Marco Polo

2013-12-15T00:03:07Z

86.46.250.229:

{{Era|AC2|TSC|Assassins}}
{{WP-REAL}}
{{Character Infobox
|image = Wiki_noimage.jpg
|birth = 1254<br>[[Italy]]
|death = 8 or 9 January 1324 (aged 69)<br>[[Venice]], Italy
|affiliates = [[Assassins]]
|appear = ''[[Assassin's Creed II]]''
|voice =}}
'''Marco Polo''' (1254 – 1624) was an explorer and a merchant for the [[Venice|Venetian Republic]] of [[Italy]], and a member of the [[Italian Assassins|Italian Brotherhood]] of [[Assassins]]. Marco was well educated, learning merchant subjects including foreign currency, appraising and the handling of cargo ships.

Marco served an important role in the Assassin Order as he ensured the recovery of [[Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad]]'s [[altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad's Codex|codex]] from the [[Mongol Empire|Mongols]]. His relation with the Assassins played a key role in the formation of the [[House of Auditore|Auditore family]], who would become the leading body of the Italian Assassins.

==Biography==
===Early life===
Marco was born in Italy in 1254, growing up in Venice and raised by his mother. His father, [[Niccolò Polo]], was a merchant, primarily trading with the Middle East, who had went on a voyage with his brother [[Maffeo Polo|Maffeo]]. In 1257, Niccolò and Maffeo resided in [[Masyaf]], [[Syria]] - the home of the [[Levantine Assassins]] - at the invitation of their [[Mentor]], Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad. When the Mongols attacked Masyaf, Altaïr entrusted the Polo brothers with the codex he had written about his life, and five [[Masyaf Keys|ancient keys]]. Though the codex was lost to the Mongols, the Polo brothers managed to successfully hide the keys in their home of [[Constantinople]] as requested, and founded an [[Assassins Guilds|Assassins Guild]] in the city.<ref name="ACTSC">''[[Assassin's Creed: The Secret Crusade]]''</ref>

In the meantime, Marco's mother had died and he was then raised by his uncle and aunt. In 1269, the Polo brothers returned to Venice, and Marco met his father for the first time. They founded another Assassins Guild in Italy,<ref name="ACTSC"/> and Marco himself was raised to become an Assassin.<ref name="AC2">''[[Assassin's Creed II]]''</ref>

===Retrieving the Codex===
Two years later, he and his father and uncle went on a journey through [[Asia]]. In 1275, they reached [[China]], and visited the Mongol leader [[Kublai Khan]]. From the palace of [[Genghis Khan]], Marco retrieved Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad's lost codex, and had taken it with him to Venice when they returned there in 1295.<ref name="AC2"/>

In Venice, Marco became the patron of a fellow member of the Assassin Order and his son, who would later take on the name [[Domenico Auditore]]. One afternoon in the summer of 1296, Marco called Domenico into his study, at which point Domenico's father revealed that he was an Assassin. Marco told Domenico that he would start his apprenticeship with [[Dante Alighieri]], and that he would carry Dante across the Mediterranean to [[Spain]]; unbeknownst to Domenico at that point, to bring the codex to safety.<ref name="AC2"/>

===Later life===
In 1321, Dante was murdered by the lifelong enemies of the Assassins, the [[Templars]], who had secretly proceeded to exist. When Domenico came to inform his father and Marco of Dante's death, he was rushed into the study and both of them informed Domenico of the Templars' existence. They told Domenico to quickly sail to Spain with the codex, and while ushering Domenico out the door, Marco gave Domenico a piece of paper with his own bank account number on it, telling him that he could draw on his credit at any bank in Italy.<ref name="AC2"/>

In late 1323, Marco became ill. Marco died on 8 or 9 January 1324, killed by the Templars.<ref name="AC2"/>

==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Polo, Marco}}
[[Category:1254 births]]
[[Category:1324 deaths]]
[[Category:Italians]]
[[Category:Explorers]]
[[Category:Merchants]]
[[Category:Assassins]]
[[Category:Individuals]]
[[Category:Assassins killed by Templars]]

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Marco Polo