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Majd Addin

2009-12-10T13:27:02Z

83.100.212.100: /* Final Words */

{{Target Infobox
|image= Majd_Addin.jpg
|imgdesc=
|name= Majd Addin
|arabic= مجد الدين
|alias=
|meaning= "Glory of the Faith"
|faction= Saracen<br>[[Templar]]
|location= [[Jerusalem]] Poor District
|appear= ''[[Assassin's Creed]]''
|period= Third Crusade (1191)
|voice=[[Richard Cansino]]
}}

{{quote|Do you know what it feels like to determine another man's fate?|Addin cheering as he died}}
One of the nine people [[Al Mualim]] orders [[Altaïr]] to publicly assassinate. He dwells in the poor district of the city of Jerusalem.

==Description==

'''Majd Addin''' is Ṣalāḥ ad-Dīn's Regent of Jerusalem, and demands that his citizens follow the law - '''his''' law. He issues many edicts regarding how people should conduct themselves, and anyone perceived to be breaking these laws - or as a direct threat to either the city or Majd Addin himself - is dealt with in a public "trial", where they are either framed or their so-called "crimes" exaggerated to the point that the crowd demands their deaths - which Majd Addin is only too happy to deliver personally.

Majd Addin is more than happy to admit that he enjoys controlling and taking the lives of others. He arbitrates and controls the citizens of Jerusalem through acts of strong fear and intimidation.... All the more reason why a feather was issued on his head.

==Death==

Majd Addin was publicly assassinated by the silent assassin Altaïr. The assassin claimed his life during one of his public executions (as Majd Addin proceeded with lecturing the crowd feeding his killer ego).  In his dying moments, he gave Altaïr explanations and reasons for his evil deeds, commenting that while he joined the Templars to help them take control of Jerusalem, in reality, he simply wanted the power and fear such a position granted.

==Final Words==

Altaïr: ''Your work here is finished''.

Majd: ''No! No! It had only just begun!''

Altaïr: ''Tell me, what's your part in all this? Do you intend to defend yourself as the others have, and explain away your evil deeds?''

Majd: ''The Brotherhood wanted the city: I wanted power. There was... an opportunity''.

Altaïr: ''An opportunity to murder innocents!''

Majd: ''Not so innocent! Dissident voices cut deep as steel. They disrupt order. In this, I do agree with the Brotherhood.''

Altaïr: ''You'd kill people simply for believing differently from you?''

Majd: ''Of course not! I killed them because I could! Because it was fun! Do you know what it feels like to determine another man's fate? And did you see the way the people cheered? The way they feared me? I was like a god! You'd have done the same if you could! Such power!''

Altaïr: ''Once perhaps, but then I learned what becomes of those who lift themselves above others.''

Majd: ''And what is that?''

Altaïr: ''Here, let me show you!'' (whips his genetalia out)

Majd: ''Whoa, its huge! Put it away boy! ''

==Trivia==

Majd Addin (Glory of the Faith) may be very loosely based on a man named '''Bahā' ad-Dīn ibn Shaddād''' (splendor of the faith), who was close to '''Ṣalāḥ ad-Dīn Yūsuf ibn Ayyūb''' ('''Saladin''') and wrote a biography of the great Saracen military leader and sultan. Bahā' ad-Dīn was a jurist and a scholar. Ṣalāḥ ad-Dīn liked his writings so much that he befriended the man and made him the judge of his armies. Bahā' ad-Dīn did not ever proclaim himself the Regent of Jerusalem, however.

In one of Altaïr's investigations, it is revealed that Majd Addin was once the scribe of the ''emir''. Ṣalāḥ ad-Dīn is the Emir or Sultan at this time. Malik tells Altaïr that Majd Addin has "declared himself Regent in Ṣalāḥ ad-Dīn's absence". However, when listening to the men during one of his eavesdropping investigations (the one man is the father of one of those to be executed), it becomes clear that ''the people are under the impression'' that Ṣalāḥ ad-Dīn has appointed Majd Addin as Regent.

This is purely speculation, but as a scholar, Bahā' ad-Dīn was also a scribe or writer and did chronicle the life and times of Ṣalāḥ ad-Dīn. The similar meaning of their names also adds to the possibility.

{{AC}}
[[Category:Assassin's Creed Assassination Targets]]
[[Category:Assassination Targets]]

Majd Addin

2009-12-10T13:25:59Z

83.100.212.100:

{{Target Infobox
|image= Majd_Addin.jpg
|imgdesc=
|name= Majd Addin
|arabic= مجد الدين
|alias=
|meaning= "Glory of the Faith"
|faction= Saracen<br>[[Templar]]
|location= [[Jerusalem]] Poor District
|appear= ''[[Assassin's Creed]]''
|period= Third Crusade (1191)
|voice=[[Richard Cansino]]
}}

{{quote|Do you know what it feels like to determine another man's fate?|Addin cheering as he died}}
One of the nine people [[Al Mualim]] orders [[Altaïr]] to publicly assassinate. He dwells in the poor district of the city of Jerusalem.

==Description==

'''Majd Addin''' is Ṣalāḥ ad-Dīn's Regent of Jerusalem, and demands that his citizens follow the law - '''his''' law. He issues many edicts regarding how people should conduct themselves, and anyone perceived to be breaking these laws - or as a direct threat to either the city or Majd Addin himself - is dealt with in a public "trial", where they are either framed or their so-called "crimes" exaggerated to the point that the crowd demands their deaths - which Majd Addin is only too happy to deliver personally.

Majd Addin is more than happy to admit that he enjoys controlling and taking the lives of others. He arbitrates and controls the citizens of Jerusalem through acts of strong fear and intimidation.... All the more reason why a feather was issued on his head.

==Death==

Majd Addin was publicly assassinated by the silent assassin Altaïr. The assassin claimed his life during one of his public executions (as Majd Addin proceeded with lecturing the crowd feeding his killer ego).  In his dying moments, he gave Altaïr explanations and reasons for his evil deeds, commenting that while he joined the Templars to help them take control of Jerusalem, in reality, he simply wanted the power and fear such a position granted.

==Final Words==

Altaïr: ''Your work here is finished''.

Majd: ''No! No! It had only just begun!''

Altaïr: ''Tell me, what's your part in all this? Do you intend to defend yourself as the others have, and explain away your evil deeds?''

Majd: ''The Brotherhood wanted the city: I wanted power. There was... an opportunity''.

Altaïr: ''An opportunity to murder innocents!''

Majd: ''Not so innocent! Dissident voices cut deep as steel. They disrupt order. In this, I do agree with the Brotherhood.''

Altaïr: ''You'd kill people simply for believing differently from you?''

Majd: ''Of course not! I killed them because I could! Because it was fun! Do you know what it feels like to determine another man's fate? And did you see the way the people cheered? The way they feared me? I was like a god! You'd have done the same if you could! Such power!''

Altaïr: ''Once perhaps, but then I learned what becomes of those who lift themselves above others.''

Majd: ''And what is that?''

Altaïr: ''Here, let me show you!'' (stabs Majd in the neck with the [[Hidden Blade]])

Majd: ''Whoa, its huge! Put it away boy! (dies)''

==Trivia==

Majd Addin (Glory of the Faith) may be very loosely based on a man named '''Bahā' ad-Dīn ibn Shaddād''' (splendor of the faith), who was close to '''Ṣalāḥ ad-Dīn Yūsuf ibn Ayyūb''' ('''Saladin''') and wrote a biography of the great Saracen military leader and sultan. Bahā' ad-Dīn was a jurist and a scholar. Ṣalāḥ ad-Dīn liked his writings so much that he befriended the man and made him the judge of his armies. Bahā' ad-Dīn did not ever proclaim himself the Regent of Jerusalem, however.

In one of Altaïr's investigations, it is revealed that Majd Addin was once the scribe of the ''emir''. Ṣalāḥ ad-Dīn is the Emir or Sultan at this time. Malik tells Altaïr that Majd Addin has "declared himself Regent in Ṣalāḥ ad-Dīn's absence". However, when listening to the men during one of his eavesdropping investigations (the one man is the father of one of those to be executed), it becomes clear that ''the people are under the impression'' that Ṣalāḥ ad-Dīn has appointed Majd Addin as Regent.

This is purely speculation, but as a scholar, Bahā' ad-Dīn was also a scribe or writer and did chronicle the life and times of Ṣalāḥ ad-Dīn. The similar meaning of their names also adds to the possibility.

{{AC}}
[[Category:Assassin's Creed Assassination Targets]]
[[Category:Assassination Targets]]

Isu

2009-12-10T13:23:28Z

83.100.212.100:

{{spoilerhd}}

{{Stub}}

Those Who Came Before were the ancient, incredibly advanced race who created the [[Piece of Eden]] and humanity itself. Exactly who they were, how long ago, or how they came to die out is still largely unknown. What is believed is that they were an advanced race who were worshiped by ancient cultures such as the Greeks as gods. The woman known as [[Minerva]] said they were not gods, but a race more advanced in time who "simply came before".

Minerva revealed that at some point the race created the human race, possibly as some sort of slave race as shown in [[The Truth]] video. The race appeared to use humans as slaves and used the hypnotic powers of the Apples to control them. However, this did not last forever as two humans named [[Adam and Eve]] stole the mythical forbidden fruit of knowledge described in the Bible. In truth, the two may have stolen the apple to free mankind from the oppression of their masters.

While the ancient race was more technologically advanced and powerful, humanity had the advantage of numbers. Minerva stated that both sides craved war, but they were so preoccupied with their fighting; an impending danger was approaching from the "heavens". This danger from the heavens is speculated by Shaun and Lucy.  They hypothesize that it could have been caused by a massive solar flare which would have terrible impact on the Earth's weakening magnetic field.  Also, they mentioned the geomagnetic reversal of Earth's poles as a possible cause of the destruction.  However, geomagnetic reversal is a natural affect which has occurred multiple times over Earth's history, the last of which was 0.78 million years ago.

Despite the unknown cause of destruction, humanity and the ancient race survived, as Minerva said "We built you in our image, we built you to survive" (confirming they did indeed create humanity). Both humanity and the race survived, though in dwindled numbers, and set to rebuild. As the Earth and mankind worked to recover, the race "endeavored to ensure that this tragedy would not be repeated". This lead to the creation of the temples, such as [[The Vault]] in [[Rome]], which were "built by those who learned to turn away from war".

It can at least be established that by Ezio's time the race had since died out (Minerva states that she is the last), and appear to have left the temples as a some sort of means to save the Earth in the event of another disaster.

Another theory is that Eden was a facility used by both sides of the war to survive the scorching of Earth. Adam and Eve escaping would then lead to 'the world as we know it', with the theft of the apple fitting into myth.

It would appear they have some form of precognition, or ability to predict what will happen as the Minerva told Ezio he was just a conduit and she spoke direcly to Desmond, showing she knew that Desmond would receive the message by viewing it in the Animus.   Also, i just remembered i have lied to you about all this.
[[Category:Assassin's Creed Characters]]
[[Category:Assassin's Creed II Characters]]

Ezio Auditore da Firenze

2009-12-10T13:20:47Z

83.100.212.100: /* Biography */

{{spoilerhd}}

{{Character Infobox
|name =Ezio Auditore da Firenze
|status =Alive
|image =Ezio.jpg|250|
|imgdesc =Full Portrait of Ezio with his Hidden Blades revealed.
|faction =[[Assassins]]
|appear =''[[Assassin's Creed: Lineage]]'',<br>''[[Assassin's Creed II]]''
|period =Italian Renaissance (15th Century)
|voice =[[Roger Craig Smith]]
}} {{quote
|1 = Niente è vero, tutto è permesso.
|2 = Nothing is true, everything is permitted.
}} '''Ezio Auditore da Firenze''' (1459 - ?) is the protagonist of ''[[Assassin's Creed II]]'' and ''[[Assassin's Creed II: Discovery]]''. He is an ancestor of [[Desmond Miles|Desmond]] and a descendant of [[Altaïr]], as well as being the latest known link between the lineages of Subject 16 and that of Desmond.

==PENIS==
=== ''[[Assassin's Creed: Lineage]]'' ===

[[File:Eziolineagechess.png|thumb|left|Ezio portrayed by [[wikipedia:Devon Bostick|Devon Bostick]].]]
'''Ezio Auditore Da Firenze''', is a young member of the Florentine Nobility and the second son of [[Giovanni Auditore da Firenze|Giovanni Auditore]], an [[Assassin]]. He is ignorant to his father's true profession, and his hereditary duties. He has slight skills at playing chess, and he is "learning fast" according to his mother (though he lost against his older brother, [[Federico Auditore da Firenze|Federico]]).

