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Precursor box

2017-08-09T06:10:22Z

75.139.201.217: Grammar

{{Era|AC4|ACRG|CC|CI|CR|Embers|TWCB}}
{{Item Infobox
|image = ACRG Precursor box.png
|type = [[Pieces of Eden|Piece of Eden]]
|powers =
*Siphon other artifacts as power sources
*Decypher Isu writing and produce holograms
*Imprint memories into the mind of users
|current = *[[Ezio's Precursor box|#1]]: ''Unknown''
*[[Shay's Precursor box|#2]]: ''Gramática's lab''
|period = Prehistory
|created = [[Isu]]
|notable = *[[Ezio Auditore da Firenze|Ezio Auditore]]
*[[Shay Cormac]]
*[[William Sleeman]]
*[[Ulysses S. Grant]]
*[[Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia|Anastasia Nikolaevna]]
*[[Álvaro Gramática]]}}
The '''Precursor boxes''' are ancient artifacts created by the [[Isu]] capable of interacting with other [[Pieces of Eden]] to accomplish a variety of functions.<ref name="The Essential Guide">''[[Assassin's Creed: The Essential Guide]]''</ref>

Normally powered by the Piece of Eden it is paired with, in the absence of such a device, electricity can be used in its place. However, the amount of electricity required is on the magnitude of a lightning strike and can damage the box.<ref name="The Essential Guide" /> One such box was indeed powered in this way, and when activated, it was able to decipher the Isu language written in the [[Voynich manuscript]], giving the location of the Seismic Temples.<ref name="ACRG"/> Using the [[Koh-i-Noor]] to power another box, the Templars used the artifact to translate the writings in the [[Amritsar Temple]] to locate the emplacement of other Temples.<ref name="ACCI"/>

Combined with [[Staves of Eden]], the boxes also demonstrated to have the ability to imprint the memories of someone into another individual, like in 1918 when [[Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia]] ended up with the memories of [[Shao Jun]].<ref name="ACCR"/>

==Known boxes==
===Ezio Auditore's box===
[[File:ACE-V 10.png|thumb|left|250px|Ezio handing the box to Shao Jun]]
By November 1524, one Precursor box was in the possession of the retired [[Italy|Italian]] [[Assassins|Assassin]] [[Ezio Auditore da Firenze]], in his villa in [[Tuscany]]. The [[China|Chinese]] Assassin, [[Shao Jun]], who had traveled there seeking Ezio's advice on resolving the problems in her homeland, was given the box and told that it would aid her. Ezio stated that she should only open it if she were to lose her way.<ref name="Embers">''[[Assassin's Creed: Embers]]''</ref>

[[File:ACCC Zhang Yong box.png|thumb|250px|Zhang Yong with the box]]
Upon returning to China, Shao Jun used the box as bait to lure [[Gao Feng]], one of the [[Eight Tigers]] to her. She assassinated him but the box itself was taken by [[Yu Dayong]]. Eventually Shao reclaimed the box, assassinating Yu. Shao Jun entrusted the box to her shifu, [[Wang Yangming]] who took it to have someone help them study the box. However before he could do that [[Zhang Yong]] murdered him and took the box for the Templars, finally sending it out of China to other Templars.<ref name="ACCC">''[[Assassin's Creed Chronicles: China]]''</ref>

In a letter written by [[British Rite of the Templar Order|British Templar]] [[John Harrison]] in 1742 to his [[Grand Master of the Templar Order|Grand Master]] [[Reginald Birch]], it would appear that the Chinese Brotherhood managed to recover the box and continued to hold onto it for the next centuries. He reported his his suspicions that the Chinese Brotherhood smuggled it to {{Wiki|Acapulco}} through {{Wiki|Manila galleon}}s, and from there to the [[West Indies Brotherhood of Assassins|West Indies Brotherhood]].<ref name="ACRG">''[[Assassin's Creed: Rogue]]</ref>

Regardless, the box eventually ended up in the hands of British Templar [[Francis Cotton]]. After Cotton's death, his appointed successor, [[William Sleeman]], took possession of the box and launched in 1841 a campaign to find Precursor Temples in India by using the box. In order to power it, he stole the [[Koh-i-Noor]] from the Assassins. However, his efforts were countered by Assassin [[Arbaaz Mir]] who recovered the stolen artifact and despite discovering a new Temple, in [[Herat Temple|Herat]], William had to flee with the box.<ref name="ACCI" />

