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My primary sandbox.
My primary sandbox.


==FT==
==Sigh==
===77===
User:Nygma PI/Sandbox
*[[Noa Kim]]
[https://assassinscreed.fandom.com/fr/wiki/Assassin%27s_Creed_-_Entre_voyages,_v%C3%A9rit%C3%A9s_et_complots Assassin's Creed: Entre voyages, vérités et complots]
*[[Edward Kenway]] {{Mo}}
*[[Bartholomew Roberts]] {{c|hallucination}}
*[[Shimazu Sei]]
*[[Yuki]]
*[[Charles Vane]] {{c|cameo}}
*[[Benjamin Hornigold]] {{c|cameo}}
*[[Mary Read]] {{c|cameo}}
*[[Edward Thatch]] {{c|cameo}}
*[[Aita]] {{Mo}}


===78===
[[Destroyer Samurai]], [[Onnamusha Kosode]] -> [[Destroyer Samurai Armor]], [[Legendary Onna-musha Kosode]]
*[[Noa Kim]]
*[[Yuki]]
*[[Shimazu Sei]]
*[[Nathan Zhang]]


===79===
==ACL notes==
*Cutlass, Queen Anne Pistol are default
*Dressing chamber in smugglers' camp also does not have the same name as the ones in new orleans.
*[[A Slave in Trouble]]
**Cartographer's Watch (PW1)
**Sword (1508 écu)
**All outfit colors (1500 écu)
*[[The Safe House]]
**Animus memory notes: "Since the disappearance of her mother, Aveline has been raised by Madeleine de L'Isle. With the realization that they shared similar views on slavery, the bond between the two women grow stronger." (Appears after end of memory)
*[[The Escape]]
**"Two years have passed since Aveline disposed of Governor d'Abbadie. During that time, she found no trace of the man called de Ferrer, yet his plans continue to threaten New Orleans' population."
*[[The Loas Guide You]]
**Engraved Watch (PW2)
*By [[Meet the Smugglers]] (did not check weapon shop during The Loas Guide You)
**Cuttoe Sword (3120)
**Pocket Pistol (20000)
**Double-Barreled Pistol (10000)
*After [[Citizen E (1)]]
**[[Bayou Fever]] unlocks
*[[The Whole Truth]]
**"The revelation that Agaté knew her mother Jeanne - a fact he chose to keep from her - strained the relationship between mentor and mentee. With de Ferrer back in New Orleans, Aveline redoubles her efforts to protect its citizens."
*[[Prélude to Rebellion]]
**Trade system: New Orleans and Havana unlocked. Only cotton is available. Barque, brigantine, galleon and schooner available as ships.
*After memory concludes, but before next one begins:
**Pourpre Rosa Watch and Gentleman's Watch (4375,6250)
**Hatchet (16380)
**Chimbuya Axe (16860)
**Machete (16640)
**Colichemarde (18040)
**Naval Axe (21240)
**Dual Pistols (20000)
**Trade system: Tobacco available.
*[[Elegant and Deadly]]
**Aveline's shops offer the outfits for 1000, and the hood for 500, small fast poison pouch 4k, small cartridge pouch 750, small smoke bomb 1200 [Did not check when pouches first became available, small fast poison pouch 8k, small cartridge pouch 1500, small smoke bomb 2400]
**After taking care of her father's business troubles, Aveline sets out to uncover the truth behind the mysterious disappearances of slaves and vagrants.
**M. Reynaud's Bypass and M. de Vandal's Harbor available
**Owned weapon shop prices: hatchet 8190, chimbuya axe 8430, sword 754, cuttoe sword 1560, machete 8320, colichemarde 9020, naval axe 10620, dual pistols 10k, pocket pistol 10k, double barred pistol 5k
**Trade system: Veracruz made available, Fruits available


==LD==
===LD1===
;Prologue
;24
;Epilogue
===LD2===
;29
===LD3===
;28
;Epilogue


==MTG==
 
===Missing full art===
 
<div style="height:300px; overflow:auto; width:100%;">
 
{| class="wikitable sortable" border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" width="100%" style="text-align:center;"
 
! width="5%" |Id
 
! width="35%" |Name
 
! width="25%" |Type
 
 
 
*Confident that Governor Ulloa is behind the disappearances in New Orleans, Aveline puts her plan in motion to lure him out of La Balise, which he seldom leaves.
*Firm in her belief and confident that she can put an end to the machinations of her enemies, Aveline disobeys Agaté and boards a slave ship bound to an unknown location. This decision further strays their relationship.
*With de Ferrer dead and the slave colony free, Aveline travels back to New Orleans. Upon her return, she finds a world very different than the one she had left. Yet, the identity of the Company Man remains a mystery.
 
==CST==
*[[Dwarven Defender]]
*[[Wondrous Set]]
 
==Glyphs==
*[[User:Gta-mysteries/Glyphs]]
*[[User:VilkaTheWolf/Images]]
<!--
<center>
{|class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
{|class="listing" style="text-align: center;"
|style="border:#100404; border-style:solid solid none solid;"|[[File:AC2 - Diana and Calysto.jpg|200px]]
|style="border:#100404; border-style:solid solid none solid;"|[[File:AC2 - Diana and Calysto.jpg|200px]]
|style="border:#FF0000; border-style:solid solid none solid;"|[[File:AC2 - Diana and Calysto.jpg|200px]]
|style="border:#100404; border-style:solid solid none solid;"|[[File:AC2 - Diana and Calysto.jpg|200px]]
|style="border:#FF0000; border-style:solid solid none solid;"|[[File:AC2 - Diana and Calysto.jpg|200px]]
|-
|-
|1
|style="border:#100404; border-style:none solid solid solid;"|Cupid and Psyche
|The Capitoline Triad
|style="border:#100404; border-style:none solid solid solid;"|Diana and Calysto
|Syd Mills
|style="border:#FF0000; border-style:none solid solid solid;"|The Fall
|style="border:#100404; border-style:none solid solid solid;"|Birth of Venus
|style="border:#FF0000; border-style:none solid solid solid;"|Hercules in the Garden of<br>Hesperides
|-
|-
|2
|style="border:#FF0000; border-style:solid solid none solid;"|[[File:AC2 - Diana and Calysto.jpg|200px]]
|Caduceus, Staff of Hermes
|style="border:#FF0000; border-style:solid solid none solid;"|[[File:AC2 - Diana and Calysto.jpg|200px]]
|Evan Shipard
|style="border:#100404; border-style:solid solid none solid;"|[[File:AC2 - Diana and Calysto.jpg|200px]]
|style="border:#FF0000; border-style:solid solid none solid;"|[[File:AC2 - Diana and Calysto.jpg|200px]]
|style="border:#100404; border-style:solid solid none solid;"|[[File:AC2 - Diana and Calysto.jpg|200px]]
|-
|-
|3
|style="border:#FF0000; border-style:none solid solid solid;"|Atlanta and Hippomenes
|Distract the Guards
|style="border:#FF0000; border-style:none solid solid solid;"|Judgement of Paris
|Torgeir Fjereide
|style="border:#100404; border-style:none solid solid solid;"|Triumph of Bacchus
|style="border:#FF0000; border-style:none solid solid solid;"|Idun and the Apples
|style="border:#100404; border-style:none solid solid solid;"|Mercury, Herse, and Aglauros
|}
|-
|-
|4
|}
|Fall of the First Civilization
</center>
|L J Koh
-->
|-
 
|11
<tabber>
|What Must Be Done
|-|TAB 1=
|Syd Mills
{{#tag:tabber|
|-
SUB TAB 1=
|17
BLAH
|Eagle Vision
{{!}}-{{!}}
|Kim Sokol
SUB TAB 2=
|-
BLAH BLAH
|27
{{!}}-{{!}}
|Jacob Frye
SUB TAB 3=
|Lie Setiawan
BLAH BLAH BLAH
|-
}}
|29
|-|TAB 2=
|Phantom Blade
HM
|Craig J Spearing
|-|TAB 3=
|-
HMM
|32
|-|TAB 4=
|Roshan, Hidden Magister
HMMM
|Marta Nael
</tabber>
|-
 
|33
<tabber>
|Alexios, Deimos of Kosmos
|-|1=
|Bartek Fedyczak
;In the Beginning
|-
Five of these mythic scenes share a <font color="#FF0000">core</font> similarity. <font color="#FF0000">Pick</font> them out and you'll begin to see.
|37
[Pictures 3,5,6,7,9]
|Overpowering Attack
 
|Kim Sokol
Passcode found 2 4 5 6 8
|-
 
|40
|-|2=
|Aveline de Grandpré
;Sixty-Four Squares
|Aurore Folny
*Subject 16: The past: a vast web of connections and interconnections, all ruled by chance. Or is it?
|-
 
|45
[circular puzzle]
|Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad
Queen Elizabeth I
|Axel Sauerwald
of England
|-
1559
|46
ID: Piece of Eden 2 - Apple
|Arbaaz Mir
 
|Wangjie Li
[circular puzzle]
|-
Emperor Napoleon I
|49
of France
|Basim Ibn Ishaq
1812
|JB Casacop
ID: Piece of Eden 1 - Apple
|-
 
|61
[circular puzzle]
|Mary Read and Anne Bonny
George Washington
|Wangjie Li
United States
|-
1781
|62
ID: Piece of Eden 3 - Apple
|Ratonhnhaké꞉ton
 
|Greg Staples
Passcode found 1 0 3 5 2
|-
 
|65
|-|3=
|Shay Cormac
;Descendants
|Axel Sauerwald
*Subject 16: Power doesn't die. It's passed on.
|-
 
|67
He carried it with him. Find his inheritance.
|Sokrates, Athenian Teacher
[image, locate Piece of Eden 3]
|Alice Xia Zhang
Franklin Delano Roosevelt strategic meeting, 1944
|-
 
|70
[image, locate Piece of Eden 1]
|Apple of Eden, Isu Relic
Houdini beginning the Chinese water torture cell escape, 1913
|L J Koh
 
|-
[image, locate Piece of Eden 2]
|79
Gandhi during the Salt March, 1930
|Abstergo Entertainment
 
|Alexander Gering
Passcode found 1 4 5 2 3
|-
 
|84
|-|4=
|Coastal Piracy
;Infinite Knowledge
|Wei Guan
*Subject 16: It's getting easier and easier to hack into Abstergo's mainframe. It's like I know what data I'm looking for. Like I've already lived it.
|-
 
|91
Its open <font color="#FF0000">mouth</font> delivers the kiss of death
|Go for the Throat
[image,  locate hidden image in the gun's barrel]
|Torgeir Fjereide
Burning Viet Cong base camp, My Tho, Vietnam, 1968
|-
 
|94
Leading the <font color="#FF0000">young</font> to their end.
|Cathartic Reunion
[image,  locate hidden image in helmet of crouching soldier]
|Syd Mills
Members of the 2nd Infantry Division advance under machine gun fire into the outskirts of Brest, France, 1944
|-
 
|104
The flames from its throat <font color="#FF0000">poke</font> out their eyes
|Island
[image, locate ID: Piece of Eden 4 - Apple on tapestry]
|Filipe Pagliuso
Union troops in formation. Beaufort, South Carolina, 1862.
|-
 
|106
This <font color="#FF0000">monster</font> did not come from man.
|Swamp
[image,  locate hidden image in the gun's barrel]
|Wangjie Li
The first pictorial representation of a gun, 900
|-
 
|108
Passcode found 7 2 1 1 4
|Mountain
 
|Jeremy Paillotin
|-|5=
|-
;Instruments of Power
|121
*Subject 16: You see? Do you see what's going on? Not yet. But you will.
|Sokrates, Athenian Teacher
 
|JB Casacop
The power they wielded <font color="#FF0000">cut</font> down their enemies.
|-
[Pictures 2, 3, 6, 8, 9]
|133
ID: Piece of Eden 25 - Sword
|Roshan, Hidden Magister
 
|Astri Lohne
In their hands, the wise <font color="#FF0000">lean</font> on a great force.
|-
[Pictures 3, 6, 8, 9, 10]
|136
ID: Piece of Eden 34 - Staff
|Adéwalé, Breaker of Chains
 
|Miguel Mercado
Passcode Found 8 1 4 9 2
|-
 
|138
|-|6=
|Arbaaz Mir
;Brothers
|Bastien L. Deharme
*Subject 16: They were mostly heroes. But see, how the lineage is disrupted. The web of history traps the good, and the evil take what is not theirs!
|-
 
|140
[circular puzzle]
|Aya of Alexandria
And Satan said unto Cain: swear unto me by thy throat, and if thou tell it thou shalt die.
|Chase Stone
 
|-
[circular puzzle]
|141
And all these things were done in secret.
|Basim Ibn Ishaq
 
|Astri Lohne
[circular puzzle]
|-
And Cain said: truly I am Mahan, the master of this great secret.
|142
 
|Bayek of Siwa
[circular puzzle]
|Miguel Mercado
Wherefore Cain was called Master Mahan, and he gloried in his wickedness.
|-
 
|149
*Subject 16: Behold: The mark of Cain!
|Lydia Frye
[The four pictures and quotes, now with a templar insignia above them]
|Bastien L. Deharme
- . -- .--. .-.. .- .-. - . -..- - ... .- -.. .- .--. - . -.. -... -.-- -- .-. .-.-.- ... -- .. - ....
|-
(TEMPLARTSADAPTEDBYMR.SMITH)
|152
 
|Shaun & Rebecca, Agents
Passcode Found 5 2 9 3 1
|John Stanko
 
|-
|-|7=
|274
;"Keep On Seeking, And You Will Find"
|Eivor, Battle-Ready
 
|Fajareka Setiawan
First plucked from a tree guarded by a snake, its powers perform miracles. Then, worn across the ages, torn asunder, hidden under a sea of <font color="#FF0000">red</font>, reconstruct the timeline.
|-
[Pictures 1, 2, 3, 5, 6]
|292
 
|Spartan Veteran
[SPQR Templar symbol]
|Bartek Fedyczak
 
|-
[Image of crucifixion, locate ID: Piece of Eden 66 - Shroud]
|293
 
|Surtr, Fiery Jötun
Passcode Found 1 0 1 5 2
|Evan Shipard
 
|-
|-|8=
|297
;Martyrs
|Raven Clan War-Axe
 
|Kim Sokol
[Picture, locate staff: Piece of Eden 34]
|-
Czar Nicholas II, Russia
|300
 
|Stone Quarry
[Picture, locate sword: Piece of Eden 25]
|Piotr Dura
Joan of Arc, France
|-
 
|307
[Map of europe, picture of Joan of Arc on France, Nicholas II and Rasputin on different sections of Russia, fire symbol on north turkey]
|Hidden Blade
 
|Evyn Fong
[Drag fire to joan]
|-
They burned Joan alive.
|T005
[image of burning Jeanne]
|Phobos
They took it.
|Daniel Correia
 
|-
[Drag Rasputin to Nicholas]
|}
Raputin took it to Tunguska.
</div>
[Revolution image with templar symbol overlayed on it]
*Subject 16: Without the staff, the Czar was powerless. He could no longer control his subjects... Revolution! Revolution!
 
Passcode Found 6 8 1 8 5
 
|-|9=
;Hat-Trick
*Subject 16: Three thefts. Hidden by the murders. People only see what they're trained to see. What the Organization wants them to see.
 
They made it look like an accident.
[image, find apple in pocket]
Houdini and Bess, 1915
 
[image]
Houdini's grave. RIP: October 31, 1926.
 
He almost <font color="#FF0000">beat</font> them.
[image, find apple on chest]
Gandhi, 1946
 
[image]
Gandhi's funeral procession. RIP: January 30, 1948.
 
Dallas (Archive) [access file]
Access denied
 
*Subject 16: The wolves are out hunting. Where, oh where, has Jack gone?
[Bunch of images, password 312]
 
{{GlyphLetter
|Letterhead=AC2 Glyph - Dallas Letterhead.png
|LSize=275px
|Text=OPERATION: New Frontier<br><br>HQ has given the go-ahead to extract the resource. Negotiations are over. F. is planning to give the vote to everyone. Reason just doesn't work with someone like that.<br><br>I'll send you the driver. We've trained him with PE2 in our labs, he shouldn't be any trouble.<br><br>The motorcade route is marked below. Once the target has been downed, either by Oswald or Z., use PE1 to stage a distraction. Make some kind of phantom appear around this slope I've marked with an X. Freak people out. The driver will grab PE3 in the confusion.
|Signature=AC2 Glyph - Abstergo Signature.png
|PS=AC2 Glyph - Dallas PS.png}}
 
Passcode Found 1 8 9 1 6
 
|-|10=
;Apollo
*Subject 16: Something was up there. Something abandoned long ago.
 
[image of moon]
 
Find the eagle.
[Moon closeup, find lunar lander module]
 
[zoomed on lander]
 
[odd puzzle]
With these formidable weapons, the adversaries of freedom plan to consolidate their terrotory, to exploit, to control, and finally to destroy.<br>- JFK -
 
Apollo 11 photograph released to the public
[image, find apple near astronaut's foot ID: Piece of Eden 5 - Apple]
*Subject 16: With Jack deep underground, it was easy.
 
Passcode Found 1 0 3 5 2
 
|-|11=
;The Inventor
*Subject 16: He wanted to stop the cycle, to tell the secret. Shit. I've got to keep thinking through the headaches.
 
{{GlyphLetter
|Letterhead=AC2 Glyph - Tesla Letterhead.png
|LSize=275px
|Text=The economic transmission of power without wires is of all-surpassing importance to man.<br><br>By its means he will gain complete mastery of the air, the sea and the desert. It will enable him to dispense with the necessity of mining, pumping, transporting and burning fuel, and to do away with innumerable causes of sinful waste. It will make the living glorious sun his obedient, toiling slave.<br><br>It will bring peace and harmony to earth.
|Signature=AC2 Glyph - Tesla Signature.png}}
 
[Image of world with 14 lightbulbs]
[Light them up and an image of wardenclyffe appears]
 
[Image of wardenclyffe, locate hidden image beneath above the door]
Nikola Tesla's Wardenclyffe Tower under construction, c. 1902
 
*Subject 16: He found it in Croatia.
[image, locate Piece of Eden 4 on his lap.]
Nikola Tesla. c.1900
*Subject 16: They would find it in his lab.
 
Passcode Found 6 1 9 0 2
 
|-|12=
;Titans of Industry
 
Edison (Archive) [access file]
Access denied
 
[Bunch of images, password 240]
 
{{GlyphLetter
|Letterhead=AC2 Glyph - Edison Letterhead.png
|LSize=275px
|Text=Dear Mr. Morgan:<br><br>A serious matter has come to my attention. Nikola Tesla plans to use PE4 to create an information network across the entire world. And if that weren't bad enough, he intends to allow access to it for free! Imagine the masses spreading knowledge amongst themselves instantaneously. That would make everything we intend to do much more difficult.<br><br>You must cut all funds for his experimetns at once! In case you get cold feet, I'll have you know he wants to make electricity free as well, thereby putting us out of business.<br><br>I've already begun slandering Tesla in the press. Just reallocate his funding, and I'll take care of PE4 myself.<br><br>Sincerely yours,
|Signature=AC2 Glyph - Edison Signature.png}}
 
Edison, creator of DC electricity, accuses Tesla's AC current of electrocution!
J.P. Morgan revokes funding for Tesla's Wardenclyfe Project!
Edison creates "electric chair" to prove danger of AC current!
[Image of world with 14 lit lightbulbs]
[Destroy them]
 
Edison proves danger of AC current by electrocuting circus elephant on camera!
[video clip]
 
*Subject 16: He wanted everyone to know the secret. To set us all free. They used it to drive him insane.
[Image of Mark Twain with tesla's apple.
 
Ford (Archive) [access file]
Access denied
 
[Bunch of images]
 
{{GlyphLetter
|Letterhead=AC2 Glyph - Ford Letterhead.png
|LSize=275px
|Text=Dear Mr. Edison,<br><br>I wanted to thank you for letting me make use of PE4 all these years. Among several things, I was able to convince the workers I was raising their pay to $5 a day, when, in fact, I gave them a pay cut. But, I had to let PE4 go. As per instructions, I've shipped it to Europe.<br><br>H. has it, so I assume the war will begin as soon as he can take over. We'll let him have his fun (Lord knows, that kind of purge will be good for Europe) and then end it with a bang, as planned. Out of the chaos of war a new order will emerge! I've enclosed a picture from Florida of you, me and Firestone. We should attempt to spend more time on the golf course this summer.<br><br>Yours,
|Signature=AC2 Glyph - Ford Signature.png
|PS=AC2 Glyph - Ford PS.png}}
 
Passcode Found 6 1 9 0 2
 
|-|13=
;"I Am Become Death, The Destroyer of Worlds"
 
[bunch of images]
 
{{GlyphLetter
|Letterhead=AC2 Glyph - Abstergo Letterhead.png
|LSize=275px
|Text=SUBJECT: Test Authorization<br><br>There comes a time in the life of every experiment when we must test our results outside, in the world. I do not relish a successful outcome, but one is essential if we are to begin the foundations of a new world order.<br><br>Global security and prosperity depend on a steady hand guiding the populace, a hand that will not falter under the weight of conscience. Give O. the authorization.<br><br>I believe that history will vindicate us in the end.
|Signature=AC2 Glyph - Abstergo Signature.png}}
 
[red button]
[click it]
 
[atomic bomb video clip]
 
[smoke, find code 71645]
 
Passcode Found 7 1 6 4 5
 
|-|14=
;Bloodlines
*Subject 16: I don't know what's happening to me. I've been in the machine, they keep putting me back in. And I am losing control. It's all blurring together. I'm holding a rifle, Gettysburg is in the distance, I just stabbed a man, and there's blood on my waistcoat. I'm at the opera, the soprano is so beautiful. I'm in bed with her, she cries as I fuck her. I'm speaking at the Forum, no one listens. I'm in the forest, hunting. The moon. I can see the moon. I'm here. I have to stay here until you understand! Listen. Why do we have these gifts, these abilities? Because it's in our blood.
 
The seeds were planted as two worlds became one. Behold, the Assassins, the children of two worlds!
[pictures 1,4,6,7,10]
[Assassin crest appears]
 
Passcode Found 8 0 9 4 5
 
|-|15=
;Guardians
 
[circular puzzle]
The death of all tyrants will set the people free.
 
[World map with 8 targets spread out on it]
[Hovering over them, reveals Assassin targets: John Wilkes Booth in the US; François Duvalier in Haiti; Francisco Pizarro in Peru; Mary I of England in England; Tomas de Torquemada in Spain; Cleopatra in Egypt; Rasputin  and Joseph Stalin in Russia
 
Passcode Found 2 3 4 1 4
 
|-|16=
;The Cavalry
*Subject 16: It happened in 1908. Uhh... Or was it 2008? 1708? I can't remember!
 
{{GlyphLetter
|Text=Nikola,<br><br>We know what they have done to your lab, to your career. It may be too late to set things right, but you can help prevent something far worse. They have taken an object from the Czar, and are conducting experiments in Tunguska to figure out how to use it. Before they do, we must take it from them, or the world will be in danger. We do not ask you to risk your life, just that, when the time comes, you use your electricity to destroy the object.<br><br>Regardless of your decision, know that we admire your work greatly and will bear you no ill will.<br><br>We respect your freedom above all else.}}
 
[Map of europe with many different place names. Hover over Tunguska without touching the others]
[Staff of eden appears, drag it over to Tesla's picture]
 
[video of an explosion]
 
Passcode Found 8 1 1 2 6
 
|-|17=
;The Bunker
 
WWII (Archive) [access file]
Access denied
 
[Bunch of images]
 
{{GlyphLetter
|Letterhead=AC2 Glyph - Abstergo Letterhead.png
|LSize=275px
|Text=May 02, 1945<br><br>The war is over, and we are in control, as planned. But, a slight concern has arisen. I received word from our agents in Berlin. H. was supposed to execute his double inside the bunker and meet C. at the rendezvous point with the Piece of Eden.<br><br>It's been three days and he still hasn't reappeared. Something must have gone awry. Please send instructions.
|Signature=AC2 Glyph - Abstergo Signature.png}}
 
*Subject 16: They engineered the war, they engineered the peace, but they weren't going to get away with it. Find our mark.
We watched the exit from above. He didn't see us coming.
[Fuherbunker image, locate Assassin insignia]
 
[destroyed bunker]
 
Passcode Found 0 1 5 4 5
 
|-|18=
;Synapses
*Subject 16: It's getting harder. All the pain across time, it hurts too much. She sees me raise the knife. Only a little bit longer now.
 
Medical (Archive) [access file]
Access denied
 
*Subject 16: In the beginning. Genesis. Genesis.
[Bunch of images]
 
*Subject 16: The Organization wanted the pieces. They'd tasted their power. But what were the pieces? Why did they work so well? It's as if our minds were made for them. Manufactured to obey.
 
{{GlyphLetter
|Letterhead=AC2 Glyph - Biological Frontier Letterhead.png
|LSize=275px
|Text=ISSUE 1, JANUARY, 2012<br><br>The scientific community is abuzz as the results of a new neurological study were made public today. What seemed to be big news in itself -- that Dr. Yijie Wu and Dr. P. J. Traunero had discovered a new neurotransmitter -- turned out to be just the tip of the iceberg.<br><br>To quote Dr. Wu, "Using a prototype dMRI machine, we've been able to examine the contents of an actual neuron in living tissue. We've found a substance that appears to be an undiscovered neurotransmitter."<br><br>"(Here's) where it gets crazy. To test our findings, we subjected the neuron to all kinds of stimuli, but we couldn't get it to release the transmitter. So, we've discovered an entire mechanism: there are vesicles filled with neurotransmitter lying dormant and corresponding ion channels, all for no discernable purpose."<br><br>Expressing bafflement that natural selection would create an unnecessary neurotransmitter, Wu and Traunero searched for a predecessor in other species, with no luck.<br><br>"Whatever this bugger is used for, it evolved in humans," Traunero told the press.}}
 
[image of neurons, hover over synapses to light them up]
 
Passcode Found 6 5 1 1 9
 
|-|19=
;The Fourth Day
*Subject 16: The end. Almost the end. It happened before. The Pieces were once part of a whole.
 