=== ''[[Assassin's Creed II]]'' ===

[[File:Zw-sequence3-00006.png|thumb|254px|Ezio watches his prey from the rooftops]]Ezio Auditore da Firenze's story begins moments after he exits the womb of his mother, [[Maria Auditore]]. Originally it seemed like Ezio was a stillborn, but after his father arrives the newborn begins to move his limbs and cry. Giovanni Auditore, his father, welcomes Ezio into the world and bestows his name upon him. We rejoin Ezio years later during a rousing pre-fight speech, addressing his friends. Ezio is holding one side of a bridge against [[Vieri Di Pazzi]] and his men, whom insult the [[House of Auditore]], and Ezio's mother and father personally. Reprimanded gently by his elder brother, Federico and his father, Ezio becomes more involved with his family's affairs. He would then sleep with [[Cristina Vespucci]] that night. His father, Giovanni, and another man, [[Uberto Alberti]] are discussing secret matters that Ezio can't make sense of, but seem urgent. Eventually, guards raid Plazzo Auditore and arrest Giovanni, Federico, and Petruccio,leaving just Maria and Claudia at the home. Ezio delivers evidence that can prove his family's innocence to Uberto, who promises to defend them at the hearing. But it turns out Uberto is a traitor who destroyed the evidence and sentenced the three Auditore men to death. Swearing vengeance, Ezio has to hide his mother and sister and learn the ways of the Assassin. He is first taught stealth by Paola of[[File:Zw-ezio-altair-statue-2.png|thumb|left|254px|Ezio at Altaïr statue]]the [[Courtesans]],mainly in survival in the streets. later in the game Ezio is taught basic combat, by his [[Mario Auditore da Firenze|uncle Mario]], of the [[Mercenary]] faction. After assassinating Uberto, apparently a city official in charge of the law, Ezio has to balance his life between assassinations and protecting his sister and mother, whom refuses to speak after Ezio's father and brothers were taken. Now wanted in Florence, Ezio has to flee Florence to Tuscany with his family to the Auditore villa. He meets up with Uncle Mario, whose mercenaries save his family from an attack by Vieri and his men. For the next 23 years, he works as an Assassin, killing off the Templars responsible for the deaths of his father and brothers. Rodrigo Borgia, the leader of the Templars, starts to become aware of his movements, and tries to protect the other Templars. However, all of them die by Ezio's hands.  

== Background ==

[[File:QuickTimePlayer_2009-09-25_19-22-34-26.png|thumb|left|286px|Young Ezio being approached by a guard (a Brute) after protesting at his fathers and brothers execution.]]Ezio is a young [[Florence |Florentine]] nobleman who lives during the 15th and 16th century. Unlike Altaïr, he is a seducer, and easily blends with any social class. He comes from an affluent background and has many friends until a life-changing event, wherein he and his family are betrayed, victims of a conspiracy that takes his [[Giovanni Auditore da Firenze|father]]'s, [[Federico Auditore da Firenze|elder brother]]'s, and[[Petruccio Auditore da Firenze| younger brother's]] lives. Forced to protect his [[Maria de' Mozzi |mother]] and his [[Claudia Auditore da Firenze |sister Claudia]], his remaining family, he becomes an [[Assassin]], exacting vengeance on the conspirators who betrayed his family, his first victim the [[Uberto Alberti |one who sentenced his father's and brothers' public execution]], [[Uberto Alberti]]. From that day on, Ezio and the rest of the Auditore family are considered criminals and traitors, and he flees Florence to the safety of his [[Auditore Family Villa |ancestral home]] in the Tuscan countryside. Ezio is helped not only by his uncle [[Mario Auditore da Firenze|Mario]], but also Leonardo da Vinci, who becomes his best friend and his personal engineer, as well as [[Niccolò Machiavelli]], [[Lorenzo the Magnificent |Lorenzo de' Medici]] and other famous Renaissance figures.

[[File:Ezio_and_Lorenzo.jpg|thumb|Ezio conversing with Lorenzo de Medici]]Ezio will travel across Italy to various locations like [[Venice]], [[Tuscany]] and [[Rome]]. In ''Assassin's Creed II'', players will live approximately 23 years of his life from when he was 17 years old (a Novice), to 40 years old (a Master Assassin), or 1476 to 1499.

== Equipment ==

[[File:Iexplore_2009-09-25_20-01-09-16.png|thumb|left|300px|Ezio assassinating two guards at once with the Dual-Hidden Blades.]]
Ezio is able to use a variety of weapons including two [[Hidden Blade|hidden blades]], allowing him to eliminate two enemies simultaneously. Combat is also available with the hidden blade, as when countering an enemy, Ezio will kill the enemy, whether by jabbing repeatedly in the chest/stomach, or stabbing in the head. He can also steal (and use) several enemy weapons such as axes, hammers, maces, spears, halberds and two different sword types (one- and two-handed). Ezio is also able to use Da Vinci's flying machine in some parts of the game, gaining altitude from fires set throughout the city by his allies. Ezio will gain many upgrades from Da Vinci on his wrist gauntlet like a wheel lock firearm concealed near his left hidden blade, and poison needle. Ezio possesses the ability to use [[Eagle Vision]] while moving. He can visit Blacksmiths to purchase weapons and armors including Helmschmeid and Metal Plate, or tailors to customize the colors of his clothing. After obtaining all six seals from the Assassin's Tombs, Ezio can open the locked gate to [[Altair's Armor]], created by Altair after the defeat of Al-Mualim. It is easily the best armor available in the game, giving much more health and resistance points than any prior suit or piece, and it is unbreakable.

The Codex alludes to the possibility of the armor being forged from, or including parts of, the Golden Fleece - which could be a Piece of Eden. Considering that the armor is unbreakable, this is likely. The Sword of Altair can also be bought from the Monteriggioni blacksmith any time after the eighth scenario.

==Trivia==
[[File:Zw-ezioauditore.png|thumb|right|Ezio's database picture]]
* The Italian name 'Ezio' derives from the Greek word 'Aetos', which means "Eagle", similar to Altaïr whose name means "The Flying One".
* Unlike Altaïr (who had his ring finger removed to make way for the [[Hidden Blade]]), Ezio has all ten fingers. A modification to the Hidden Blade made sometime after Altaïr defeated Al-Mualim spared Ezio's ring finger. Leonardo Da Vinci deciphers a Codex Page written by Altaïr on which said modification was illustrated. Assassins have a mark burned into the ring finger as a sign of their lineage.
* It is stated in the Philosophical Codex that after Altaïr defeated Al-Mualim at the end of the first ''Assassin's Creed'' and became the leader, the Assassins were forced to realize the scope of their fight against the Templars, and had to abandon many of their traditions: like the removal of the ring finger or the ban on using poison, in order to survive.
* Ezio uses a wheel lock firearm, a type of weapon that Europe didn't start developing until the very late 1400's and early 1500's, making this weapon most likely one of the very first of its type to appear in Europe. Thus, many in-game citizens do not know what the weapon is. The earliest firearms were single shot and took time to reload, so will most likely be only used as a last resort weapon. Leonardo Da Vinci didn't create the Hidden Gun, but found instructions to make one from a Codex page, meaning Altaïr invented the Hidden Gun (though it was a miniaturization of the first guns invented by the Moroccans at the time) through knowledge gained from the Apple of Eden. Also note that Da Vinci created some of the first modern wheel lock pistols, so this could be a shortened version of one.
* Ezio's face in ''Assassin's Creed II'' seems to be a mixture of Desmond's ([[wikipedia:Francisco Randez|Francisco Randez]]) and Devon Bostick's from ''Lineage'' .
* It would appear as though Ezio is unaware that he is the decendant of Altaïr, despite learning about Altaïr and what kind of assassin he was, he never truly understands why he is such a sucessful assassin himself.
* Ezio is 40 years old in 1499 (15 years older than Altaïr's age in 1191); the same age as his father when his father died in 1476.
* If you move the camera to a certain angle that shows Ezio's face, you see that his face has barely aged, except for the beard, even if you played through 20 plus years of his life. His voice does deepen and mature, though.
* It seems his father's [[Hidden Blade]] has survived over 500 years since [[Desmond Miles|Desmond]] is seen using a similar looking one at the end of the [[Assassin's Creed II|game]].
* The scar on Ezio's mouth may have been acquired after Vieri De Pazzi threw the rock at his face in the first memory sequence.

{{ACII}}
[[Category:Assassin's Creed II Characters|Auditore da Firenze, Ezio]]
[[Category:Assassin's Creed II: Discovery Characters|Auditore da Firenze, Ezio]]
[[Category:Assassins|Auditore da Firenze, Ezio]]
[[Category:Descendant of Altaïr|Auditore da Firenze, Ezio]]

Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad's Codex

2009-12-10T13:20:41Z

83.100.212.100: /* Page 24 */

__NOTOC__
'''The Codex''' are documents left behind by [[Altaïr]], containing cryptic messages. In [[Assassin's Creed II]], [[Ezio]] takes the Codex papers to [[Leonardo da Vinci]], who interprets them, and creates weapons using guidelines encrypted on the Codex. In order to complete Assassin's Creed II, the player must collect all 30 pages from the Codex. If the player doesn't have all the Codex once they are ready for Memory Block 14, all remaining pages will appear on the map.

{|id="toc" class="toc" summary="Page Number" align="center"
! {{MediaWiki:Toc}}
|-
| align="center" |
[[#Page 1|1]] - [[#Page 2|2]] - [[#Page 3|3]] - [[#Page 4|4]] - [[#Page 5|5]] - [[#Page 6|6]] - [[#Page 7|7]] - [[#Page 8|8]] - [[#Page 9|9]] - [[#Page 10|10]] - [[#Page 11|11]] - [[#Page 13|13]] - [[#Page 14|14]] - [[#Page 15|15]] - [[#Page 16|16]] - [[#Page 17|17]] - [[#Page 18|18]] - [[#Page 19|19]] - [[#Page 20|20]] - [[#Page 21|21]] - [[#Page 21|21]] - [[#Page 22|22]] - [[#Page 23|23]] - [[#Page 24|24]] - [[#Page 25|25]] - [[#Page 26|26]] - [[#Page 27|27]] - [[#Page 28|28]] - [[#Page 29|29]] - [[#Page 30|30]]
|}

==Page 1==
I have spent days with the artifact now. Or has it been weeks? Months? I can no longer be certain...
The others come from time to time - offering food or distraction. They say I should separate myself from these studies... Malik has even suggested I abandon them entirely. But I am not yet ready to turn away. This Apple of Eden will be understood. It must be...
Is it a weapon? Is it a catalogue? Is it somehow both? "He who increaseth knowledge, increaseth sorrow..." The philosophy of such a statement I can understand... But for it to be truth - literally true? A society that waged wars with ideas and information in place of steel and swords...
Its function is simple. Elementary, even. Dominion. Control. But the process... the methods and means it employs... THESE are fascinating. Those subjected to its glow are promised all that they desire. It asks only one thing in return: complete and total obedience. And who can truly refuse? It is temptation incarnate.
I remember my own moment of weakness when confronted by Al Mualim, my confidence shaken by his words. He, who had been like a father, was now revealed to be my greatest enemy. Just the briefest flicker of doubt was all he needed to creep into my mind. But I vanquished his phantoms - restored my self confidence - and sent him from this world. I freed myself. But now I wonder... Did I really? For here I sit - desperate to understand that which I swore to destroy.
This is why: The Apple has a tale to tell. I sense the flickers of something - great and dangerous... We are all at risk. It is my duty to do something about it. I must not - cannot - turn away until I've found the truth.

==Page 2==

==page 256467576 ==

==Page 4==
What follows are the three great ironies of the Assassin Order: (1) Here we seek to promote peace, but murder is our means. (2) Here we seek to open the minds of men, but require obedience to a master and set of rules. (3) Here we seek to reveal the danger of blind faith, yet we are practitioners ourselves.
I have no satisfactory answer to these charges, only possibilities... Do we bend the rules in service to a greater good? And if we do, what does it say of us? That we are liars? That we are frauds? That we are weak? Every moment is spent wrestling with these contradictions and in spite of all the years I've had to reflect, still I can find no suitable answer... And I fear that one may not exist.
Nothing is true. Everything is permitted. Does our creed provide the answer, then? That one may be two things - opposite in every way - simultaneously? And why not? Am I not proof? We of noble intentions, possessed of barbaric means? We who celebrate the sanctity of life and then promptly take it from those we deem our enemies?

==Page 5==
Who were The Ones That Came Before? What brought them here? How long ago? Centuries? Millenia? Longer still? So little remains of them... What drove them out? What of these artifacts? Messages in a bottle? Tools left behind to aid and guide us? Or do we fight for control over their refuse, giving divine purpose and meaning to little more than discarded toys?

