden was Perseus, who in Greek mythology was said to have slain the Gorgon Medusa using the weapon.[2]

During the Peloponnesian War, the Cult of Kosmos had a Sword of Eden under their possession, namely the Sword of Damokles. It was used as a personal weapon by Deimos, the younger half-brother of the misthios Kassandra, who used it in battles against the Spartans.[3] After his death,[4] Kassandra obtained the sword for her own use.[3]

Middle Ages[]

During the 5th century CE, a Sword came into the possession of Attila the Hun, after a shepherd unearthed it and gave it to him. With the Sword, Attila ravaged Eurasia during his reign, and over time the weapon became known as the Sword of Mars or the Sword of Attila.[2]

In the early 6th century Britain, Arthur pulled a greatsword-sized Sword of Eden out of a stone, naming it "Excalibur", and used it to become King of Britain. After his death, the sword was sealed deep within a cave known as Myrddin's Cave, which housed an Isu ruin, where the sword was held in a pedestal surrounded by twelve pillars.[2]

During the late 6th century, a being claiming to be the Norse god Odin, disguised as a beggar, plunged a Sword into a tree called Barnstokkr, stating that whomever was able to pull it free would receive it as a gift. Only the warrior Sigmund proved able to do so, and subsequently claimed the Sword as his own.[2]

During the late 9th century, nearly three hundred years after King Arthur's reign, Excalibur was recovered by the Viking Eivor Varinsdottir, a member of the Raven Clan who had settled in England to start a new life away from Norway in the 870s. To unlock the pillars surrounding Excalibur, Eivor had to recover thirteen Treasures of Britain and matching stone tablets. After placing each tablet within the pillars, Eivor claimed Excalibur for herself.[5]

ACM Genghis Khan 1

Genghis Khan with a Sword of Eden

During the early 13th century, the Mongol warlord Genghis Khan led his Empire through mass expansions into the West. The Mentor of the Levantine Assassins, Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad, suspected Genghis Khan of wielding a Piece of Eden, presumably a Sword.[2] Altaïr's son, Darim, and the Mongolian Assassin Qulan Gal killed Genghis Khan in 1227.[6] The artifact remained in Mongol hands however, and Hülegü Khan used it in his conquests of the Levant during the 1250s, notably during his attacks on the Assassin strongholds in Alamut and Masyaf.[7]

By the early 14th century a Sword was in possession of the Knights Templar. After the Templars were branded as heretics in 1307 by Pope Clement V, and the Parisian Temple was attacked by King Philip the Fair's forces, Grand Master Jacques de Molay entrusted his advisor with hiding the Sword and the Codex Pater Intellectus, a book written by de Molay.[8] The Sword was briefly in possession of the Master Assassin Thomas de Carneillon, who attempted to steal it along with the book during the attack on the Temple.

Tragedy of Jacques de Molay 11

De Molay's advisor placing the Sword on a statue

However, the Assassin was defeated in combat with de Molay's advisor, who used the Sword's power to project an energy blast at de Carneillon, before hiding both artifacts in a vault beneath the Temple, where the Codex remained entombed for four centuries.[8]

In the early 15th century, a French peasant girl, Jeanne d'Arc, discovered de Molay's Sword and took ownership of it during the Hundred Years' War, entering into the war on the side of the French forces. Becoming into a heroine of her people, Jeanne led the French to many victories over the English and their allies. However, she was eventually captured by Burgundian soldiers and handed over to the English. The Templars then burned her at the stake, in order to take possession of her Sword. This particular sword was named "Piece of Eden 25" by Abstergo.[2]

Feudal Japan[]

In the later half of the 16th century, a Sword of Eden wound up in the hands of the Japanese warlord Takeda Shingen. With the power of the artifact at his disposal, Shingen began making his way to the capital of Kyoto to conquer Japan. Several months after routing Tokugawa Ieyasu's army at the Battle of Mikatagahara, Shingen was killed in a raid led by Ieyasu's vassals, the Assassin Hattori Hanzō and Honda Tadakatsu. The artifact was eventually obtained by Ieyasu's ally, Oda Nobunaga, who in turn used it to conquer the lands of other warlords. When Nobunaga's vassal Akechi Mitsuhide betrayed Nobunaga and attacked him in Kyoto, Nobunaga was killed by the Assassin Yamauchi Taka and the artifact was transported to China by Liu Yan.[7]

French Revolution[]

In 1794, during the French Revolution, the Sword of de Molay was acquired by François-Thomas Germain, the Grand Master of the extremist faction of the Templar Order. Germain used the Sword during his fight with Arno Dorian and Élise de la Serre. The Sword was damaged in the confrontation, shattering and emitting a shockwave which killed Élise and mortally wounded Germain himself. Following the event, the Sword ended up in Arno's possession, though while it no longer possessed its former powers on account of the damage caused in Élise's final charge, it remained as one of the most powerful weapons in Arno's arsenal.[8]

Powers[]

The Swords of Eden are some of the most powerful pieces of technology created by the First Civilization and they possess a myriad of advanced abilities. The Swords of Eden empower their wielders with incredible charisma, which would make humans who are disloyal, obedient and loyal as well as render their wielders immune to the illusion casting effects of the Staves and the Apples of Eden.

The Sword of Eden can also cast a sonar-like echolocation, akin to Eagle Vision, which can detect the presence of enemies within the wielders' vicinity.[8] The Sword can also project energy blasts which can instantly knock out even the strongest of foes. This was seen when a Parisian Templar Knight used the Sword of Eden to project an energy blast which instantly knocked out a Parisian Assassin.[8]

Appearances[]

References[]

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