[[File:ACCR RF (9).jpg|thumb|left|250px|The box and the Staff shard interacting]]
Decades later the box was now in possession of the Tsar [[Nicholas II of Russia]], who in 1918 and along with his family was prisoner of the Bolcheviks in [[Yekaterinburg]]. Sent by the Brotherhood to recover the artifact, [[Nikolai Orelov]] was confronted to the Templars who had infiltrated theranks of the [[Red Army]] and also coveted the box. Infiltrating the house where the Romanovs were kept, Nikolai witnessed their murder but reached [[Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia|Princess Anastasia]], who was holding the box, in time to secure the artifact.<ref name="ACCR">''[[Assassin's Creed Chronicles: Russia]]''</ref>

However, as Nikolai was taking the Precursor box from Anastasia's hands, the [[Staves of Eden|shard of the Staff]] around his neck and the box interacted, and the girl was somehow imprinted with the genetic memories of [[Chinese Assassins|Chinese Assassin]] [[Shao Jun]]. Suffering from a kind of [[Bleeding Effect]], Anastasia became overwhelmed by Jun's skills and memories and the older man decided to take both her and the box to the Brotherhood in [[Moscow]].<ref name="ACCR"/>

Once in Moscow, the pair reached to the Assassin [[Sergei]], who took the box and promised Nikolai that they would keep her safe while discovering what the box had done to her. Nikolai then found out by eavesdropping on some Assassins' conversation that they didn't care about Anya's safety and that Sergei only wanted to uncover the box's secrets, and also that the procedure that they were planning to do on Anya was most likely going to kill her. Nikolai ultimately managed to rescue Anya, but left the box behind.<ref name="ACCR" />

===Shay Cormac's box===
[[File:De Fayet's Last Stand 7.png|thumb|250px|right|Adéwalé handing the box to Bastienne]]
By 1735, another Precursor box had wound up in the possession of the [[France|French]] Templars, who were transporting it on aboard a [[Man O' War|galleon]] to [[Port-au-Prince]], to be given to [[Bastienne Josèphe]]. However, the fleet transporting the artifact was attacked by the Assassin [[Adéwalé]], who retrieved the parcel that contained the box from the [[Templar Admiral (1735)|Templar admiral]]. In July 1737, after two years of working alongside her, Adéwalé eventually handed the artifact to Bastienne.<ref name="FC">''[[Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag]]'' – ''[[Freedom Cry]]''</ref>

By November 1751, both the Precursor box and the Voynich manuscript were in the possession of [[François Mackandal]], Mentor of the Assassin Brotherhood in [[Haiti|Saint-Domingue]]. Using the artifacts, Mackandal discovered the existence of a First Civilization Temple near Port-au-Prince and sent his subordinate, [[Vendredi]], to investigate it. Unbeknownst to Mackandal, the Temple was part of a system that held the [[Earth]] together.<ref name="ACRG">''[[Assassin's Creed: Rogue]]''</ref>

Vendredi activated the Temple's machinery, causing a massive [[1751 Port-au-Prince earthquake|earthquake]] which destroyed Port-au-Prince and the surrounding region. After the disaster, [[Master Templar]] [[Lawrence Washington]] stole the Precursor box and manuscript from Mackandal's camp and took the artifacts with him to [[Virginia (state)|Virginia]], where the Templars studied the artifacts in an attempt to learn how to use them.<ref name="ACRG" />

[[File:One Little Victory 6.png|thumb|left|250px|Shay holding the Precursor box]]
[[Shay Cormac]], a member of the [[Colonial Assassins|Colonial branch]] of the Assassin Order, assassinated Washington in search of the box in 1752. However, the box was already in possession of the Templar [[Samuel Smith]], while the manuscript had been entrusted to [[James Wardrop]], another noted Templar. In 1754, Shay had managed to track Smith down and assassinate him, with the help of a fellow Assassin, [[Louis-Joseph Gaultier, Chevalier de la Vérendrye|Chevalier de la Vérendrye]]. Shay recovered the Precursor box from Smith and delivered it to [[Benjamin Franklin]], who was confident conducting electricity through the box would activate it.<ref name="ACRG" />