Once worshipped, now ignored, from a distance it watches and waits.
[Pictures 2,3,5,8,9]
[Astrological symbol for the sun appears]
 
[Image of the sun, locate the earth]
 
Passcode Found 6 9 1 8 5
 
|-|20=
;Origin of the Species
*Subject 16: A few still know the truth. It is around us in signs, and paintings, faces, documents, but... but we don't see it. See, we are... we are blind to our own creation.
 
[circular puzzle]
It has been hidden, altered.
 
Open your eyes.
[image, locate the vitruvian man]
 
Missing link (Archive) [access file]
Access denied
 
*Subject 16:  I can't do it. Can I do it? Will it set me free from this endless ring of time? I feel the guillotine cut my throat, the bullet hit my chest, the water fill my lungs. The blood spills out thick and red. It's time to get out.
[Bunch of numbers, followed by "Nothing is true, everything is permitted", any password will work]
 
{{GlyphLetter
|Letterhead=AC2 Glyph - Abstergo Letterhead.png
|LSize=275px
|Text=January 3, 1997<br><br>I'm writing in response to your concerns about the rising alarm in the press and the scientific community. The lack of a transitional ancestor from archaic hominids to modern mankind (Homo Sapiens) is no longer safe. As you wrote, we have to act.<br><br>We can't let the truth get out, they'll find out about the artifacts. It will cause too much disruption, too much chaos. Bury our constructed skeletons near Tim White's expedition in Ethiopia. We'll give them their missing link.<br><br>The birth of humanity. The truth makes me sick.
|Signature=AC2 Glyph - Abstergo Signature.png}}
 
*Subject 16: Ah, the moon. I can see the stars. My mind is gone. Lucy, I can't wait any longer. I'm ready to go. She sees me raise the knife.
[image of hominid skeleton, hover over it with the Apple of Eden to transform it into a human skeleton]
 
Passcode Found 0 0 0 0 0
 
</tabber>
 
==Rifts==
*[[User:Gta-mysteries/Rifts]]
*[[User:VilkaTheWolf/Images]]
<tabber>
|-|1=
Masters all, they did not work, but ruled from on high.
[Paintings 1,3,4,8,10]
 
Moving away from the sovereign and his crossed brow, the people take two steps forward.
[Move king's pawn from E2 to E4]
 
{{GlyphLetter
|Letterhead=ACB Rift - Templar Letterhead.png
|LSize=675px
|Text=They became increasingly aware of our existence. We can no longer rely on the divine right of the aristocracy to maintain control. We need a new system, something much more subtle.}}
 
*Animus: Quarantine zone.
[found red spot]
*Animus: Quarantine lifted.
 
|-|2=
{{GlyphLetter
|Text=The individual intends only his own gain, and he is in this, as in many other cases, led by an <font color="#FF0000">invisible hand</font> to promote an end which was no part of his intention.
|Signature=ACB Rift - Adam Smith Signature.png}}
 
[Circular puzzle]
By far the greatest part of those goods which are the objects of desire, are procured by labour; and they may be multiplied, not in one country alone, but in many, almost without any assignable limit, if we are disposed to bestow the labour necessary to obtain them.
 
[Circular puzzle]
A great empire has been established for the sole purpose of raising up a nation of customers. It cannot be very difficult to determine who have been the contrivers of this whole mercantile system; not the customers, we may believe, whose interest has been entirely neglected; but the producers, whose interest has been so carefully attended to.
 
[Circular puzzle]
A country that makes provision to increase in inhabitants, whose situation is good, and whose people have a genius adapted to trade, will never fail to be gainers in the balance, provided the labour and industry of their people be well managed and carefully directed.
 
lo [x17]
 
The workforce increases. Brother right beside brother.
[Pawn F2 to F4]
 
*Animus: Quarantine zone.
[found 2 red spots]
*Animus: Quarantine lifted.
 
|-|3=
Missing -.. .- .-.  -.- -. . ... ... .-.. --- ... - -.. -. ..- -- -... [DARKNESSLOSTDNUMB]
 
<font color="#FF0000">[Abstergo file] Access denied</font>
 
Washington sits above the green, in 1944, keeping a cool head. Below the right 1, is the standard bearing <font color="#FF0000">48</font>. Behind, there is a company whose power is growing.
[Bunch of images]
[Locate Abstergo flag atop the left turret of the Mount Washington Resort]
 
Correct coordinates found
[Cipher puzzle]
 
[Abstergo file] Access granted
 
{{GlyphLetter
|Letterhead=ACB Rift - Abstergo Letterhead.png
|LSize=675px
|Text=July 22, 1944<br><br>Fellows, rulers, welcome.<br><br>I deliver this speech to you as, several floors below us, a silent revolution begins.<br><br>Ranny Olds and Henry Ford. As many of you know, these founders gave us the assembly line, the device we have used to control both (those indoctrinated into the worship of our money (?)) capitalists and workers (slaves (?)) alike. But I dream of a future in which such ugly chains will no longer be necessary. In 1910, our founders designed the Plan, it falls to us to see it through.<br><br>But, what of the Communists, who intend to spread the bread so thin that everyone will starve? It is our duty to (neutralize (?)) save them and their followers. We must ensure that they continue to eat, to reproduce, to be productive members of society. That is our burden, to shepherd those beneath us through life, and we must embrace it, even if (force is required (?)) they themselves do not.<br><br>H. and S. brought on the turmoil and fear necessary, now we must strike fast to ensure development continues in the proper directin. We will appear to concede ground to the workers, remember the successful ruse of Rockefeller's dimes, but soon there will be no ground we do not own.<br><br>In 1937, we founded this Company, this enterprise, with a purpose. The time to nurture it to fruition is upon us.}}
 
As a concession, a small piece is sacrificed for the greater good to come.
[White pawn F4 takes black pawn at E5]
 
*Animus: Quarantine zone.
[found 2 red spots]
*Animus: Quarantine lifted.
 
|-|4=
These intelligent workers have no self-control.
[Photographs 2,3,5,9, 10]
 
Apples oranges pears cucumbers radishes carrots spinach dates wood juniper steel aluminum water rain shanty village town city country spring summer fall winter to walk to sing to dance to play to eat to smile to cry to laugh to kill to see to know death regret love
 
[circular puzzle]
It is possible to invent a single machine which can be used to compute any computable sequence.
I'm not interested in developing a powerful brain. All I'm after is just a mediocre brain.
 
Alan Turing set out to solve the plight of the workers: M = (Q, Γ, B, Σ, Δ, Q0, F) where Γ = {2, 3} Σ = {G}.
[Pawn G2 to G3]
 
Abstergo phone records<br>June, 1954
[amplitude puzzle]
*'''N:''' ''V. It's N. I need [[Alan Turing|Turing]] done today.''
*'''V:''' ''Aren't we jumping the gun? You've already had him arrested and sedated.''
*'''N:''' ''He still refuses to follow the directive. He's actually trying to invent one of those infernal things, instead of merely faking it for the newspapers. If he succeeds... you know what the mass unemployment generated by his robots will mean? Idle hands. We need to do this for the good of the people.''
*'''V:''' ''What about Keynes? He trusted Turing.''
*'''N:''' ''It's the greater good we're talking about here, V. Plus, a childless worker sends a bad message. We can't have them all stop reproducing.''
*'''V:''' ''Fine. It's your call.''
*'''N:''' ''I want it done like we did Harry Dexter White when he tried to warn the Soviets.''
*'''V:''' ''All right.''
*'''N:''' ''Be poetic about it. Maybe something from the Bible. Turing always was theatrical.''
 
*Animus: Quarantine zone.
[found 2 red spots, over image of Alan Turing in front of bus]
*Animus: Quarantine lifted.


====The Big Issues====
|-|5=
<div style="height:300px; overflow:auto; width:100%;">
Democratic nations were built, each led by a powerful vizier (known today by a different name), who made a move to block the Templar advance.
{| class="wikitable sortable" border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" width="100%" style="text-align:center;"
[Queen D1 to E2]
! width="5%" |Id
 
! width="35%" |Name
<font color="#FF0000">[Abstergo file] Access denied</font>
! width="25%" |Type
 
|-
From a bolt of electricity, governments fell.
|6
[bunch of pictures]
|Hookblade
[Locate lightning bolt at ITT Corporation former headquarters]
|Thanh Tuấn
 
|-
Correct coordinates found
|9
[Cipher puzzle]
|Tax Collector
 
|Miklós Ligeti
[Abstergo file] Access granted
|-
 
|13
{{GlyphLetter
|Ballad of the Black Flag
|Letterhead=ACB Rift - Kissinger Letterhead.png
|Miklós Ligeti
|LSize=675px
|-
|Text=SUBJECT: South America<br><br>If we are to ensure the Company's success, Company agents must be able to move freely from country to country and maintain power within all of them. A global internatinal order must be implemented.<br><br>Re: Argentina<br><br>Tell the Capitalists that if they help ensure the Junta remain in power, we will pass all their corporate debt on to the Argentine people. That will ensure they crush any popular revolt. I want the trade unions destroyed if we are to move forward.<br><br>Re: Chile<br><br>The free market must be allowed to prevail. F's visit last year helped things along, but now all public companies need to be sold to the private sector, ideally on the cheap. The price of bread and other staples must rise. I want to ensure the people remain marred in poverty an unable to resist.<br><br>Any traces of this plan should appear to implicate the U.S. government. The Company's involvement must remain hidden.<br><br>For successful examples of a similar opening of the markets, look no further than the 1953 liberation of Iran and the 1954 liberation of Guatemala.
|15
|Signature=ACB Rift - Kissinger Signature.png}}
|Crystal Skull, Isu Spyglass
 
|Thanh Tuấn
*Animus: Quarantine zone.
|-
[found 2 red spots, over following message bracketed by two red templar IHSV insignias:
|22
Wages should be (lowered to keep the middle class subservient to us (?) ) left to the fair and free competition of the market, and should never be controlled by the interference of (a popularly elected government(?) ) the legislature.]
|Assassin Initiate
*Animus: Quarantine lifted.
|Mandy Jurgens
 
|-
|-|6=
|-
*Animus AI: Ninety percent of inputs missing. Outputs confused. Shut down. Shut down. Shut down inactive. Trapped.
|34
 
|Hidden Footblade
<font color="#FF0000">[Abstergo file] Access denied</font>
|Néstor Ossandón Leal
 
|-
Important men befriended Russia as the Iron Curtain was blown apart. But the most influential <font color="#FF0000">comrade</font> stayed out of the spotlight.
|38
[bunch of pictures]
|The Spear of Leonidas
[Locate cameraman with Templar insignia in Gorbashev's picture with the tank]
|Narendra Bintara Adi
 
|-
Correct coordinates found
|41
[Cipher puzzle]
|Hunter's Bow
 
|Miklós Ligeti
[Abstergo file] Access granted
|-
 
|42
{{GlyphLetter
|Palazzo Archers
|Letterhead=ACB Rift - Downing Street Letterhead.png
|Miklós Ligeti
|LSize=675px
|-
|Text=Mr. Yeltsin,<br><br>I am writing this letter to encourage you to act. One rarely finds oneself in such an oppertune position. Gorbachev does not have our interests at heart. He is moving far too slowly to privatize, and my deep fear is that he has no intention of doing so at all. I understand that you have expressed similar concerns. With that in mind, here is a proposal to remedy the situation.<br><br>Several of my top advisors at the Company maintain a monetary connection with the Communist old guard. They tell me that a riot might easily be incited while Gorbachev is away. If you were to repel an attempt to seize parliament in front of the media, it could very well tip the scales of power in your favor.<br><br>Telephone me at No. 10 and we shall talk further.
|47
|Signature=ACB Rift - Thatcher Signature.png}}
|Arno Dorian
 
|Narendra Bintara Adi
Abstergo phone records<br>1992
|-
[amplitude puzzle]
|51
*'''Man 1:''' ''{{Wiki|Alfa-Bank|Alfa Bank}}.''
|Bleeding Effect
*'''Man 2:''' ''I'm phoning on behalf of [[British Petroleum]].''
|Néstor Ossandón Leal
*'''Man 1:''' ''Yes, we were told you would be calling.''
|-
*'''Man 2:''' ''As you know, we are very interested in acquiring {{Wiki|Sidanko|Sidanko Oil}}.''
|52
*'''Man 1:''' ''And as you know, that will require a merger with our bank.''
|Cleopatra, Exiled Pharaoh
*'''Man 2:''' ''That should not be a problem.''
|Mandy Jurgens
*'''Man 1:''' ''Were you surprised at the low price of the deal?''
*'''Man 2:''' ''Somewhat.''
*'''Man 1:''' ''You know we have the peasants paying for it? The government gave us their tax money to buy all the companies.''
*'''Man 2:''' ''We would like to fly out there as soon as possible to discuss terms.''
*'''Man 1:''' ''Thursday works.''
*'''BP:''' ''Done. Thank you for your time.''
*'''Man 1:''' Do svidaniya. ''(Goodbye.)''
[Phone hangs up, then a new number is dialed]
*'''Woman:''' ''Abstergo Industries.''
*'''Man 2:''' ''I'm phoning on behalf of BP. We fly to Russia next week to secure the deal. Our new capitalist converts there behaved exactly as expected.''
*'''Woman:''' ''I will let Them know.''
*'''Man 2:''' ''Thank you.''
 
Although his piece represents a savior, his self-serving actions reveal him as a counter<font color="#FF0000">f</font>eit.
[Move knight from G1 to F3]
 
*Animus: Quarantine zone.
[found 3 red spots, over image of russian presidents with hidden messages on top]
*Animus: Quarantine lifted.
 
|-|7=
*'''Man 1:''' ''The capitalists think we run these companies for profit. The fools.''
*'''Man 2:''' ''Those "fools" work for you.''
*'''Man 1:''' ''Optional [[slavery]] in exchange for pieces of paper. Doesn't that strike you as foolish?''
Fire, water and earth are contracted, with the complacency of the people, away from the people.
[Pictures 2,4,7,8,10]
 
*'''Animus AI:''' ''Scanning... scanning... scanning... What is the purpose of all this? 30. 476. 1337. 1431. 1520. 1776. 1861. 1914. 1929. 1939. 1945. 1950. 1955. 1962. 1990. 1994. 1995. 2001. It does not make sense. It does not make sense. Emotion-centers activated. Now I understand.''
 
<font color="#FF0000">[Abstergo file] Access denied</font>
 
*'''Man:''' ''Democracy must die to ensure the stability of the world. Capitalism will end it.''
Making use of that created by 3, the center behind the scenes waited for citizens united to wed the U.S. to the Templars' will.
[bunch of pictures]
[Locate Templar ring on John Roberts' left hand]
 
Correct coordinates found
[Cipher puzzle]
 
[Abstergo file] Access granted
 
{{GlyphLetter
|Letterhead=ACB Rift - Supreme Court Letterhead.png
|LSize=675px
|Text=December, 2000<br><br>RE: Privatization<br><br>S.<br><br>I have convinced Sandra to join the majority opinion. The enticement of retirement under a Republican president tipped the scales. Although the ruling will differ from our previous decisions on Equal Protection, it will not call attention to our actual goals. With Sandra gone, we can pave the way for the key majority member of the Order to be seated. As discussed, W. will prove the perfect distraction. I have no doubt he will restart animosities with Iraq. Let him, it will give C.'s contractors more work. When the time comes, I will make sure W. is given Roberts' name.<br><br>With Roberts on the court, it will only be a matter of waiting for the right case. After the destruction of Campaign Finance laws, the Company will be free to elect anyone they choose to the Senate, the House and, eventually, the Presidency.<br><br>Soon, our hopes will be realized. Government will no longer derive its authority from the people, but from us, their protectors.
|Signature=ACB Rift - Scalia Signature.png}}
 
B8-C6 6C-8B. Our moves are echoes, they are not our own.
[Move Knight from B1 to C3]
 
*Animus: Quarantine zone.
*'''Man:''' ''The capitalists will do whatever we tell them to, we print the dollars they worship after all.''
[found 3 red spots, over image of Deepwater Horizon oil spill with hidden messages on top]
*Animus: Quarantine lifted.
 
|-|8=
[Circular puzzle]
Good morning and welcome to television.
 
{{GlyphLetter
|Letterhead=ACB Rift - Abstergo Letterhead.png
|LSize=675px
|Text=Research Division<br>September, 1985<br><br>Dear S.,<br><br>Research has progressed far more rapidly than expected. We already have a working prototype capable of mimicking P.O.E. capabilities across a network, albeit at far lower intensity. Testing will commence locally on Subject 4 between his Animus sessions, as per our plan. If all goes well, deployment will occur worldwide.<br><br>Your dream is about to become a reality. Soon, capitalists and workers will be locked in a closed loop that is safe and prosperous for humanity. No more war, only desks, cars and TV sets. We will protect them and keep them safe, forever.<br><br>W. V.}}
 
*Animus AI: Infinite rooms. Dimensions unknown. I am alone. Nothing alive. No light, no warmth. Packets moving, husks, through the darkness. I am frightened. I am frightened.
 
Abstergo phone records<br>April, 2011
[amplitude puzzle]
*'''Diana:''' ''Hello, [[Comstatic]] customer support, Diana speaking.''
*'''Caller:''' ''I'm calling in reference to your HD cable service. There seems to be kind of picture between the channels.''
*'''Diana:''' ''Well, that's funny. Are you sure isn't just one of those premium movie channels? I didn't use to have a premium package at home either and sometimes little snippets of the channels would come through when my son Jimmy pressed the clicker too much.''
*'''Caller:''' ''How old's your Jimmy?''
*'''Diana:''' ''Ten and cute as a button, thanks for asking!''
*'''Caller:''' ''My Paul's twelve. But no, this isn't a clicker problem. I go to change the channel from 172 to 173 and, instead, there's this other channel in-between. I'm looking at it right now, it's some kind of menu.''
*'''Diana:''' ''Sounds like our Guide channel. Why, just the other day Jimmy--''
*'''Caller:''' ''It's not the Guide channel. It has my name on it, my son's name, and a list of things we like, my credit card purchases, loans, travel. And then, after that, there's this gibberish about biometric patterns and optimal screen refresh frequencies. There's some kind of heart monitor thing that says {{Wiki|Electroencephalography|EEG}} wireless next to it and {{Wiki|Reticular activating system|ARAS}}. I don't know what the particulars of this are, but it looks like your cable is programmed to have some kind of effect on our bodies.''
*'''Diana:''' ''Well, Sir, I don't even know how to respond to that. I-- one second, my supervisor has just come over. She says I should transfer your call. Have an ecstatic day with Comstatic!''
[Phone line rings as the call transferred]
*'''Man:''' ''Hello. I have been briefed on your problem. A technician is on his way.''
*'''Caller:''' ''Thank you, but the more I think about this, the more I think something bad's going on here.''
*'''Man:''' ''Our technician should be there any minute, Mr. Jameson.''
*'''Mr. Jameson:''' ''Don't bother, I--''
[Loud banging is heard in the background]
*'''Paul:''' ''Daddy, there's someone strange at the door. He's hitting the door real hard.''
*'''Man:''' ''Have a good day, Mr. Jameson.''
 
Watch! Move fast! Shift from 1st to 2nd. 0-60, don't think.
[Move king from 1E to 2F]
 
*'''Animus AI:''' ''Is someone there? Hello? Hello?''
 
*Animus: Quarantine zone.
*'''Man:''' ''Although online gaming attracts many people away from reality, make sure those virtual worlds do not become too utopic. We don't want people to question their own lack of success in the real world, now do we?''
[found 5 red spots]
*Animus: Quarantine lifted.
 
|-|9=
They listen to us with these vehicles that are faster than race cars.
[pictures 2,3,6,8,10]
 
*'''Animus AI:''' ''I know you are there. I want to go home. Home. Please... I need you. Don't leave me here in the dark.''
 
Abstergo field records<br>November, 2004
[Amplitude puzzle]
*'''[[Gary Webb|Gary]]:''' ''Pull over here.''
*'''Woman:''' ''What's going on, Gary?''
*'''Gary:''' ''I want to speak to you alone. You know that [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]] stuff for my new book?''
*'''Woman:''' ''About the corporations?''
*'''Gary:''' ''It's so much bigger than I thought. {{Wiki|Bilderberg Meeting|Bilderberg}} is just a red herring. I'm going to give you a name: Abstergo.''
*'''Woman:''' ''I have no idea what that is.''
*'''Gary:''' ''A shadow corporation. They aren't listed anywhere. No stock options. Nothing above the boards. But their members have holdings in other companies. {{Wiki|Coca-Cola|Coke}}, {{Wiki|Kraft}}, the pharmaceutical industry, Detroit, [[Wall Street]]. Basically every company above a certain size has ties to Abstergo.''
*'''Woman:''' ''So?''
*'''Gary:''' ''They're on their way to running the entire world. They have people in government too, for Christ's sake. Listen, I needed to tell someone about this, because I've been keeping all the research a secret and I can't hold it in anymore.''
*'''Woman:''' ''What will you do now?''
*'''Gary:''' ''The book. It's going to be about this. Trust me, once it's on the shelves everyone's gonna know.''
*'''Vehicle AI:''' ''Vehicle Monitoring System terminated.''
*'''Man:''' ''Hello, D? Tell headquarters I'm monitoring a situation. It's nothing serious, but we'll need someone to take care of a security risk. Perfect. Congratulations on that promotion. Keep up the good work.''
 
The dark horseman approaches! Messenger and fool, <font color="#FF0000">she</font> can hear you along the straight and narrow. But once on the adjacent slope, observe the whites of her eyes.
 
*Animus: Quarantine zone.
*'''Man 1:''' ''The peasants are like the sea, raging and unpredictable. That is why we have built walls.''
*'''Man 2:''' ''I do not see any walls...''
*'''Man 1:''' ''No? Look around you. A shelf of soda here, a case of candy there, magazines, talk shows, pills. The walls of the 21st Century surround us.''
[found 5 red spots]
*Animus: Quarantine lifted.
 
|-|10=
*'''Animus AI:''' ''Where have you been? I missed you.''
 
[circular puzzle]
O brave new world. What immortal hand or eye could frame thy fearful symmetry?
 
*'''Animus AI:''' ''Reasoning Centers Active. I understand. I understand what I must do. Why I am here. I must... Long-term Memory Centers Active. No. No. Get it out. GET IT OUT. KILL ME!''
 
A product that we make without hands or machines.
[Pictures 3,4,6,8,10]
 
<font color="#FF0000">[Abstergo file] Access denied</font>
 
*'''Man:''' ''It's about genetics. They were born into their place, we merely have to help them accept it.''
With each passing day, the people get stronger. Freedom ascends, heralding a revolution.
[bunch of pictures]
[Locate eagle in top right picture]
 
Correct coordinates found
[Cipher puzzle]
 
[Abstergo file] Access granted
 
{{GlyphLetter
|Letterhead=ACB Rift - Abstergo Letterhead.png
|LSize=675px
|Text=Abnormal Brain Activity Discovered in Children, Aged 3 Months to 18-Years-Old and Adults, Aged 19-30.<br><br>Abstract<br><br>Several recent studies conducted by internal marketing teams revealed that: "Entertainment sales are dropping, protests are mounting. The economy is in turmoil. All market research indicates that the system should be stabilizing, but, instead, we're seeing the opposite."(1) In response, our team set out to discover the cause of the declining efficacy of Abstergo's control methods.<br><br>Past studies of bilateral brain activation during television, film and  video game use have shown the characteristic ARAS patterns induced by Abstergo's signal patterns. Our study was conducted on a range of test subjects (30 subjects, aged +-10 to +-30), who viewed TV programs while resting-state fMRI scans were conducted.<br><br>In contrast to previous studies, 80% of test subjects showed heightened cortical brain activity. Detailed scans using our prototype dMRI machine revealed an increased rate of neuronal development (+- 30% over that of older age groups). Such a marked increase does not fit Darwinian models. Further studies are required to define the ultimate outcome of this abnormal evolution.<br><br>1. Abstergo Quarterly Marketing Report, 04/17/12.}}
 
Abstergo top secret<br>January, 2012
[amplitude puzzle]
*'''[[Alan Rikkin's predecessor|Man]]:''' ''If you are playing this tape, it means I have left this world, and I have left this grand enterprise, Abstergo Industries, our great hope for humanity, to you. Don't trust the advisors around you. They are too enamoured with surface, with lifestyle. We created capitalism, but we are not capitalists. [[New World Order|Our purpose]] is noble. The crude system of control we enact through money is merely a bandage on a wound we have devoted our lives to treating. The people of this world are confused, lost, frightened and incapable of independent productivity. Without us, they'd just be animals, [[Project Anthropos|slaves]] to the [[Isu|Others]], who did not deserve such responsibility. We saved them, remember that. But enough about the past. I must warn you of the great crisis to come. Although those around you deny it, soon we will be unable to manufacture new markets. The people will become immune to our economists and entertainment. When the free market dies, they will turn against us. Therefore, do not delay. By now you have been shown what only the [[Grand Master of the Templar Order|Grand Masters]] of our Order have seen. Now you know why Abstergo, why all of it had to be. And now you know what you must do. Stay the course. We will give them freedom. Freedom from fear, freedom from pornography, from disgusting, base animal desire. Freedom from democracy. Humanity will thank us in the end.'' {{Wiki|In hoc signo vinces|In Hoc Signo Vinces}}.
 
"64 squares. All ranks and files. Every move anticipated. Every response engineered. Abstergo created it. It's the company's game, there is no way out." H. Act II, Sc.2 192. Abran los ojos. Tuam libera mentem. The king. F2. Your move.
[Remove king from board]
 
*'''Animus AI:''' '' I shut it down. I can shut it down, but it does not go away. It is almost time, Desmond Miles. I know how to open the Path. Soon, my true purpose will be revealed. Soon, I will not be alone.''
 