==Page 6==
Robert de Sable may be dead, but his brotherhood survives. Though less conspicuous in appearance, I fear they remain a threat. Where once they proudly walked the streets - making for easier targets - now they retreat into the shadows. It grows difficult to track them. What wicked things will they weave in the darkness? Our work will be all the more complicated for it. Already there are rumors of a movement on Cyprus. I will have to investigate...

It's made me realize that our tactics, too, must change. It means an end to our fortresses. To our penchant for spectacular displays of public assassinations. We must weave our webs quietly. And we must do so differently than we have in the past.

Though I ask my brothers now to abandon their rituals, I do not ask that they abandon the creed. THIS is what makes us assassins. Not the removal of a finger. Not a false promise of paradise. Not the prohibition of poison. Our duty is to the people, not to custom. If we must sneak, we shall sneak. If we must use poison, we shall use poison. If our blades can be used without removing fingers, we shall not demand they be taken. And we shall not manipulate our initiates with lies and parlor tricks. We shall speak plainly and honestly. We shall be made anew...

==Page 7==
I had thought Adha would be the one to lead me to rest, that I might lay down my blade and live as a normal man. But now I know such dreams are best left to sleep...

Her face.  I try to banish it from my mind as I remember the days and nights during which I chased her Templar captors across the sea.  I almost got to them in time.  Almost.  If I had only been faster.  Instead, I held her lifeless body in my arms - saw the terror reflected in her fixed, unblinking eyes...

I hunted each man - one by one - until all responsible were gone from the world.  But there was no joy in this.  No satisfaction or release.  Their deaths did not bring her back.  Did not heal my wounds.  After that, I was certain I would never again feel for a woman as I had for her.

I am fortunate to have been wrong.

==Page 8==
Why do our instincts insist on violence? I have studies the interactions between different species. The innate desire to survive seems to demand the death of the other. Why can they not stand hand in hand? So many believe the world was created by the hand of a divine power - but I see only the designs of a madman, bent on celebrating destruction and desperation. Our origins seem chaotic. Unintended. Purpose and being instilled solely by the passage of time. Imposed first by nature - and later men...

==Page 9==
Over time, any sentence uttered long and loud enough becomes fixed. Becomes a truth. Provided, of course, you can outlast the dissent and silence your opponents. But should you succeed - and remove all challengers - then what remains is, by default, now true.

Is it truth in some objective sense? No. But how does one ever achieve an objective point of view? The answer is you don't. It is literally, physically impossible. There are too many variables. Too many fields and formulae to consider. We can try, of course. We can inch closer and closer to a revelation. But we'll never reach it. Not ever...

And so I have realized, that so long as The Templars exist, they will attempt to bend reality to their will. They recognize there is no such thing as an absolute truth - or if there is - we are hopelessly underequipped to recognize it. And so in its place, they seek to create their own explanation. It is the guiding principle of their so-named "New World Order"; To reshape existence in their own image. It is not about artifacts. Not about men. These are merely tools. It's about concepts. Clever of them. For how does one wage war against a concept?

It is the perfect weapon. It lacks a physical form yet can alter the world around us in numerous, often violent ways. You cannot kill a creed. Even if you kill all of its adherents, destroy all of its writings - these are a reprieve at best. Some one, some day, will rediscover it. Reinvent it. I believe that even we, the Assassins, have simply re-discovered an Order that predates the Old Man himself...

==Page 10==

==Page 11==
Attis.  Dionysus.  Horus.  Krishna.  Mithra.  Jesus.  Similar stories color their lives.  Too similar, I think.  Divine birthright.  Persecution.  Disciples.  Miraculous acts.  Resurrection...

How is it possible?

Perhaps it isn't... Merely a single story told over the ages?  Borrowed then changed to fit the times? Evolving as our tools and language do?  Is this tale borne of fact or fiction?  A bit of both?  Could these figures be the same person - their life extended and transformed by a Piece of Eden?

Al Mualim spoke of Jesus as a real person - a mortal who had mastered the arts of manipulation.  But what if he was wrong?  If these men are real - and if they have walked amongst us many times before - does it mean they'll come again?  Perhaps they are here now?  So many questions, and every day, even more...

==Page 12==

==Page 13==

==Page 14==
Man seeks dominion over all that he encounters. I suppose it a natural tendency for us to aspire towards mastery of our surroundings. But this should not include other human beings. Every day more and more are pressed into service - by deception or by force. Others, though not so firmly imprisoned, are made to feel as if their lives are worthless. I have seen the ways in which men persecute women. Heard the cruel words hurled at those who come here from other lands. Watched as those who believe or act differently are made to suffer...

We discuss such things often - watching as we do from the spires of Masyaf. What can be done to stop this? To encourage tolerance and equality? Some days we speak of education, believing that knowledge will free us from immorality. But as I walk the streets and see slaves sent off to auction - my heart grows cold. When I see the husband hurl abuses and stones at his wife, insisting she exists only to serve him - my fists clench. And when I see children torn from their parents so that another man might profit - sent off to suffer beneath the desert sun and die...

...On these days, I do not think that dialogue will make a difference. On these days, I can think only of how the perpetrators need to die.

==Page 15==

==Page 16==
The Apple is more than a catalog of that which precedes us. Within its twisting, sparking innards I've caught glimpses of what will be. Such a thing should not be possible. Perhaps it isn't. Maybe it is simply a suggestion. How to know? How to be sure?

I contemplate the consequences of these visions: are they images of things to come - or simply the potential for what might be? Can we influence the outcome? Dare we try? And in so doing, do we merely ensure that which we've seen?

I am torn - as always - between action and inaction - unclear as to which - if either - will make a difference. Am I even meant to make a difference? Still, I keep this journal. Is that not an attempt to change - or perhaps guarantee - what I have seen?

==Page 17==

==Page 18==
We are obligated to hide. To be silent. To shape the course of history in secret. But some of my brothers and sisters disagree. They grow angry, insisting it is a mistake to shroud ourselves. They say it slows our work. But they do not understand the risks. To expose ourselves now would be too dangerous. I fear we would be branded madmen and attacked. So it goes. So it always has. If there is one thing I know for certain, it is that men do not learn by being told. Instead they must be shown. They must make the connections themselves. If I say unto a man, be kind, be tolerant, be of an open mind - these words will wither and die long before they've affected change. It would be a waste. And so we must maintain our course...

==Page 19==
Legends speaks of a golden fleece. Could the two be related?...

...I have further refined the metallurgic process, allowing for the production of a suit of armor the likes of which the world has never seen...

...It is possessed of great strength, yet so light as to allow complete freedom...

...I alternate between wonder and fear. Here we have crafted something that will surely change the face of warfare, making those who wear it nigh invincible...

Perhaps it was a mistake to create these pieces. I think it best to erase the formulae. What if it were to fall in the hands of our enemies? The risk is too great...

==Page 20==
I have studied the ancient pagan faiths that came before this more recent obsession with a single, divine creator. They seem to have focused more on the fundamental forces at play in the world around us and less on arbitrary moral rules...

The sun rises in the morning and sets in the evening. The tides ebb and flow. Grass grows, withers, dies, and then in time, emerges from the ground once more. The air turns warm then cools and back again. Some hidden energy keeps us fitted to the ground and pulls us back when we attempt to leave it.

Each of these movements was represented before by a god or goddess. Each force given face, but recognized as something distinct and powerful. Which is not to say there were not connections between these forces - a pantheon of individual spirits - of rules. Invisible hands guiding the progress of the world around us.

And so here there was an attempt to categorize, study, explain, and understand the way things work - even if it was flawed. But no more. Now we are asked to succumb to a far more simplified explanation. How naive to believe there might be a single answer to every question. Every mystery. That there exists a lone divine light which rules over all. They say it is a light that brings truth and love. I say it is a light that blinds us - and forces us to stumble about in ignorance.

I long for the day when men turn away from invisible monsters and once more embrace a more rational view of the world. But these new religions are so convenient - and promise such terrible punishment should one reject them - I worry that fear shall keep us stuck to what is surely the greatest lie ever told.

==Page 21==

==Page 22==

==Page 23==
I had just finished my christmas shopping, when i noticed a pigeon had developed onto my leg. -end-

==Page 24==
its chriiiiistmaaaaas!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

==Page 25==
I was quietley assassinating the pig who had killed my father, then I noticed a trembling coming from my pants, the demon of erection had attacked me.

==Page 26==
I have the answer now. I know the truth. I shall not touch that wretched thing again. Best that no one do, now or ever. I have tried - at last - to destroy it, but it will neither bend nor break nor melt. Oh the irony - I am certain if I asked, the Apple would tell me what need be done. But even this promise is insufficient. Always it holds one more gift to give. I must refrain. So it shall be sealed. We will take it to the island - once theirs, now ours. There is a treasury there - hidden well - and it shall have to suffice. Risky to separate myself from the artifact that others may discover it. Riskier still to keep it close. In time I will be tempted. I am weak. We all are. Who wouldn't be? Oh, the things I have seen... The tale is here - inside the text. Not between the lines but beneath them. Where only our eyes might peer. Go and see it for yourself. That you might succeed where I and the others have failed. Time marches on - bringing with it new discoveries and developments. And so at least one day the doorway might be opened and the message delivered. They will have their prophet.

==Page 27==
We are growing larger. More make their way to our fortresses every day. Men and women. Young and old. From different lands. Of different faiths. Each tells a similar story - of having discovered the first part of our creed: that nothing is true.

Too often, though, the revelation undoes them. They lose their morality, certainty, security. Many are driven mad. We must guide them. Help them to heal. Their minds must not be filled with more fairy tales, but with knowledge instead. Let them have answers - and let those answers be difficult and complex. Such is life.

==Page 28==

==Page 29==
A dark tide rises to the east - an army of such size and power that all the land is made quick to worry.  Their leader is a man named Temujin, who has adopted the title Ghengis Khan.  He sweeps across the lands, conquering and subsuming all who stand in his way.  Whatever his motives, he must be stopped.  Were I younger, I might attempt to undertake this work in secret - as I suspect the presence of a Piece of Eden.  But those days are years gone, now.  The mantle must be passed.  It is time she and I spoke with our sons.  We will travel there together, that they may be tested and that this threat might be stopped.

==Page 30==
Soon I shall pass from this world. It is my time. All the hours of the day are now colored by the thoughts and fears borne of this realization. I know that the elements of my body will return to the Earth. But what of my consciousness? My identity? That is to say - what of ME? I suspect it will end. That there is no next world. Nor a return to this one. It will simply be done. Forever.

Our lives are so brief and unimportant. The cosmos cares nothing for us. For what we've done; Had we wrought evil instead of good. Had I chosen to abuse the Apple instead of seal it away. None of it would have mattered. There is no counting. No reckoning. No final judgement. There is simply silence. And darkness. Utter and absolute... And so I have begun to wonder - might there not be a way to stop - or at least delay - death's embrace?

Surely the ones who came before were not so frail and feeble as we. But I have sworn to be done with the artifact. To not gaze into its core. Still: faced as I am with the prospect of my end, what harm is there in one last look...

==Description==
The Codex of Altaïr was a document created and maintained by [[Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad]] sometime after he had recovered and first experienced the [[Piece of Eden]]. He considers the knowledge obtained as a 'necessary evil'. Within its pages were many philosophical observations as well as strategic and technological advancements. His main motivation in creating the document was to help him understand and document what the Pieces of Eden were exactly, as well as to serve as a resource for future sons of his Order. Mentioned in its pages alongside Altaïr's multiple philosophical insights, are his incidents of giving into temptation, and peering into the Apple on multiple occasions. He does this mainly out of fear, fear for his Order and mankind's ability to utilize free will, what he sees only reassures him of the need to use the apple for his own means. In doing so he is able to craft new alloys and lightweight materials, make several advancements to the mechanics of the housing of the hidden blade, as well as being the in-game canon inventor of black powder and the miniaturized gun within the hidden blade. Altaïr ultimately regrets doing this, as peering into the future has revealed to him no changes in the ultimate fate of humanity. Altaïr also struggles with the temptations of the Apple, often contemplating misusing it, which eventually leads him to leave the Apple of Eden on the island of Cyprus sometime during his mid-late life.

Altaïr makes multiple references to an unseen threat other than the Templars. he also details his observations of the warlord Genghis Khan's conquests, fearing he is a Templar conspirator and sensing a Piece of Eden Altaïr quickly prepares a mission to the near east to investigate, although he is ripe with age at this point and can only act as an advisor to the young assassins he has tasked with the work. It is not known what became of this, only that all the evidence points to Altaïr giving the codex to the team of or lone assassins tasked with investigating Genghis Khan.