With Shay and [[Hope Jensen]]'s assistance, Franklin succeeded in powering the box, which projected a view of the Earth and displayed locations of several First Civilization sites, one of them being [[Lisbon]], [[Portugal]]. The box was subsequently given to [[Achilles Davenport]], the Mentor of Colonial Assassins, who kept it secure at the [[Davenport Homestead]], the Assassins' primary base of operations in the [[British Empire|British]] colonies.<ref name="ACRG" />

[[File:ACRG Shay Dorian.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Shay stealing the box from Dorian]]
In 1759, Hope managed to replicate Franklin's experiment and discovered another First Civilization Temple hidden in the Arctic. After the ordeal, Chevalier de la Vérendrye was tasked with hiding the box, and decided to ship it away from the colonies.<ref name="ACRG" />

By December 1776, the box was in the possession of the [[French Assassins]]. Having switched sides to the Templars twenty years before, Shay learned of this and traveled to [[Paris]]. Rescuing Franklin from a group of criminals, Shay enlisted his aid in entering the [[Palace of Versailles]], claiming to have a business meeting there. After a meeting in the palace, the Assassins entrusted the box to [[Charles Dorian]]. Having made his way inside, Shay assassinated Charles and took the box from him, reclaiming it for the Templars.<ref name="ACRG" />

After [[Ulysses S. Grant]]'s election as President of the United States in 1868, Grant's inner circle was infiltrated by members of the Templar Order, who subsequently corrupted his administration. They helped him to master the powers of the [[Trident of Eden|prong]] the Assassins gave him during the civil war, by giving him access to the Precursor box and pages of the Voynich manuscript.<ref name="Locus">''[[Assassin's Creed: Last Descendants – Locus]]''</ref>

[[File:ACCR Alvaro box.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Álvaro Gramática holding the box]]
In February 2014, the Assassins [[Harlan Cunningham]] and [[Arend Schut Cunningham|Arend Schut]] stole this box from an [[Abstergo Industries]] facility in [[Rotterdam]]. Abstergo's [[Sigma Team]] led by [[Juhani Otso Berg]] engaged the Assassins in combat, forcing them to leave the artifact behind.<ref name="ACRG" />

In 2015, Laetitia England assigned Juhani Otso Berg to deliver the box to Álvaro Gramática’s top secret lab, so he could use it for Project Phoenix.<ref name="ACCR" />