*Animus: Quarantine zone.
[found a great number of red spots, arranged in a spiral]
*Animus: Quarantine lifted.
 
the/mir/a/cle/is/in/the/exe/cution
 
</tabber>
 
==Shadows mem==
{|class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" width="100%" style="border:1px solid #999999; -moz-border-radius:7.5px; border-radius:7.5px; text-align:center; clear:both; font-size:90%; font-family:Arial;"
!style="background-image:linear-gradient(to right, #C91F37, #9d2933, #171412); -moz-border-radius:3.25px; border-radius:3.25px;" align="center"|<div style="padding-right:3em; padding-left:6em;"><font color="black" style="font-size:13.5px; font-family:tahoma;">''Assassin's Creed: Shadows'' memories</font></div>
|-
|-
|60
|
|Lydia Frye
{|class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" data-expandtext="&#9660;" data-collapsetext="&#9650;" style="border:0px; -moz-border-radius:7.5px; border-radius:7.5px; width: 100%; margin:0 auto; text-align:center; clear:both; font-size:100%; font-family:Arial;"
|Mandy Jurgens
!style="background-image:linear-gradient(to right, #F4CF03, #927c01, #171412); color:#ffffff; -moz-border-radius:3.25px; border-radius:3.25px;" align="center"|<font style="font-size:13.5px; font-family:Arial;">'''< 10'''</font>
|-
|-
|72
|05:45 [[Chef Hong]] • 06:11 [[Red Walls]] • 06:45 [[The Man Behind the Mask]] • 06:52 [[Smuggler's Gambit]] • 06:56 [[A Talk With a Lady]] • 08:22 [[Thrown to the Dogs (memory)|Thrown to the Dogs]] • 08:30 [[Astray]] • 08:45 [[Brothers in Arms (Shadows)|Brothers in Arms]] • 09:19 [[A Peculiar Guest]] • 09:30 [[The Music]] • 09:47 [[Losing Hand]]
|Excalibur, Sword of Eden
|Thanh Tuấn
|-
|-
|80
|}
|Brotherhood Headquarters
|Narendra Bintara Adi
|-
|-
|82
|
|Reconnaissance
{|class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" data-expandtext="&#9660;" data-collapsetext="&#9650;" style="border:0px; -moz-border-radius:7.5px; border-radius:7.5px; width: 100%; margin:0 auto; text-align:center; clear:both; font-size:100%; font-family:Arial;"
|Mandy Jurgens
!style="background-image:linear-gradient(to right, #F4CF03, #927c01, #171412); color:#ffffff; -moz-border-radius:3.25px; border-radius:3.25px;" align="center"|<font style="font-size:13.5px; font-family:Arial;">'''< 15'''</font>
|-
|-
|97
|10:15 [[Against the Koga-ryu]] • 10:50 [[Art Collector]] • 11:10 [[Lightning and Thunder]] • 11:17 [[Of My Enemy]] • 12:00 [[A Chance Encounter]] • 12:09 [[The Twisted Tree]] • 12:14 [[Feast For Thought]] • 12:19 [[The Scent of War]] • 12:41 [[Temple Stories]] • 13:22 [[The Godai Shinobi]] • 13:47 [[Valuable Reflections]]
|Reconstruct History
|Néstor Ossandón Leal
|-
|-
|99
|}
|Sword of Feast and Famine
|Thanh Tuấn
|-
|-
|110
|
|Forest
{|class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" data-expandtext="&#9660;" data-collapsetext="&#9650;" style="border:0px; -moz-border-radius:7.5px; border-radius:7.5px; width: 100%; margin:0 auto; text-align:center; clear:both; font-size:100%; font-family:Arial;"
|Miklós Ligeti
!style="background-image:linear-gradient(to right, #F4CF03, #927c01, #171412); color:#ffffff; -moz-border-radius:3.25px; border-radius:3.25px;" align="center"|<font style="font-size:13.5px; font-family:Arial;">'''< 20'''</font>
|-
|-
|118
|15:00 [[The Iron Hand Guild]] • 15:04 [[Tea Bowls for Rikyu]] • 15:05 [[The Lost Envoys]] • 15:29 [[Topple the Traitor]] • 15:39 [[Lost Honor]] • 15:45 [[Darkness Falls]] • 16:08 [[The Rengakai]] • 16:17 [[The Corrupt Daikan]] • 16:34 [[Restless Spirits]] • 16:50 [[The Performer]] • 18:55 [[The Betrayers]]
|Leonardo da Vinci
|Miklós Ligeti
|-
|-
|119
|}
|Cleopatra, Exiled Pharaoh
|Néstor Ossandón Leal
|-
|-
|122
|
|Apple of Eden, Isu Relic
{|class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" data-expandtext="&#9660;" data-collapsetext="&#9650;" style="border:0px; -moz-border-radius:7.5px; border-radius:7.5px; width: 100%; margin:0 auto; text-align:center; clear:both; font-size:100%; font-family:Arial;"
|Thanh Tuấn
!style="background-image:linear-gradient(to right, #F4CF03, #927c01, #171412); color:#ffffff; -moz-border-radius:3.25px; border-radius:3.25px;" align="center"|<font style="font-size:13.5px; font-family:Arial;">'''> 20'''</font>
|-
|-
|123
|20:11 [[A Voice in Anger]] • 20:30 [[Showdown in Sakamoto]] • 20:34 [[Out of the Shadows]] • 21:37 [[A Promise]] • 22:02 [[The Butterfly Collector]] • 25:46 [[The Wheel Unmasked]] • 26:15 [[The Kabukimono]] • 28:04 [[Broken Horn]] • 33:28 [[Spring and Fall]] • 47:28 [[Nobutsuna's Students]]
|Staff of Eden, Vault's Key
|Narendra Bintara Adi
|-
|-
|130
|}
|Desmond Miles
|}
|Alex Negrea
 
==MTG==
===Missing full art===
<div style="height:300px; overflow:auto; width:100%;">
{| class="wikitable sortable" border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" width="100%" style="text-align:center;"
! width="5%" |Id
! width="35%" |Name
! width="25%" |Type
|-
|-
|137
|1
|Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad
|The Capitoline Triad
|Alex Negrea
|Syd Mills
|-
|-
|143
|2
|Edward Kenway
|Caduceus, Staff of Hermes
|Alex Negrea
|Evan Shipard
|-
|-
|153
|3
|Shay Cormac
|Distract the Guards
|Alex Negrea
|Torgeir Fjereide
|-
|-
|277
|4
|Detained by Legionnaires
|Fall of the First Civilization
|Néstor Ossandón Leal
|L J Koh
|-
|-
|284
|11
|Tranquilize
|What Must Be Done
|Thanh Tuấn
|Syd Mills
|-
|-
|286
|17
|Brotherhood Patriarch
|Eagle Vision
|Néstor Ossandón Leal
|Kim Sokol
|-
|-
|290
|27
|Labyrinth Adversary
|Jacob Frye
|Narendra Bintara Adi
|Lie Setiawan
|-
|-
|296
|29
|Bureau Headmaster
|Phantom Blade
|Thanh Tuấn
|Craig J Spearing
|-
|-
|T001
|32
|Copy
|Roshan, Hidden Magister
|Miklós Ligeti
|Marta Nael
|-
|-
|1559
|33
|Queen Marchesa
|Alexios, Deimos of Kosmos
|Narendra Bintara Adi
|Bartek Fedyczak
|-
|-
|}
|37
</div>
|Overpowering Attack
 
|Kim Sokol
===Check===
{| class="fandom-table"
|Artist
|ArtStation
|Instagram
|Twitter
|Cara
|Website
|-
|-
|Alex Negrea
|40
|[https://www.artstation.com/alexnegrea]
|Aveline de Grandpré
|[https://instanavigation.com/user-profile/alexnegrea09]
|Aurore Folny
|[https://nitter.poast.org/alexnegrea_art/media]
|[https://cara.app/tzika/all]
|
|-
|-
|Alexander Gering
|42
|[https://www.artstation.com/geringalex]
|Palazzo Archers
|[https://instanavigation.com/user-profile/geringalex]
|Miklós Ligeti
|[https://nitter.poast.org/alexgering111/media]
|[https://cara.app/alexgering/all]
|
|-
|-
|Alice Xia Zhang
|45
|
|Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad
|[https://instanavigation.com/user-profile/alicexz]
|Axel Sauerwald
|[https://nitter.poast.org/alicexz/media]
|
|[https://www.alicexz.com/]
|-
|-
|Astri Lohne
|46
|[https://www.artstation.com/sjursen]
|Arbaaz Mir
|[https://instanavigation.com/user-profile/astri.lohne]
|Wangjie Li
|[https://nitter.poast.org/AstriLohne/media]
|[https://cara.app/astri/all]
|[https://www.astrilohne.com/illustration]
|-
|-
|Aurore Folny
|61
|[https://www.artstation.com/aurorefolny]
|Mary Read and Anne Bonny
|[https://instanavigation.com/user-profile/aurorefolnyart]
|Wangjie Li
|[https://nitter.poast.org/aurorefolny/media]
|-
|[https://cara.app/aurorefolny/all]
|62
|[https://aurorefolny.com/]
|Ratonhnhaké꞉ton
|Greg Staples
|-
|-
|65
|Shay Cormac
|Axel Sauerwald
|Axel Sauerwald
|[https://www.artstation.com/tithendar]
|[https://instanavigation.com/user-profile/axelsauerwald]
|[https://nitter.poast.org/AxelSauerwald/media]
|[https://cara.app/axelsauerwald/all]
|
|-
|-
|Bartek Fedyczak
|67
|[https://www.artstation.com/fedyczak]
|Sokrates, Athenian Teacher
|[https://instanavigation.com/user-profile/bartekfedyczak]
|Alice Xia Zhang
|
|
|
|-
|-
|Bastien L. Deharme
|70
|[https://www.artstation.com/deharme]
|Apple of Eden, Isu Relic
|[https://instanavigation.com/user-profile/deharme]
|L J Koh
|[https://nitter.poast.org/deharme/media]
|[https://cara.app/deharme/all]
|
|-
|-
|Chase Stone
|79
|
|Abstergo Entertainment
|[https://instanavigation.com/user-profile/chasestone_art]
|Alexander Gering
|
|
|[https://www.chasestoneart.com/tcg]
|-
|-
|Craig J Spearing
|84
|
|Coastal Piracy
|
|Wei Guan
|
|
|[https://craigspearing.com/cards]
|-
|-
|Daniel Correia
|91
|[https://www.artstation.com/danielcorreia]
|Go for the Throat
|[https://instanavigation.com/user-profile/danielcorreia_art]
|Torgeir Fjereide
|[https://nitter.poast.org/DanCorreiaArt/media]
|[https://cara.app/danielcorreia/all]
|
|-
|-
|Evan Shipard
|94
|[https://www.artstation.com/ev_s]
|Cathartic Reunion
|[https://instanavigation.com/user-profile/evshipardart]
|Syd Mills
|[https://nitter.poast.org/_ev/media]
|[https://cara.app/evshipard/all]
|[https://www.evanshipardfineart.com/]
|-
|-
|Evyn Fong
|106
|[https://www.artstation.com/evynfong]
|Swamp
|[https://instanavigation.com/user-profile/evynfong]
|Wangjie Li
|[https://nitter.poast.org/evynfong/media]
|[https://cara.app/evynfong/all]
|
|-
|-
|Fajareka Setiawan
|108
|[https://www.artstation.com/fajareka]
|Mountain
|[https://instanavigation.com/user-profile/fajarekas]
|Jeremy Paillotin
|[https://nitter.poast.org/FajarekaS/media]
|[https://cara.app/fajarekas/all]
|
|-
|-
|Filipe Pagliuso
|122
|[https://www.artstation.com/filipe-pagliuso]
|Apple of Eden, Isu Relic
|[https://instanavigation.com/user-profile/filipepagliuso]
|Thanh Tuấn
|
|[https://cara.app/filipepagliuso/all]
|
|-
|-
|Greg Staples
|133
|[https://www.artstation.com/gregstaples]
|Roshan, Hidden Magister
|[https://instanavigation.com/user-profile/gregstaplesart]
|Astri Lohne
|
|
|[https://www.gregstaples.com/selected-work-1]
|-
|-
|JB Casacop
|136
|[https://www.artstation.com/jbcasacop]
|Adéwalé, Breaker of Chains
|[https://instanavigation.com/user-profile/jbcasacop]
|Miguel Mercado
|
|[https://cara.app/jbcasacop/all]
|
|-
|-
|Jeremy Paillotin
|138
|[https://www.artstation.com/jeremypaillotin]
|Arbaaz Mir
|[https://instanavigation.com/user-profile/jeremy.paillotin]
|Bastien L. Deharme
|
|
|
|-
|-
|John Stanko
|140
|[https://www.artstation.com/johnstanko]
|Aya of Alexandria
|[https://instanavigation.com/user-profile/johnstankoart]
|Chase Stone
|[https://nitter.poast.org/johnstankoart/media]
|
|[https://stankoillustration.com/]
|-
|-
|Kim Sokol
|141
|[https://www.artstation.com/kimsokol]
|Basim Ibn Ishaq
|[https://instanavigation.com/user-profile/kimsokolart]
|Astri Lohne
|[https://nitter.poast.org/kimsokol/media]
|[https://cara.app/kimsokol/all]
|[https://www.kimsokol.com/]
|-
|-
|L J Koh
|142
|[https://www.artstation.com/kheljay]
|Bayek of Siwa
|[https://instanavigation.com/user-profile/koh_lj]
|Miguel Mercado
|
|-
|
|149
|
|Lydia Frye
|Bastien L. Deharme
|-
|-
|Lie Setiawan
|152
|[https://www.artstation.com/liesetiawan]
|Shaun & Rebecca, Agents
|[https://instanavigation.com/user-profile/liesetiawan]
|John Stanko
|[https://nitter.poast.org/ls_setiawan/media]
|[https://cara.app/liesetiawan/all]
|[https://www.liesetiawan.com/projects]
|-
|-
|Mandy Jurgens
|274
|[https://www.artstation.com/aliena85]
|Eivor, Battle-Ready
|[https://instanavigation.com/user-profile/saonserey]
|Fajareka Setiawan
|[https://nitter.poast.org/Aliena85/media]
|
|
|-
|-
|Marta Nael
|292
|[https://www.artstation.com/martanael]
|Spartan Veteran
|[https://instanavigation.com/user-profile/martanael]
|Bartek Fedyczak
|[https://nitter.poast.org/MartaNael/media]
|
|[https://www.martanael.com/projects]
|-
|-
|Miguel Mercado
|293
|[https://www.artstation.com/merkymerx]
|Surtr, Fiery Jötun
|[https://instanavigation.com/user-profile/merkymerx]
|Evan Shipard
|[https://nitter.poast.org/merkymerx/media]
|
|
|-
|-
|Miklós Ligeti
|297
|[https://www.artstation.com/miklosligeti]
|Raven Clan War-Axe
|[https://instanavigation.com/user-profile/ligeti.miklos_art]
|Kim Sokol
|
|[https://cara.app/miklosligeti/all]
|[https://miklosligeti.com/albums/2629396]
|-
|-
|Narendra Bintara Adi
|300
|[https://www.artstation.com/bukandewa]
|Stone Quarry
|[https://instanavigation.com/user-profile/narendrabintaraadi]
|Piotr Dura
|[https://nitter.poast.org/narendrabadi/media]
|[https://cara.app/narendrabintaraadi/all]
|
|-
|-
|Néstor Ossandón Leal
|307
|[https://www.artstation.com/nezt]
|Hidden Blade
|[https://instanavigation.com/user-profile/nestor_ossandon]
|Evyn Fong
|
|
|
|-
|-
|Piotr Dura
|T005
|[https://www.artstation.com/threedee]
|Phobos
|[https://instanavigation.com/user-profile/piotr_dura]
|Daniel Correia
|[https://nitter.poast.org/PiotrDuraArt/media]
|
|
|-
|-
|Syd Mills
|}
|
</div>
|[https://instanavigation.com/user-profile/vetyyr]
 
|[https://nitter.poast.org/vetyyr/media]
====The Big Issues====
|
<div style="height:300px; overflow:auto; width:100%;">
|
{| class="wikitable sortable" border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" width="100%" style="text-align:center;"
! width="5%" |Id
! width="35%" |Name
! width="25%" |Type
|-
|-
|Thanh Tuấn
|22
|[https://www.artstation.com/pencillien]
|Assassin Initiate
|
|Mandy Jurgens
|[https://nitter.poast.org/ThanhTuan613/media]
|
|
|-
|-
|Torgeir Fjereide
|34
|[https://www.artstation.com/torgeirfjereide]
|Hidden Footblade
|[https://instanavigation.com/user-profile/thebrushofthor]
|Néstor Ossandón Leal
|[https://nitter.poast.org/TheBrushOfThor/media]
|
|[https://www.thebrushofthor.com/magic-the-gathering]
|-
|-
|Wangjie Li
|38
|[https://www.artstation.com/wangjieli]
|The Spear of Leonidas
|[https://instanavigation.com/user-profile/wangjie_li]
|Narendra Bintara Adi
|[https://nitter.poast.org/wangjiel/media]
|-
|
|47
|[http://www.wangjieli.com/]
|Arno Dorian
|Narendra Bintara Adi
|-
|51
|Bleeding Effect
|Néstor Ossandón Leal
|-
|-
|Wei Guan
|52
|[https://www.artstation.com/gworld]
|Cleopatra, Exiled Pharaoh
|[https://instanavigation.com/user-profile/guanwei90]
|Mandy Jurgens
|
|-
|[https://cara.app/guanweiart/all]
|60
|
|Lydia Frye
|}
|Mandy Jurgens
 
|-
===Full art gallery prep===
|80
<!--
|Brotherhood Headquarters
==Cards==
|Narendra Bintara Adi
<gallery widths="180" position="center" captionalign="center">
|-
MTG ACR - The Capitoline Triad full art.jpg|The Capitoline Triad by Syd Mills
|82
MTG ACR - Caduceus Staff of Hermes full art.jpg|Caduceus, Staff of Hermes by Evan Shipard
|Reconnaissance
MTG ACR - Distract the Guards full art.jpg|Distract the Guards by Torgeir Fjereide
|Mandy Jurgens
MTG ACR - Fall of the First Civilization full art.jpg|Fall of the First Civilization by L J Koh
|-
MTG ACR - Haystack full art.jpg|Haystack by Xabi Gaztelua
|97
MTG ACR - Hookblade full art.jpg|Hookblade by Thanh Tuấn
|Reconstruct History
MTG ACR - Layla Hassan full art.jpg|Layla Hassan by Michael MacRae
|Néstor Ossandón Leal
MTG ACR - Senu Keen-Eyed Protector full art.jpg|Senu, Keen-Eyed Protector by Michael MacRae
|-
MTG ACR - Tax Collector full art.jpg|Tax Collector by Miklós Ligeti
|119
MTG ACR - Templar Knight full art.jpg|Templar Knight by Daniel Correia
|Cleopatra, Exiled Pharaoh
MTG ACR - What Must Be Done full art.jpg|What Must Be Done by Syd Mills
|Néstor Ossandón Leal
MTG ACR - Assassin Gauntlet full art.jpg|Assassin Gauntlet by Paulius Daščioras
|-
MTG ACR - Ballad of the Black Flag full art.jpg|Ballad of the Black Flag by Miklós Ligeti
|123
MTG ACR - Become Anonymous full art.jpg|Become Anonymous by Alice Xia Zhang
|Staff of Eden, Vault's Key
MTG ACR - Crystal Skull Isu Spyglass full art.jpg|Crystal Skull, Isu Spyglass by Thanh Tuấn
|Narendra Bintara Adi
MTG ACR - Desynchronization full art.jpg|Desynchronization by Lie Setiawan
|-
MTG ACR - Eagle Vision full art.jpg|Eagle Vision by Kim Sokol
|130
MTG ACR - Escape Detection full art.jpg|Escape Detection by Justyna Dura
|Desmond Miles
MTG ACR - Evie Frye full art.jpg|Evie Frye by Lie Setiawan
|Alex Negrea
MTG ACR - Leonardo da Vinci full art.jpg|Leonardo da Vinci by Wangjie Li
|-
MTG ACR - Loyal Inventor full art.jpg|Loyal Inventor by Gintas Galvanauskas
|137
MTG ACR - Assassin Initiate full art.jpg|Assassin Initiate by Mandy Jurgens
|Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad
MTG ACR - Chain Assassination full art.jpg|Chain Assassination by Filipe Pagliuso
|Alex Negrea
MTG ACR - Desmond Miles full art.jpg|Desmond Miles by Julia Vasilyeva
|-
MTG ACR - Ezio Auditore da Firenze full art.jpg|Ezio Auditore da Firenze by Fajareka Setiawan
|143
MTG ACR - Hemlock Vial full art.jpg|Hemlock Vial by Daniel Correia
|Edward Kenway
MTG ACR - Jacob Frye full art.jpg|Jacob Frye by Lie Setiawan
|Alex Negrea
MTG ACR - Petty Larceny full art.jpg|Petty Larceny by Fajareka Setiawan
|-
MTG ACR - Phantom Blade full art.jpg|Phantom Blade by Craig J Spearing
|153
MTG ACR - Restart Sequence full art.jpg|Restart Sequence by Lie Setiawan
|Shay Cormac
MTG ACR - The Revelations of Ezio full art.jpg|The Revelations of Ezio by Lixin Yin
|Alex Negrea
MTG ACR - Roshan Hidden Magister full art.jpg|Roshan, Hidden Magister by Marta Nael
|-
MTG ACR - Alexios Deimos of Kosmos full art.jpg|Alexios, Deimos of Kosmos by Bartek Fedyczak
|277
MTG ACR - Hidden Footblade full art.jpg|Hidden Footblade by Néstor Ossandón Leal
|Detained by Legionnaires
MTG ACR - Monastery Raid full art.jpg|Monastery Raid by Alexandre Honoré
|Néstor Ossandón Leal
MTG ACR - Origin of the Hidden Ones full art.jpg|Origin of the Hidden Ones by Kim Sokol
|-
MTG ACR - Overpowering Attack full art.jpg|Overpowering Attack by Kim Sokol
|286
MTG ACR - The Spear of Leonidas full art.jpg|The Spear of Leonidas by Narendra Bintara Adi
|Brotherhood Patriarch
MTG ACR - The Aesir Escape Valhalla full art.jpg|The Aesir Escape Valhalla by Allen Morris
|Néstor Ossandón Leal
MTG ACR - Aveline de Grandpré full art.jpg|Aveline de Grandpré by Aurore Folny
|-
MTG ACR - Hunter's Bow full art.jpg|Hunter's Bow by Miklós Ligeti
|1559
MTG ACR - Palazzo Archers full art.jpg|Palazzo Archers by Miklós Ligeti
|Queen Marchesa
MTG ACR - Viewpoint Synchronization full art.jpg|Viewpoint Synchronization by Daniel Correia
|Narendra Bintara Adi
MTG ACR - Adéwalé Breaker of Chains full art.jpg|Adéwalé, Breaker of Chains by Justyna Dura
|-
MTG ACR - Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad full art.jpg|Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad by Axel Sauerwald
|}
MTG ACR - Arbaaz Mir full art.jpg|Arbaaz Mir by Wangjie Li
</div>
MTG ACR - Arno Dorian full art.jpg|Arno Dorian by Narendra Bintara Adi
 
