Niccolò Polo

2011-12-11T10:11:30Z

121.54.32.133: /* Later life */

{{Era|ACR|TSC|Rbook|Assassins}}
{{WP-REAL|Niccolò and Maffeo Polo}}
{{WPAssassins}}
{{Stub}}
{{Quote|Altaïr means ''us'' to spread the word of the Assassin, that is his plan. And not just spread the word but set up an Order in the west. Shame on me for taking so long to work it out, but now that I have, all seems clear: to us (specifically to me, it seems), he is entrusting the spirit of the Brotherhood. He is passing the torch to us.|Niccolò realizing Altaïr's plans, as written in his journal, "[[The Secret Crusade]]".|Assassin's Creed: The Secret Crusade}}
{{Character Infobox
|name = Niccolò Polo
|image = Niccolo Polo render2.png
|birth = c. 1230<br>[[Venice]], [[Italy]]
|death = Before 1300<br>Venice, Italy
|period = High Middle Ages
|faction = [[Assassins]]
|appear = ''[[Assassin's Creed: The Secret Crusade]]''<br>''[[Assassin's Creed: Revelations]]''
|actor =
|voice =
}}
'''Niccolò Polo''' (c. 1230 - before 1300) was a [[Venice|Venetian]] merchant and explorer, and the father of the famous explorer [[Marco Polo]]. Working with his brother [[Maffeo Polo|Maffeo]] for the majority of his life, they established trading posts in [[Constantinople]], [[wikipedia:Sudak|Sudak]] and in a western part of the [[wikipedia:Mongol Empire|Mongol Empire]].

In 1257, Niccolò and Maffeo were trained into the [[Assassins|Assassin Order]] by the [[Mentor]] of the [[Levantine Assassins]], [[Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad]], and his son [[Darim Ibn-La'Ahad|Darim]]. Entrusted with Altaïr's [[Codex]] and the future of the Assassin Order, the Polo brothers established various [[Assassins Guilds]], like in Constantinople and [[Venice]].

Having lost the Codex to the [[Mongols]] in 1257, Niccolò, Maffeo and Marco later traveled to the Mongol Empire, where they met [[Kublai Khan]] and retrieved the Codex, bringing it with them to Venice.

==Biography==
===Early life===
{{Quote|I long for home, these hot nights. I miss my family: my wife and my son, Marco.|Niccolò about missing his family while on his journeys.|Assassin's Creed: The Secret Crusade}}
Niccolò and his brother Maffeo were both born in [[Venice]], circa 1230 CE. Born and bred to be explorers, they left Venice for [[Constantinople]] in the [[wikipedia:Byzantine Empire|Byzantine Empire]] in the 1250s, hoping to easily obtain money from the Latin occupation of the city. They established a trading post in the city, from where they began their trading.<ref name="ACR">''[[Assassin's Creed: Revelations]]''</ref>

They traveled between Constantinople and [[Florence]] over the following years, and Niccolò's son [[Marco Polo|Marco]] was born in Venice in 1254. Despite this, the brothers quickly returned to Constantinople after Marco's birth, leaving Marco to grow up with his mother.<ref name="ACR"/>

In 1255, Niccolò and Maffeo met [[Darim Ibn-La'Ahad]], a high-ranking member of the [[Levantine Assassins]], and quickly befriended him. Eventually, their friendship resulted in Darim inviting the brothers to the Assassins' headquarters in [[Masyaf]]. In 1256, Niccolò and Maffeo sailed south to [[Acre]], and proceeded onward to Masyaf some time later,<ref name="ACR"/> arriving there circa January 1257.<ref name="ACTSC">''[[Assassin's Creed: The Secret Crusade]]''</ref>

===Training into the Assassin Order===
{{Quote|Ahead of us was the tower in which Altaïr had his quarters. For weeks I had been visiting him there, spending countless hours by him, rapt, as he sat with his hands clasped and his elbows on the rests of his tall chair, telling his stories, his old eyes barely visible beneath his cowl. And increasingly I had come to realize that I was being told these stories for a purpose. That for some reason yet unfathomable to me, I had been ''chosen'' to hear them.|Niccolò about his meetings with Altaïr.|Assassin's Creed: The Secret Crusade}}
Arriving at Masyaf castle, the Polo brothers found themselves in the presence of the legendary [[Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad]], the [[Mentor]] of the Levantine Assassins and Darim's father. In July 1257, the Polo brothers were trained to become Assassins themselves by Altaïr and Darim, and Niccolò frequently met with Altaïr, hearing the Mentor's life story.<ref name="ACTSC"/>

During their stay in Masyaf, Niccolò in turn told Altaïr's life story to Maffeo, who had at first grown a displeasure for the Assassins and Masyaf. Maffeo, moved by Altaïr's tragic life, became dedicated to the Assassins' cause, and Niccolò started writing a journal, detailing Altaïr's story and Niccolò's own conversations with Maffeo, which he would later title "[[The Secret Crusade]]".<ref name="ACTSC"/>

[[File:The torch 1.png|thumb|left|250px|Niccolò awarded with the Codex by Altaïr.]]
In August 1257, Masyaf was attacked by the [[Mongols]], who had destroyed several of the Assassins' fortresses in the [[wikipedia:Levant|Levant]] the previous year under the command of [[Hülegü Khan]]. Having spent a little over a month in training, Niccolò and Maffeo made preparations to leave Masyaf<ref name="ACTSC"/> and were given several of Altaïr's books to take with them. Niccolò met with Altaïr on Masyaf's castle wall, where he was handed Altaïr's personal [[Codex]].<ref name="ACR"/> Additionally, the Polos were tasked with the future of the Assassin Order, as Altaïr had burdened them with the objective to establishing various [[Assassins Guilds]] around the world.<ref name="ACTSC"/>

Niccolò and Maffeo were personally escorted by Altaïr out of Masyaf, who used his "[[Second Apple|Apple of Eden]]" - an ancient artifact from the [[First Civilization]] - to fend off the attacking Mongols. Arriving at Masyaf's gate, Niccolò was finally given five [[Memory Seals]], which Altaïr had turned into [[Masyaf Keys|keys]] needed to open his [[Altaïr's library|personal library]].