{{-}}

==Trivia==
;One box or two boxes?
*There is inconsistency over the identity of the Precursor boxes across the ''[[Assassin's Creed (series)|Assassin's Creed]]''. In the [[war letters]] of ''[[Assassin's Creed: Rogue]]'', the Templar John Harrison writes to Grand Master Reginald Birch that the Chinese Assassins had sent Shao Jun's box to Acapulco, and from there, to the West Indies, about a century after Jun's death. Since the box in ''Rogue'' seems to be identical to the one held by the Haitian Assassin Adéwalé, this heavily suggests a clear continuity from Jun's box in ''[[Assassin's Creed: Embers]]'' to Adéwalé's box in ''[[Freedom Cry]]'' and to Shay Cormac's box in ''Rogue'', that they are all the same box.<ref name="ACRG" />
:However, [[Richard Farrese]], the lead writer to ''Assassin's Creed: Rogue'', discounted in a podcast with the YouTuber Loomer that Jun's box is identical to that of Shay.<ref name="Loomer – Farrese YT podcast">[https://youtu.be/0aNOdYDnogk?t=51m34s Youtube | "The Assassin's Den - ft. Richard Farrese (Lead Writer on Assassin's Creed Rogue)" uploaded by Loomer]</ref> With the release of ''[[Assassin's Creed Chronicles: India]]'' and ''[[Assassin's Creed Chronicles: Russia]]'', Jun's box is implied to have passed from the Chinese Templars to the British Templar William Sleeman operating in India and thence to the Russian Tsar Nicholas II.<ref name="ACCI" /><ref name="ACCR" /> If this were true, it would be peculiar that Harrison reports that the Chinese Assassins retained Jun's box for a hundred years and more given that the box would be assumed to have remained in Templar hands from the end of ''Chronicles: China'' though it is not impossible that Jun had recaptured the box before it eventually fell into the hands of Sleeman.
:In fact, the box's presence in ''Chronicles: India'' and ''Chronicles: Russia'' does not necessarily contradict the war letter in ''Rogue'', as the events of ''Freedom Cry'' and ''Rogue'' are set in between that of ''Chronicles: China'' and ''Chronicles: India''. This allows for the possibility that the Chinese Brotherhood really did send the box to the West Indies, and after Shay took it back from Charles Dorian, it would eventually fall into the hands of William Sleeman. Indeed, the fact that the box handed to Álvaro Gramática at the end of ''Chronicles: Russia'' is labeled "SHAY'S PRECURSOR BOX" heavily suggests that Ezio's box seen throughout the spin-off series ''is'' Shay's box. This is because it would be peculiar narrative choice for the game to end with Gramática receiving a different item of no relevance to the game's story, i.e. Shay's box if it is distinct, rather than Ezio's box.
:On 21 March 2017, [[Aymar Azaïzia]], the Head of Content for ''Assassin's Creed'', answered in an {{wiki|Reddit#IAmA_and_AMA|AMA}} on Reddit that Ezio's box and Shay's box are the same in response to a question concerning this matter,<ref name="AMA">[https://www.reddit.com/r/assassinscreed/comments/60pj33/i_am_aymar_azaizia_head_of_content_for_assassins/df8cjka/?context=10000 Assassin's Creed: Reddit – "I am Aymar Azaizia, Head of Content for Assassin's Creed, Ask Me Anything!" (21 March 2017)]</ref> thereby clearly contradicting not only Richard Farrese, but seemingly the reference book ''[[Assassin's Creed: The Essential Guide]]'' as well. Aside from consistently describing Precursor boxes in the plural, ''The Essential Guide'' states that "Two confirmed Precursor Boxes exist; one is currently in possession of Álvaro Gramática, while the location of the other is unknown". The reference to two Precursor boxes rather than one highly suggests that Shay's box, the one given to Gramática, and Ezio's box are distinct. However, it stops short of explicitly describing the second box, meaning that it technically does not contradict Aymar's claim because it could be that Ezio's box and Shay's box should still be taken as an identical box in Gramática's hands while the second box is merely one that has never appeared in the series. It would be odd, however, for the book to mention two boxes while intending one to be one that has been absent from the entire series.
:To add to all this confusion, while Farrese also clarified that Adéwalé's box in ''Freedom Cry'' is the one that ends up in Shay's hands in ''Rogue'',<ref name="Loomer – Farrese YT podcast" /> they are distinct in design. While the latter bears a rectangular lid which splits in half and slides open, with even the sides of the box unraveling to expose the mechanisms within,<ref name="ACRG" /> the former has a round lid that seems to open on hinges like a typical box.<ref name="FC" /> Ironically, this means that the box in ''Freedom Cry'' is actually more similar in design and appearance to the one in ''Embers''.<ref name="Embers" /><ref name="FC" />

==Gallery==
<gallery captionalign="center" position="center" spacing="small" widths="180">
ACRG Precursor Box - Concept Art.jpg|Concept art of the Precursor box
Fiat Lux 7.png|The Precursor box being used
Fiat Lux 6.png|The box displaying a map of the Seismic Temples
The Escape China (2).jpg|The box used to lure the Chinese Templars
ACCI Enemy Revealed (2).jpg|Sleeman using the box and the Koh-i-Noor to find Temples
ACCI Rescue (5).jpg|Kaur and Sleeman fighting for the Artifacts
ACCR RF (17).jpg|Anastasia being imprinted with Jun's memories
</gallery>

==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{TWCB}}
[[Category:Precursor boxes| ]]
[[Category:Pieces of Eden]]

Shrouds of Eden

2017-08-09T05:41:05Z

75.139.201.217: /* Middle East */

{{Era|AC2|ACS|PL|ACID|TWCB}}
{{Spoilerhd}}
{{WP-REAL|Shroud of Turin}}
{{Revamp}}
{{Quote|A myth become miracle, the "holy winding sheet" has arrived...|Publius Volumnius describing the Shroud.|Assassin's Creed: Project Legacy}}
{{Item Infobox
|image = ACS Shroud of Eden.png
|type = Piece of Eden
|powers = *Regeneration and healing
*Communication with Consus' counciousness {{C|Original Shroud only}}
*Can induce [[Bleeding Effect]]
|current = *[[Shroud of Eden 1|#1]]: ''Destroyed''
*[[Shroud of Eden 2|#2]]: ''Templar possession''
|period = Prehistory until [[modern times]]
|created = [[Consus]], [[Isu]]
|made = 1923 [[Isu Era]]
|destroyed =
|notable = *[[Jason]]
*[[Joseph]]
*[[Jesus Christ]]
*[[Crawford Starrick]]
*[[Álvaro Gramática]]}}
The '''Shrouds of Eden''' were [[Pieces of Eden]] shaped like cloths capable of restoration and healing. The artifacts were designed by [[Consus]], a member of the [[Isu|First Civilization]], who created the original in the year 1923 of the Isu Era. His own consciousness was stored inside the artifact, resulting in his ability to possess the bodies of the artifact's users temporarily upon activation.<ref name="ACS">''[[Assassin's Creed: Syndicate]]''</ref>