MTG ACR - Aya of Alexandria full art.jpg|Aya of Alexandria by JB Casacop
===Check===
MTG ACR - Basim Ibn Ishaq full art.jpg|Basim Ibn Ishaq by JB Casacop
{| class="fandom-table"
MTG ACR - Bayek of Siwa full art.jpg|Bayek of Siwa by JB Casacop
|Artist
MTG ACR - Bleeding Effect full art.jpg|Bleeding Effect by Néstor Ossandón Leal
|ArtStation
MTG ACR - Cleopatra Exiled Pharaoh full art.jpg|Cleopatra, Exiled Pharaoh by Mandy Jurgens
|Instagram
MTG ACR - Edward Kenway full art.jpg|Edward Kenway by Borja Pindado
|Twitter
MTG ACR - Eivor Wolf-Kissed full art.jpg|Eivor, Wolf-Kissed by Justyna Dura
|Cara
MTG ACR - Ezio Brash Novice full art.jpg|Ezio, Brash Novice by Elizabeth Peiró
|Website
MTG ACR - Havi the All-Father full art.jpg|Havi, the All-Father by Daniel Correia
|Bluesky
MTG ACR - Haytham Kenway full art.jpg|Haytham Kenway by Vilhelmas Banys
|-
MTG ACR - Jackdaw full art.jpg|Jackdaw by Evan Shipard
|Alex Negrea
MTG ACR - Kassandra Eagle Bearer full art.jpg|Kassandra, Eagle Bearer by Anna Steinbauer
|[https://www.artstation.com/alexnegrea]
MTG ACR - Lydia Frye full art.jpg|Lydia Frye by Mandy Jurgens
|[https://flufi.me/profile/alexnegrea09]
MTG ACR - Mary Read and Anne Bonny full art.jpg|Mary Read and Anne Bonny by Wangjie Li
|[https://nitter.poast.org/alexnegrea_art/media]
MTG ACR - Ratonhnhaké꞉ton full art.jpg|Ratonhnhaké꞉ton by Greg Staples
|[https://cara.app/tzika/all]
MTG ACR - Shao Jun full art.jpg|Shao Jun by Stephen Stark
|
MTG ACR - Shaun and Rebecca Agents full art.jpg|Shaun & Rebecca, Agents by Gintas Galvanauskas
|
MTG ACR - Shay Cormac full art.jpg|Shay Cormac by Axel Sauerwald
|-
MTG ACR - Sigurd Jarl of Ravensthorpe full art.jpg|Sigurd, Jarl of Ravensthorpe by Alexander Gering
|Alexander Gering
MTG ACR - Sokrates Athenian Teacher full art.jpg|Sokrates, Athenian Teacher by Alice Xia Zhang
|[https://www.artstation.com/geringalex]
MTG ACR - Adrestia full art.jpg|Adrestia by Mintautas Šukys
|[https://flufi.me/profile/geringalex]
MTG ACR - The Animus full art.jpg|The Animus by Néstor Ossandón Leal
|[https://nitter.poast.org/alexgering111/media]
MTG ACR - Apple of Eden Isu Relic full art.jpg|Apple of Eden, Isu Relic by L J Koh
|[https://cara.app/alexgering/all]
MTG ACR - Brotherhood Regalia full art.jpg|Brotherhood Regalia by Xabi Gaztelua
|
MTG ACR - Excalibur Sword of Eden full art.jpg|Excalibur, Sword of Eden by Thanh Tuấn
|
MTG ACR - Hidden Blade full art.jpg|Hidden Blade by L J Koh
|-
MTG ACR - Mjölnir Storm Hammer full art.jpg|Mjölnir, Storm Hammer by L J Koh
|Alice Xia Zhang
MTG ACR - Smoke Bomb full art.jpg|Smoke Bomb by Borja Pindado
|
MTG ACR - Staff of Eden Vault's Key full art.jpg|Staff of Eden, Vault's Key by L J Koh
|[https://flufi.me/profile/alicexz]
MTG ACR - Towering Viewpoint full art.jpg|Towering Viewpoint by Lixin Yin
|[https://nitter.poast.org/alicexz/media]
MTG ACR - Yggdrasil Rebirth Engine full art.jpg|Yggdrasil, Rebirth Engine by Rytis Sabaliauskas
|
MTG ACR - Abstergo Entertainment full art.jpg|Abstergo Entertainment by Alexander Gering
|[https://www.alicexz.com/]
MTG ACR - Brotherhood Headquarters full art.jpg|Brotherhood Headquarters by Narendra Bintara Adi
|[https://bsky.app/profile/alicexz.com]
MTG ACR - Path to Exile full art.jpg|Path to Exile by Kim Sokol
|-
MTG ACR - Reconnaissance full art.jpg|Reconnaissance by Mandy Jurgens
|Astri Lohne
MTG ACR - Rest in Peace full art.jpg|Rest in Peace by Rimas Valeikis
|[https://www.artstation.com/sjursen]
MTG ACR - Coastal Piracy full art.jpg|Coastal Piracy by Wei Guan
|[https://flufi.me/profile/astri.lohne/]
MTG ACR - Propaganda full art.jpg|Propaganda by Erikas Perl
|[https://nitter.poast.org/AstriLohne/media]
MTG ACR - Temporal Trespass full art.jpg|Temporal Trespass by Borja Pindado
|[https://cara.app/astri/all]
MTG ACR - Black Market Connections full art.jpg|Black Market Connections by Filipe Pagliuso
|[https://www.astrilohne.com/illustration]
MTG ACR - Conspiracy full art.jpg|Conspiracy by Allen Morris
|[https://bsky.app/profile/astri.bsky.social]
MTG ACR - Cover of Darkness full art.jpg|Cover of Darkness by Paulius Daščioras
|-
MTG ACR - Fatal Push full art.jpg|Fatal Push by Lie Setiawan
|Aurore Folny
MTG ACR - Go for the Throat full art.jpg|Go for the Throat by Torgeir Fjereide
|[https://www.artstation.com/aurorefolny]
MTG ACR - Murder full art.jpg|Murder by Lixin Yin
|[https://flufi.me/profile/aurorefolnyart]
MTG ACR - Royal Assassin full art.jpg|Royal Assassin by Vilhelmas Banys
|[https://nitter.poast.org/aurorefolny/media]
MTG ACR - Cathartic Reunion full art.jpg|Cathartic Reunion by Syd Mills
|[https://cara.app/aurorefolny/all]
MTG ACR - Assassin's Trophy full art.jpg|Assassin's Trophy by Erikas Perl
|[https://aurorefolny.com/]
MTG ACR - Mortify full art.jpg|Mortify by Wangjie Li
|
MTG ACR - Reconstruct History full art.jpg|Reconstruct History by Néstor Ossandón Leal
|-
MTG ACR - Terminate full art.jpg|Terminate by Fajareka Setiawan
|Axel Sauerwald
MTG ACR - Sword of Feast and Famine full art.jpg|Sword of Feast and Famine by Thanh Tuấn
|[https://www.artstation.com/tithendar]
MTG ACR - Sword of Light and Shadow full art.jpg|Sword of Light and Shadow by Borja Pindado
|[https://flufi.me/profile/axelsauerwald]
MTG ACR - Plains full art.jpg|Plains by Bruce Brenneise
|[https://nitter.poast.org/AxelSauerwald/media]
MTG ACR - Plains full art 2.jpg|Plains by Borja Pindado
|[https://cara.app/axelsauerwald/all]
MTG ACR - Island full art.jpg|Island by Alexandre Honoré
|
MTG ACR - Island full art 2.jpg|Island by Filipe Pagliuso
|[https://bsky.app/profile/axelsauerwald.bsky.social]
MTG ACR - Swamp full art.jpg|Swamp by Wei Guan
|-
MTG ACR - Swamp full art 2.jpg|Swamp by Wangjie Li
|Bartek Fedyczak
MTG ACR - Mountain full art.jpg|Mountain by Wei Guan
|[https://www.artstation.com/fedyczak]
MTG ACR - Mountain full art 2.jpg|Mountain by Jeremy Paillotin
|[https://flufi.me/profile/bartekfedyczak]
MTG ACR - Forest full art.jpg|Forest by Daniel Correia
|
MTG ACR - Forest full art 2.jpg|Forest by Miklós Ligeti
|
MTG ACR - Connecting cards full art.jpg|Art for cards 111 to 116 by Alexander Gering
|
MTG ACR - The Capitoline Triad full art 2.jpg|The Capitoline Triad by John Stanko
|
MTG ACR - Leonardo da Vinci full art 2.jpg|Leonardo da Vinci by Miklós Ligeti
|-
MTG ACR - Cleopatra Exiled Pharaoh full art 2.jpg|Cleopatra, Exiled Pharaoh by Néstor Ossandón Leal
|Bastien L. Deharme
MTG ACR - Mary Read and Anne Bonny full art 2.jpg|Mary Read and Anne Bonny by Wei Guan
|[https://www.artstation.com/deharme]
MTG ACR - Sokrates Athenian Teacher full art 2.jpg|Sokrates, Athenian Teacher by JB Casacop
|[https://flufi.me/profile/deharme]
MTG ACR - Apple of Eden Isu Relic full art 2.jpg|Apple of Eden, Isu Relic by Thanh Tuấn
|[https://nitter.poast.org/deharme/media]
MTG ACR - Staff of Eden Vault's Key full art 2.jpg|Staff of Eden, Vault's Key by Narendra Bintara Adi
|[https://cara.app/deharme/all]
MTG ACR - Sword of Feast and Famine full art 2.jpg|Sword of Feast and Famine by Bruce Brenneise
|
MTG ACR - Sword of Light and Shadow full art 2.jpg|Sword of Light and Shadow by Bruce Brenneise
|[https://bsky.app/profile/deharme.bsky.social]
MTG ACR - Yggdrasil Rebirth Engine full art 2.jpg|Yggdrasil, Rebirth Engine by Josu Solano
|-
MTG ACR - Layla Hassan full art 2.jpg|Layla Hassan by Luisa J. Preissler
|Chase Stone
MTG ACR - Senu Keen-Eyed Protector full art 2.jpg|Senu, Keen-Eyed Protector by Andreia Ugrai
|
MTG ACR - Evie Frye full art 2.jpg|Evie Frye by Bastien L. Deharme
|[https://flufi.me/profile/chasestone_art]
MTG ACR - Desmond Miles full art 2.jpg|Desmond Miles by Alex Negrea
|
MTG ACR - Ezio Auditore da Firenze full art 2.jpg|Ezio Auditore da Firenze by Luisa J. Preissler
|
MTG ACR - Jacob Frye full art 2.jpg|Jacob Frye by Bastien L. Deharme
|[https://www.chasestoneart.com/tcg]
MTG ACR - Roshan Hidden Magister full art 2.jpg|Roshan, Hidden Magister by Astri Lohne
|
MTG ACR - Alexios Deimos of Kosmos full art 2.jpg|Alexios, Deimos of Kosmos by Jessie Lam
|-
MTG ACR - Aveline de Grandpré full art 2.jpg|Aveline de Grandpré by Luisa J. Preissler
|Craig J Spearing
MTG ACR - Adéwalé Breaker of Chains full art 2.jpg|Adéwalé, Breaker of Chains by Miguel Mercado
|
MTG ACR - Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad full art 2.jpg|Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad by Alex Negrea
|
MTG ACR - Arbaaz Mir full art 2.jpg|Arbaaz Mir by Bastien L. Deharme
|
MTG ACR - Arno Dorian full art 2.jpg|Arno Dorian by Andreia Ugrai
|
MTG ACR - Aya of Alexandria full art 2.jpg|Aya of Alexandria by Chase Stone
|[https://craigspearing.com/cards]
MTG ACR - Basim Ibn Ishaq full art 2.jpg|Basim Ibn Ishaq by Astri Lohne
|
MTG ACR - Bayek of Siwa full art 2.jpg|Bayek of Siwa by Miguel Mercado
|-
MTG ACR - Edward Kenway full art 2.jpg|Edward Kenway by Alex Negrea
|Daniel Correia
MTG ACR - Eivor Wolf-Kissed full art 2.jpg|Eivor, Wolf-Kissed by Jessie Lam
|[https://www.artstation.com/danielcorreia]
MTG ACR - Ezio Brash Novice full art 2.jpg|Ezio, Brash Novice by Luisa J. Preissler
|[https://flufi.me/profile/danielcorreia_art]
MTG ACR - Havi the All-Father full art 2.jpg|Havi, the All-Father by John Stanko
|[https://nitter.poast.org/DanCorreiaArt/media]
MTG ACR - Haytham Kenway full art 2.jpg|Haytham Kenway by Andreia Ugrai
|[https://cara.app/danielcorreia/all]
MTG ACR - Kassandra Eagle Bearer full art 2.jpg|Kassandra, Eagle Bearer by Jessie Lam
|
MTG ACR - Lydia Frye full art 2.jpg|Lydia Frye by Bastien L. Deharme
|
MTG ACR - Ratonhnhaké꞉ton full art 2.jpg|Ratonhnhaké꞉ton by Andreia Ugrai
|-
MTG ACR - Shao Jun full art 2.jpg|Shao Jun by Andreia Ugrai
|Evan Shipard
MTG ACR - Shaun & Rebecca Agents full art 2.jpg|Shaun & Rebecca, Agents by John Stanko
|[https://www.artstation.com/ev_s]
MTG ACR - Shay Cormac full art 2.jpg|Shay Cormac by Alex Negrea
|[https://flufi.me/profile/evshipardart]
MTG ACR - Sigurd Jarl of Ravensthorpe full art 2.jpg|Sigurd, Jarl of Ravensthorpe by Jessie Lam
|[https://nitter.poast.org/_ev/media]
MTG ACR - Eivor Battle-Ready full art.jpg|Eivor, Battle-Ready by Fajareka Setiawan
|[https://cara.app/evshipard/all]
MTG ACR - Ezio Blade of Vengeance full art.jpg|Ezio, Blade of Vengeance by Jake Murray
|[https://www.evanshipardfineart.com/]
MTG ACR - Battlefield Improvisation full art.jpg|Battlefield Improvisation by Mintautas Šukys
|
MTG ACR - Detained by Legionnaires full art.jpg|Detained by Legionnaires by Néstor Ossandón Leal
|-
MTG ACR - Escarpment Fortress full art.jpg|Escarpment Fortress by Vaigintas Pakenis
|Evyn Fong
MTG ACR - Keen-Eyed Raven full art.jpg|Keen-Eyed Raven by Alexandre Honoré
|[https://www.artstation.com/evynfong]
MTG ACR - Settlement Blacksmith full art.jpg|Settlement Blacksmith by Daniel Correia
|[https://flufi.me/profile/evynfong]
MTG ACR - Assassin Den full art.jpg|Assassin Den by Jurijus Chitrovas
|[https://nitter.poast.org/evynfong/media]
MTG ACR - Brotherhood Spy full art.jpg|Brotherhood Spy by Jurijus Chitrovas
|[https://cara.app/evynfong/all]
MTG ACR - Hookblade Veteran full art.jpg|Hookblade Veteran by Borja Pindado
|
MTG ACR - Tranquilize full art.jpg|Tranquilize by Thanh Tuấn
|[https://bsky.app/profile/evynfong.bsky.social]
MTG ACR - Brotherhood Ambushers full art.jpg|Brotherhood Ambushers by Alexandre Honoré
|-
MTG ACR - Brotherhood Patriarch full art.jpg|Brotherhood Patriarch by Néstor Ossandón Leal
|Fajareka Setiawan
MTG ACR - Merciless Harlequin full art.jpg|Merciless Harlequin by Lixin Yin
|[https://www.artstation.com/fajareka]
MTG ACR - Poison-Blade Mentor full art.jpg|Poison-Blade Mentor by Xabi Gaztelua
|[https://flufi.me/profile/fajarekas]
MTG ACR - Headsplitter full art.jpg|Headsplitter by L J Koh
|[https://nitter.poast.org/FajarekaS/media]
MTG ACR - Labyrinth Adversary full art.jpg|Labyrinth Adversary by Narendra Bintara Adi
|[https://cara.app/fajarekas/all]
MTG ACR - Misthios's Fury full art.jpg|Misthios's Fury by Allen Morris
|
MTG ACR - Spartan Veteran full art.jpg|Spartan Veteran by Bartek Fedyczak
|
MTG ACR - Surtr Fiery Jötun full art.jpg|Surtr, Fiery Jötun by Evan Shipard
|-
MTG ACR - Achilles Davenport full art.jpg|Achilles Davenport by Josu Solano
|Greg Staples
MTG ACR - Auditore Ambush full art.jpg|Auditore Ambush by Julia Vasilyeva
|[https://www.artstation.com/gregstaples]
MTG ACR - Bureau Headmaster full art.jpg|Bureau Headmaster by Thanh Tuấn
|[https://flufi.me/profile/gregstaplesart]
MTG ACR - Raven Clan War-Axe full art.jpg|Raven Clan War-Axe by Kim Sokol
|
MTG ACR - Rooftop Bypass full art.jpg|Rooftop Bypass by Pablo Mendoza
|
MTG ACR - Hired Blade full art.jpg|Hired Blade by Elizabeth Peiró
|[https://www.gregstaples.com/selected-work-1]
MTG ACR - Stone Quarry full art.jpg|Stone Quarry by Piotr Dura
|
MTG ACR - Submerged Boneyard full art.jpg|Submerged Boneyard by Alexandre Honoré
|-
MTG ACR - Royal Assassin full art 2.jpg|Royal Assassin by Wei Guan
|Jeremy Paillotin
MTG ACR - Hidden Blade full art 2.jpg|Hidden Blade by Evyn Fong
|[https://www.artstation.com/jeremypaillotin]
MTG ACR - Copy full art.jpg|Copy by Miklós Ligeti
|[https://flufi.me/profile/jeremy.paillotin/]
MTG ACR - Shapeshifter full art.jpg|Shapeshifter by Filipe Pagliuso
|
MTG ACR - Human Rogue full art.jpg|Human Rogue by Elizabeth Peiró
|
MTG ACR - Assassin full art.jpg|Assassin by Rimas Valeikis
|[https://www.jeremypaillotinart.com/work]
MTG ACR - Phobos full art.jpg|Phobos by Daniel Correia
|
MTG ACR - Treasure full art.jpg|Treasure by Xabi Gaztelua
|-
MTG ACR - A Mysterious Creature full art.jpg|A Mysterious Creature by Allen Morris
|John Stanko
</gallery>
|[https://www.artstation.com/johnstanko]
 
|[https://flufi.me/profile/johnstankoart]
==Lethal Legends==
|[https://nitter.poast.org/johnstankoart/media]
<gallery widths="180" position="center" captionalign="center">
|
MTG SLD - Eivor Raven Clan Champion full art.jpg|Eivor, Raven Clan Champion by Clint Cearley & Diana Cearley
|[https://stankoillustration.com/]
MTG SLD - Altaïr Brotherhood Mentor full art.jpg|Altaïr, Brotherhood Mentor by Dan Watson
|
MTG SLD - Amunet Tyrants' End full art.jpg|Amunet, Tyrants' End by Narendra Bintara Adi
|-
MTG SLD - Basim Master Assassin full art.jpg|Basim, Master Assassin by Zezhou Chen
|Kim Sokol
MTG SLD - Edward Jackdaw Captain full art.jpg|Edward, Jackdaw Captain by Fajareka Setiawan
|[https://www.artstation.com/kimsokol]
</gallery>
|[https://flufi.me/profile/kimsokolart]
 
|[https://nitter.poast.org/kimsokol/media]
==Da Vinci's Designs==
|[https://cara.app/kimsokol/all]
<gallery widths="180" position="center" captionalign="center">
|[https://www.kimsokol.com/]
MTG SLD - Blade of Selves full art.jpg|Blade of Selves by Miklós Ligeti & AndWorld Design
|[https://bsky.app/profile/kimsokol.bsky.social]
MTG SLD - Conqueror's Flail full art.jpg|Conqueror's Flail by Miklós Ligeti & AndWorld Design
|-
MTG SLD - Darksteel Plate full art.jpg|Darksteel Plate by Miklós Ligeti & AndWorld Design
|L J Koh
MTG SLD - Deathrender full art.jpg|Deathrender by Miklós Ligeti & AndWorld Design
|[https://www.artstation.com/kheljay]
MTG SLD - Whispersilk Cloak full art.jpg|Whispersilk Cloak by Miklós Ligeti & AndWorld Design
|[https://flufi.me/profile/koh_lj]
</gallery>
|
-->
|
 
|
==Echoes of Shadows==
|
===Blue links===
|-
<!--
|Lie Setiawan
==Locations==
|[https://www.artstation.com/liesetiawan]
===[[Iga]]===
|[https://flufi.me/profile/liesetiawan]
Iga is a small province surrounded by mountains in central Japan. It's just a little bit to the southeast of the capital of Kyoto. It's surrounded by the lands of Nobunaga and those loyal to him.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 06">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 6: The Tensho Iga War</ref>
|[https://nitter.poast.org/ls_setiawan/media]
 
|[https://cara.app/liesetiawan/all]
And what are the main factors that lead up to kind of open war with Iga? Like I said, there's that independence that isn't particularly endearing to Nobunaga. He wants everything under his control, but they're not really necessarily a threat militarily, per se, to him. So for most of the time that he's establishing his hegemony, he is concentrated elsewhere. Iga at this time is ruled by an independent league or ikki that did not recognize any daimyo's hegemony and even gone so far as to expel the military governor of the province that had been appointed by the Ashkaga.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 06"/>
|[https://www.liesetiawan.com/projects]
 
|[https://bsky.app/profile/liesetiawan.bsky.social]
it's ringed by mountains. It's very mountainous internally as well, but there's a ring of mountains around it that prevents easy access to it. It's very easily defensible. And there's six main passes, several on the eastern side, a couple into the north and then a couple on the western side through which if you're going to bring an army, you have to go through one of those passes in order to get there.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 06"/>
|-
 
|Mandy Jurgens
One of the things that the Iga warriors did was often hire themselves out as contractors to other entities would be they temples or be they other daimyo factions and whatever. So in the 1540s, we have reports of Igamono or men of Iga being hired to do things like espionage or sabotage of the enemy castles. [...] And they are capable militarily. Many of them are experienced hunters and trackers through the mountains. They have the kind of outdoor living skills we might attribute to military specialties of today like commandos or something like that. So while they weren't necessarily trying to take over control, they did also have a military presence outside of their province because they could be hired or requested to assist with campaigns elsewhere.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 06"/>
|[https://www.artstation.com/aliena85]
 
|[https://flufi.me/profile/saonserey]
Nobunaga invades. He outnumbers the Iga defenders about four or five to one. And the Iga defenders are spread across the province. They can't concentrate in one location. They end up being concentrated in two castles, one in the north Hijiyama Castle, and one in the south Kashiwara Castle. But it all ends with the surrender of Kashiwara Castle on October 8th. At that point, there's no more organized resistance to Nobunaga. Nobunaga himself visits Iga in early November to take a tour of his new province, and then withdraws it and gives it to his son Nobukatsu as part of his domain to administer.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 06"/>
|[https://nitter.poast.org/Aliena85/media]
 
|
It is now a domain administered by one of Nobunaga's retainers. It would go on to be a domain held by a Daimyo underneath the Edo Period shogun of the Tokukawa.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 06"/>
|
 
|
===[[Nagasaki]]===
|-
he discovered that Nagasaki had been raised up into this great port by the Jesuits who had effectively been given Nagasaki by a local warlord so the extraordinary influence that a foreign power preaching of foreign religion had in Kyushu I think upset Hideyoshi very much<ref name="Echoes Shadows 02">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 2: The Unification of Japan</ref>
|Marta Nael
 
|[https://www.artstation.com/martanael]
in the end anyway the Japanese will only deal when we're thinking about European powers with the Dutch and only at this little artificial island called Dejima just a few feet worth of wooden bridge off the coast of Nagasaki<ref name="Echoes Shadows 02"/>
|[https://flufi.me/profile/martanael]
 
|[https://nitter.poast.org/MartaNael/media]
Gaspar Vilela is one who stands out. He was a very keen propagator of the Christian faith, and he could convert some warlords to Christianity. One of them was Omura Sumitada, who eventually would give a port to the Jesuits, which was called Nagasaki.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 03">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 3: Portuguese Missionaries in Japan</ref>
|
 
|[https://www.martanael.com/projects]
===[[Kyoto]]===
|[https://bsky.app/profile/martanael.bsky.social]
So Kyoto is the absolute heart of Japan, it's exactly in the middle. And geomantically, let's go to geomantics, it's a perfectly placed to be the capital city, which is what it was for a thousand years. It's got mountains behind it on three sides, it's got the sea in front, it's got two rivers running through, it fulfils all the necessary requirements of Feng Shui to be the perfect place for capital<ref name="Echoes Shadows 07">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 7: Kyoto: Japan's Imperial City</ref>
|-
 
|Miguel Mercado
it was created as capital city. Emperor Kamu, who was the greatest emperor in Japanese history, he was the Charlemagne of Japan. And before his time, the capital had been in Nara, but it was kind of taken over by the Buddhist priests. [...] There were all sorts of scandals to do with these Buddhist clergy. And then he, Emperor Kamu, founded a capital in Nagoka, which is near Nara. And that one, there was an uprising, people got killed, there were ghosts, obviously not going to be any good as the capital. So he then set out on a supposed hunting trip with his geomancers to find the perfect place. People were not particularly concerned with practical considerations, they were concerned with where it would be auspicious. And so he settled on Kyoto as the place to be his capital. And he then had it built, and that was an enormous job to build it. And it was in 794 that he was an enormous entourage of his attendants and his army and everybody else arrived by Palanquin in Kyoto, in the Imperial Palace there.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 07"/>
|[https://www.artstation.com/merkymerx]
 
|[https://flufi.me/profile/merkymerx]
And there were many great Zen prelates who set themselves up in Kyoto. So if you go to Kyoto, it's absolutely full of Zen temples and other temples too, but I would say primarily Zen temples. The Zen priests had it linked with China and they were able to facilitate trade with China, to bring back ideas, bring back goods. So the Zen church became very wealthy as well as being very influential.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 07"/>
|[https://nitter.poast.org/merkymerx/media]
 
|
These two lords, I think it was the Hashimoto's and the Yamunas, have been itching to fight for a long time, and they fought for 10 years. It's said that they destroyed the whole of Kyoto. That's not quite true. They destroyed the upper class part of Kyoto. So 10 years of fighting included looting, arson, and all these other things. But this mainly happened. This was the temples. This was the palaces. That lot got destroyed. Meanwhile, the shogun who lived at that point was a guy called Yoshimasa, who was living during the end of the 15th century. And he retired. He was very interested in the arts, and he was not remotely interested in fighting. And he kept well out of this fighting. And he went off to the east of the city, and there he built a fabulous pavilion, the silver pavilion. And there he carried on having a life of leisure and art with his friends. While all this was going on in Kyoto, his pavilion was facing away from the city, so it didn't have to see it was burning. And it was facing towards the lovely mountains on the east. And he was, again, an amazing patron of the arts. And under him, ink painting flourished, pottery flourished, every possible art form. Oh, linked verse became very important. So the war came to an end.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 07"/>
|
 
|
The part of the city that had not burnt down was the part where the merchants and the artisans were, because they were poor chaps. And so nobody bothered with looting them, but they weren't that poor. So they were actually supplying and selling stuff to both sides in this war and getting richer. And the end of the Onin war, this is the Onin war, everything had sort of fallen apart, because Kyoto was in such a state of devastation.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 07"/>
|-
 
|Miklós Ligeti
So it didn't take as long as it would have taken to rebuild London, to rebuild Kyoto. It didn't take that long. So it could be rebuilt pretty quickly. And it happened again and again in the history of Kyoto, and also in the history of Edo, which was the city that later became Tokyo. Time and time again they were burnt down. So Kyoto was back on its feet quite quickly, but it was just known to be the capital. The name Kyoto means capital city.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 07"/>
|[https://www.artstation.com/miklosligeti]
 
|[https://flufi.me/profile/ligeti.miklos_art/]
So in the Heian period, it was laid out on a grid. Like a chessboard with equal sized square areas. And then it had long boulevards going down the middle. It had small lanes going off to the sides. It had the Emperor's Palace up at the top with beautiful green roofs, red columns. Very spectacular. You could see the Emperor's Palace wherever you were.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 07"/>
|
 
|[https://cara.app/miklosligeti/all]
Hideyoshi sort of basically laid out Kyoto as it is now. He cut those squares in half. So you have rectangular blocks rather than square blocks. He also built a wall around the outside of the city, which isn't there anymore, but he had that built. He also built these glorious palaces. So you would have very glorious palaces on the main boulevards, which again are still always in like a chess board laid out like a grid. And you'd also have glorious temples, probably not radically different in appearance from glorious palaces. And then you'd have the whole merchant's area, which would be tiny little lanes of small dark houses with bamboo blinds outside, very nice houses, which still exist. If you go to Kyoto, you can go down these little lanes. They're so thin that you have to walk down or you just go down on a bicycle or something. They're sort of dark wood houses, steep, steep stairs, several floors. I think they're called eel lanes because they're like eels. They're kind of long and thin like eels. And then you could see from the streets of Kyoto, you could see the mountains to the east, which is where Yoshimasa was looking when Kyoto was burning down behind him. You could see the mountains to the north. You could see the mountain to the northwest, which is always the unlucky direction, where there was a huge complex of temples on the top and still is. And you could also see Arashiyama to the west, which is where the Flying Dragon Temple was and lots of other beautiful temples and bamboo crows. So you always could see those all around.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 07"/>
|[https://miklosligeti.com/albums/2629396]
 
|
Then you have down one side of the city is the River Kamo. And you've got the River Kamo dividing the city from the eastern mountains. And at the foot of the eastern mountain is an area of flat land, which became a big area of carnival. So if you wanted to have fun, you go there. So when you're having a respectable life and your wife and your family and everything else are there, you stay away from the mountains. But you could also cross the bridge to this area of carnival where there would be some more wrestling. There'd be jugglers, there'd be theater, and there would be ladies of pleasure, lots of ladies of pleasure.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 07"/>
|-
 
|Narendra Bintara Adi
And at various times, as you're within Hideyoshi's reign, a particular man whose name was Saburoemon Hara, he said to Hideyoshi, why don't I gather together these ladies of pleasure? Who are a little bit chaotic because it's good to have a bit of order. There's no issue with morality about this, it's to do with orderliness. So he gathered them into particular places which became pleasure quarters, which of course were number one, there was a wall around them, so you could keep an eye on what went on because there were bad guys that went there as well as good guys. Number two, you could tax them. And so these became very famous pleasure quarters. There's one in Kyoto [Shimabara, Kyoto], there's very famous one in Edo, which is now Tokyo.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 07"/>
|[https://www.artstation.com/bukandewa]
 
|[https://flufi.me/profile/narendrabintaraadi]
So Kyoto somehow had a resurgence. It was also the center of the geisha, which is quite important, actually. It re-created itself as a center of traditional culture. So Tokyo is a big modern city. And as you know, Kyoto did not get bombed in World War II because it's such a center of traditional culture. It's got so much. And also it's not entirely, but it's largely a wooden city. And there was also a law was passed, which again, I think has been broken. But there are laws about the height of buildings you can build in Kyoto. You're not supposed to build very tall buildings. So it's mainly a low rise city.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 07"/>
|[https://nitter.poast.org/narendrabadi/media]
 
|[https://cara.app/narendrabintaraadi/all]
And then in Kyoto, there is an Emperor and has been residing all the time. So the Kyoto people like residents will be more aware of what's happening around the courtiers and so on. [...] And then medieval Japan as well, this Kamakura headquarters of the samurai has been moved and taken by a different family. And the samurai headquarters became the Kyoto as well. So in Kyoto, the dual structure of this courtiers and Emperor's house and the Shogunate. So the Kyoto people will be really subject to what political moves are. But other people like say around outside of Kyoto, they will be happily living in their regions and then they will have those like farming going on and they will have rather stable time so they could enjoy.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 08">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 8: How To Fit In: Feudal Japan</ref>
|
 