===Return to Constantinople===
{{Quote|Ahead of us lay at least two years' work, which would be even more demanding without the wisdom of the Codex to guide us. Even so, we decided that, yes, we had lost the book, but in our heads and hearts we were Assassins, and we were goin to put our freshly acquired experience and knowledge to good use.|Niccolò mentioning their resolve to form an Assassins Guild in his journal.|Assassin's Creed: The Secret Crusade}}
The Polos proceeded to make their way back to their home in Constantinople, though the brothers were attacked by a Mongol attacking party two days after leaving Masyaf. Niccolò and Maffeo, barely alive, saw the Mongols take the Codex from them,<ref name="ACTSC"/> and they were left with the shame of losing the book.<ref name="ACR"/>

Arriving in Constantinople a few weeks later, Niccolò finished his journal on 1 January 1258, and he and Maffeo started the long process of establish an Assassins Guild soon afterwards. The Assassins Guild attracted people from various places in the Byzantine Empire, including Greeks, Turks, Albanians, Jews, Genoese and Arabs.<ref name="ACR"/>

By 1259, the Assassins Guild was fully running, but the thought and shame of having lost the Codex was never far from Niccolò's and Maffeo's minds. The Polo brothers also hid the five Memory Seals given to them by Altaïr in several [[Secret Locations|secret locations]] around Constantinople, and scattered his books around the various landmarks of the city.<ref name="ACR"/>

===Journeys to the Mongol Empire===
{{Quote|But their efforts could not erase their shame of having lost Altaïr's valuable Codex, and in 1259 - after hiding Altaïr's five artifacts with great care, they left the city they had called home for nearly a decade, and headed east to seek the reigning Mongol Khan on an errand that would only be completed decades later by Niccolò's son, Marco.|[[Clay Kaczmarek]] about the Polos' journeys to the Mongol Empire in the [[Animus]] database.|Assassin's Creed: Revelations}}
In 1259, the brothers left Constantinople for the Mongol Empire, aiming to retrieve the Codex from the Mongols. However, they were unsuccessful in obtaining the Codex after nearly a decade of traveling, and the Polos returned to Venice in 1269.<ref name="ACR"/>

Niccolò met his son Marco again when he was about 15 years old, and trained him to become an Assassin as well. Niccolò and Maffeo again began to establish an Assassins Guild in the city, bringing the Order to their native homeland.<ref name="Encyclopedia">''[[Assassin's Creed Encyclopedia]]''</ref>

Two years later, Niccolò and Maffeo took Marco with them on another journey through [[wikipedia:Asia|Asia]] in an attempt to once more retrieve the Codex from the Mongols.<ref name="ACR"/> Meeting [[Kublai Khan]] for the second time, Marco was able to obtain the Codex, and the Polos brought it back with them to Italy when they returned in 1295.<ref name="AC2">''[[Assassin's Creed II]]'' - [[Auditore Family Crypt]]</ref>

===Later life===
Niccolò and Maffeo ultimately returned to Venice after having spent 17 years in [[China]] in the Mongols' service. Niccolò died some time before 1300.<ref name="Wikipedia">[[wikipedia:Niccolò and Maffeo Polo|''Wikipedia'': Niccolò and Maffeo Polo]]</ref> His old trading post would eventually become the bookshop of Sofia Sartor.

==Legacy==
Niccolò's efforts to spread bring the Assassin Order to Eurasia and Europe

==Characteristics and personality==

==Gallery==

<center><gallery captionalign="left">
Niccolo Polo.jpg|Niccolò Polo artwork.
The torch 4.png|Niccolò and Maffeo escorted out of Masyaf by Altaïr.
ACR S7 M7.png|Niccolò meeting with Altaïr and Darim one final time.
The torch 8.png|Niccolò, Altaïr and Darim looking at the Memory Seals.
</gallery></center>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{ACR}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Polo, Niccolò}}
[[Category:Characters]]
[[Category:Assassin's Creed: The Secret Crusade Characters]]
[[Category:Assassin's Creed: Revelations Characters]]
[[Category:Assassin's Creed: Revelations (Novel) Characters]]
[[Category:Assassins]]
[[Category:Historical Characters]]

User blog comment:D. Cello/Assassinews 11/15 -- Assassin's Creed Revelations is out/@comment-4292939-20111115062452/@comment-121.54.32.133-20111115170724

2011-11-15T17:07:25Z

121.54.32.133: Created page with "I wanna freeze myself in a cryogenic chamber until it comes out on PC. >_> It's gonna be a tough two weeks of not watching spoilers."

I wanna freeze myself in a cryogenic chamber until it comes out on PC. >_> It's gonna be a tough two weeks of not watching spoilers.

Assassin's Creed Wiki - User contributions [en-gb]

Niccolò Polo

User blog comment:D. Cello/Assassinews 11/15 -- Assassin's Creed Revelations is out/@comment-4292939-20111115062452/@comment-121.54.32.133-20111115170724