The original Shroud was described as a white cloth stained with blood, which was usually kept in a simple wooden box. The shape of a seemingly tortured man was also burned onto its surface, positioned with arms to his sides and palms forward. However, Church records noted that the man's visage changed multiple times throughout history.

==History==
===Greece===
The earliest known appearance of the Shrouds seems to have been in Greek myth, where the original Shroud became known as the Golden Fleece, a legendary object of strange power. It was recovered by [[Jason]] and the Argonauts, who took it from a tree guarded by a sleepless dragon in Colchis.<ref name="AC2">''[[Assassin's Creed II]]''</ref>

===Macedonia===
{{Quote|Whatever power lies within this artifact, it has not returned our Brother to us.|Publius Volumnius commenting on the failed resurrection of Brutus.|Assassin's Creed: Project Legacy}}
[[File:Philippi, Macedonia.png|250px|thumb|left|The Shroud covering Brutus]]
One Shroud later came into the possession of the [[Assassins]] of ancient [[Rome]] for some time. After the assassination of [[Gaius Julius Caesar|Julius Caesar]] in 44 BC, and the subsequent suicide of [[Marcus Junius Brutus|Brutus]] in 42 BC, Brutus' fellow Assassins tried to reanimate him with the Shroud in Philippi, {{Wiki|Macedonia (region)|Macedonia}}.<ref name="ACPL Christmas">''[[Assassin's Creed: Project Legacy]]'' - [[Holidays: Chapter 1 - Ghosts of Christmas Past]]</ref>

Since they had never used it before, the Assassins feared its effects, but nevertheless wrapped Brutus in the cloth. Though the corpse opened its eyes and moved its arms, it neither breathed nor reacted to any touch, and eventually fell still in a seeming "second death".<ref name="ACPL Christmas"/>

As some of the Assassins wept, Brutus was wrapped instead in a burial mantle, and the Shroud was returned to its wooden storage box.<ref name="ACPL Christmas"/>

===Middle East===
In 1700 BC, a Shroud was known as the famous multicolored coat given to [[Joseph]] by his father Jacob, and in 970 BC, it was thought to be what aided [[David]], second king of Israel, in his fight against Goliath.<ref name="AC2"/>

However, the most famous person to own a Shroud was [[Jesus Christ]]. Upon discovering his possession of a Shroud, the [[Templars]], under the guise of the [[Roman Empire]], had Jesus crucified circa 31 AD, and claimed the Piece of Eden for themselves. Jesus' disciples were able to recover the Shroud, and used it to resurrect him. After this, traces of the Shroud disappeared.<ref name="AC2"/>

===Monteriggioni===
{{Quote|What better place than our walled city to hide such abominations from mankind? We will bury it deep and set up measures to ensure it remains hidden.|An Assassin regarding the concealment of the Shroud.|Assassin's Creed: Project Legacy}}
[[File:Monteriggioni, Italy.png|thumb|250px|The Assassins of Monteriggioni examining the Shroud]]
The original Shroud vanished for many centuries, eventually resurfacing in France halfway through the fourteenth century. By 1355, the Shroud was in possession of the Templar [[Geoffroy de Charny]], but it was stolen by the Assassins that same year, and replaced by an intricate duplicate. [[Renato Auditore]] and his allies assured themselves that they had the real Shroud before locking it in a chest and hiding it in [[Monteriggioni]], [[Italy]].<ref name="ACPL Christmas"/>

It was there that the Shroud was eventually rediscovered by one of Renato's descendants, [[Mario Auditore]], one century later. After learning that [[Federico da Montefeltro]] had attacked Monteriggioni solely to acquire the artifact hidden underneath the city, Mario and several other Assassins explored the cave underneath the well.