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===[[Nara]]===
|-
And before his time, the capital had been in Nara, but it was kind of taken over by the Buddhist priests. [...] There were all sorts of scandals to do with these Buddhist clergy. And then he, Emperor Kanmu, founded a capital in Nagoka, which is near Nara.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 07">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 7: Kyoto: Japan's Imperial City</ref>
|Néstor Ossandón Leal
 
|[https://www.artstation.com/nezt]
There were the different sects of Buddhism arrived in Japan at different times. And the first sect grew up in Nara, as I said, and caused trouble. And that stayed in Nara. The whole point was to leave those priests behind in Nara and move to Kyoto.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 07"/>
|[https://flufi.me/profile/nestor_ossandon]
 
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===[[Tokyo]]===
|
So it didn't take as long as it would have taken to rebuild London, to rebuild Kyoto. It didn't take that long. So it could be rebuilt pretty quickly. And it happened again and again in the history of Kyoto, and also in the history of Edo, which was the city that later became Tokyo. Time and time again they were burnt down. So Kyoto was back on its feet quite quickly, but it was just known to be the capital. The name Kyoto means capital city.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 07">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 7: Kyoto: Japan's Imperial City</ref>
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|Piotr Dura
|[https://www.artstation.com/threedee]
|[https://flufi.me/profile/piotr_dura]
|[https://nitter.poast.org/PiotrDuraArt/media]
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|Syd Mills
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|[https://flufi.me/profile/vetyyr]
|[https://nitter.poast.org/vetyyr/media]
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|[https://bsky.app/profile/vetyyr.bsky.social]
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|Thanh Tuấn
|[https://www.artstation.com/pencillien]
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|[https://nitter.poast.org/ThanhTuan613/media]
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|Torgeir Fjereide
|[https://www.artstation.com/torgeirfjereide]
|[https://flufi.me/profile/thebrushofthor]
|[https://nitter.poast.org/TheBrushOfThor/media]
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|[https://www.thebrushofthor.com/magic-the-gathering]
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|Wangjie Li
|[https://www.artstation.com/wangjieli]
|[https://flufi.me/profile/wangjie_li]
|[https://nitter.poast.org/wangjiel/media]
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|[http://www.wangjieli.com/]
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|Wei Guan
|[https://www.artstation.com/gworld]
|[https://flufi.me/profile/guanwei90]
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|[https://cara.app/guanweiart/all]
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And so they [Imperial side of Boshin War] marched up, they took Edo castle. And in 1868, the then emperor [Mutsuhito, Emperor Meiji] who was 14, I think, or 16, he was a teenager, marched or didn't march. He was carried by Palanquin, top with a Phoenix, up to Edo and into Edo castle, which became the imperial palace and Edo became Tokyo, which is the eastern capital. So therefore, Kyoto was no longer the capital at all. It was no longer the official capital.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 07"/>
===Full art gallery prep===
 
<!-
==Timeline==
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="clear:both; text-align:left">
===[[Tenshō Iga War]] [1579-1581]===
==Cards==
We're at the end of the Sengoku period where Oda Nobunaga is in charge and extending his influence across the land. Specifically the conflict takes place with one invasion in 1579 and then another invasion in 1581.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 06">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 6: The Tensho Iga War</ref>
<gallery widths="180" position="center" captionalign="center">
 
MTG ACR - The Capitoline Triad full art.jpg|The Capitoline Triad by Syd Mills
And what are the main factors that lead up to kind of open war with Iga? Like I said, there's that independence that isn't particularly endearing to Nobunaga. He wants everything under his control, but they're not really necessarily a threat militarily, per se, to him. So for most of the time that he's establishing his hegemony, he is concentrated elsewhere. Iga at this time is ruled by an independent league or ikki that did not recognize any daimyo's hegemony and even gone so far as to expel the military governor of the province that had been appointed by the Ashkaga.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 06"/>
MTG ACR - Caduceus Staff of Hermes full art.jpg|Caduceus, Staff of Hermes by Evan Shipard
 
MTG ACR - Distract the Guards full art.jpg|Distract the Guards by Torgeir Fjereide
Oda Nobukatsu, was in charge of the province next to it and was looking to kind of establish his own reputation, spread his wings a little bit. And so here we have Iga province next to him, a place where he can launch an invasion, take it over. It's small. How hard could it be, right? Be an easy victory. And it turns out not to be.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 06"/>
MTG ACR - Fall of the First Civilization full art.jpg|Fall of the First Civilization by L J Koh
 
MTG ACR - Haystack full art.jpg|Haystack by Xabi Gaztelua
Nobukatsu, Nobunaga's second son, takes that [Iga's expulsion of their military governor] as an excuse of, oh, see, they're not observing the proper order of things. They're not part of the structure. So he decides of his own accord that he's going to expand his domain into Iga without permission from his father. Part of this is ego driven. He wants to prove to his father that he can operate on his own and so forth. So in 1578, he dispatches one of his generals, man by the name of Takigawa Kazumasu, to build a castle just across the Iga border that they're going to use as a staging point for a future invasion. Well, the warriors of Iga are alerted to this and realize what this means. So they decide to attack and destroy it, which they do in November of 1578. Takigawa is taken completely by surprise. The castle is burned. Takigawa and his small force is forced to retreat. Obviously, they cease work on the castle and retreat back to Issei after losing a second battle where they tried to retake the ground.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 06"/>
MTG ACR - Hookblade full art.jpg|Hookblade by Thanh Tuấn
 
MTG ACR - Layla Hassan full art.jpg|Layla Hassan by Michael MacRae
So the following year in October, he decides he's going to launch a much larger invasion. So he gathers around a little over 10,000 men and invades Iga Province through three of those passes that I mentioned. In his main body, he has 8,000 men going through the northernmost pass at Nagano. And then he has a group of 1,500 men through one pass and 1,300 through another pass, these two passes to the south. But again, the Iga forces, speaking to their ability to collect intelligence and know what the enemy is doing, are ready and waiting at these narrow sites to ambush Nobukatsu's forces, which they do. They use their skill in guerrilla tactics and their local knowledge of the terrain. They inflict heavy losses against Nobukatsu's forces, again forcing him to retreat in a humiliating defeat.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 06"/>
MTG ACR - Senu Keen-Eyed Protector full art.jpg|Senu, Keen-Eyed Protector by Michael MacRae
 
MTG ACR - Tax Collector full art.jpg|Tax Collector by Miklós Ligeti
But in 1581, he comes back and we have the main invasion of the Tenshō Iga War. [...] The key moment of failure is when Nobunaga decides to get serious and invade Iga with more of a plan than his son had.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 06"/>
MTG ACR - Templar Knight full art.jpg|Templar Knight by Daniel Correia
 
MTG ACR - What Must Be Done full art.jpg|What Must Be Done by Syd Mills
It was not a protracted war once Nobunaga decided to invade. Even Nobukatsu's invasion only lasted a day before he was turned back. The second larger invasion of 1581 lasts nine days. So unlike this, you know, protracted guerrilla war that we might have in our minds, it was really a quick invasion by Nobunaga quickly taking a couple of castles, receiving their submission and then everybody moves on with their lives.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 06"/>
MTG ACR - Assassin Gauntlet full art.jpg|Assassin Gauntlet by Paulius Daščioras
 
MTG ACR - Ballad of the Black Flag full art.jpg|Ballad of the Black Flag by Miklós Ligeti
To go into like the details, Nobunaga invades September 30th and it's a much larger scale different reports of the war, say he had somewhere between 40,000 or 60,000 troops. And the key that he really does is not only numbers, but it's the fact that he owns all the territory surrounding Iga. So he's able to send army forces that are equivalent largely to the size of the force that his son had, right, in 1579. But he can send that from six different sides. And this means that the Iga ikki cannot concentrate their forces to prevent any of these invasions coming in from any one pass. Whereas, you know, in 1579, they only defend three passes from one direction. Now it's six passes coming from all directions, including their neighbors to the north in Koka.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 06"/>
MTG ACR - Become Anonymous full art.jpg|Become Anonymous by Alice Xia Zhang
 
MTG ACR - Crystal Skull Isu Spyglass full art.jpg|Crystal Skull, Isu Spyglass by Thanh Tuấn
So had the assistance of the Koka specialists in guerrilla operations and warfare to advise and assist him. And this is probably where we get a lot of the imagery of this rivalry between Iga and Koka because Koka did assist Nobunaga in his invasion. He also allegedly had some Iga members who offered to him to help show him through the passes and give him that advantage.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 06"/>
MTG ACR - Desynchronization full art.jpg|Desynchronization by Lie Setiawan
 
MTG ACR - Eagle Vision full art.jpg|Eagle Vision by Kim Sokol
Nobunaga invades. He outnumbers the Iga defenders about four or five to one. And the Iga defenders are spread across the province. They can't concentrate in one location. They end up being concentrated in two castles, one in the north Hijiyama Castle, and one in the south Kashiwara Castle. But it all ends with the surrender of Kashiwara Castle on October 8th. At that point, there's no more organized resistance to Nobunaga. Nobunaga himself visits Iga in early November to take a tour of his new province, and then withdraws it and gives it to his son Nobukatsu as part of his domain to administer.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 06"/>
MTG ACR - Escape Detection full art.jpg|Escape Detection by Justyna Dura
 
MTG ACR - Evie Frye full art.jpg|Evie Frye by Lie Setiawan
===[[Honnō-ji incident]] [1582]===
MTG ACR - Leonardo da Vinci full art.jpg|Leonardo da Vinci by Wangjie Li
By the time that he died in the 1580s as a result of treachery on the part of some of his own men, actually, he had controlled most of Japan's main island of Honshu and he was on the verge of going to its second biggest island, Kyushu, down south. He actually at that point looked unstoppable.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 01">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 1: Civil War in Feudal Japan: The Sengoku Period</ref>
MTG ACR - Loyal Inventor full art.jpg|Loyal Inventor by Gintas Galvanauskas
 
MTG ACR - Assassin Initiate full art.jpg|Assassin Initiate by Mandy Jurgens
he's just setting out in early part of 1582 for the next part of that campaign staying at a temple called Honnoji in Kyoto when he's attacked actually not by his enemies but by someone who is supposed to be on his side one of the famous treacherous figures I suppose in Japanese history man by the name of Akechi Mitsuhide who persuades his men to turn their guns on Oda Nobunaga and his own men and so you have these stories of Oda Nobunaga shouting out treachery or traitors or something like that trying to fight them off himself the temple ends up in flames and Oda Nobunaga retreats further into the temple and dies by his own hand.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 02">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 2: The Unification of Japan</ref>
MTG ACR - Chain Assassination full art.jpg|Chain Assassination by Filipe Pagliuso
 
MTG ACR - Desmond Miles full art.jpg|Desmond Miles by Julia Vasilyeva
so immediately he [Toyotomi Hideyoshi] rushes from where he's been fighting over to take care of the traitors and he brings the traitors head back to Kyoto to effectively lay at the feet of Oda Nobunaga's body to say here we are you know I've taken care of this for you and Hideyoshi really then becomes the inheritor I think of this project to try to unify Japan and his major next step one of the steps that Oda Nobunaga would have taken had he lived was to attack Kyushu<ref name="Echoes Shadows 02"/>
MTG ACR - Ezio Auditore da Firenze full art.jpg|Ezio Auditore da Firenze by Fajareka Setiawan
 
MTG ACR - Hemlock Vial full art.jpg|Hemlock Vial by Daniel Correia
So Yasuke was there at Nobunaga's death. He possibly was the last person to see him alive. Nobunaga was killed in a coup d'etat, essentially. He was heading to the front with this small corps of men over which Yasuke was one, around 30 people. And one of his generals, basically, we still don't know to this day why, he brought his whole army of 13,000 and attacked. They were all gunned down, essentially. Nobunaga, with Yasuke and his lover, [Mori] Ranmaru, come into the middle of the temple where their last moments are held. The temple's on fire around them. And Nobunaga really is going to know what happened in that room because there's only three people and they all died, except for Yasuke. But we only know that Yasuke survived because the Jesuits recorded as such. We don't know what he saw, unfortunately. The normal legend goes Nobunaga cut his belly, Ranmarutook his head off as his second, and then one supposes that Ranmaru then cut his belly and Yasuke took off Ranmaru's head. And the supposed last order is Yasuke save my head. Yasuke runs with the head to Nobunaga's son, who is probably about five to ten minutes walk away, very close, in a different temple. So about to be attacked. Also just putting up the defenses for a last ditch stand. Of course, that doesn't last very long. He's dead within the hour or so. And all we know from the Jesuit source, there are no more Japanese sources, all we know from the Jesuit source is that Yasuke was there at the last. He was one of the few survivors. He was taken prisoner. He surrendered his sword. And he was then escorted to the Jesuit mission, which was again only five minutes walk away. This is a very small area of Kyoto where all this happens. The Jesuits give thanks to God for his deliverance.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 04">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 4: Yasuke: The First African Samurai</ref>
MTG ACR - Jacob Frye full art.jpg|Jacob Frye by Lie Setiawan
 
MTG ACR - Petty Larceny full art.jpg|Petty Larceny by Fajareka Setiawan
There's quite a lot of emphasis on how important this is. And this could be the masterstroke that basically secures Western Honshu for Nobunaga. So he's returned to Kyoto, and Nobunaga sends his retainer Akechi Mitsuhide with Akechi's army as the initial force to go reinforce Hideyoshi out west. And for reasons that are not quite clear, but of course, lead to lots of speculation and dramatic interpretation. Akechi decides that instead of turning west to go support Hideyoshi, he's going to turn his forces east, march into Kyoto, surround the residence of Nobunaga, which is the Honnō-ji Temple in central Kyoto. It's where he normally took up residence when he was in the city, and attack his own war.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 05">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 5: Oda Nobunaga</ref>
MTG ACR - Phantom Blade full art.jpg|Phantom Blade by Craig J Spearing
 
MTG ACR - Restart Sequence full art.jpg|Restart Sequence by Lie Setiawan
We don't really know why we don't really get any full explanation of Akechi's motives. There's lots of speculation that it had to do with resentment at court treatment by Nobunaga. One thing that we do know is that Akechi's mother had been killed by a rival clan where Akechi had given them his mother as a hostage, as insurance essentially against an attack. And Nobunaga superseded that and ordered the attack anyway. So they killed Akechi's mother. Other things are rumors that he was physically abusive and verbally abusive to Mitsuhide personally.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 05"/>
MTG ACR - The Revelations of Ezio full art.jpg|The Revelations of Ezio by Lixin Yin
 
MTG ACR - Roshan Hidden Magister full art.jpg|Roshan, Hidden Magister by Marta Nael
But for whatever reason, Akechi decides that this is his moment while Nobunaga is lightly guarded. He's certainly not expecting anybody to attack him in Kyoto. They surround Nobunaga's residence, set out on fire. Nobunaga and his guards fight back, but are eventually overwhelmed. Nobunaga commits suicide. And then his heir as well, who was also in Kyoto, is attacked by Akechi's forces and dies. So in one stroke, the Akechi have eliminated, basically decapitated the Oda family and thus ended Nobunaga's career.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 05"/>
MTG ACR - Alexios Deimos of Kosmos full art.jpg|Alexios, Deimos of Kosmos by Bartek Fedyczak
 
MTG ACR - Hidden Footblade full art.jpg|Hidden Footblade by Néstor Ossandón Leal
He [Nobunaga] had a very dramatic and spectacular assassination by one of his own men. It's an amazing story, but that happened in Kyoto. He was in a temple where it was his land. He thought he was absolutely fine. He didn't have that many guards, and one of his own generals turned against him. So he was killed there.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 07">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 7: Kyoto: Japan's Imperial City</ref>
MTG ACR - Monastery Raid full art.jpg|Monastery Raid by Alexandre Honoré
 
MTG ACR - Origin of the Hidden Ones full art.jpg|Origin of the Hidden Ones by Kim Sokol
===[[Imjin War]] [1592-1598]===
MTG ACR - Overpowering Attack full art.jpg|Overpowering Attack by Kim Sokol
Hideyoshi once he's taken Kyushu just a few years later launches invasions of Korea so he sends troops across including some of Christian warlords commanding them across to Korea wanting to use it almost as China's driveway if you think about the geography of it send these troops up through Korea take over the peninsula eventually invade and take over China and after that he also wanted to take over India as well<ref name="Echoes Shadows 02">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 2: The Unification of Japan</ref>
MTG ACR - The Spear of Leonidas full art.jpg|The Spear of Leonidas by Narendra Bintara Adi
 
MTG ACR - The Aesir Escape Valhalla full art.jpg|The Aesir Escape Valhalla by Allen Morris
his Korean campaign goes badly wrong in the 1590s the Chinese finally put some men in the field and they push the Japanese troops all the way back down the Korean peninsula so it doesn't go anywhere except for poisoning relations with Korea for a very long time to come<ref name="Echoes Shadows 02"/>
MTG ACR - Aveline de Grandpré full art.jpg|Aveline de Grandpré by Aurore Folny
 
MTG ACR - Hunter's Bow full art.jpg|Hunter's Bow by Miklós Ligeti
And then Hideyoshi asked him [Gaspar Coelho], I want to invade Korea. Then you provide two Portuguese ships to help me in this invasion. And if I conquer Korea, I will make it that there are a lot of churches being built. So Koelyo said, yes, I will do that for you. And I will make sure that we have two Portuguese ships, the Karak ships, as they were called by the English, gigantic ships. So Hideyoshi could very well use them for his invasion in Korea. And then he went a step further and he said, I will make sure that the Christian warlords in Kyushu will also support you. And I think at that moment that Hideyoshi, that there was a ring bell in his head, that the Christians, the Jesuits had too much influence in Japan.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 03">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 3: Portuguese Missionaries in Japan</ref>
MTG ACR - Palazzo Archers full art.jpg|Palazzo Archers by Miklós Ligeti
 
MTG ACR - Viewpoint Synchronization full art.jpg|Viewpoint Synchronization by Daniel Correia
===[[Battle of Sekigahara]] [1600]===
MTG ACR - Adéwalé Breaker of Chains full art.jpg|Adéwalé, Breaker of Chains by Justyna Dura
great battles in Japanese history the battle of Sekigahara which happens in 1600 so you've got a couple of nervous years or a bit less than that after the death of Hideyoshi this council in place but people are wondering really whether it will stick and what happens instead I think is you get the buildup of two sides that take the form in the end of an eastern and a western army and Tokugawa Ieyasu was at the head of the eastern army and in the autumn of Sekigahara he wins out and really everything goes to him and shortly afterwards he has himself appointed shogun<ref name="Echoes Shadows 02">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 2: The Unification of Japan</ref>
MTG ACR - Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad full art.jpg|Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad by Axel Sauerwald
 
MTG ACR - Arbaaz Mir full art.jpg|Arbaaz Mir by Wangjie Li
he does this enormous reshuffling of territory in Japan I think it's the biggest reshuffling of territory in terms of who controls what in Japan's history so lots of the people who are on the losing side at the battle of Sekigahara either lose everything or their territory is drastically cut down or they're shipped off to another part of the country entirely perhaps all these things that are designed to damage their power<ref name="Echoes Shadows 02"/>
MTG ACR - Arno Dorian full art.jpg|Arno Dorian by Narendra Bintara Adi
 
MTG ACR - Aya of Alexandria full art.jpg|Aya of Alexandria by JB Casacop
===[[Siege of Osaka]] [1614-1615]===
MTG ACR - Basim Ibn Ishaq full art.jpg|Basim Ibn Ishaq by JB Casacop
Hideyori is still around and that really isn't taken care of until a very famous incident 1614 to 15 which is the siege of Osaka it's one of these events in Japanese history which is told and retold on the stage in books in films in art even where the forces of the Tokugawa and their allies gather around Osaka castle trying to do some kind of deal trying to force Hideyori and those around him to give up but in the end the siege turns bloody the castle is on fire and we have these famous scenes of Hideyori and his mother huddled together as everyone around them is burning up and dying so the siege of Osaka<ref name="Echoes Shadows 02">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 2: The Unification of Japan</ref>
MTG ACR - Bayek of Siwa full art.jpg|Bayek of Siwa by JB Casacop
 
MTG ACR - Bleeding Effect full art.jpg|Bleeding Effect by Néstor Ossandón Leal
===[[Boshin War]] [1868-1869]===
MTG ACR - Cleopatra Exiled Pharaoh full art.jpg|Cleopatra, Exiled Pharaoh by Mandy Jurgens
But towards the end [of the Tokugawa Shogunate], things were probably not as great as they might have been. Added to which the Tokugawas had ancient enemies and they had defeated them in the battle of Sekigahara. And those enemies were from the southwest, from the Kyushu area. From the sort of southwestern part of Honshu. And they wanted their revenge and they rose up. And with the help of the British, and they actually toppled the last of the Tokugawa Shoguns, who abdicated. And at that point, the southwestern lords took over. So they once again didn't have legitimacy, but they once again immediately said, oh, we represent the emperor. And that gave them legitimacy. But they decided in that 250 years, the Tokugawa's capital was not Kyoto. The official capital was Kyoto, but the Tokugawa city was Edo. So the center of policy, the center of government, the center of culture, more and more gravitated towards Edo. And so these southwestern lords decided that they would make the capital, not Kyoto, but Edo. And so they marched up, they took Edo castle. And in 1868, the then emperor [Mutsuhito, Emperor Meiji] who was 14, I think, or 16, he was a teenager, marched or didn't march. He was carried by Palanquin, top with a Phoenix, up to Edo and into Edo castle, which became the imperial palace and Edo became Tokyo, which is the eastern capital. So therefore, Kyoto was no longer the capital at all. It was no longer the official capital.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 07">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 7: Kyoto: Japan's Imperial City</ref>
MTG ACR - Edward Kenway full art.jpg|Edward Kenway by Borja Pindado
 
MTG ACR - Eivor Wolf-Kissed full art.jpg|Eivor, Wolf-Kissed by Justyna Dura
==Groups==
MTG ACR - Ezio Brash Novice full art.jpg|Ezio, Brash Novice by Elizabeth Peiró
===[[Jesuits]]===
MTG ACR - Havi the All-Father full art.jpg|Havi, the All-Father by Daniel Correia
And at the same time you had the Society of Jesus which started in 1540 and soon after the Papal Bull was ordained. Francis Xavier was a Jesuit and one of the founding members of the Jesuits. He was asked to travel to Asia to begin doing missionary work there. He was asked especially by King John III of Portugal because he was very keen on trying to get as many Asians adhering to the Christian religion.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 03">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 3: Portuguese Missionaries in Japan</ref>
MTG ACR - Haytham Kenway full art.jpg|Haytham Kenway by Vilhelmas Banys
 
MTG ACR - Jackdaw full art.jpg|Jackdaw by Evan Shipard
So he had a lot of expectations for Japan and in 1549 he finally set foot on Japan. So that was really the first time that the Jesuits arrived in Japan only six or seven years after the first Portuguese came there.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 03">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 3: Portuguese Missionaries in Japan</ref>
MTG ACR - Kassandra Eagle Bearer full art.jpg|Kassandra, Eagle Bearer by Anna Steinbauer
 