It is possible that the statue dedicated to the assassin that shot Khan's horse is, in fact, one of Altair's sons.

{{ACII}}
[[Category:Assassin's Order]]
[[Category:Assassin's Creed II]]

Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad's Codex

2009-12-10T13:19:08Z

83.100.212.100: /* Page 3 */

__NOTOC__
'''The Codex''' are documents left behind by [[Altaïr]], containing cryptic messages. In [[Assassin's Creed II]], [[Ezio]] takes the Codex papers to [[Leonardo da Vinci]], who interprets them, and creates weapons using guidelines encrypted on the Codex. In order to complete Assassin's Creed II, the player must collect all 30 pages from the Codex. If the player doesn't have all the Codex once they are ready for Memory Block 14, all remaining pages will appear on the map.

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==Page 1==
I have spent days with the artifact now. Or has it been weeks? Months? I can no longer be certain...
The others come from time to time - offering food or distraction. They say I should separate myself from these studies... Malik has even suggested I abandon them entirely. But I am not yet ready to turn away. This Apple of Eden will be understood. It must be...
Is it a weapon? Is it a catalogue? Is it somehow both? "He who increaseth knowledge, increaseth sorrow..." The philosophy of such a statement I can understand... But for it to be truth - literally true? A society that waged wars with ideas and information in place of steel and swords...
Its function is simple. Elementary, even. Dominion. Control. But the process... the methods and means it employs... THESE are fascinating. Those subjected to its glow are promised all that they desire. It asks only one thing in return: complete and total obedience. And who can truly refuse? It is temptation incarnate.
I remember my own moment of weakness when confronted by Al Mualim, my confidence shaken by his words. He, who had been like a father, was now revealed to be my greatest enemy. Just the briefest flicker of doubt was all he needed to creep into my mind. But I vanquished his phantoms - restored my self confidence - and sent him from this world. I freed myself. But now I wonder... Did I really? For here I sit - desperate to understand that which I swore to destroy.
This is why: The Apple has a tale to tell. I sense the flickers of something - great and dangerous... We are all at risk. It is my duty to do something about it. I must not - cannot - turn away until I've found the truth.

==Page 2==

==page 256467576 ==

==Page 4==
What follows are the three great ironies of the Assassin Order: (1) Here we seek to promote peace, but murder is our means. (2) Here we seek to open the minds of men, but require obedience to a master and set of rules. (3) Here we seek to reveal the danger of blind faith, yet we are practitioners ourselves.
I have no satisfactory answer to these charges, only possibilities... Do we bend the rules in service to a greater good? And if we do, what does it say of us? That we are liars? That we are frauds? That we are weak? Every moment is spent wrestling with these contradictions and in spite of all the years I've had to reflect, still I can find no suitable answer... And I fear that one may not exist.
Nothing is true. Everything is permitted. Does our creed provide the answer, then? That one may be two things - opposite in every way - simultaneously? And why not? Am I not proof? We of noble intentions, possessed of barbaric means? We who celebrate the sanctity of life and then promptly take it from those we deem our enemies?

==Page 5==
Who were The Ones That Came Before? What brought them here? How long ago? Centuries? Millenia? Longer still? So little remains of them... What drove them out? What of these artifacts? Messages in a bottle? Tools left behind to aid and guide us? Or do we fight for control over their refuse, giving divine purpose and meaning to little more than discarded toys?

==Page 6==
Robert de Sable may be dead, but his brotherhood survives. Though less conspicuous in appearance, I fear they remain a threat. Where once they proudly walked the streets - making for easier targets - now they retreat into the shadows. It grows difficult to track them. What wicked things will they weave in the darkness? Our work will be all the more complicated for it. Already there are rumors of a movement on Cyprus. I will have to investigate...

It's made me realize that our tactics, too, must change. It means an end to our fortresses. To our penchant for spectacular displays of public assassinations. We must weave our webs quietly. And we must do so differently than we have in the past.

Though I ask my brothers now to abandon their rituals, I do not ask that they abandon the creed. THIS is what makes us assassins. Not the removal of a finger. Not a false promise of paradise. Not the prohibition of poison. Our duty is to the people, not to custom. If we must sneak, we shall sneak. If we must use poison, we shall use poison. If our blades can be used without removing fingers, we shall not demand they be taken. And we shall not manipulate our initiates with lies and parlor tricks. We shall speak plainly and honestly. We shall be made anew...

==Page 7==
I had thought Adha would be the one to lead me to rest, that I might lay down my blade and live as a normal man. But now I know such dreams are best left to sleep...

Her face.  I try to banish it from my mind as I remember the days and nights during which I chased her Templar captors across the sea.  I almost got to them in time.  Almost.  If I had only been faster.  Instead, I held her lifeless body in my arms - saw the terror reflected in her fixed, unblinking eyes...

I hunted each man - one by one - until all responsible were gone from the world.  But there was no joy in this.  No satisfaction or release.  Their deaths did not bring her back.  Did not heal my wounds.  After that, I was certain I would never again feel for a woman as I had for her.

I am fortunate to have been wrong.

==Page 8==
Why do our instincts insist on violence? I have studies the interactions between different species. The innate desire to survive seems to demand the death of the other. Why can they not stand hand in hand? So many believe the world was created by the hand of a divine power - but I see only the designs of a madman, bent on celebrating destruction and desperation. Our origins seem chaotic. Unintended. Purpose and being instilled solely by the passage of time. Imposed first by nature - and later men...

==Page 9==
Over time, any sentence uttered long and loud enough becomes fixed. Becomes a truth. Provided, of course, you can outlast the dissent and silence your opponents. But should you succeed - and remove all challengers - then what remains is, by default, now true.

Is it truth in some objective sense? No. But how does one ever achieve an objective point of view? The answer is you don't. It is literally, physically impossible. There are too many variables. Too many fields and formulae to consider. We can try, of course. We can inch closer and closer to a revelation. But we'll never reach it. Not ever...

And so I have realized, that so long as The Templars exist, they will attempt to bend reality to their will. They recognize there is no such thing as an absolute truth - or if there is - we are hopelessly underequipped to recognize it. And so in its place, they seek to create their own explanation. It is the guiding principle of their so-named "New World Order"; To reshape existence in their own image. It is not about artifacts. Not about men. These are merely tools. It's about concepts. Clever of them. For how does one wage war against a concept?

It is the perfect weapon. It lacks a physical form yet can alter the world around us in numerous, often violent ways. You cannot kill a creed. Even if you kill all of its adherents, destroy all of its writings - these are a reprieve at best. Some one, some day, will rediscover it. Reinvent it. I believe that even we, the Assassins, have simply re-discovered an Order that predates the Old Man himself...

==Page 10==

==Page 11==
Attis.  Dionysus.  Horus.  Krishna.  Mithra.  Jesus.  Similar stories color their lives.  Too similar, I think.  Divine birthright.  Persecution.  Disciples.  Miraculous acts.  Resurrection...

How is it possible?

Perhaps it isn't... Merely a single story told over the ages?  Borrowed then changed to fit the times? Evolving as our tools and language do?  Is this tale borne of fact or fiction?  A bit of both?  Could these figures be the same person - their life extended and transformed by a Piece of Eden?

Al Mualim spoke of Jesus as a real person - a mortal who had mastered the arts of manipulation.  But what if he was wrong?  If these men are real - and if they have walked amongst us many times before - does it mean they'll come again?  Perhaps they are here now?  So many questions, and every day, even more...

==Page 12==

==Page 13==

==Page 14==
Man seeks dominion over all that he encounters. I suppose it a natural tendency for us to aspire towards mastery of our surroundings. But this should not include other human beings. Every day more and more are pressed into service - by deception or by force. Others, though not so firmly imprisoned, are made to feel as if their lives are worthless. I have seen the ways in which men persecute women. Heard the cruel words hurled at those who come here from other lands. Watched as those who believe or act differently are made to suffer...

We discuss such things often - watching as we do from the spires of Masyaf. What can be done to stop this? To encourage tolerance and equality? Some days we speak of education, believing that knowledge will free us from immorality. But as I walk the streets and see slaves sent off to auction - my heart grows cold. When I see the husband hurl abuses and stones at his wife, insisting she exists only to serve him - my fists clench. And when I see children torn from their parents so that another man might profit - sent off to suffer beneath the desert sun and die...

...On these days, I do not think that dialogue will make a difference. On these days, I can think only of how the perpetrators need to die.

==Page 15==

==Page 16==
The Apple is more than a catalog of that which precedes us. Within its twisting, sparking innards I've caught glimpses of what will be. Such a thing should not be possible. Perhaps it isn't. Maybe it is simply a suggestion. How to know? How to be sure?

I contemplate the consequences of these visions: are they images of things to come - or simply the potential for what might be? Can we influence the outcome? Dare we try? And in so doing, do we merely ensure that which we've seen?

I am torn - as always - between action and inaction - unclear as to which - if either - will make a difference. Am I even meant to make a difference? Still, I keep this journal. Is that not an attempt to change - or perhaps guarantee - what I have seen?

==Page 17==

==Page 18==
We are obligated to hide. To be silent. To shape the course of history in secret. But some of my brothers and sisters disagree. They grow angry, insisting it is a mistake to shroud ourselves. They say it slows our work. But they do not understand the risks. To expose ourselves now would be too dangerous. I fear we would be branded madmen and attacked. So it goes. So it always has. If there is one thing I know for certain, it is that men do not learn by being told. Instead they must be shown. They must make the connections themselves. If I say unto a man, be kind, be tolerant, be of an open mind - these words will wither and die long before they've affected change. It would be a waste. And so we must maintain our course...

==Page 19==
Legends speaks of a golden fleece. Could the two be related?...

...I have further refined the metallurgic process, allowing for the production of a suit of armor the likes of which the world has never seen...

...It is possessed of great strength, yet so light as to allow complete freedom...

...I alternate between wonder and fear. Here we have crafted something that will surely change the face of warfare, making those who wear it nigh invincible...

Perhaps it was a mistake to create these pieces. I think it best to erase the formulae. What if it were to fall in the hands of our enemies? The risk is too great...

==Page 20==
I have studied the ancient pagan faiths that came before this more recent obsession with a single, divine creator. They seem to have focused more on the fundamental forces at play in the world around us and less on arbitrary moral rules...

The sun rises in the morning and sets in the evening. The tides ebb and flow. Grass grows, withers, dies, and then in time, emerges from the ground once more. The air turns warm then cools and back again. Some hidden energy keeps us fitted to the ground and pulls us back when we attempt to leave it.

Each of these movements was represented before by a god or goddess. Each force given face, but recognized as something distinct and powerful. Which is not to say there were not connections between these forces - a pantheon of individual spirits - of rules. Invisible hands guiding the progress of the world around us.

And so here there was an attempt to categorize, study, explain, and understand the way things work - even if it was flawed. But no more. Now we are asked to succumb to a far more simplified explanation. How naive to believe there might be a single answer to every question. Every mystery. That there exists a lone divine light which rules over all. They say it is a light that brings truth and love. I say it is a light that blinds us - and forces us to stumble about in ignorance.

I long for the day when men turn away from invisible monsters and once more embrace a more rational view of the world. But these new religions are so convenient - and promise such terrible punishment should one reject them - I worry that fear shall keep us stuck to what is surely the greatest lie ever told.

==Page 21==

==Page 22==

==Page 23==
I had just finished my christmas shopping, when i noticed a pigeon had developed onto my leg. -end-

==Page 24==

==Page 25==
I was quietley assassinating the pig who had killed my father, then I noticed a trembling coming from my pants, the demon of erection had attacked me.

==Page 26==
I have the answer now. I know the truth. I shall not touch that wretched thing again. Best that no one do, now or ever. I have tried - at last - to destroy it, but it will neither bend nor break nor melt. Oh the irony - I am certain if I asked, the Apple would tell me what need be done. But even this promise is insufficient. Always it holds one more gift to give. I must refrain. So it shall be sealed. We will take it to the island - once theirs, now ours. There is a treasury there - hidden well - and it shall have to suffice. Risky to separate myself from the artifact that others may discover it. Riskier still to keep it close. In time I will be tempted. I am weak. We all are. Who wouldn't be? Oh, the things I have seen... The tale is here - inside the text. Not between the lines but beneath them. Where only our eyes might peer. Go and see it for yourself. That you might succeed where I and the others have failed. Time marches on - bringing with it new discoveries and developments. And so at least one day the doorway might be opened and the message delivered. They will have their prophet.

==Page 27==
We are growing larger. More make their way to our fortresses every day. Men and women. Young and old. From different lands. Of different faiths. Each tells a similar story - of having discovered the first part of our creed: that nothing is true.