They found the Shroud, which spoke to them and told them it could heal the wounds they had sustained during their search. Overcome by the promise of the Shroud, Mario's allies attacked him, and he was forced to fight them off. He removed the Shroud from its hidden location and it was transferred to a new one.<ref name="ACPL2">''Assassin's Creed: Project Legacy'' - [[Italian Wars: Chapter 3 - Mario Auditore]]</ref>

===Agnadello===
{{Quote|So... beautiful! It is a plain thing, carefully folded inside a simple wooden box, but it is also so much more!|Perotto Calderon first encountering the Shroud.|Assassin's Creed: Project Legacy}}
[[File:Revelation.jpg|250px|thumb|The Shroud covering Perotto's son, Giovanni Borgia]]
In 1498, the Shroud was in the possession of [[Rinaldo Vitturi]], who kept it safe for the Assassin Brotherhood. [[Perotto Calderon]] brought his [[Giovanni Borgia|son]] to [[Agnadello]], Vitturi's hometown, hoping to use the Shroud to heal the defects with which he had been born. After having achieved this goal, Calderon replaced the Shroud in its box and left it.<ref name="ACPL3">''Assassin's Creed: Project Legacy'' - [[Italian Wars: Chapter 4 - Perotto Calderon]]</ref>

===Lonigo===
{{Quote|I have no choice. Whatever power this thing holds, I must try to unleash it!|Niccolò di Pitigliano, just before attempting to use the Shroud.|Assassin's Creed: Project Legacy}}
[[File:White2.png|250px|thumb|left|Niccolò di Pitigliano wrapped in the Shroud]]
More than a decade later, the Shroud had found its way to [[Niccolò di Pitigliano]] in [[Lonigo]]. After an almost successful attempt on his life, Pitigliano used the Shroud to restore some vitality to his body, allowing him to escape his burning home. When he attempted to use the Shroud again, hoping to muster enough strength to flee to another city, the Shroud tore him apart from within, killing him. Finding his mangled body, the Shroud was taken by [[Francesco Vecellio]].<ref name="ACPL4">''Assassin's Creed: Project Legacy'' - [[Italian Wars: Chapter 2 - Francesco Vecellio]]</ref>

===London===
{{Quote|I hope you never find the Shroud, you have no idea of what it truly can do.|[[Lucy Thorne]] to [[Evie Frye]], 1868.|Assassin's Creed: Syndicate}}
The former pirate and Assassin [[Edward Kenway]] came into contact with a Shroud of Eden at some point in his travels, and subsequently hid it in an Isu's chest in the [[Tower of London]]. Within the following century after his death the Shroud was moved into a [[Buckingham Palace crypt|crypt]] built beneath [[Buckingham Palace]] by Albert, prince consort in 1847. By 1868, during the [[Industrial Revolution]], both the Assassins and Templars were looking for the artifact. Ultimately, it was found and worn by [[Crawford Starrick]] during a confrontation with [[Evie Frye]], [[Jacob Frye]], and [[Jayadeep Mir|Henry Green]], though the three managed to remove it from his person and subsequently killed him while he was not augmented by it, with Jacob returning the Shroud to its resting place.<ref name="ACS"/>

===Milan===
{{Quote|Goose chase in the middle of a warzone while our own boys are dropping the bombs on me. For what? Chance that it may be the real thing? Right... been at this nearly twenty years and I don't even believe it exists.|Keith Scipione, 1944.|Assassin's Creed: Project Legacy}}
[[File:Milan, Italy.png|thumb|250px|The sale of the Shroud in Milan]]
The original Shroud eventually resurfaced in [[Milan]] in 1944, when [[Keith Scipione]], employee of [[Abstergo Industries]], bought it off one of the Baguttiani, a group of free-spirited thinkers.<ref name="ACPL Christmas"/>

===Modern Times===
In 2011, [[Álvaro Gramática]], an Abstergo scientist, began studying the company's Shroud and through it, was able to communicate with its creator Consus. He slowly began learning more about the artifacts and the First Civilization, though the artifact was destroyed when the Assassins blew up Abstergo's laboratory in [[Paris]].<ref name="ACS"/>

As such, the [[Inner Sanctum of the Templar Order]] began searching for a new Shroud for their [[Phoenix Project]], which was used to study First Civilization DNA; as a result, the Assassins began looking for it as well, though merely to keep it from the Templars. Eventually, in late 2015, both groups managed to locate the artifact, which had been hidden again in the vault beneath Buckingham Palace.<ref name="ACS"/>