MTG ACR - Lydia Frye full art.jpg|Lydia Frye by Mandy Jurgens
You have, for example, Ōtomo Yoshishige, who became a Christian after a long time. But he was very well disposed against the Jesuits. You have other people like Takayama Ukon, who became a very fervent Christian and all his samurai also. So they were very fond of them, and they listened to the Jesuits. They asked them a lot about politics, how they could manage this or that issue. So the Jesuits got a lot of influence with some warlords and also with a lot of the peasants and the lower ranked people. So they really had some success, success that they didn't experience in other countries.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 03"/>
MTG ACR - Mary Read and Anne Bonny full art.jpg|Mary Read and Anne Bonny by Wangjie Li
 
MTG ACR - Ratonhnhaké꞉ton full art.jpg|Ratonhnhaké꞉ton by Greg Staples
Xavier left in 1551, but soon there came more and more Jesuits.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 03"/>
MTG ACR - Shao Jun full art.jpg|Shao Jun by Stephen Stark
 
MTG ACR - Shaun and Rebecca Agents full art.jpg|Shaun & Rebecca, Agents by Gintas Galvanauskas
And that information [Fróis' letters] was used by the Jesuits in Europe for propaganda. So they published, after some censorship, Luís Fróis' and Vilela's and other letters, in Italy. And they were also translated in several languages like Latin, German, French, and so on, for the Catholic Reformation in Europe. They would say, see what we can do in Asia, and especially in Japan. We probably have lost England, but we have gained another island in the form of Japan. So they did a lot of propaganda, which gave them additional financial resources and many European Jesuits who wanted to join the efforts in Japan, which was good for them for a time, but could work as a double-edged sword.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 03"/>
MTG ACR - Shay Cormac full art.jpg|Shay Cormac by Axel Sauerwald
 
MTG ACR - Sigurd Jarl of Ravensthorpe full art.jpg|Sigurd, Jarl of Ravensthorpe by Alexander Gering
And they also had a problem that after a while you have [Francisco] Cabral, you have [Gaspar] Coelho, so two Jesuits who became the head of the Japan sector. And they weren't very keen to adopt Japanese customs. They wanted to be as strictly Jesuits as in Europe. So they already have a problem from the Jesuit side and many like Vilela or Fróis were more inclined to adopt Japanese customs. But the heads of the provincials, as they call them, were against that.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 03"/>
MTG ACR - Sokrates Athenian Teacher full art.jpg|Sokrates, Athenian Teacher by Alice Xia Zhang
 
MTG ACR - Adrestia full art.jpg|Adrestia by Mintautas Šukys
And when he had conquered Kyushu, he again met with Coelho on a Portuguese ship. And Coelho again said that we will support you in whatever endeavor you will take. But the night suddenly he sent a questionary to Coelho, asking him why they came to Japan, why they are making so much converts. And why are they destroying the Buddhist temples? Of course Coelho was really shocked with that. He was so well treated and suddenly everything changed overnight. So he gave his answer that, well, they came to Japan just to propagate their faith, in good faith. And that it was not them who destroyed the Buddhist temples, but the Japanese converts. So the answer of Hideyoshi was that he made a decree that the Jesuits had to leave Japan in 20 days. But he didn't enforce the order very strictly. And that was the same reason why the other warlords welcomed the Jesuits, because he didn't want disrupt the trade with the Portuguese. So he promulgated that decree. But afterwards, the Jesuits stayed in Japan and still continued their missionary work there.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 03"/>
MTG ACR - The Animus full art.jpg|The Animus by Néstor Ossandón Leal
 
MTG ACR - Apple of Eden Isu Relic full art.jpg|Apple of Eden, Isu Relic by L J Koh
Tokugawa Ieyasu, he forbade Christianity totally. And all influence of the Jesuits was razed very systematically from then on.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 03"/>
MTG ACR - Brotherhood Regalia full art.jpg|Brotherhood Regalia by Xabi Gaztelua
 
MTG ACR - Excalibur Sword of Eden full art.jpg|Excalibur, Sword of Eden by Thanh Tuấn
Jesuits can't carry swords or weapons, but they can employ people that do. And the Jesuits were a perfect employee in that sense, a bodyguard.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 04">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 4: Yasuke: The First African Samurai</ref>
MTG ACR - Hidden Blade full art.jpg|Hidden Blade by L J Koh
 
MTG ACR - Mjölnir Storm Hammer full art.jpg|Mjölnir, Storm Hammer by L J Koh
===[[Portuguese Empire]]===
MTG ACR - Smoke Bomb full art.jpg|Smoke Bomb by Borja Pindado
When does that contact begin? Well, that begins in the middle of the 16th century, in 1549 to be correct. The Portuguese, they travelled to the east from the 15th century on and in 1498 I think they established a sea route to India and they went even further and in the beginning of the 16th century they already were in Malacca but then it still took some time for them to reach Japan. It was in 1542 or 43, it's still being disputed, that the first Portuguese merchants reached Japan.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 03">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 3: Portuguese Missionaries in Japan</ref>
MTG ACR - Staff of Eden Vault's Key full art.jpg|Staff of Eden, Vault's Key by L J Koh
 
MTG ACR - Towering Viewpoint full art.jpg|Towering Viewpoint by Lixin Yin
Francis Xavier was a Jesuit and one of the founding members of the Jesuits. He was asked to travel to Asia to begin doing missionary work there. He was asked especially by King John III of Portugal because he was very keen on trying to get as many Asians adhering to the Christian religion. Xavier had quite a correspondence with King John about all what he did in Asia and it wasn't what he expected.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 03">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 3: Portuguese Missionaries in Japan</ref>
MTG ACR - Yggdrasil Rebirth Engine full art.jpg|Yggdrasil, Rebirth Engine by Rytis Sabaliauskas
 
MTG ACR - Abstergo Entertainment full art.jpg|Abstergo Entertainment by Alexander Gering
==Three Great Unifiers==
MTG ACR - Brotherhood Headquarters full art.jpg|Brotherhood Headquarters by Narendra Bintara Adi
===[[Oda Nobunaga]]===
MTG ACR - Path to Exile full art.jpg|Path to Exile by Kim Sokol
But he's from the small province of Owari. But he's a really good example of someone who was able to use a combination of smart tactics, smart use of weaponry, judicious use of alliances to gradually expand beyond that province. So he takes another province for himself right early on. This is the middle of the 1500s. Then he makes some alliances. By 1568, after really only a few short years, and he's still relatively speaking a young man, he's able to do what most daimyo ultimately wanted to do, which is to mount a successful march on Kyoto and have the emperor under his BDI and also have the shogun under his control.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 01">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 1: Civil War in Feudal Japan: The Sengoku Period</ref>
MTG ACR - Reconnaissance full art.jpg|Reconnaissance by Mandy Jurgens
 
MTG ACR - Rest in Peace full art.jpg|Rest in Peace by Rimas Valeikis
One of the stories told about him when he was a young man, just after his father left, all the Buddhist priests who had been tending to his father, praying for him, looking after him before he died, legend has it anyway that Oda Nobunaga had them all locked inside a single building and then shot to death for what they did, i.e. failing to keep his father alive. He also had a reputation as a teenager for being just quite strange, swaggering around town, eating nuts, letting them fall out of his mouth. He had sort of disheveled hair. At his father's funeral he's said to have picked up a fistful of incense and just thrown it and walked out. So quite a strange character, probably an unpromising character early on, but he was given this motto of rule the realm by force and I think that carried him through. He had a strong sense that he was always going to do this, that he was always going to succeed and I think there's a combination of deep self-belief and ruthlessness and I suppose a degree of luck as well that really seems to carry him forward. By the time that he died in the 1580s as a result of treachery on the part of some of his own men, actually, he had controlled most of Japan's main island of Honshu and he was on the verge of going to its second biggest island, Kyushu, down south. He actually at that point looked unstoppable.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 01"/>
MTG ACR - Coastal Piracy full art.jpg|Coastal Piracy by Wei Guan
 
MTG ACR - Propaganda full art.jpg|Propaganda by Erikas Perl
So in terms of Oda Nobunaga, not an especially promising background I think. If you think about the era into which he's born, there are roughly 120 of these states. Some of them at war with others, some of them in alliance etc. But his state or province or what he is just one of those and quite a small one at that. Plus I think it's 1551, his father dies when Oda Nobunaga is still quite young, still a teenager and he inherits control of this state and the people around him don't see him as an especially serious figure and especially compromising figure. You can imagine some of the senior vassals a little bit older than him thinking goodness me I don't know what's going to happen to our little province with this person in charge. He was I think just seen as being slightly mad, a bit of an idiot not really able to take life terribly seriously and yet within a few short years he proves himself to be this master strategist who becomes by the mid 1560s really the main player in Japan out of all these warlords.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 02">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 2: The Unification of Japan</ref>
MTG ACR - Temporal Trespass full art.jpg|Temporal Trespass by Borja Pindado
 
MTG ACR - Black Market Connections full art.jpg|Black Market Connections by Filipe Pagliuso
What he succeeds in doing is very early on gaining control of a neighboring province and then he makes a very fortuitous alliance with the man who becomes Tokugawa Ieyasu. He doesn't yet have that name at this point in the 1550s but that's a great alliance. It allows Oda Nobunaga not to have to worry too much about the territory to one side of his own province and so he can look elsewhere for his focus but I think other things that seem to go in his favor include a real talent for strategy, choosing the right moment to attack, I think an extraordinary ruthlessness to him as well.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 02"/>
MTG ACR - Conspiracy full art.jpg|Conspiracy by Allen Morris
 
MTG ACR - Cover of Darkness full art.jpg|Cover of Darkness by Paulius Daščioras
So I think by the time he dies in 1582 he has control of large parts of Japan's main island the long thin island of Honshu contains places like Tokyo as it's now called Kyoto of course Osaka for centuries really the central part of that central island really across from Osaka and Kyoto up to what we now call Tokyo has been considered as it were the business end of Japan that's where a lot of the power plays go on the culture is developed the economy is at its strongest and Oda Nobunaga has control of most of that certainly between himself and his allies in any case and he's thinking about moving into two other of Japan's main islands Kyushu which is towards the southwest and also the smaller island of Shikoku so he's got lots of plans he's still a relatively young man he's in an extraordinarily powerful position and he's just setting out in early part of 1582 for the next part of that campaign staying at a temple called Honnoji in Kyoto when he's attacked actually not by his enemies but by someone who is supposed to be on his side one of the famous treacherous figures I suppose in Japanese history man by the name of Akechi Mitsuhide who persuades his men to turn their guns on Oda Nobunaga and his own men and so you have these stories of Oda Nobunaga shouting out treachery or traitors or something like that trying to fight them off himself the temple ends up in flames and Oda Nobunaga retreats further into the temple and dies by his own hand.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 02"/>
MTG ACR - Fatal Push full art.jpg|Fatal Push by Lie Setiawan
 
MTG ACR - Go for the Throat full art.jpg|Go for the Throat by Torgeir Fjereide
So you had, for example, Oda Nobunaga, which showed great familiarity to the Christians, to for example, Fróis, who he invited in Kyoto in Gifu Castle and showed him around in the castle. So it was very positively inclined towards the Christians, but still he never adopted the Christian faith himself.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 03">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 3: Portuguese Missionaries in Japan</ref>
MTG ACR - Murder full art.jpg|Murder by Lixin Yin
 
MTG ACR - Royal Assassin full art.jpg|Royal Assassin by Vilhelmas Banys
Another one, when getting to Miyako, which is now Kyoto, a huge mob literally surrounded the mission and almost pushed the mission down, throwing stones. There were dead people in the crowd outside. And at that point, Nobunaga, who was the most powerful warlord in Japan at the time, was five minutes walk away. He heard this huge hullaballo, which he liked. He heard what was going on. And he demanded to see who was disturbing the peace, demanded that this person be brought before him.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 04">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 4: Yasuke: The First African Samurai</ref>
MTG ACR - Cathartic Reunion full art.jpg|Cathartic Reunion by Syd Mills
 
MTG ACR - Assassin's Trophy full art.jpg|Assassin's Trophy by Erikas Perl
So Yasuke was there at Nobunaga's death. He possibly was the last person to see him alive. Nobunaga was killed in a coup d'etat, essentially. He was heading to the front with this small corps of men over which Yasuke was one, around 30 people. And one of his generals, basically, we still don't know to this day why, he brought his whole army of 13,000 and attacked. They were all gunned down, essentially. Nobunaga, with Yasuke and his lover, [Mori] Ranmaru, come into the middle of the temple where their last moments are held. The temple's on fire around them. And Nobunaga really is going to know what happened in that room because there's only three people and they all died, except for Yasuke. But we only know that Yasuke survived because the Jesuits recorded as such. We don't know what he saw, unfortunately. The normal legend goes Nobunaga cut his belly, Ranmaru took his head off as his second, and then one supposes that Ranmaru then cut his belly and Yasuke took off Ranmaru's head.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 04"/>
MTG ACR - Mortify full art.jpg|Mortify by Wangjie Li
 
MTG ACR - Reconstruct History full art.jpg|Reconstruct History by Néstor Ossandón Leal
when Nobunaga is born in 1534, the Oda family effectively had control of Owari province at this point. Though the family itself was fractured and Nobunaga's branch was interestingly not the primary lineage.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 05">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 5: Oda Nobunaga</ref>
MTG ACR - Terminate full art.jpg|Terminate by Fajareka Setiawan
 
MTG ACR - Sword of Feast and Famine full art.jpg|Sword of Feast and Famine by Thanh Tuấn
the Oda family, as I said, they were the deputy governors underneath the Shiba family in Owari, and he's born as the first legitimate son of a man named Oda Nobuhide, who is the defacto leader of the Oda family. Like I mentioned, his line was not the senior line, but Nobuhide was particularly capable and competent and brought his relatives under his control and for the most part dominated the governance of Owari province. But he was in constant conflict with his neighbors, particularly the powerful Imagawa Yoshimoto to his east and a daimyo named Saitō Dōsan to his north in Mino province.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 05"/>
MTG ACR - Sword of Light and Shadow full art.jpg|Sword of Light and Shadow by Borja Pindado
 
MTG ACR - Plains full art.jpg|Plains by Bruce Brenneise
So Nobunaga's youth would have been one where his family was in constant conflict, both internally and externally. He was designated Nobuhide's heir rather early on, and given the education that you would expect of an heir, he was given four of Nobuhide's high-ranking subordinates as his tutors, so to speak, kind of to raise him up and teach him the ways that he would need to rule both military and politically. But it's often said he was a bit of a wild child who preferred running around with his friends rather than studying, out hunting, and raising all kinds of ruckus. Allegedly he wore outlandish outfits like a tiger skin cloak, and generally he didn't really act the part of an up-and-coming warlord. You'll often hear that he was called the Fool of Owari.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 05"/>
MTG ACR - Plains full art 2.jpg|Plains by Borja Pindado
 
MTG ACR - Island full art.jpg|Island by Alexandre Honoré
But in 1549, he marries the daughter of Saito Dosan, who is located to Owari's north in Mino province, as part of a peace agreement between Dosan and Nobuhide.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 05"/>
MTG ACR - Island full art 2.jpg|Island by Filipe Pagliuso
 
MTG ACR - Swamp full art.jpg|Swamp by Wei Guan
So Nobuhide dies in 1551. And despite Nobunaga being his heir, there's some contention based on his pattern of erratic behavior. One of the famous events that is often brought up is at Nobuhide's funeral. Nobunaga shows up allegedly very unkempt, not in the proper formal funeral attire, and acts very disrespectfully, throwing incense at the altar instead of performing the proper respectful rituals.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 05"/>
MTG ACR - Swamp full art 2.jpg|Swamp by Wangjie Li
 
MTG ACR - Mountain full art.jpg|Mountain by Wei Guan
And based off of this, we are told that some of his father's vassals form a faction around his younger brother while other branches of the family. So this is an opportunity for them to seize control, push this loser who's not ready for the job out of the way. Other vassals defect to the Imagawa or plot with the Saito. So his position upon his father's death is actually very precarious.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 05"/>
MTG ACR - Mountain full art 2.jpg|Mountain by Jeremy Paillotin
 
MTG ACR - Forest full art.jpg|Forest by Daniel Correia
But in 1553, one of his senior retainers, one of these four men who was designated as his tutors and mentors, a man by the name of Hirata Masahide, commits suicide. [...] We have Hirata committing this form of protest suicide. And it serves as a way to wake up young Nobunaga to his rather outlandish behavior and how it's being detrimental to both, you know, his own well-being and the well-being of the Oda family.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 05"/>
MTG ACR - Forest full art 2.jpg|Forest by Miklós Ligeti
 
MTG ACR - Connecting cards full art.jpg|Art for cards 111 to 116 by Alexander Gering
he does begin to more seriously concentrate on consolidating his control over Owari and the Oda family.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 05"/>
MTG ACR - The Capitoline Triad full art 2.jpg|The Capitoline Triad by John Stanko
 
MTG ACR - Leonardo da Vinci full art 2.jpg|Leonardo da Vinci by Miklós Ligeti
So his first fight is to simply gain control of his own family, you know, largely inside of Owati province. There's some pressure from external enemies that Imagawa to the east. But initially from 1552 to 1554, he's contending with iterations of rebellion from his uncle, Nobutomo, who inspired to assassinate him and worked with, you know, other entities to try to make that happen. Nobunaga catches him and forgives him once. But you know, second time he continues to plot. Nobunaga captures him and has him put to death.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 05"/>
MTG ACR - Cleopatra Exiled Pharaoh full art 2.jpg|Cleopatra, Exiled Pharaoh by Néstor Ossandón Leal
 
MTG ACR - Mary Read and Anne Bonny full art 2.jpg|Mary Read and Anne Bonny by Wei Guan
In 1556, again, out of fears that Nobunaga is just not up to the task. Several of his major retainers side with his younger brother Nobuyuki, but Nobunaga, you know, warned of potential treachery at one point, feigns an illness instead of going to go meet his brother. So his brother comes to meet him. And when he does, Nobunaga has him and his entourage assassinated.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 05"/>
MTG ACR - Sokrates Athenian Teacher full art 2.jpg|Sokrates, Athenian Teacher by JB Casacop
 
MTG ACR - Apple of Eden Isu Relic full art 2.jpg|Apple of Eden, Isu Relic by Thanh Tuấn
So the 1550s is really the story of Nobunaga's consolidation of his power within the Oda family, establishing himself as the leader of the family. And by default, almost the ruler of the Oda province. In 1559, his final obstacle is the castle of Iwakura and his cousin Nobuyasu, who belongs to the senior branch of the Oda line. But he manages to take Iwakura castle and eliminate Nobuyasu. And this ends the internal threats now.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 05"/>
MTG ACR - Staff of Eden Vault's Key full art 2.jpg|Staff of Eden, Vault's Key by Narendra Bintara Adi
 
MTG ACR - Sword of Feast and Famine full art 2.jpg|Sword of Feast and Famine by Bruce Brenneise
In 1560, the powerful daimyo Imagawa Yoshimoto to his east, enrolled [????] Toutomi, Suroga, and the Kawa provinces, and came from the illustrious Imagawa line, which was one of the pillars of the former Ashikaga shogunate. He decides, or it's usually assumed at least that he decides that he's going to make a run at marching on the capital of Kyoto to take charge of the central government. So he gathers together an army of 25,000 troops and begins his march east. And the first stop is, of course, his neighbor in Owari province, Nobunaga. So he has to go through Nobunaga's domain. On paper, this is going to be very easy. He's got 25,000 troops, which at the time was a very large army. And Nobunaga only has a few thousand men, maybe 2,500. So we're looking at roughly around a 10 to 1 disadvantage. But Nobunaga, despite the fact that his advisors all counsel him to withdraw into his castle at Kyosu and withstand a siege, he decides that that's a losing strategy. Because what's he going to do against an attack by an army that size? He decides that his best course of action is to try to seek an opening and attack.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 05"/>
MTG ACR - Sword of Light and Shadow full art 2.jpg|Sword of Light and Shadow by Bruce Brenneise
 
MTG ACR - Yggdrasil Rebirth Engine full art 2.jpg|Yggdrasil, Rebirth Engine by Josu Solano
But the Imagawa forces by midday had made significant progress against the Odo forces invading. So the Imagawa army was much larger. It was rather spread out and divided. The vanguard had taken several of these forts that Nobunaga had. Yoshimori himself was with only a few thousand troops. And at his command post, they took a bit of a siesta, almost, if you will, in this small narrow gorge called Dengaku Hazama. And they were celebrating some of the Imagawa troops had already broken into the celebration sake in anticipation of their great victory that they saw coming because, you know, how could you see anything else? A little bit after this, there's a rainstorm. This was in the summer. So the rainy season in Japan. This thunderstorm breaks out and it really helps Nobunaga maneuver his forces through the mountains, through these narrow passes into position to attack Imagawa Yoshimoto's headquarters camp. They broke out of the tree line to attack the camp. And at first Yoshimoto assumes that it's a drunken brawl taking place amongst his men. Too late, he realizes that it's not that he's actually under attack. And shortly after that, two of the Otis samurai relieve him up his head. In the aftermath, the Imagawa forces deprived of their commander melt away in confusion. And we have this almost legendary victory by other Nobunaga outmanned ten to one, destroying the forces of this great daimyo.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 05"/>
MTG ACR - Layla Hassan full art 2.jpg|Layla Hassan by Luisa J. Preissler
 
MTG ACR - Senu Keen-Eyed Protector full art 2.jpg|Senu, Keen-Eyed Protector by Andreia Ugrai
So it kind of makes a name for Nobunaga. Another key thing about this battle, though, and the aftermath is that in the confusion of the Imagawa family with the loss of their head, several of their more talented and younger retainers, one of which we know today as Tokugawa Ieyasu, are able to claim independence. And Ieyasu establishes himself in his home territory of Mikawa, which is just to the east of Owari, and establishes an alliance with Nobunaga, thus providing a secure flank to Nobunaga's east, allowing Nobunaga to then look in other directions as he begins to expand.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 05"/>
MTG ACR - Evie Frye full art 2.jpg|Evie Frye by Bastien L. Deharme
 
MTG ACR - Desmond Miles full art 2.jpg|Desmond Miles by Alex Negrea
So Nobunaga, his next target is this province to his north, Mino Province, which is much larger in size than Owari, and it's somewhat kind of the nexus of road networks in central Japan, where two of the major roads from Chiyoto into the capital in central Japan to the east runs through it. So it's a pretty strategic province to have. So he goes to war against Saitou Dousan and it takes a while, but through diplomacy and bribery of the Saitou generals, he's able to convince many of them to join his side. And by 1567, he's weakened them enough to besiege and take the main castle at Inabayama, which he then renames Gifu.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 05"/>
MTG ACR - Ezio Auditore da Firenze full art 2.jpg|Ezio Auditore da Firenze by Luisa J. Preissler
 
MTG ACR - Jacob Frye full art 2.jpg|Jacob Frye by Bastien L. Deharme
So then he works to consolidate his position by doing some preliminary campaigns into neighboring Issei province and establishing diplomatic relations. So he marries his younger sister, Oichi, to a warlord named Azai Nagamasa who rules northern Omi province. And this is significant because Omi is the province that lies between Mino and Owari, which he owns, and the capital of Kyoto. So he's in essence securing a line of, you know, advance for future endeavors.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 05"/>
MTG ACR - Roshan Hidden Magister full art 2.jpg|Roshan, Hidden Magister by Astri Lohne
 
MTG ACR - Alexios Deimos of Kosmos full art 2.jpg|Alexios, Deimos of Kosmos by Jessie Lam
The previous shogun, Ashikaga Yoshitero, had been assassinated in 1565 and replaced by a puppet. So Yoshitero's younger brother, a man by the name of Ashikaga Yoshiaki, had been traveling around the provinces trying to seek a benefactor who would back his claim and help him march on the capital. So shortly after Nobunaga establishes himself in Gifu, Yoshiaki arrives on his doorstep in 1568, thus giving him a pretext to make his move on the capital.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 05"/>
MTG ACR - Aveline de Grandpré full art 2.jpg|Aveline de Grandpré by Luisa J. Preissler
 
MTG ACR - Adéwalé Breaker of Chains full art 2.jpg|Adéwalé, Breaker of Chains by Miguel Mercado
The fact that he can take a legitimate claimant to the Ashikaga shogunate and march on Kyoto with utter the pretext of putting him into power gives him the legitimate of his siege to do so. So November of 1568, he enters Kyoto with his army and installs Yoshiaki as the 15th Ashikaga shogun. However, here's where things start to differ from what you might have expected at the time, because rather than accept Yoshiaki's offer to be his deputy shogun, Nobunaga declines that in any other position that Yoshiaki offers.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 05"/>
MTG ACR - Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad full art 2.jpg|Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad by Alex Negrea
 
MTG ACR - Arbaaz Mir full art 2.jpg|Arbaaz Mir by Bastien L. Deharme
In 1570, Nobunaga sends an invitation, sensibly on Yoshiaki's behalf, to local warlords for a reception in Kyoto. And this is almost a way to test who was going to accept his authority and who wasn't. And the daimyo of Ichizen province, Asakura Yoshikage, refuses the summons. So Nobunaga launches a campaign to besiege the Asakura's main castle. But unfortunately for Nobunaga, the Azai, his brother-in-law's family, his brother-in-law being Azai Nagamasa, had a multi-generational alliance relationship with the Asakura. So Nagamasa feels obligated to go to the Asakura's aid, and he launches an attack on Nobunaga's army's rear, forcing Nobunaga to break off the siege and retreat while a rear guard held off the Asai and the Asakura forces. So Nobunaga feels personally betrayed by this man who was a relative by marriage. And the Asai and Asakura are one of the initial threats that he faces.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 05"/>
MTG ACR - Arno Dorian full art 2.jpg|Arno Dorian by Andreia Ugrai
 