Too often, though, the revelation undoes them. They lose their morality, certainty, security. Many are driven mad. We must guide them. Help them to heal. Their minds must not be filled with more fairy tales, but with knowledge instead. Let them have answers - and let those answers be difficult and complex. Such is life.

==Page 28==

==Page 29==
A dark tide rises to the east - an army of such size and power that all the land is made quick to worry.  Their leader is a man named Temujin, who has adopted the title Ghengis Khan.  He sweeps across the lands, conquering and subsuming all who stand in his way.  Whatever his motives, he must be stopped.  Were I younger, I might attempt to undertake this work in secret - as I suspect the presence of a Piece of Eden.  But those days are years gone, now.  The mantle must be passed.  It is time she and I spoke with our sons.  We will travel there together, that they may be tested and that this threat might be stopped.

==Page 30==
Soon I shall pass from this world. It is my time. All the hours of the day are now colored by the thoughts and fears borne of this realization. I know that the elements of my body will return to the Earth. But what of my consciousness? My identity? That is to say - what of ME? I suspect it will end. That there is no next world. Nor a return to this one. It will simply be done. Forever.

Our lives are so brief and unimportant. The cosmos cares nothing for us. For what we've done; Had we wrought evil instead of good. Had I chosen to abuse the Apple instead of seal it away. None of it would have mattered. There is no counting. No reckoning. No final judgement. There is simply silence. And darkness. Utter and absolute... And so I have begun to wonder - might there not be a way to stop - or at least delay - death's embrace?

Surely the ones who came before were not so frail and feeble as we. But I have sworn to be done with the artifact. To not gaze into its core. Still: faced as I am with the prospect of my end, what harm is there in one last look...

==Description==
The Codex of Altaïr was a document created and maintained by [[Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad]] sometime after he had recovered and first experienced the [[Piece of Eden]]. He considers the knowledge obtained as a 'necessary evil'. Within its pages were many philosophical observations as well as strategic and technological advancements. His main motivation in creating the document was to help him understand and document what the Pieces of Eden were exactly, as well as to serve as a resource for future sons of his Order. Mentioned in its pages alongside Altaïr's multiple philosophical insights, are his incidents of giving into temptation, and peering into the Apple on multiple occasions. He does this mainly out of fear, fear for his Order and mankind's ability to utilize free will, what he sees only reassures him of the need to use the apple for his own means. In doing so he is able to craft new alloys and lightweight materials, make several advancements to the mechanics of the housing of the hidden blade, as well as being the in-game canon inventor of black powder and the miniaturized gun within the hidden blade. Altaïr ultimately regrets doing this, as peering into the future has revealed to him no changes in the ultimate fate of humanity. Altaïr also struggles with the temptations of the Apple, often contemplating misusing it, which eventually leads him to leave the Apple of Eden on the island of Cyprus sometime during his mid-late life.

Altaïr makes multiple references to an unseen threat other than the Templars. he also details his observations of the warlord Genghis Khan's conquests, fearing he is a Templar conspirator and sensing a Piece of Eden Altaïr quickly prepares a mission to the near east to investigate, although he is ripe with age at this point and can only act as an advisor to the young assassins he has tasked with the work. It is not known what became of this, only that all the evidence points to Altaïr giving the codex to the team of or lone assassins tasked with investigating Genghis Khan.

It is possible that the statue dedicated to the assassin that shot Khan's horse is, in fact, one of Altair's sons.

{{ACII}}
[[Category:Assassin's Order]]
[[Category:Assassin's Creed II]]

Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad's Codex

2009-12-10T13:18:41Z

83.100.212.100: /* Page 25 */

__NOTOC__
'''The Codex''' are documents left behind by [[Altaïr]], containing cryptic messages. In [[Assassin's Creed II]], [[Ezio]] takes the Codex papers to [[Leonardo da Vinci]], who interprets them, and creates weapons using guidelines encrypted on the Codex. In order to complete Assassin's Creed II, the player must collect all 30 pages from the Codex. If the player doesn't have all the Codex once they are ready for Memory Block 14, all remaining pages will appear on the map.

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==Page 1==
I have spent days with the artifact now. Or has it been weeks? Months? I can no longer be certain...
The others come from time to time - offering food or distraction. They say I should separate myself from these studies... Malik has even suggested I abandon them entirely. But I am not yet ready to turn away. This Apple of Eden will be understood. It must be...
Is it a weapon? Is it a catalogue? Is it somehow both? "He who increaseth knowledge, increaseth sorrow..." The philosophy of such a statement I can understand... But for it to be truth - literally true? A society that waged wars with ideas and information in place of steel and swords...
Its function is simple. Elementary, even. Dominion. Control. But the process... the methods and means it employs... THESE are fascinating. Those subjected to its glow are promised all that they desire. It asks only one thing in return: complete and total obedience. And who can truly refuse? It is temptation incarnate.
I remember my own moment of weakness when confronted by Al Mualim, my confidence shaken by his words. He, who had been like a father, was now revealed to be my greatest enemy. Just the briefest flicker of doubt was all he needed to creep into my mind. But I vanquished his phantoms - restored my self confidence - and sent him from this world. I freed myself. But now I wonder... Did I really? For here I sit - desperate to understand that which I swore to destroy.
This is why: The Apple has a tale to tell. I sense the flickers of something - great and dangerous... We are all at risk. It is my duty to do something about it. I must not - cannot - turn away until I've found the truth.

==Page 2==

==Page 3==

==Page 4==
What follows are the three great ironies of the Assassin Order: (1) Here we seek to promote peace, but murder is our means. (2) Here we seek to open the minds of men, but require obedience to a master and set of rules. (3) Here we seek to reveal the danger of blind faith, yet we are practitioners ourselves.
I have no satisfactory answer to these charges, only possibilities... Do we bend the rules in service to a greater good? And if we do, what does it say of us? That we are liars? That we are frauds? That we are weak? Every moment is spent wrestling with these contradictions and in spite of all the years I've had to reflect, still I can find no suitable answer... And I fear that one may not exist.
Nothing is true. Everything is permitted. Does our creed provide the answer, then? That one may be two things - opposite in every way - simultaneously? And why not? Am I not proof? We of noble intentions, possessed of barbaric means? We who celebrate the sanctity of life and then promptly take it from those we deem our enemies?

==Page 5==
Who were The Ones That Came Before? What brought them here? How long ago? Centuries? Millenia? Longer still? So little remains of them... What drove them out? What of these artifacts? Messages in a bottle? Tools left behind to aid and guide us? Or do we fight for control over their refuse, giving divine purpose and meaning to little more than discarded toys?

==Page 6==
Robert de Sable may be dead, but his brotherhood survives. Though less conspicuous in appearance, I fear they remain a threat. Where once they proudly walked the streets - making for easier targets - now they retreat into the shadows. It grows difficult to track them. What wicked things will they weave in the darkness? Our work will be all the more complicated for it. Already there are rumors of a movement on Cyprus. I will have to investigate...

It's made me realize that our tactics, too, must change. It means an end to our fortresses. To our penchant for spectacular displays of public assassinations. We must weave our webs quietly. And we must do so differently than we have in the past.

Though I ask my brothers now to abandon their rituals, I do not ask that they abandon the creed. THIS is what makes us assassins. Not the removal of a finger. Not a false promise of paradise. Not the prohibition of poison. Our duty is to the people, not to custom. If we must sneak, we shall sneak. If we must use poison, we shall use poison. If our blades can be used without removing fingers, we shall not demand they be taken. And we shall not manipulate our initiates with lies and parlor tricks. We shall speak plainly and honestly. We shall be made anew...

==Page 7==
I had thought Adha would be the one to lead me to rest, that I might lay down my blade and live as a normal man. But now I know such dreams are best left to sleep...

Her face.  I try to banish it from my mind as I remember the days and nights during which I chased her Templar captors across the sea.  I almost got to them in time.  Almost.  If I had only been faster.  Instead, I held her lifeless body in my arms - saw the terror reflected in her fixed, unblinking eyes...

I hunted each man - one by one - until all responsible were gone from the world.  But there was no joy in this.  No satisfaction or release.  Their deaths did not bring her back.  Did not heal my wounds.  After that, I was certain I would never again feel for a woman as I had for her.

I am fortunate to have been wrong.

==Page 8==
Why do our instincts insist on violence? I have studies the interactions between different species. The innate desire to survive seems to demand the death of the other. Why can they not stand hand in hand? So many believe the world was created by the hand of a divine power - but I see only the designs of a madman, bent on celebrating destruction and desperation. Our origins seem chaotic. Unintended. Purpose and being instilled solely by the passage of time. Imposed first by nature - and later men...

==Page 9==
Over time, any sentence uttered long and loud enough becomes fixed. Becomes a truth. Provided, of course, you can outlast the dissent and silence your opponents. But should you succeed - and remove all challengers - then what remains is, by default, now true.

Is it truth in some objective sense? No. But how does one ever achieve an objective point of view? The answer is you don't. It is literally, physically impossible. There are too many variables. Too many fields and formulae to consider. We can try, of course. We can inch closer and closer to a revelation. But we'll never reach it. Not ever...

And so I have realized, that so long as The Templars exist, they will attempt to bend reality to their will. They recognize there is no such thing as an absolute truth - or if there is - we are hopelessly underequipped to recognize it. And so in its place, they seek to create their own explanation. It is the guiding principle of their so-named "New World Order"; To reshape existence in their own image. It is not about artifacts. Not about men. These are merely tools. It's about concepts. Clever of them. For how does one wage war against a concept?

It is the perfect weapon. It lacks a physical form yet can alter the world around us in numerous, often violent ways. You cannot kill a creed. Even if you kill all of its adherents, destroy all of its writings - these are a reprieve at best. Some one, some day, will rediscover it. Reinvent it. I believe that even we, the Assassins, have simply re-discovered an Order that predates the Old Man himself...

==Page 10==

==Page 11==
Attis.  Dionysus.  Horus.  Krishna.  Mithra.  Jesus.  Similar stories color their lives.  Too similar, I think.  Divine birthright.  Persecution.  Disciples.  Miraculous acts.  Resurrection...

How is it possible?

Perhaps it isn't... Merely a single story told over the ages?  Borrowed then changed to fit the times? Evolving as our tools and language do?  Is this tale borne of fact or fiction?  A bit of both?  Could these figures be the same person - their life extended and transformed by a Piece of Eden?

Al Mualim spoke of Jesus as a real person - a mortal who had mastered the arts of manipulation.  But what if he was wrong?  If these men are real - and if they have walked amongst us many times before - does it mean they'll come again?  Perhaps they are here now?  So many questions, and every day, even more...

==Page 12==

==Page 13==

==Page 14==
Man seeks dominion over all that he encounters. I suppose it a natural tendency for us to aspire towards mastery of our surroundings. But this should not include other human beings. Every day more and more are pressed into service - by deception or by force. Others, though not so firmly imprisoned, are made to feel as if their lives are worthless. I have seen the ways in which men persecute women. Heard the cruel words hurled at those who come here from other lands. Watched as those who believe or act differently are made to suffer...

We discuss such things often - watching as we do from the spires of Masyaf. What can be done to stop this? To encourage tolerance and equality? Some days we speak of education, believing that knowledge will free us from immorality. But as I walk the streets and see slaves sent off to auction - my heart grows cold. When I see the husband hurl abuses and stones at his wife, insisting she exists only to serve him - my fists clench. And when I see children torn from their parents so that another man might profit - sent off to suffer beneath the desert sun and die...

...On these days, I do not think that dialogue will make a difference. On these days, I can think only of how the perpetrators need to die.

==Page 15==

==Page 16==
The Apple is more than a catalog of that which precedes us. Within its twisting, sparking innards I've caught glimpses of what will be. Such a thing should not be possible. Perhaps it isn't. Maybe it is simply a suggestion. How to know? How to be sure?

I contemplate the consequences of these visions: are they images of things to come - or simply the potential for what might be? Can we influence the outcome? Dare we try? And in so doing, do we merely ensure that which we've seen?

I am torn - as always - between action and inaction - unclear as to which - if either - will make a difference. Am I even meant to make a difference? Still, I keep this journal. Is that not an attempt to change - or perhaps guarantee - what I have seen?

==Page 17==

==Page 18==
We are obligated to hide. To be silent. To shape the course of history in secret. But some of my brothers and sisters disagree. They grow angry, insisting it is a mistake to shroud ourselves. They say it slows our work. But they do not understand the risks. To expose ourselves now would be too dangerous. I fear we would be branded madmen and attacked. So it goes. So it always has. If there is one thing I know for certain, it is that men do not learn by being told. Instead they must be shown. They must make the connections themselves. If I say unto a man, be kind, be tolerant, be of an open mind - these words will wither and die long before they've affected change. It would be a waste. And so we must maintain our course...