Inner Sanctum member [[Isabelle Ardant]], along with [[Violet da Costa]] and [[Master Templar]] [[Juhani Otso Berg]] arrived there first and recovered the Shroud, but were subsequently attacked by an Assassin cell consisting of [[Rebecca Crane]], [[Shaun Hastings]] and [[Galina Voronina]]. Amidst the struggle, Violet managed to escape with the artifact and brought it to Gramática, who intended to use its powers to make a First Civilization being from scratch, using the genome of [[John Standish]] and the [[blood vials]] from [[Bartholomew Roberts]]. Unbeknownst to him, Violet was secretly a member of the [[Instruments of the First Will]] that served [[Juno]], who had her own plans for the Shroud.<ref name="ACS"/>

==Use and side effects==
{{Quote|The voice does not seem hostile, despite its urgency. Perhaps it does only wish to heal, but I will not take a chance!|Mario Auditore, regarding the use of the Shroud.|Assassin's Creed: Project Legacy}}
[[File:Sideeffects.png|left|thumb|250px|The Shroud destroying Niccolò di Pitigliano]]
The Shroud has been used to heal wounds of varying severity, mending injuries ranging from stab wounds to birth defects. It spoke in an almost kind voice that constantly offered healing, and urged its users to disregard their own physical frailty.<ref name="ACPL3"/><ref name="ACPL4"/>

When worn by [[Grand Master|Templar Grand Master]] Crawford Starrick, the Shroud gave him enhanced healing abilities. He was able to regenerate from wounds that would be considered fatal almost instantaneously. The Shroud also granted Crawford enhanced strength, as he was easily able to physically overpower the Frye twins and Henry Green. However, he lost the abilities granted by the Shroud after being physically separated from it.<ref name="ACS" />

Despite the rumors of its abilities to do so, it could not be used to bring a being back to life. However, it could reanimate bodies to a small degree for a short amount of time.<ref name="ACPL Christmas" />

The Shroud was also known to cause severe hallucinations in those who had used it, and (in extreme cases, such as that of Niccolò di Pitigliano) could also seem to tear a person from the inside out.<ref name="ACPL4"/>

[[File:Lateral Vision PL.jpg|thumb|250px|Perotto appearing in Giovanni's dreams]]
Giovanni Borgia in particular suffered lasting effects from the Shroud. Though the artifact healed his defective body as a baby, throughout his childhood, he would have vivid dreams of the [[Bleeding Effect|memories of others]] who had come into contact with the Shroud, such as his father and Marcus Junius Brutus.<ref name="ACPL Giovanni Borgia Rome">''Assassin's Creed: Project Legacy'' - [[Rome: Chapter 2 - Giovanni Borgia]]</ref>

Additionally, Giovanni frequently spoke with a being no one else could see, an entity he called Consus.<ref name="ACPL Giovanni Borgia Rome"/>

In his later life, Giovanni would become known among the other Assassins as one who "spoke" with Pieces of Eden, and was particularly receptive to their presence. This led to him being sent on a mission to identify and retrieve [[Crystal Skulls|one such artifact]] in the New World.<ref>''Assassin's Creed: Project Legacy'' - [[Rome: Chapter 4 - Giovanni Borgia]]</ref>

According to analysis by [[Abstergo Industries]], when a Shroud is wrapped around a body, it scans it for damage, then reconstructs it on a cellular level, enabling potential reconstruction of decomposed organisms and, possibly, resurrection of deceased members of the First Civilization.<ref name="ACS"/>

==Trivia==
*The Shroud was based on a real object known as the {{Wiki|Shroud of Turin}}. It is kept in the royal chapel of the {{Wiki|Turin Cathedral|Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist}} in {{Wiki|Turin|Turin}}, [[Italy]].
*In the French version of ''[[Assassin's Creed II]]'', the Shroud was referred to as Piece of Eden #36, not #66.
*In ''[[Assassin's Creed: Project Legacy]]'', [[Erudito]] gave the user three memories of the Shroud as a "Christmas present".
*In ''Project Legacy'', one of the [[Mnemonic sets]] from the Holiday pack is "Shroud of Turin," with the description "Greatest mystery, or clever hoax?" Its components are: Jesus of Nazareth, [[Jacques de Molay]], [[Geoffroi de Charney]], and [[Cesare Borgia]].

==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{TWCB}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shroud}}
[[Category:Shrouds of Eden| ]]
[[Category:Pieces of Eden]]