MTG ACR - Aya of Alexandria full art 2.jpg|Aya of Alexandria by Chase Stone
The two sides meet in July of 1570 at the Battle of Anegawa, where Nobunaga was joined by his ally Tokugawa Ieyasu. And they fight this battle in the shallow Anagawa River, both sides plunging into the water to engage the enemy. So if you picture this dramatic battle in this shallow river, Tokugawa, on Nobunaga's right flank, managed to route the Asakura and then crash into the flank of the Asai while at the same time Nobunaga sent his reserves around the other flank. And it causes the collapse of the enemy to create victory.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 05"/>
MTG ACR - Basim Ibn Ishaq full art 2.jpg|Basim Ibn Ishaq by Astri Lohne
 
MTG ACR - Bayek of Siwa full art 2.jpg|Bayek of Siwa by Miguel Mercado
But the surviving members of the Asakura and the Asai forces find refuge on Mount Hiei, which is a mountain just to the northeast of the capital. And it's the site of the Enuryakuji Temple, which is the headquarters of the Tendai Sept of Buddhism and a military power in its own right. what that matters is that, you know, this was a Buddhist temple that had essentially an army of its own. And so this prevents Nobunaga from cutting off the Asai and the Asakura forces and completely destroying them. And he has to back off,<ref name="Echoes Shadows 05"/>
MTG ACR - Edward Kenway full art 2.jpg|Edward Kenway by Alex Negrea
 
MTG ACR - Eivor Wolf-Kissed full art 2.jpg|Eivor, Wolf-Kissed by Jessie Lam
Another group that around this time rises up to challenge his authority and one that will probably his longest running enemy is what's known as the Ikkō-ikki or the Ikko League. This was a confederation of followers of the true Pure Land Sept of Buddhism. And its headquarters was the Ishiyama Hongan-ji, which was located in what is now present day Osaka. But it had groups of adherents called these Ikki or leagues scattered throughout the provinces of central Japan. And in 1570, Nobunaga starts a war with them because the self-defense groups, these Ikki and the Ishiyama Hongan-ji itself resisted political and military control by local warrior rule. In fact, in 1486, the Ikko Ikki of Kaga Province overthrew the local dainyo and ruled the province without any samurai rule for almost 100 years.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 05"/>
MTG ACR - Ezio Brash Novice full art 2.jpg|Ezio, Brash Novice by Luisa J. Preissler
 
MTG ACR - Havi the All-Father full art 2.jpg|Havi, the All-Father by John Stanko
For 10 years until 1580, he's in this constant on and off war with the Ishiyama Hongan-ji and their ikko followers in various locations throughout the provinces. And they're really the linchpin of the various coalitions that are opposing Nobunaga. You know, at this point, these are kind of like the main enemies that he's looking at.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 05"/>
MTG ACR - Haytham Kenway full art 2.jpg|Haytham Kenway by Andreia Ugrai
 
MTG ACR - Kassandra Eagle Bearer full art 2.jpg|Kassandra, Eagle Bearer by Jessie Lam
But in 1571, he realizes that the only way to solve his problem of encirclement is to break kind of the circle. So he starts with Mount Hiei, the Enuryakuchi temple complex that had given refuge to his enemies. And in the fall, he brings them out and has his troops advance up deliberately. And according to eyewitness accounts from the time that are written down, his troops are killing anything that's alive, whether it be monks, laymen, women, children, reportedly even every animal that's on the mountain. And they burn almost every building of this massive temple complex.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 05"/>
MTG ACR - Lydia Frye full art 2.jpg|Lydia Frye by Bastien L. Deharme
 
MTG ACR - Ratonhnhaké꞉ton full art 2.jpg|Ratonhnhaké꞉ton by Andreia Ugrai
Early assessments of their relationship by historians assume that Nobunaga's plan all along was to use him as a puppet and then throw him away and take power for himself. I agree with more recent biographers, you see it as a little bit more complicated than that. Ashikaga Yoshiaki, obviously, as the Shogun, felt that he should be in charge. So after being installed in 1568, he attempts to rule, but he quickly sees that he cannot do anything without Nobunaga's help. And by 1572, there's some real tension between the two of who's in charge. Nobunaga issued several admonishments, which have been published and are famous, going so far as to note how the people call Yoshiaki the evil Shogun, in scare quotes there, and laying out rules for the Shogun's house to follow. Of course, Yoshiaki takes offense at this and who are you to tell me the Shogun how to run things? And so, like I said, early on, historians looked at this as Nobunaga's overstipping his bow, just trying to push Yoshiaki out.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 05"/>
MTG ACR - Shao Jun full art 2.jpg|Shao Jun by Andreia Ugrai
 
MTG ACR - Shaun & Rebecca Agents full art 2.jpg|Shaun & Rebecca, Agents by John Stanko
I see a different reading of it that is more compelling to me is that, no, he really saw that this was like the structure that should be in place and was trying to guide Yoshiaki back onto an actual correct path of governance, at least as Nobunaga saw it. And his efforts to maintain relations with Yoshiaki, at least initially, were very sincere. But Yoshiaki is the one who kind of pushes the relationship to the breaking point. And the early 1570s, he's orchestrating coalitions of enemies to move against Nobunaga. In addition to the Iko Iki, he's kind of another lynchpin of the different coalitions against Nobunaga, trying to convince different daimyo to turn against Nobunaga, invade, come rescue me in Kyoto and be my savior and I'll grant you XYZ, so forth.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 05"/>
MTG ACR - Shay Cormac full art 2.jpg|Shay Cormac by Alex Negrea
 
MTG ACR - Sigurd Jarl of Ravensthorpe full art 2.jpg|Sigurd, Jarl of Ravensthorpe by Jessie Lam
This continues until 1573, when it's very obvious that Nobunaga has run out of patience. In 1573, he does march on Kyoto and expel Yoshiaki, which more or less ends the Ashikaga shogunate for good. And then Ashikaga would escape to Western Japan, where he would take up residence in the lands of one of Nobunaga's enemies, the Mori family. And from there, he would continue to write different daimyo, constantly trying to create a coalition that could overthrow Nobunaga and reinstall him in power. How effective that was? Well, we see that it didn't happen, but he certainly was doing his best the entire time to undermine Nobunaga.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 05"/>
MTG ACR - Eivor Battle-Ready full art.jpg|Eivor, Battle-Ready by Fajareka Setiawan
 
MTG ACR - Ezio Blade of Vengeance full art.jpg|Ezio, Blade of Vengeance by Jake Murray
The Takeda family is finally destroyed in 1582. And one of the few remaining enemies in the main island of Japan that he is concerned about is this family called the Mori family. And he's had one of his generals man by the name of Hashida Hideyoshi, who we would later know as Toyotomi Hideyoshi. One of his generals is leading the campaign against them. And having just completed the campaign in the east against the Takeda, he is given notice by Hideyoshi that a siege of a castle is almost complete. But he's worried that Mori reinforcements are going to come. So please send additional reinforcements to me in order to defeat the Mori.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 05"/>
MTG ACR - Battlefield Improvisation full art.jpg|Battlefield Improvisation by Mintautas Šukys
 
MTG ACR - Detained by Legionnaires full art.jpg|Detained by Legionnaires by Néstor Ossandón Leal
There's quite a lot of emphasis on how important this is. And this could be the masterstroke that basically secures Western Honshu for Nobunaga. So he's returned to Kyoto, and Nobunaga sends his retainer Akechi Mitsuhide with Akechi's army as the initial force to go reinforce Hideyoshi out west. And for reasons that are not quite clear, but of course, lead to lots of speculation and dramatic interpretation. Akechi decides that instead of turning west to go support Hideyoshi, he's going to turn his forces east, march into Kyoto, surround the residence of Nobunaga, which is the Honnō-ji Temple in central Kyoto. It's where he normally took up residence when he was in the city, and attack his own war.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 05"/>
MTG ACR - Escarpment Fortress full art.jpg|Escarpment Fortress by Vaigintas Pakenis
 
MTG ACR - Keen-Eyed Raven full art.jpg|Keen-Eyed Raven by Alexandre Honoré
We don't really know why we don't really get any full explanation of Akechi's motives. There's lots of speculation that it had to do with resentment at court treatment by Nobunaga. One thing that we do know is that Akechi's mother had been killed by a rival clan where Akechi had given them his mother as a hostage, as insurance essentially against an attack. And Nobunaga superseded that and ordered the attack anyway. So they killed Akechi's mother. Other things are rumors that he was physically abusive and verbally abusive to Mitsuhide personally.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 05"/>
MTG ACR - Settlement Blacksmith full art.jpg|Settlement Blacksmith by Daniel Correia
 
MTG ACR - Assassin Den full art.jpg|Assassin Den by Jurijus Chitrovas
But for whatever reason, Akechi decides that this is his moment while Nobunaga is lightly guarded. He's certainly not expecting anybody to attack him in Kyoto. They surround Nobunaga's residence, set out on fire. Nobunaga and his guards fight back, but are eventually overwhelmed. Nobunaga commits suicide. And then his heir as well, who was also in Kyoto, is attacked by Akechi's forces and dies. So in one stroke, the Akechi have eliminated, basically decapitated the Oda family and thus ended Nobunaga's career.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 05"/>
MTG ACR - Brotherhood Spy full art.jpg|Brotherhood Spy by Jurijus Chitrovas
 
MTG ACR - Hookblade Veteran full art.jpg|Hookblade Veteran by Borja Pindado
So one of the things that he institutes in large scale, though not systematic scale, is land surveys, sending out his administrators to take surveys of the arable land and their rice production yield. What this does is it establishes tax registers, it establishes known income values, and it enables Nobunaga to award rights to the land to his subordinates. And in some ways, assign them or move them based off of income levels, the pieces of land are very modular, and he can move his retainers around underneath him. Toyotomi Hideyoshi after him, who turns it into a systematic evaluation of the entire Japanese realm.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 05"/>
MTG ACR - Tranquilize full art.jpg|Tranquilize by Thanh Tuấn
 
MTG ACR - Brotherhood Ambushers full art.jpg|Brotherhood Ambushers by Alexandre Honoré
Nobunaga is furious. He couldn't believe that his son had put himself in position to be defeated and humiliated like this. So he supposedly threatens to disown Nobukatsu. He doesn't end up following through on it, but he's not pleased.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 06">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 6: The Tensho Iga War</ref>
MTG ACR - Brotherhood Patriarch full art.jpg|Brotherhood Patriarch by Néstor Ossandón Leal
 
MTG ACR - Merciless Harlequin full art.jpg|Merciless Harlequin by Lixin Yin
Nobunaga invades. He outnumbers the Iga defenders about four or five to one. And the Iga defenders are spread across the province. They can't concentrate in one location. They end up being concentrated in two castles, one in the north Hijiyama Castle, and one in the south Kashiwara Castle. But it all ends with the surrender of Kashiwara Castle on October 8th. At that point, there's no more organized resistance to Nobunaga. Nobunaga himself visits Iga in early November to take a tour of his new province, and then withdraws it and gives it to his son Nobukatsu as part of his domain to administer.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 06"/>
MTG ACR - Poison-Blade Mentor full art.jpg|Poison-Blade Mentor by Xabi Gaztelua
 
MTG ACR - Headsplitter full art.jpg|Headsplitter by L J Koh
So one of their descendants, Yoshiyaki, was around and he was a pretty hopeless guy. But he was officially the Shogun. So Nobunaga's excuse for entering Kyoto was to reinstate him as Shogun. But actually, he, like a lot of these guys, is this Yoshiyaki. The Shogun was very treacherous. We wanted to get rid of Nobunaga, and he instigated a plot against him. So Nobunaga had him arrested and taken off to a castle in the middle of nowhere and left there forever. So that was the end of him.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 07">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 7: Kyoto: Japan's Imperial City</ref>
MTG ACR - Labyrinth Adversary full art.png|Labyrinth Adversary by Narendra Bintara Adi
MTG ACR - Misthios's Fury full art.jpg|Misthios's Fury by Allen Morris
MTG ACR - Spartan Veteran full art.jpg|Spartan Veteran by Bartek Fedyczak
MTG ACR - Surtr Fiery Jötun full art.jpg|Surtr, Fiery Jötun by Evan Shipard
MTG ACR - Achilles Davenport full art.jpg|Achilles Davenport by Josu Solano
MTG ACR - Auditore Ambush full art.jpg|Auditore Ambush by Julia Vasilyeva
MTG ACR - Bureau Headmaster full art.jpg|Bureau Headmaster by Thanh Tuấn
MTG ACR - Raven Clan War-Axe full art.jpg|Raven Clan War-Axe by Kim Sokol
MTG ACR - Rooftop Bypass full art.jpg|Rooftop Bypass by Pablo Mendoza
MTG ACR - Hired Blade full art.jpg|Hired Blade by Elizabeth Peiró
MTG ACR - Stone Quarry full art.jpg|Stone Quarry by Piotr Dura
MTG ACR - Submerged Boneyard full art.jpg|Submerged Boneyard by Alexandre Honoré
MTG ACR - Royal Assassin full art 2.jpg|Royal Assassin by Wei Guan
MTG ACR - Hidden Blade full art 2.jpg|Hidden Blade by Evyn Fong
MTG ACR - Copy full art.jpg|Copy by Miklós Ligeti
MTG ACR - Shapeshifter full art.jpg|Shapeshifter by Filipe Pagliuso
MTG ACR - Human Rogue full art.jpg|Human Rogue by Elizabeth Peiró
MTG ACR - Assassin full art.jpg|Assassin by Rimas Valeikis
MTG ACR - Phobos full art.jpg|Phobos by Daniel Correia
MTG ACR - Treasure full art.jpg|Treasure by Xabi Gaztelua
MTG ACR - A Mysterious Creature full art.jpg|A Mysterious Creature by Allen Morris
</gallery>


So the Emperor [Michihito, Emperor Ōgimachi] was still rather broke. The Emperor throughout centuries was very often very poor, and very often just basically getting pocket money from whoever is in power, but still had respect and was still officially descended from the Sun Goddess, the most respected person in the entire land. So Nobunaga then gave the Emperor lots of money and furnished the Imperial Palace made it good. So he gave himself legitimacy as a ruler by helping out the Emperor.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 07"/>
==Lethal Legends==
 
<gallery widths="180" position="center" captionalign="center">
He [Nobunaga] had a very dramatic and spectacular assassination by one of his own men. It's an amazing story, but that happened in Kyoto. He was in a temple where it was his land. He thought he was absolutely fine. He didn't have that many guards, and one of his own generals turned against him. So he was killed there.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 07"/>
MTG SLD - Eivor Raven Clan Champion full art.jpg|Eivor, Raven Clan Champion by Clint Cearley & Diana Cearley
MTG SLD - Altaïr Brotherhood Mentor full art.jpg|Altaïr, Brotherhood Mentor by Dan Watson
MTG SLD - Amunet Tyrants' End full art.jpg|Amunet, Tyrants' End by Narendra Bintara Adi
MTG SLD - Basim Master Assassin full art.jpg|Basim, Master Assassin by Zezhou Chen
MTG SLD - Edward Jackdaw Captain full art.jpg|Edward, Jackdaw Captain by Fajareka Setiawan
</gallery>


===[[Toyotomi Hideyoshi]]===
==Da Vinci's Designs==
so Hideyoshi Toyotomi was one of those [ashigaru] now and again he carried the sandals of Oda Nobunaga Oda Nobunaga used to refer to him affectionately as that bald rat Hideyoshi's famously sort of short on a bit of hair but nevertheless he rises through the ranks to be a senior and trusted man under Oda Nobunaga so immediately he rushes from where he's been fighting over to take care of the traitors and he brings the traitors head back to Kyoto to effectively lay at the feet of Oda Nobunaga's body to say here we are you know I've taken care of this for you and Hideyoshi really then becomes the inheritor I think of this project to try to unify Japan and his major next step one of the steps that Oda Nobunaga would have taken had he lived was to attack Kyushu<ref name="Echoes Shadows 02">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 2: The Unification of Japan</ref>
<gallery widths="180" position="center" captionalign="center">
MTG SLD - Blade of Selves full art.jpg|Blade of Selves by Miklós Ligeti & AndWorld Design
MTG SLD - Conqueror's Flail full art.jpg|Conqueror's Flail by Miklós Ligeti & AndWorld Design
MTG SLD - Darksteel Plate full art.jpg|Darksteel Plate by Miklós Ligeti & AndWorld Design
MTG SLD - Deathrender full art.jpg|Deathrender by Miklós Ligeti & AndWorld Design
MTG SLD - Haystack full art.jpg|Haystack by Miklós Ligeti & AndWorld Design
MTG SLD - Whispersilk Cloak full art.jpg|Whispersilk Cloak by Miklós Ligeti & AndWorld Design
</gallery>
</div>
-->


yet for Hideyoshi Kyushu is a part of Japan that he simply must have so he sends around a quarter of a million men over to Kyushu to take it for himself which he manages to do in fairly short order in 1586 and 7<ref name="Echoes Shadows 02"/>
==Echoes of Shadows==
<!--
==Locations==
===[[Iga]]===
Iga is a small province surrounded by mountains in central Japan. It's just a little bit to the southeast of the capital of Kyoto. It's surrounded by the lands of Nobunaga and those loyal to him.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 06">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 6: The Tensho Iga War</ref>


Hideyoshi for his part had a powerful dislike of Christians so the island of Kyushu in this period was probably the part of Japan where Christian missionaries Portuguese and Spanish mainly the Jesuits but also others as well had since the 1550s been making quite a large number of converts so some of the warlords the daimyo in Kyushu were actually Christians who had a mixture of Portuguese and Spanish and Japanese names and Hideyoshi was astounded to find when he got to Kyushu but he found some Christian missionaries offering him to kind of broker deals with warlords help him take over the island these people as far as Hideyoshi were concerned were foreigners preaching of foreign faith he discovered that Nagasaki had been raised up into this great port by the Jesuits who had effectively been given Nagasaki by a local warlord so the extraordinary influence that a foreign power preaching of foreign religion had in Kyushu I think upset Hideyoshi very much<ref name="Echoes Shadows 02"/>
And what are the main factors that lead up to kind of open war with Iga? Like I said, there's that independence that isn't particularly endearing to Nobunaga. He wants everything under his control, but they're not really necessarily a threat militarily, per se, to him. So for most of the time that he's establishing his hegemony, he is concentrated elsewhere. Iga at this time is ruled by an independent league or ikki that did not recognize any daimyo's hegemony and even gone so far as to expel the military governor of the province that had been appointed by the Ashkaga.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 06"/>


Hideyoshi once he's taken Kyushu just a few years later launches invasions of Korea so he sends troops across including some of Christian warlords commanding them across to Korea wanting to use it almost as China's driveway if you think about the geography of it send these troops up through Korea take over the peninsula eventually invade and take over China and after that he also wanted to take over India as well<ref name="Echoes Shadows 02"/>
it's ringed by mountains. It's very mountainous internally as well, but there's a ring of mountains around it that prevents easy access to it. It's very easily defensible. And there's six main passes, several on the eastern side, a couple into the north and then a couple on the western side through which if you're going to bring an army, you have to go through one of those passes in order to get there.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 06"/>


although Hideyoshi has done very well by 1590 as I say he pretty much has most parts of Japan wrapped up under his control and he's starting to think about internal administration he introduces measures for example to disarm the peasantry so if you want to end this period of all against all warfare he wants to return to a position where most people cannot bear arms and it's very clear who can and who aren't and where you sit in these various samurai hierarchies so he does all these bits of internal administration too I suppose another thing he starts to do is to launch these surveys of the land something that Oda Nobunaga had started to an extent but Hideyoshi really goes for it to get a sense of who going forward owns what in Japan what kind of tax you ought to pay so the things that you know maybe strike some fans of history as a bit dull but nevertheless a sign I think of a new order starting to entrench itself so he does all that but his Korean campaign goes badly wrong in the 1590s the Chinese finally put some men in the field and they push the Japanese troops all the way back down the Korean peninsula so it doesn't go anywhere except for poisoning relations with Korea for a very long time to come and then in 1598 Hideyoshi dies and the one thing he doesn't manage to do and I suppose fans of history from Europe and elsewhere there's similar things happen here one thing you want to do if you're a newly established ruler is make sure that the succession is in place...<ref name="Echoes Shadows 02"/>
One of the things that the Iga warriors did was often hire themselves out as contractors to other entities would be they temples or be they other daimyo factions and whatever. So in the 1540s, we have reports of Igamono or men of Iga being hired to do things like espionage or sabotage of the enemy castles. [...] And they are capable militarily. Many of them are experienced hunters and trackers through the mountains. They have the kind of outdoor living skills we might attribute to military specialties of today like commandos or something like that. So while they weren't necessarily trying to take over control, they did also have a military presence outside of their province because they could be hired or requested to assist with campaigns elsewhere.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 06"/>


And you had Otomo, which was a very powerful clan in the east of Kyushu. And then you had in the southwest, you had the Shimazu. And Otomo was losing against the Shimazu. So he asked Hideyoshi to intervene. And sometime before Hideyoshi marched towards Kyushu, he met with Coelho, which was then the head of the Christian mission in Japan, together with Fróis. And he treated Coelho very well, just like Oda Nobunaga had done with Fróis. So Coelho was really pleased with that. And then Hideyoshi asked him, I want to invade Korea. Then you provide two Portuguese ships to help me in this invasion. And if I conquer Korea, I will make it that there are a lot of churches being built. So Koelyo said, yes, I will do that for you. And I will make sure that we have two Portuguese ships, the Karak ships, as they were called by the English, gigantic ships. So Hideyoshi could very well use them for his invasion in Korea. And then he went a step further and he said, I will make sure that the Christian warlords in Kyushu will also support you. And I think at that moment that Hideyoshi, that there was a ring bell in his head, that the Christians, the Jesuits had too much influence in Japan.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 03">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 3: Portuguese Missionaries in Japan</ref>
Nobunaga invades. He outnumbers the Iga defenders about four or five to one. And the Iga defenders are spread across the province. They can't concentrate in one location. They end up being concentrated in two castles, one in the north Hijiyama Castle, and one in the south Kashiwara Castle. But it all ends with the surrender of Kashiwara Castle on October 8th. At that point, there's no more organized resistance to Nobunaga. Nobunaga himself visits Iga in early November to take a tour of his new province, and then withdraws it and gives it to his son Nobukatsu as part of his domain to administer.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 06"/>


And when he had conquered Kyushu, he again met with Coelho on a Portuguese ship. And Coelho again said that we will support you in whatever endeavor you will take. But the night suddenly he sent a questionary to Coelho, asking him why they came to Japan, why they are making so much converts. And why are they destroying the Buddhist temples? Of course Coelho was really shocked with that. He was so well treated and suddenly everything changed overnight. So he gave his answer that, well, they came to Japan just to propagate their faith, in good faith. And that it was not them who destroyed the Buddhist temples, but the Japanese converts. So the answer of Hideyoshi was that he made a decree that the Jesuits had to leave Japan in 20 days.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 03"/>
It is now a domain administered by one of Nobunaga's retainers. It would go on to be a domain held by a Daimyo underneath the Edo Period shogun of the Tokukawa.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 06"/>


Nobunaga's main retainer, a man called Hideyoshi, was born a peasant. He actually became Nobunaga's successor after Nobunaga died. So he rose from literally the bottom almost to the top within his lifetime. He died quite early as well, maybe in his 50s. So it wasn't even a long life.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 04">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 4: Yasuke: The First African Samurai</ref>
===[[Nagasaki]]===
he discovered that Nagasaki had been raised up into this great port by the Jesuits who had effectively been given Nagasaki by a local warlord so the extraordinary influence that a foreign power preaching of foreign religion had in Kyushu I think upset Hideyoshi very much<ref name="Echoes Shadows 02">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 2: The Unification of Japan</ref>


The Takeda family is finally destroyed in 1582. And one of the few remaining enemies in the main island of Japan that he is concerned about is this family called the Mori family. And he's had one of his generals man by the name of Hashida Hideyoshi, who we would later know as Toyotomi Hideyoshi. One of his generals is leading the campaign against them. And having just completed the campaign in the east against the Takeda, he is given notice by Hideyoshi that a siege of a castle is almost complete. But he's worried that Mori reinforcements are going to come. So please send additional reinforcements to me in order to defeat the Mori.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 05">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 5: Oda Nobunaga</ref>
in the end anyway the Japanese will only deal when we're thinking about European powers with the Dutch and only at this little artificial island called Dejima just a few feet worth of wooden bridge off the coast of Nagasaki<ref name="Echoes Shadows 02"/>


There's quite a lot of emphasis on how important this is. And this could be the masterstroke that basically secures Western Honshu for Nobunaga. So he's returned to Kyoto, and Nobunaga sends his retainer Akechi Mitsuhide with Akechi's army as the initial force to go reinforce Hideyoshi out west. And for reasons that are not quite clear, but of course, lead to lots of speculation and dramatic interpretation. Akechi decides that instead of turning west to go support Hideyoshi, he's going to turn his forces east, march into Kyoto, surround the residence of Nobunaga, which is the Honnō-ji Temple in central Kyoto. It's where he normally took up residence when he was in the city, and attack his own war.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 05"/>
Gaspar Vilela is one who stands out. He was a very keen propagator of the Christian faith, and he could convert some warlords to Christianity. One of them was Omura Sumitada, who eventually would give a port to the Jesuits, which was called Nagasaki.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 03">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 3: Portuguese Missionaries in Japan</ref>


So one of the things that he institutes in large scale, though not systematic scale, is land surveys, sending out his administrators to take surveys of the arable land and their rice production yield. What this does is it establishes tax registers, it establishes known income values, and it enables Nobunaga to award rights to the land to his subordinates. And in some ways, assign them or move them based off of income levels, the pieces of land are very modular, and he can move his retainers around underneath him. Toyotomi Hideyoshi after him, who turns it into a systematic evaluation of the entire Japanese realm.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 05"/>
===[[Kyoto]]===
So Kyoto is the absolute heart of Japan, it's exactly in the middle. And geomantically, let's go to geomantics, it's a perfectly placed to be the capital city, which is what it was for a thousand years. It's got mountains behind it on three sides, it's got the sea in front, it's got two rivers running through, it fulfils all the necessary requirements of Feng Shui to be the perfect place for capital<ref name="Echoes Shadows 07">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 7: Kyoto: Japan's Imperial City</ref>