==Page 19==
Legends speaks of a golden fleece. Could the two be related?...

...I have further refined the metallurgic process, allowing for the production of a suit of armor the likes of which the world has never seen...

...It is possessed of great strength, yet so light as to allow complete freedom...

...I alternate between wonder and fear. Here we have crafted something that will surely change the face of warfare, making those who wear it nigh invincible...

Perhaps it was a mistake to create these pieces. I think it best to erase the formulae. What if it were to fall in the hands of our enemies? The risk is too great...

==Page 20==
I have studied the ancient pagan faiths that came before this more recent obsession with a single, divine creator. They seem to have focused more on the fundamental forces at play in the world around us and less on arbitrary moral rules...

The sun rises in the morning and sets in the evening. The tides ebb and flow. Grass grows, withers, dies, and then in time, emerges from the ground once more. The air turns warm then cools and back again. Some hidden energy keeps us fitted to the ground and pulls us back when we attempt to leave it.

Each of these movements was represented before by a god or goddess. Each force given face, but recognized as something distinct and powerful. Which is not to say there were not connections between these forces - a pantheon of individual spirits - of rules. Invisible hands guiding the progress of the world around us.

And so here there was an attempt to categorize, study, explain, and understand the way things work - even if it was flawed. But no more. Now we are asked to succumb to a far more simplified explanation. How naive to believe there might be a single answer to every question. Every mystery. That there exists a lone divine light which rules over all. They say it is a light that brings truth and love. I say it is a light that blinds us - and forces us to stumble about in ignorance.

I long for the day when men turn away from invisible monsters and once more embrace a more rational view of the world. But these new religions are so convenient - and promise such terrible punishment should one reject them - I worry that fear shall keep us stuck to what is surely the greatest lie ever told.

==Page 21==

==Page 22==

==Page 23==
I had just finished my christmas shopping, when i noticed a pigeon had developed onto my leg. -end-

==Page 24==

==Page 25==
I was quietley assassinating the pig who had killed my father, then I noticed a trembling coming from my pants, the demon of erection had attacked me.

==Page 26==
I have the answer now. I know the truth. I shall not touch that wretched thing again. Best that no one do, now or ever. I have tried - at last - to destroy it, but it will neither bend nor break nor melt. Oh the irony - I am certain if I asked, the Apple would tell me what need be done. But even this promise is insufficient. Always it holds one more gift to give. I must refrain. So it shall be sealed. We will take it to the island - once theirs, now ours. There is a treasury there - hidden well - and it shall have to suffice. Risky to separate myself from the artifact that others may discover it. Riskier still to keep it close. In time I will be tempted. I am weak. We all are. Who wouldn't be? Oh, the things I have seen... The tale is here - inside the text. Not between the lines but beneath them. Where only our eyes might peer. Go and see it for yourself. That you might succeed where I and the others have failed. Time marches on - bringing with it new discoveries and developments. And so at least one day the doorway might be opened and the message delivered. They will have their prophet.

==Page 27==
We are growing larger. More make their way to our fortresses every day. Men and women. Young and old. From different lands. Of different faiths. Each tells a similar story - of having discovered the first part of our creed: that nothing is true.

Too often, though, the revelation undoes them. They lose their morality, certainty, security. Many are driven mad. We must guide them. Help them to heal. Their minds must not be filled with more fairy tales, but with knowledge instead. Let them have answers - and let those answers be difficult and complex. Such is life.

==Page 28==

==Page 29==
A dark tide rises to the east - an army of such size and power that all the land is made quick to worry.  Their leader is a man named Temujin, who has adopted the title Ghengis Khan.  He sweeps across the lands, conquering and subsuming all who stand in his way.  Whatever his motives, he must be stopped.  Were I younger, I might attempt to undertake this work in secret - as I suspect the presence of a Piece of Eden.  But those days are years gone, now.  The mantle must be passed.  It is time she and I spoke with our sons.  We will travel there together, that they may be tested and that this threat might be stopped.

==Page 30==
Soon I shall pass from this world. It is my time. All the hours of the day are now colored by the thoughts and fears borne of this realization. I know that the elements of my body will return to the Earth. But what of my consciousness? My identity? That is to say - what of ME? I suspect it will end. That there is no next world. Nor a return to this one. It will simply be done. Forever.

Our lives are so brief and unimportant. The cosmos cares nothing for us. For what we've done; Had we wrought evil instead of good. Had I chosen to abuse the Apple instead of seal it away. None of it would have mattered. There is no counting. No reckoning. No final judgement. There is simply silence. And darkness. Utter and absolute... And so I have begun to wonder - might there not be a way to stop - or at least delay - death's embrace?

Surely the ones who came before were not so frail and feeble as we. But I have sworn to be done with the artifact. To not gaze into its core. Still: faced as I am with the prospect of my end, what harm is there in one last look...

==Description==
The Codex of Altaïr was a document created and maintained by [[Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad]] sometime after he had recovered and first experienced the [[Piece of Eden]]. He considers the knowledge obtained as a 'necessary evil'. Within its pages were many philosophical observations as well as strategic and technological advancements. His main motivation in creating the document was to help him understand and document what the Pieces of Eden were exactly, as well as to serve as a resource for future sons of his Order. Mentioned in its pages alongside Altaïr's multiple philosophical insights, are his incidents of giving into temptation, and peering into the Apple on multiple occasions. He does this mainly out of fear, fear for his Order and mankind's ability to utilize free will, what he sees only reassures him of the need to use the apple for his own means. In doing so he is able to craft new alloys and lightweight materials, make several advancements to the mechanics of the housing of the hidden blade, as well as being the in-game canon inventor of black powder and the miniaturized gun within the hidden blade. Altaïr ultimately regrets doing this, as peering into the future has revealed to him no changes in the ultimate fate of humanity. Altaïr also struggles with the temptations of the Apple, often contemplating misusing it, which eventually leads him to leave the Apple of Eden on the island of Cyprus sometime during his mid-late life.

Altaïr makes multiple references to an unseen threat other than the Templars. he also details his observations of the warlord Genghis Khan's conquests, fearing he is a Templar conspirator and sensing a Piece of Eden Altaïr quickly prepares a mission to the near east to investigate, although he is ripe with age at this point and can only act as an advisor to the young assassins he has tasked with the work. It is not known what became of this, only that all the evidence points to Altaïr giving the codex to the team of or lone assassins tasked with investigating Genghis Khan.

It is possible that the statue dedicated to the assassin that shot Khan's horse is, in fact, one of Altair's sons.

{{ACII}}
[[Category:Assassin's Order]]
[[Category:Assassin's Creed II]]

Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad's Codex

2009-12-10T13:16:46Z

83.100.212.100: /* Page 23 */

__NOTOC__
'''The Codex''' are documents left behind by [[Altaïr]], containing cryptic messages. In [[Assassin's Creed II]], [[Ezio]] takes the Codex papers to [[Leonardo da Vinci]], who interprets them, and creates weapons using guidelines encrypted on the Codex. In order to complete Assassin's Creed II, the player must collect all 30 pages from the Codex. If the player doesn't have all the Codex once they are ready for Memory Block 14, all remaining pages will appear on the map.

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==Page 1==
I have spent days with the artifact now. Or has it been weeks? Months? I can no longer be certain...
The others come from time to time - offering food or distraction. They say I should separate myself from these studies... Malik has even suggested I abandon them entirely. But I am not yet ready to turn away. This Apple of Eden will be understood. It must be...
Is it a weapon? Is it a catalogue? Is it somehow both? "He who increaseth knowledge, increaseth sorrow..." The philosophy of such a statement I can understand... But for it to be truth - literally true? A society that waged wars with ideas and information in place of steel and swords...
Its function is simple. Elementary, even. Dominion. Control. But the process... the methods and means it employs... THESE are fascinating. Those subjected to its glow are promised all that they desire. It asks only one thing in return: complete and total obedience. And who can truly refuse? It is temptation incarnate.
I remember my own moment of weakness when confronted by Al Mualim, my confidence shaken by his words. He, who had been like a father, was now revealed to be my greatest enemy. Just the briefest flicker of doubt was all he needed to creep into my mind. But I vanquished his phantoms - restored my self confidence - and sent him from this world. I freed myself. But now I wonder... Did I really? For here I sit - desperate to understand that which I swore to destroy.
This is why: The Apple has a tale to tell. I sense the flickers of something - great and dangerous... We are all at risk. It is my duty to do something about it. I must not - cannot - turn away until I've found the truth.

==Page 2==

==Page 3==

==Page 4==
What follows are the three great ironies of the Assassin Order: (1) Here we seek to promote peace, but murder is our means. (2) Here we seek to open the minds of men, but require obedience to a master and set of rules. (3) Here we seek to reveal the danger of blind faith, yet we are practitioners ourselves.
I have no satisfactory answer to these charges, only possibilities... Do we bend the rules in service to a greater good? And if we do, what does it say of us? That we are liars? That we are frauds? That we are weak? Every moment is spent wrestling with these contradictions and in spite of all the years I've had to reflect, still I can find no suitable answer... And I fear that one may not exist.
Nothing is true. Everything is permitted. Does our creed provide the answer, then? That one may be two things - opposite in every way - simultaneously? And why not? Am I not proof? We of noble intentions, possessed of barbaric means? We who celebrate the sanctity of life and then promptly take it from those we deem our enemies?

==Page 5==
Who were The Ones That Came Before? What brought them here? How long ago? Centuries? Millenia? Longer still? So little remains of them... What drove them out? What of these artifacts? Messages in a bottle? Tools left behind to aid and guide us? Or do we fight for control over their refuse, giving divine purpose and meaning to little more than discarded toys?

==Page 6==
Robert de Sable may be dead, but his brotherhood survives. Though less conspicuous in appearance, I fear they remain a threat. Where once they proudly walked the streets - making for easier targets - now they retreat into the shadows. It grows difficult to track them. What wicked things will they weave in the darkness? Our work will be all the more complicated for it. Already there are rumors of a movement on Cyprus. I will have to investigate...

It's made me realize that our tactics, too, must change. It means an end to our fortresses. To our penchant for spectacular displays of public assassinations. We must weave our webs quietly. And we must do so differently than we have in the past.

Though I ask my brothers now to abandon their rituals, I do not ask that they abandon the creed. THIS is what makes us assassins. Not the removal of a finger. Not a false promise of paradise. Not the prohibition of poison. Our duty is to the people, not to custom. If we must sneak, we shall sneak. If we must use poison, we shall use poison. If our blades can be used without removing fingers, we shall not demand they be taken. And we shall not manipulate our initiates with lies and parlor tricks. We shall speak plainly and honestly. We shall be made anew...

==Page 7==
I had thought Adha would be the one to lead me to rest, that I might lay down my blade and live as a normal man. But now I know such dreams are best left to sleep...

Her face.  I try to banish it from my mind as I remember the days and nights during which I chased her Templar captors across the sea.  I almost got to them in time.  Almost.  If I had only been faster.  Instead, I held her lifeless body in my arms - saw the terror reflected in her fixed, unblinking eyes...

I hunted each man - one by one - until all responsible were gone from the world.  But there was no joy in this.  No satisfaction or release.  Their deaths did not bring her back.  Did not heal my wounds.  After that, I was certain I would never again feel for a woman as I had for her.

I am fortunate to have been wrong.

==Page 8==
Why do our instincts insist on violence? I have studies the interactions between different species. The innate desire to survive seems to demand the death of the other. Why can they not stand hand in hand? So many believe the world was created by the hand of a divine power - but I see only the designs of a madman, bent on celebrating destruction and desperation. Our origins seem chaotic. Unintended. Purpose and being instilled solely by the passage of time. Imposed first by nature - and later men...

==Page 9==
Over time, any sentence uttered long and loud enough becomes fixed. Becomes a truth. Provided, of course, you can outlast the dissent and silence your opponents. But should you succeed - and remove all challengers - then what remains is, by default, now true.

Is it truth in some objective sense? No. But how does one ever achieve an objective point of view? The answer is you don't. It is literally, physically impossible. There are too many variables. Too many fields and formulae to consider. We can try, of course. We can inch closer and closer to a revelation. But we'll never reach it. Not ever...

And so I have realized, that so long as The Templars exist, they will attempt to bend reality to their will. They recognize there is no such thing as an absolute truth - or if there is - we are hopelessly underequipped to recognize it. And so in its place, they seek to create their own explanation. It is the guiding principle of their so-named "New World Order"; To reshape existence in their own image. It is not about artifacts. Not about men. These are merely tools. It's about concepts. Clever of them. For how does one wage war against a concept?

It is the perfect weapon. It lacks a physical form yet can alter the world around us in numerous, often violent ways. You cannot kill a creed. Even if you kill all of its adherents, destroy all of its writings - these are a reprieve at best. Some one, some day, will rediscover it. Reinvent it. I believe that even we, the Assassins, have simply re-discovered an Order that predates the Old Man himself...

==Page 10==

==Page 11==
Attis.  Dionysus.  Horus.  Krishna.  Mithra.  Jesus.  Similar stories color their lives.  Too similar, I think.  Divine birthright.  Persecution.  Disciples.  Miraculous acts.  Resurrection...

How is it possible?

Perhaps it isn't... Merely a single story told over the ages?  Borrowed then changed to fit the times? Evolving as our tools and language do?  Is this tale borne of fact or fiction?  A bit of both?  Could these figures be the same person - their life extended and transformed by a Piece of Eden?

Al Mualim spoke of Jesus as a real person - a mortal who had mastered the arts of manipulation.  But what if he was wrong?  If these men are real - and if they have walked amongst us many times before - does it mean they'll come again?  Perhaps they are here now?  So many questions, and every day, even more...

==Page 12==

==Page 13==

==Page 14==
Man seeks dominion over all that he encounters. I suppose it a natural tendency for us to aspire towards mastery of our surroundings. But this should not include other human beings. Every day more and more are pressed into service - by deception or by force. Others, though not so firmly imprisoned, are made to feel as if their lives are worthless. I have seen the ways in which men persecute women. Heard the cruel words hurled at those who come here from other lands. Watched as those who believe or act differently are made to suffer...

We discuss such things often - watching as we do from the spires of Masyaf. What can be done to stop this? To encourage tolerance and equality? Some days we speak of education, believing that knowledge will free us from immorality. But as I walk the streets and see slaves sent off to auction - my heart grows cold. When I see the husband hurl abuses and stones at his wife, insisting she exists only to serve him - my fists clench. And when I see children torn from their parents so that another man might profit - sent off to suffer beneath the desert sun and die...

...On these days, I do not think that dialogue will make a difference. On these days, I can think only of how the perpetrators need to die.

==Page 15==

==Page 16==
The Apple is more than a catalog of that which precedes us. Within its twisting, sparking innards I've caught glimpses of what will be. Such a thing should not be possible. Perhaps it isn't. Maybe it is simply a suggestion. How to know? How to be sure?

I contemplate the consequences of these visions: are they images of things to come - or simply the potential for what might be? Can we influence the outcome? Dare we try? And in so doing, do we merely ensure that which we've seen?

I am torn - as always - between action and inaction - unclear as to which - if either - will make a difference. Am I even meant to make a difference? Still, I keep this journal. Is that not an attempt to change - or perhaps guarantee - what I have seen?

==Page 17==

==Page 18==
We are obligated to hide. To be silent. To shape the course of history in secret. But some of my brothers and sisters disagree. They grow angry, insisting it is a mistake to shroud ourselves. They say it slows our work. But they do not understand the risks. To expose ourselves now would be too dangerous. I fear we would be branded madmen and attacked. So it goes. So it always has. If there is one thing I know for certain, it is that men do not learn by being told. Instead they must be shown. They must make the connections themselves. If I say unto a man, be kind, be tolerant, be of an open mind - these words will wither and die long before they've affected change. It would be a waste. And so we must maintain our course...

==Page 19==
Legends speaks of a golden fleece. Could the two be related?...

...I have further refined the metallurgic process, allowing for the production of a suit of armor the likes of which the world has never seen...

...It is possessed of great strength, yet so light as to allow complete freedom...

...I alternate between wonder and fear. Here we have crafted something that will surely change the face of warfare, making those who wear it nigh invincible...

Perhaps it was a mistake to create these pieces. I think it best to erase the formulae. What if it were to fall in the hands of our enemies? The risk is too great...

==Page 20==
I have studied the ancient pagan faiths that came before this more recent obsession with a single, divine creator. They seem to have focused more on the fundamental forces at play in the world around us and less on arbitrary moral rules...

The sun rises in the morning and sets in the evening. The tides ebb and flow. Grass grows, withers, dies, and then in time, emerges from the ground once more. The air turns warm then cools and back again. Some hidden energy keeps us fitted to the ground and pulls us back when we attempt to leave it.

Each of these movements was represented before by a god or goddess. Each force given face, but recognized as something distinct and powerful. Which is not to say there were not connections between these forces - a pantheon of individual spirits - of rules. Invisible hands guiding the progress of the world around us.

And so here there was an attempt to categorize, study, explain, and understand the way things work - even if it was flawed. But no more. Now we are asked to succumb to a far more simplified explanation. How naive to believe there might be a single answer to every question. Every mystery. That there exists a lone divine light which rules over all. They say it is a light that brings truth and love. I say it is a light that blinds us - and forces us to stumble about in ignorance.

I long for the day when men turn away from invisible monsters and once more embrace a more rational view of the world. But these new religions are so convenient - and promise such terrible punishment should one reject them - I worry that fear shall keep us stuck to what is surely the greatest lie ever told.

==Page 21==

==Page 22==

==Page 23==
I had just finished my christmas shopping, when i noticed a pigeon had developed onto my leg. -end-

==Page 24==

==Page 25==
mmmmm yeeeehhh cm

==Page 26==
I have the answer now. I know the truth. I shall not touch that wretched thing again. Best that no one do, now or ever. I have tried - at last - to destroy it, but it will neither bend nor break nor melt. Oh the irony - I am certain if I asked, the Apple would tell me what need be done. But even this promise is insufficient. Always it holds one more gift to give. I must refrain. So it shall be sealed. We will take it to the island - once theirs, now ours. There is a treasury there - hidden well - and it shall have to suffice. Risky to separate myself from the artifact that others may discover it. Riskier still to keep it close. In time I will be tempted. I am weak. We all are. Who wouldn't be? Oh, the things I have seen... The tale is here - inside the text. Not between the lines but beneath them. Where only our eyes might peer. Go and see it for yourself. That you might succeed where I and the others have failed. Time marches on - bringing with it new discoveries and developments. And so at least one day the doorway might be opened and the message delivered. They will have their prophet.

==Page 27==
We are growing larger. More make their way to our fortresses every day. Men and women. Young and old. From different lands. Of different faiths. Each tells a similar story - of having discovered the first part of our creed: that nothing is true.

Too often, though, the revelation undoes them. They lose their morality, certainty, security. Many are driven mad. We must guide them. Help them to heal. Their minds must not be filled with more fairy tales, but with knowledge instead. Let them have answers - and let those answers be difficult and complex. Such is life.

==Page 28==

==Page 29==
A dark tide rises to the east - an army of such size and power that all the land is made quick to worry.  Their leader is a man named Temujin, who has adopted the title Ghengis Khan.  He sweeps across the lands, conquering and subsuming all who stand in his way.  Whatever his motives, he must be stopped.  Were I younger, I might attempt to undertake this work in secret - as I suspect the presence of a Piece of Eden.  But those days are years gone, now.  The mantle must be passed.  It is time she and I spoke with our sons.  We will travel there together, that they may be tested and that this threat might be stopped.

==Page 30==
Soon I shall pass from this world. It is my time. All the hours of the day are now colored by the thoughts and fears borne of this realization. I know that the elements of my body will return to the Earth. But what of my consciousness? My identity? That is to say - what of ME? I suspect it will end. That there is no next world. Nor a return to this one. It will simply be done. Forever.

Our lives are so brief and unimportant. The cosmos cares nothing for us. For what we've done; Had we wrought evil instead of good. Had I chosen to abuse the Apple instead of seal it away. None of it would have mattered. There is no counting. No reckoning. No final judgement. There is simply silence. And darkness. Utter and absolute... And so I have begun to wonder - might there not be a way to stop - or at least delay - death's embrace?

Surely the ones who came before were not so frail and feeble as we. But I have sworn to be done with the artifact. To not gaze into its core. Still: faced as I am with the prospect of my end, what harm is there in one last look...

==Description==
The Codex of Altaïr was a document created and maintained by [[Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad]] sometime after he had recovered and first experienced the [[Piece of Eden]]. He considers the knowledge obtained as a 'necessary evil'. Within its pages were many philosophical observations as well as strategic and technological advancements. His main motivation in creating the document was to help him understand and document what the Pieces of Eden were exactly, as well as to serve as a resource for future sons of his Order. Mentioned in its pages alongside Altaïr's multiple philosophical insights, are his incidents of giving into temptation, and peering into the Apple on multiple occasions. He does this mainly out of fear, fear for his Order and mankind's ability to utilize free will, what he sees only reassures him of the need to use the apple for his own means. In doing so he is able to craft new alloys and lightweight materials, make several advancements to the mechanics of the housing of the hidden blade, as well as being the in-game canon inventor of black powder and the miniaturized gun within the hidden blade. Altaïr ultimately regrets doing this, as peering into the future has revealed to him no changes in the ultimate fate of humanity. Altaïr also struggles with the temptations of the Apple, often contemplating misusing it, which eventually leads him to leave the Apple of Eden on the island of Cyprus sometime during his mid-late life.

Altaïr makes multiple references to an unseen threat other than the Templars. he also details his observations of the warlord Genghis Khan's conquests, fearing he is a Templar conspirator and sensing a Piece of Eden Altaïr quickly prepares a mission to the near east to investigate, although he is ripe with age at this point and can only act as an advisor to the young assassins he has tasked with the work. It is not known what became of this, only that all the evidence points to Altaïr giving the codex to the team of or lone assassins tasked with investigating Genghis Khan.

It is possible that the statue dedicated to the assassin that shot Khan's horse is, in fact, one of Altair's sons.

{{ACII}}
[[Category:Assassin's Order]]
[[Category:Assassin's Creed II]]

Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad's Codex

2009-12-10T13:14:44Z

83.100.212.100: /* Page 25 */

__NOTOC__
'''The Codex''' are documents left behind by [[Altaïr]], containing cryptic messages. In [[Assassin's Creed II]], [[Ezio]] takes the Codex papers to [[Leonardo da Vinci]], who interprets them, and creates weapons using guidelines encrypted on the Codex. In order to complete Assassin's Creed II, the player must collect all 30 pages from the Codex. If the player doesn't have all the Codex once they are ready for Memory Block 14, all remaining pages will appear on the map.

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==Page 1==
I have spent days with the artifact now. Or has it been weeks? Months? I can no longer be certain...
The others come from time to time - offering food or distraction. They say I should separate myself from these studies... Malik has even suggested I abandon them entirely. But I am not yet ready to turn away. This Apple of Eden will be understood. It must be...
Is it a weapon? Is it a catalogue? Is it somehow both? "He who increaseth knowledge, increaseth sorrow..." The philosophy of such a statement I can understand... But for it to be truth - literally true? A society that waged wars with ideas and information in place of steel and swords...
Its function is simple. Elementary, even. Dominion. Control. But the process... the methods and means it employs... THESE are fascinating. Those subjected to its glow are promised all that they desire. It asks only one thing in return: complete and total obedience. And who can truly refuse? It is temptation incarnate.
I remember my own moment of weakness when confronted by Al Mualim, my confidence shaken by his words. He, who had been like a father, was now revealed to be my greatest enemy. Just the briefest flicker of doubt was all he needed to creep into my mind. But I vanquished his phantoms - restored my self confidence - and sent him from this world. I freed myself. But now I wonder... Did I really? For here I sit - desperate to understand that which I swore to destroy.
This is why: The Apple has a tale to tell. I sense the flickers of something - great and dangerous... We are all at risk. It is my duty to do something about it. I must not - cannot - turn away until I've found the truth.

==Page 2==

==Page 3==

==Page 4==
What follows are the three great ironies of the Assassin Order: (1) Here we seek to promote peace, but murder is our means. (2) Here we seek to open the minds of men, but require obedience to a master and set of rules. (3) Here we seek to reveal the danger of blind faith, yet we are practitioners ourselves.
I have no satisfactory answer to these charges, only possibilities... Do we bend the rules in service to a greater good? And if we do, what does it say of us? That we are liars? That we are frauds? That we are weak? Every moment is spent wrestling with these contradictions and in spite of all the years I've had to reflect, still I can find no suitable answer... And I fear that one may not exist.
Nothing is true. Everything is permitted. Does our creed provide the answer, then? That one may be two things - opposite in every way - simultaneously? And why not? Am I not proof? We of noble intentions, possessed of barbaric means? We who celebrate the sanctity of life and then promptly take it from those we deem our enemies?

==Page 5==
Who were The Ones That Came Before? What brought them here? How long ago? Centuries? Millenia? Longer still? So little remains of them... What drove them out? What of these artifacts? Messages in a bottle? Tools left behind to aid and guide us? Or do we fight for control over their refuse, giving divine purpose and meaning to little more than discarded toys?

==Page 6==
Robert de Sable may be dead, but his brotherhood survives. Though less conspicuous in appearance, I fear they remain a threat. Where once they proudly walked the streets - making for easier targets - now they retreat into the shadows. It grows difficult to track them. What wicked things will they weave in the darkness? Our work will be all the more complicated for it. Already there are rumors of a movement on Cyprus. I will have to investigate...

It's made me realize that our tactics, too, must change. It means an end to our fortresses. To our penchant for spectacular displays of public assassinations. We must weave our webs quietly. And we must do so differently than we have in the past.

Though I ask my brothers now to abandon their rituals, I do not ask that they abandon the creed. THIS is what makes us assassins. Not the removal of a finger. Not a false promise of paradise. Not the prohibition of poison. Our duty is to the people, not to custom. If we must sneak, we shall sneak. If we must use poison, we shall use poison. If our blades can be used without removing fingers, we shall not demand they be taken. And we shall not manipulate our initiates with lies and parlor tricks. We shall speak plainly and honestly. We shall be made anew...

==Page 7==
I had thought Adha would be the one to lead me to rest, that I might lay down my blade and live as a normal man. But now I know such dreams are best left to sleep...

Her face.  I try to banish it from my mind as I remember the days and nights during which I chased her Templar captors across the sea.  I almost got to them in time.  Almost.  If I had only been faster.  Instead, I held her lifeless body in my arms - saw the terror reflected in her fixed, unblinking eyes...

I hunted each man - one by one - until all responsible were gone from the world.  But there was no joy in this.  No satisfaction or release.  Their deaths did not bring her back.  Did not heal my wounds.  After that, I was certain I would never again feel for a woman as I had for her.

I am fortunate to have been wrong.

==Page 8==
Why do our instincts insist on violence? I have studies the interactions between different species. The innate desire to survive seems to demand the death of the other. Why can they not stand hand in hand? So many believe the world was created by the hand of a divine power - but I see only the designs of a madman, bent on celebrating destruction and desperation. Our origins seem chaotic. Unintended. Purpose and being instilled solely by the passage of time. Imposed first by nature - and later men...

==Page 9==
Over time, any sentence uttered long and loud enough becomes fixed. Becomes a truth. Provided, of course, you can outlast the dissent and silence your opponents. But should you succeed - and remove all challengers - then what remains is, by default, now true.

Is it truth in some objective sense? No. But how does one ever achieve an objective point of view? The answer is you don't. It is literally, physically impossible. There are too many variables. Too many fields and formulae to consider. We can try, of course. We can inch closer and closer to a revelation. But we'll never reach it. Not ever...

And so I have realized, that so long as The Templars exist, they will attempt to bend reality to their will. They recognize there is no such thing as an absolute truth - or if there is - we are hopelessly underequipped to recognize it. And so in its place, they seek to create their own explanation. It is the guiding principle of their so-named "New World Order"; To reshape existence in their own image. It is not about artifacts. Not about men. These are merely tools. It's about concepts. Clever of them. For how does one wage war against a concept?

It is the perfect weapon. It lacks a physical form yet can alter the world around us in numerous, often violent ways. You cannot kill a creed. Even if you kill all of its adherents, destroy all of its writings - these are a reprieve at best. Some one, some day, will rediscover it. Reinvent it. I believe that even we, the Assassins, have simply re-discovered an Order that predates the Old Man himself...

==Page 10==

==Page 11==
Attis.  Dionysus.  Horus.  Krishna.  Mithra.  Jesus.  Similar stories color their lives.  Too similar, I think.  Divine birthright.  Persecution.  Disciples.  Miraculous acts.  Resurrection...

How is it possible?

Perhaps it isn't... Merely a single story told over the ages?  Borrowed then changed to fit the times? Evolving as our tools and language do?  Is this tale borne of fact or fiction?  A bit of both?  Could these figures be the same person - their life extended and transformed by a Piece of Eden?

Al Mualim spoke of Jesus as a real person - a mortal who had mastered the arts of manipulation.  But what if he was wrong?  If these men are real - and if they have walked amongst us many times before - does it mean they'll come again?  Perhaps they are here now?  So many questions, and every day, even more...

==Page 12==

==Page 13==

==Page 14==
Man seeks dominion over all that he encounters. I suppose it a natural tendency for us to aspire towards mastery of our surroundings. But this should not include other human beings. Every day more and more are pressed into service - by deception or by force. Others, though not so firmly imprisoned, are made to feel as if their lives are worthless. I have seen the ways in which men persecute women. Heard the cruel words hurled at those who come here from other lands. Watched as those who believe or act differently are made to suffer...

We discuss such things often - watching as we do from the spires of Masyaf. What can be done to stop this? To encourage tolerance and equality? Some days we speak of education, believing that knowledge will free us from immorality. But as I walk the streets and see slaves sent off to auction - my heart grows cold. When I see the husband hurl abuses and stones at his wife, insisting she exists only to serve him - my fists clench. And when I see children torn from their parents so that another man might profit - sent off to suffer beneath the desert sun and die...

...On these days, I do not think that dialogue will make a difference. On these days, I can think only of how the perpetrators need to die.

==Page 15==

==Page 16==
The Apple is more than a catalog of that which precedes us. Within its twisting, sparking innards I've caught glimpses of what will be. Such a thing should not be possible. Perhaps it isn't. Maybe it is simply a suggestion. How to know? How to be sure?

I contemplate the consequences of these visions: are they images of things to come - or simply the potential for what might be? Can we influence the outcome? Dare we try? And in so doing, do we merely ensure that which we've seen?

I am torn - as always - between action and inaction - unclear as to which - if either - will make a difference. Am I even meant to make a difference? Still, I keep this journal. Is that not an attempt to change - or perhaps guarantee - what I have seen?

==Page 17==

==Page 18==
We are obligated to hide. To be silent. To shape the course of history in secret. But some of my brothers and sisters disagree. They grow angry, insisting it is a mistake to shroud ourselves. They say it slows our work. But they do not understand the risks. To expose ourselves now would be too dangerous. I fear we would be branded madmen and attacked. So it goes. So it always has. If there is one thing I know for certain, it is that men do not learn by being told. Instead they must be shown. They must make the connections themselves. If I say unto a man, be kind, be tolerant, be of an open mind - these words will wither and die long before they've affected change. It would be a waste. And so we must maintain our course...

==Page 19==
Legends speaks of a golden fleece. Could the two be related?...

...I have further refined the metallurgic process, allowing for the production of a suit of armor the likes of which the world has never seen...

...It is possessed of great strength, yet so light as to allow complete freedom...

...I alternate between wonder and fear. Here we have crafted something that will surely change the face of warfare, making those who wear it nigh invincible...

Perhaps it was a mistake to create these pieces. I think it best to erase the formulae. What if it were to fall in the hands of our enemies? The risk is too great...

==Page 20==
I have studied the ancient pagan faiths that came before this more recent obsession with a single, divine creator. They seem to have focused more on the fundamental forces at play in the world around us and less on arbitrary moral rules...

The sun rises in the morning and sets in the evening. The tides ebb and flow. Grass grows, withers, dies, and then in time, emerges from the ground once more. The air turns warm then cools and back again. Some hidden energy keeps us fitted to the ground and pulls us back when we attempt to leave it.

Each of these movements was represented before by a god or goddess. Each force given face, but recognized as something distinct and powerful. Which is not to say there were not connections between these forces - a pantheon of individual spirits - of rules. Invisible hands guiding the progress of the world around us.

And so here there was an attempt to categorize, study, explain, and understand the way things work - even if it was flawed. But no more. Now we are asked to succumb to a far more simplified explanation. How naive to believe there might be a single answer to every question. Every mystery. That there exists a lone divine light which rules over all. They say it is a light that brings truth and love. I say it is a light that blinds us - and forces us to stumble about in ignorance.

I long for the day when men turn away from invisible monsters and once more embrace a more rational view of the world. But these new religions are so convenient - and promise such terrible punishment should one reject them - I worry that fear shall keep us stuck to what is surely the greatest lie ever told.

==Page 21==

==Page 22==

==Page 23==

==Page 24==

==Page 25==
mmmmm yeeeehhh cm

==Page 26==
I have the answer now. I know the truth. I shall not touch that wretched thing again. Best that no one do, now or ever. I have tried - at last - to destroy it, but it will neither bend nor break nor melt. Oh the irony - I am certain if I asked, the Apple would tell me what need be done. But even this promise is insufficient. Always it holds one more gift to give. I must refrain. So it shall be sealed. We will take it to the island - once theirs, now ours. There is a treasury there - hidden well - and it shall have to suffice. Risky to separate myself from the artifact that others may discover it. Riskier still to keep it close. In time I will be tempted. I am weak. We all are. Who wouldn't be? Oh, the things I have seen... The tale is here - inside the text. Not between the lines but beneath them. Where only our eyes might peer. Go and see it for yourself. That you might succeed where I and the others have failed. Time marches on - bringing with it new discoveries and developments. And so at least one day the doorway might be opened and the message delivered. They will have their prophet.

==Page 27==
We are growing larger. More make their way to our fortresses every day. Men and women. Young and old. From different lands. Of different faiths. Each tells a similar story - of having discovered the first part of our creed: that nothing is true.

Too often, though, the revelation undoes them. They lose their morality, certainty, security. Many are driven mad. We must guide them. Help them to heal. Their minds must not be filled with more fairy tales, but with knowledge instead. Let them have answers - and let those answers be difficult and complex. Such is life.

==Page 28==

==Page 29==
A dark tide rises to the east - an army of such size and power that all the land is made quick to worry.  Their leader is a man named Temujin, who has adopted the title Ghengis Khan.  He sweeps across the lands, conquering and subsuming all who stand in his way.  Whatever his motives, he must be stopped.  Were I younger, I might attempt to undertake this work in secret - as I suspect the presence of a Piece of Eden.  But those days are years gone, now.  The mantle must be passed.  It is time she and I spoke with our sons.  We will travel there together, that they may be tested and that this threat might be stopped.

==Page 30==
Soon I shall pass from this world. It is my time. All the hours of the day are now colored by the thoughts and fears borne of this realization. I know that the elements of my body will return to the Earth. But what of my consciousness? My identity? That is to say - what of ME? I suspect it will end. That there is no next world. Nor a return to this one. It will simply be done. Forever.

Our lives are so brief and unimportant. The cosmos cares nothing for us. For what we've done; Had we wrought evil instead of good. Had I chosen to abuse the Apple instead of seal it away. None of it would have mattered. There is no counting. No reckoning. No final judgement. There is simply silence. And darkness. Utter and absolute... And so I have begun to wonder - might there not be a way to stop - or at least delay - death's embrace?

Surely the ones who came before were not so frail and feeble as we. But I have sworn to be done with the artifact. To not gaze into its core. Still: faced as I am with the prospect of my end, what harm is there in one last look...

==Description==
The Codex of Altaïr was a document created and maintained by [[Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad]] sometime after he had recovered and first experienced the [[Piece of Eden]]. He considers the knowledge obtained as a 'necessary evil'. Within its pages were many philosophical observations as well as strategic and technological advancements. His main motivation in creating the document was to help him understand and document what the Pieces of Eden were exactly, as well as to serve as a resource for future sons of his Order. Mentioned in its pages alongside Altaïr's multiple philosophical insights, are his incidents of giving into temptation, and peering into the Apple on multiple occasions. He does this mainly out of fear, fear for his Order and mankind's ability to utilize free will, what he sees only reassures him of the need to use the apple for his own means. In doing so he is able to craft new alloys and lightweight materials, make several advancements to the mechanics of the housing of the hidden blade, as well as being the in-game canon inventor of black powder and the miniaturized gun within the hidden blade. Altaïr ultimately regrets doing this, as peering into the future has revealed to him no changes in the ultimate fate of humanity. Altaïr also struggles with the temptations of the Apple, often contemplating misusing it, which eventually leads him to leave the Apple of Eden on the island of Cyprus sometime during his mid-late life.

Altaïr makes multiple references to an unseen threat other than the Templars. he also details his observations of the warlord Genghis Khan's conquests, fearing he is a Templar conspirator and sensing a Piece of Eden Altaïr quickly prepares a mission to the near east to investigate, although he is ripe with age at this point and can only act as an advisor to the young assassins he has tasked with the work. It is not known what became of this, only that all the evidence points to Altaïr giving the codex to the team of or lone assassins tasked with investigating Genghis Khan.

It is possible that the statue dedicated to the assassin that shot Khan's horse is, in fact, one of Altair's sons.

{{ACII}}
[[Category:Assassin's Order]]
[[Category:Assassin's Creed II]]