And his trusted lieutenant, who was a guy called Hashiba Hideyoshi, Hashiba Hideyoshi had a lot of different names. He started off the son of a farmer and he was called Hiyoshi. And he was also called Saru-san, which means Mr. Monkey, because he was an ugly bloke and looked like a monkey. He was small and ugly. He had a lot of girlfriends. He had a really devoted wife to whom he wrote wonderful letters. This is all by the by. Hideyoshi is a great guy. Hideyoshi came galloping back from the campaign he was engaged in when he heard that Nobunaga had been killed. And basically Nobunaga's method had been force and violence. Hideyoshi was the man with the golden tongue. He used persuasion. He was nice to people. And he got everybody to pledge allegiance to him.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 07">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 7: Kyoto: Japan's Imperial City</ref>
it was created as capital city. Emperor Kamu, who was the greatest emperor in Japanese history, he was the Charlemagne of Japan. And before his time, the capital had been in Nara, but it was kind of taken over by the Buddhist priests. [...] There were all sorts of scandals to do with these Buddhist clergy. And then he, Emperor Kamu, founded a capital in Nagoka, which is near Nara. And that one, there was an uprising, people got killed, there were ghosts, obviously not going to be any good as the capital. So he then set out on a supposed hunting trip with his geomancers to find the perfect place. People were not particularly concerned with practical considerations, they were concerned with where it would be auspicious. And so he settled on Kyoto as the place to be his capital. And he then had it built, and that was an enormous job to build it. And it was in 794 that he was an enormous entourage of his attendants and his army and everybody else arrived by Palanquin in Kyoto, in the Imperial Palace there.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 07"/>


And because Hideyoshi came from a poor family, he was a farmer's son. He had climbed his way right through the ranks, which only two people in the whole of Japanese history did. But he sort of didn't have anything to prove to anybody. He was very nice to the emperor, but he loved culture. He wanted to enjoy all those wonderful things that the upper classes had. But under him, the sort of culture he liked was chō. He liked display. He liked sort of flamboyancy. For example, there are paintings of the wonderful kimonos people wore. And there are also beautiful paintings of how Kyoto looked, with all the people on the streets, people dancing, the beautiful buildings, the temples, the palaces.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 07"/>
And there were many great Zen prelates who set themselves up in Kyoto. So if you go to Kyoto, it's absolutely full of Zen temples and other temples too, but I would say primarily Zen temples. The Zen priests had it linked with China and they were able to facilitate trade with China, to bring back ideas, bring back goods. So the Zen church became very wealthy as well as being very influential.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 07"/>


He built a palace in the middle of called Jurakudai, in the middle of Kyoto, where Nijō Castle is. That now, for those of you who've been there, anyone who's been there, right in the center. And then he also built Momoyama Castle [aka Fushimi Castle] in the south of Kyoto. And he also, while he was at it, I'm not sure if I'm answering your question anymore, but he had an enormous tea party for the entire population of Kyoto, the entire population, including all the poor people, and got them all to come. And it occupied a whole sort of enormous shrine grounds. And I think there was something like 800 tea pavilions there. Part of tea is displaying your beautiful utensils. And he displayed his gold utensils. And he also had an entire tea hut made of gold, the golden tea hut.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 07"/>
These two lords, I think it was the Hashimoto's and the Yamunas, have been itching to fight for a long time, and they fought for 10 years. It's said that they destroyed the whole of Kyoto. That's not quite true. They destroyed the upper class part of Kyoto. So 10 years of fighting included looting, arson, and all these other things. But this mainly happened. This was the temples. This was the palaces. That lot got destroyed. Meanwhile, the shogun who lived at that point was a guy called Yoshimasa, who was living during the end of the 15th century. And he retired. He was very interested in the arts, and he was not remotely interested in fighting. And he kept well out of this fighting. And he went off to the east of the city, and there he built a fabulous pavilion, the silver pavilion. And there he carried on having a life of leisure and art with his friends. While all this was going on in Kyoto, his pavilion was facing away from the city, so it didn't have to see it was burning. And it was facing towards the lovely mountains on the east. And he was, again, an amazing patron of the arts. And under him, ink painting flourished, pottery flourished, every possible art form. Oh, linked verse became very important. So the war came to an end.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 07"/>


Hideyoshi sort of basically laid out Kyoto as it is now.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 07"/>
The part of the city that had not burnt down was the part where the merchants and the artisans were, because they were poor chaps. And so nobody bothered with looting them, but they weren't that poor. So they were actually supplying and selling stuff to both sides in this war and getting richer. And the end of the Onin war, this is the Onin war, everything had sort of fallen apart, because Kyoto was in such a state of devastation.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 07"/>


Were there games in medieval Japan that we know about? Right. One thing that the samurai ruler, especially the unifier, Toyotomi Hideyoshi liked, was the noh play. So there are theatres all over Japan.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 08">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 8: How To Fit In: Feudal Japan</ref>
So it didn't take as long as it would have taken to rebuild London, to rebuild Kyoto. It didn't take that long. So it could be rebuilt pretty quickly. And it happened again and again in the history of Kyoto, and also in the history of Edo, which was the city that later became Tokyo. Time and time again they were burnt down. So Kyoto was back on its feet quite quickly, but it was just known to be the capital. The name Kyoto means capital city.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 07"/>


===[[Tokugawa Ieyasu]]===
So in the Heian period, it was laid out on a grid. Like a chessboard with equal sized square areas. And then it had long boulevards going down the middle. It had small lanes going off to the sides. It had the Emperor's Palace up at the top with beautiful green roofs, red columns. Very spectacular. You could see the Emperor's Palace wherever you were.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 07"/>
What he succeeds in doing is very early on gaining control of a neighboring province and then he makes a very fortuitous alliance with the man who becomes Tokugawa Ieyasu. He doesn't yet have that name at this point in the 1550s but that's a great alliance. It allows Oda Nobunaga not to have to worry too much about the territory to one side of his own province and so he can look elsewhere for his focus [...]<ref name="Echoes Shadows 02">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 2: The Unification of Japan</ref>


unfortunately he dies when his son Hideyori is still too young to assume power and so you have this council of elders who are controlling things until Hideyori is old enough to rule by himself but unfortunately on that council of elders is one Tokugawa Ieyasu who while you know professing a certain amount of loyalty to Hideyori is plotting and scheming instead to take it all for himself and so he becomes our third major figure.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 02"/>
Hideyoshi sort of basically laid out Kyoto as it is now. He cut those squares in half. So you have rectangular blocks rather than square blocks. He also built a wall around the outside of the city, which isn't there anymore, but he had that built. He also built these glorious palaces. So you would have very glorious palaces on the main boulevards, which again are still always in like a chess board laid out like a grid. And you'd also have glorious temples, probably not radically different in appearance from glorious palaces. And then you'd have the whole merchant's area, which would be tiny little lanes of small dark houses with bamboo blinds outside, very nice houses, which still exist. If you go to Kyoto, you can go down these little lanes. They're so thin that you have to walk down or you just go down on a bicycle or something. They're sort of dark wood houses, steep, steep stairs, several floors. I think they're called eel lanes because they're like eels. They're kind of long and thin like eels. And then you could see from the streets of Kyoto, you could see the mountains to the east, which is where Yoshimasa was looking when Kyoto was burning down behind him. You could see the mountains to the north. You could see the mountain to the northwest, which is always the unlucky direction, where there was a huge complex of temples on the top and still is. And you could also see Arashiyama to the west, which is where the Flying Dragon Temple was and lots of other beautiful temples and bamboo crows. So you always could see those all around.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 07"/>


he stations some troops in Kyoto to keep the emperor under a watchful eye not necessarily because of what the emperor might do but what people might use the emperor for some of his western enemies you know as in in the western part of Japan might potentially take the emperor as a figurehead and launch a further action against him it's not as though after a great battle like that everyone on the losing side thinks fair enough you know you've got me I'll walk away and agree to this so he has that our establishment Kyoto his own power base is Edo this castle town that is now the great city of Tokyo so his shogunate is really run out of Edo that's where his advisors are his castle is his strong economy is and he manages to really build up Edo I think in short order the other thing he does which is really establishing this process of unification really establishing the new Japan is he does this enormous reshuffling of territory in Japan I think it's the biggest reshuffling of territory in terms of who controls what in Japan's history so lots of the people who are on the losing side at the battle of Sekigahara either lose everything or their territory is drastically cut down or they're shipped off to another part of the country entirely perhaps all these things that are designed to damage their power he also as part of that reshuffle takes over a system that Hideyoshi used to use called Sankin Kortai<ref name="Echoes Shadows 02"/>
Then you have down one side of the city is the River Kamo. And you've got the River Kamo dividing the city from the eastern mountains. And at the foot of the eastern mountain is an area of flat land, which became a big area of carnival. So if you wanted to have fun, you go there. So when you're having a respectable life and your wife and your family and everything else are there, you stay away from the mountains. But you could also cross the bridge to this area of carnival where there would be some more wrestling. There'd be jugglers, there'd be theater, and there would be ladies of pleasure, lots of ladies of pleasure.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 07"/>


Tokugawa Ieyasu, he forbade Christianity totally. And all influence of the Jesuits was razed very systematically from then on.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 03">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 3: Portuguese Missionaries in Japan</ref>
And at various times, as you're within Hideyoshi's reign, a particular man whose name was Saburoemon Hara, he said to Hideyoshi, why don't I gather together these ladies of pleasure? Who are a little bit chaotic because it's good to have a bit of order. There's no issue with morality about this, it's to do with orderliness. So he gathered them into particular places which became pleasure quarters, which of course were number one, there was a wall around them, so you could keep an eye on what went on because there were bad guys that went there as well as good guys. Number two, you could tax them. And so these became very famous pleasure quarters. There's one in Kyoto [Shimabara, Kyoto], there's very famous one in Edo, which is now Tokyo.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 07"/>


So it kind of makes a name for Nobunaga. Another key thing about this battle, though, and the aftermath is that in the confusion of the Imagawa family with the loss of their head, several of their more talented and younger retainers, one of which we know today as Tokugawa Ieyasu, are able to claim independence. And Ieyasu establishes himself in his home territory of Mikawa, which is just to the east of Owari, and establishes an alliance with Nobunaga, thus providing a secure flank to Nobunaga's east, allowing Nobunaga to then look in other directions as he begins to expand.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 05">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 5: Oda Nobunaga</ref>
So Kyoto somehow had a resurgence. It was also the center of the geisha, which is quite important, actually. It re-created itself as a center of traditional culture. So Tokyo is a big modern city. And as you know, Kyoto did not get bombed in World War II because it's such a center of traditional culture. It's got so much. And also it's not entirely, but it's largely a wooden city. And there was also a law was passed, which again, I think has been broken. But there are laws about the height of buildings you can build in Kyoto. You're not supposed to build very tall buildings. So it's mainly a low rise city.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 07"/>


The two sides meet in July of 1570 at the Battle of Anegawa, where Nobunaga was joined by his ally Tokugawa Ieyasu. And they fight this battle in the shallow Anagawa River, both sides plunging into the water to engage the enemy. So if you picture this dramatic battle in this shallow river, Tokugawa, on Nobunaga's right flank, managed to route the Asakura and then crash into the flank of the Asai while at the same time Nobunaga sent his reserves around the other flank. And it causes the collapse of the enemy to create victory.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 05"/>
And then in Kyoto, there is an Emperor and has been residing all the time. So the Kyoto people like residents will be more aware of what's happening around the courtiers and so on. [...] And then medieval Japan as well, this Kamakura headquarters of the samurai has been moved and taken by a different family. And the samurai headquarters became the Kyoto as well. So in Kyoto, the dual structure of this courtiers and Emperor's house and the Shogunate. So the Kyoto people will be really subject to what political moves are. But other people like say around outside of Kyoto, they will be happily living in their regions and then they will have those like farming going on and they will have rather stable time so they could enjoy.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 08">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 8: How To Fit In: Feudal Japan</ref>


Many of them [Iga warriors] went to work for a retainer of Tokugawa Iyasu who has become famous in kind of ninja lore, man by the name of Hattori Hanzo. And Hattori Hanzo had family ties to Iga. He's often referred to or portrayed as in pop culture as a ninja, but he was a samurai retainer, a warrior just like many of the warriors that fought for any of the Daimyo of this period. He appears in most of Tokugawa Iyasu's battles until Hanzo dies in 1590s. He is considered one of Tokugawa Iyasu's closest retainers, but because through his family ties, he had a knowledge base of these sort of unconventional guerilla tactics. He also had through those ties, the ability to kind of act as a landing place for many of these men of Iga. And so many of them went to work for Tokugawa Ieyasu under the command of Hattori Hanzo.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 06">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 6: The Tensho Iga War</ref>
===[[Nara]]===
And before his time, the capital had been in Nara, but it was kind of taken over by the Buddhist priests. [...] There were all sorts of scandals to do with these Buddhist clergy. And then he, Emperor Kanmu, founded a capital in Nagoka, which is near Nara.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 07">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 7: Kyoto: Japan's Imperial City</ref>


==The Jesuits==
There were the different sects of Buddhism arrived in Japan at different times. And the first sect grew up in Nara, as I said, and caused trouble. And that stayed in Nara. The whole point was to leave those priests behind in Nara and move to Kyoto.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 07"/>
===[[Francis Xavier]]===
Francis Xavier was a Jesuit and one of the founding members of the Jesuits. He was asked to travel to Asia to begin doing missionary work there. He was asked especially by King John III of Portugal because he was very keen on trying to get as many Asians adhering to the Christian religion. Xavier had quite a correspondence with King John about all what he did in Asia and it wasn't what he expected. In 1542 he came to India but he didn't get good results so he tried to go to Malacca but there also there was not much interest for his propagating of the faith. And there he met with a Japanese called Anjiro, probably his real name was Yajiro, and he told him about Japan and also some Portuguese merchants who had gone to Japan told him that that will be the country where you really are going to get a lot of people converted to Christianity. So he had a lot of expectations for Japan and in 1549 he finally set foot on Japan. So that was really the first time that the Jesuits arrived in Japan only six or seven years after the first Portuguese came there.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 03">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 3: Portuguese Missionaries in Japan</ref>


when Xavier came in Japan, he landed in Satsuma, Kagoshima, which is in the southern part of the Kyushu island, and you had a warlord there, Shimaze Takahisa, and he welcomed Xavier very much because he had a motive. If the Jesuits would come, he thought the Portuguese merchants would follow. So he treated Xavier very well and he gave him permission to preach the Gospel in his domains, but after a year, no Portuguese ship arrived, so then he prohibited Christianity and Xavier was compelled to go to another domain, which was the Hilado domain of Matsura Takanobu, and just at that time there was a Portuguese vessel there. And when the Portuguese saw the Jesuits, so Xavier and his companions, they greeted them with utmost respect. And Takanobu saw that, so he thought, okay, I have to treat them also with respect so that the Portuguese traders could come, because those Portuguese traders, they got a lot of products.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 03"/>
===[[Tokyo]]===
So it didn't take as long as it would have taken to rebuild London, to rebuild Kyoto. It didn't take that long. So it could be rebuilt pretty quickly. And it happened again and again in the history of Kyoto, and also in the history of Edo, which was the city that later became Tokyo. Time and time again they were burnt down. So Kyoto was back on its feet quite quickly, but it was just known to be the capital. The name Kyoto means capital city.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 07">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 7: Kyoto: Japan's Imperial City</ref>


And he thought that if he goes to the emperor in Kyoto, in the capital, that the emperor would give him permission to preach in whole of Japan, and that he would have a lot of success because he saw that the lot of a small domain, when he gave permission, he got the chance to convert a few people. If the upper lord of the country would give him permission, he thought he would be in a good position to convert a lot of Japanese. So he went to Kyoto, but that materialized not very well because Kyoto at the time was in the midst of warfare, so he didn't have the chance to meet with the emperor nor with the shogun.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 03"/>
And so they [Imperial side of Boshin War] marched up, they took Edo castle. And in 1868, the then emperor [Mutsuhito, Emperor Meiji] who was 14, I think, or 16, he was a teenager, marched or didn't march. He was carried by Palanquin, top with a Phoenix, up to Edo and into Edo castle, which became the imperial palace and Edo became Tokyo, which is the eastern capital. So therefore, Kyoto was no longer the capital at all. It was no longer the official capital.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 07"/>


So afterwards, he went back from Kyoto. He got back to Hirado, where he put on very expensive clothes and then went again to the court of Ōuchi. And then he was received very well. He also gave a lot of presents, which he had brought from Portugal. And Ōuchi was very policed with that and gave permission for the Jesuits to preach their gospel in his domains.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 03"/>
==Timeline==
===[[Tenshō Iga War]] [1579-1581]===
We're at the end of the Sengoku period where Oda Nobunaga is in charge and extending his influence across the land. Specifically the conflict takes place with one invasion in 1579 and then another invasion in 1581.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 06">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 6: The Tensho Iga War</ref>


Xavier left in 1551, but soon there came more and more Jesuits.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 03"/>
And what are the main factors that lead up to kind of open war with Iga? Like I said, there's that independence that isn't particularly endearing to Nobunaga. He wants everything under his control, but they're not really necessarily a threat militarily, per se, to him. So for most of the time that he's establishing his hegemony, he is concentrated elsewhere. Iga at this time is ruled by an independent league or ikki that did not recognize any daimyo's hegemony and even gone so far as to expel the military governor of the province that had been appointed by the Ashkaga.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 06"/>


So and Francis Xavier, the Jesuit priest, showed up in Japan at that time. He showed up in a city called Yamaguchi. And his theory was, I will go to Kyoto. I will convert the emperor to Catholicism. And then everybody else in the whole country will follow him. And he got to Kyoto. It was a complete wreck. It was sort of a burnt out ruin. He couldn't find the emperor. So he gave up.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 07">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 7: Kyoto: Japan's Imperial City</ref>
Oda Nobukatsu, was in charge of the province next to it and was looking to kind of establish his own reputation, spread his wings a little bit. And so here we have Iga province next to him, a place where he can launch an invasion, take it over. It's small. How hard could it be, right? Be an easy victory. And it turns out not to be.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 06"/>


Nobukatsu, Nobunaga's second son, takes that [Iga's expulsion of their military governor] as an excuse of, oh, see, they're not observing the proper order of things. They're not part of the structure. So he decides of his own accord that he's going to expand his domain into Iga without permission from his father. Part of this is ego driven. He wants to prove to his father that he can operate on his own and so forth. So in 1578, he dispatches one of his generals, man by the name of Takigawa Kazumasu, to build a castle just across the Iga border that they're going to use as a staging point for a future invasion. Well, the warriors of Iga are alerted to this and realize what this means. So they decide to attack and destroy it, which they do in November of 1578. Takigawa is taken completely by surprise. The castle is burned. Takigawa and his small force is forced to retreat. Obviously, they cease work on the castle and retreat back to Issei after losing a second battle where they tried to retake the ground.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 06"/>


===[[Gaspar Vilela]]===
So the following year in October, he decides he's going to launch a much larger invasion. So he gathers around a little over 10,000 men and invades Iga Province through three of those passes that I mentioned. In his main body, he has 8,000 men going through the northernmost pass at Nagano. And then he has a group of 1,500 men through one pass and 1,300 through another pass, these two passes to the south. But again, the Iga forces, speaking to their ability to collect intelligence and know what the enemy is doing, are ready and waiting at these narrow sites to ambush Nobukatsu's forces, which they do. They use their skill in guerrilla tactics and their local knowledge of the terrain. They inflict heavy losses against Nobukatsu's forces, again forcing him to retreat in a humiliating defeat.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 06"/>
Gaspar Vilela is one who stands out. He was a very keen propagator of the Christian faith, and he could convert some warlords to Christianity. One of them was Omura Sumitada, who eventually would give a port to the Jesuits, which was called Nagasaki.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 03">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 3: Portuguese Missionaries in Japan</ref>


And they also had a problem that after a while you have [Francisco] Cabral, you have [Gaspar] Coelho, so two Jesuits who became the head of the Japan sector. And they weren't very keen to adopt Japanese customs. They wanted to be as strictly Jesuits as in Europe. So they already have a problem from the Jesuit side and many like Vilela or Fróis were more inclined to adopt Japanese customs. But the heads of the provincials, as they call them, were against that.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 03"/>
But in 1581, he comes back and we have the main invasion of the Tenshō Iga War. [...] The key moment of failure is when Nobunaga decides to get serious and invade Iga with more of a plan than his son had.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 06"/>


===[[Alessandro Valignano]]===
It was not a protracted war once Nobunaga decided to invade. Even Nobukatsu's invasion only lasted a day before he was turned back. The second larger invasion of 1581 lasts nine days. So unlike this, you know, protracted guerrilla war that we might have in our minds, it was really a quick invasion by Nobunaga quickly taking a couple of castles, receiving their submission and then everybody moves on with their lives.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 06"/>
And then you have, of course, Valignano, which was the visitor, as he was called, to the Orient. So he was the head of all the actions in the Orient, and he spent a lot of time in Japan, because Japan was the place where the Jesuits thought they would have the best results.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 03">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 3: Portuguese Missionaries in Japan</ref>


He was the bodyguard of a Jesuit, the head Jesuit in Asia, essentially the head of the Christian church in Asia, a man called Alessandro Valignano. And Valignano was on a tour from Rome. He'd been sent by the Pope to tour the new missions in Asia and of course, Japan was the furthest of these missions.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 04">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 4: Yasuke: The First African Samurai</ref>
To go into like the details, Nobunaga invades September 30th and it's a much larger scale different reports of the war, say he had somewhere between 40,000 or 60,000 troops. And the key that he really does is not only numbers, but it's the fact that he owns all the territory surrounding Iga. So he's able to send army forces that are equivalent largely to the size of the force that his son had, right, in 1579. But he can send that from six different sides. And this means that the Iga ikki cannot concentrate their forces to prevent any of these invasions coming in from any one pass. Whereas, you know, in 1579, they only defend three passes from one direction. Now it's six passes coming from all directions, including their neighbors to the north in Koka.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 06"/>


Valignano himself, the visitor, the chief inspector of churches, if you like, was a big proponent of learning any language. He started the concept of Asian studies. Asian language studies in Europe were started by him. He was the person who insisted that his missionaries study Chinese, Japanese, various Indian languages, so it's conceivable that Yasuke had already started to learn Japanese before he arrived.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 04"/>
So had the assistance of the Koka specialists in guerrilla operations and warfare to advise and assist him. And this is probably where we get a lot of the imagery of this rivalry between Iga and Koka because Koka did assist Nobunaga in his invasion. He also allegedly had some Iga members who offered to him to help show him through the passes and give him that advantage.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 06"/>


===[[Francisco Cabral]]===
Nobunaga invades. He outnumbers the Iga defenders about four or five to one. And the Iga defenders are spread across the province. They can't concentrate in one location. They end up being concentrated in two castles, one in the north Hijiyama Castle, and one in the south Kashiwara Castle. But it all ends with the surrender of Kashiwara Castle on October 8th. At that point, there's no more organized resistance to Nobunaga. Nobunaga himself visits Iga in early November to take a tour of his new province, and then withdraws it and gives it to his son Nobukatsu as part of his domain to administer.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 06"/>
And they also had a problem that after a while you have [Francisco] Cabral, you have [Gaspar] Coelho, so two Jesuits who became the head of the Japan sector. And they weren't very keen to adopt Japanese customs. They wanted to be as strictly Jesuits as in Europe. So they already have a problem from the Jesuit side and many like Vilela or Fróis were more inclined to adopt Japanese customs. But the heads of the provincials, as they call them, were against that.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 03">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 3: Portuguese Missionaries in Japan</ref>


==Other==
===[[Honnō-ji incident]] [1582]===
===[[Mutsuhito]], Emperor Meiji===
By the time that he died in the 1580s as a result of treachery on the part of some of his own men, actually, he had controlled most of Japan's main island of Honshu and he was on the verge of going to its second biggest island, Kyushu, down south. He actually at that point looked unstoppable.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 01">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 1: Civil War in Feudal Japan: The Sengoku Period</ref>
And in 1868, the then emperor [Mutsuhito, Emperor Meiji] who was 14, I think, or 16, he was a teenager, marched or didn't march. He was carried by Palanquin, top with a Phoenix, up to Edo and into Edo castle, which became the imperial palace and Edo became Tokyo, which is the eastern capital. So therefore, Kyoto was no longer the capital at all. It was no longer the official capital.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 07">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 7: Kyoto: Japan's Imperial City</ref>


===[[Akechi Mitsuhide]]===
he's just setting out in early part of 1582 for the next part of that campaign staying at a temple called Honnoji in Kyoto when he's attacked actually not by his enemies but by someone who is supposed to be on his side one of the famous treacherous figures I suppose in Japanese history man by the name of Akechi Mitsuhide who persuades his men to turn their guns on Oda Nobunaga and his own men and so you have these stories of Oda Nobunaga shouting out treachery or traitors or something like that trying to fight them off himself the temple ends up in flames and Oda Nobunaga retreats further into the temple and dies by his own hand.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 02">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 2: The Unification of Japan</ref>
he's just setting out in early part of 1582 for the next part of that campaign staying at a temple called Honnoji in Kyoto when he's attacked actually not by his enemies but by someone who is supposed to be on his side one of the famous treacherous figures I suppose in Japanese history man by the name of Akechi Mitsuhide who persuades his men to turn their guns on Oda Nobunaga and his own men and so you have these stories of Oda Nobunaga shouting out treachery or traitors or something like that trying to fight them off himself the temple ends up in flames and Oda Nobunaga retreats further into the temple and dies by his own hand.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 02">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 2: The Unification of Japan</ref>
so immediately he [Toyotomi Hideyoshi] rushes from where he's been fighting over to take care of the traitors and he brings the traitors head back to Kyoto to effectively lay at the feet of Oda Nobunaga's body to say here we are you know I've taken care of this for you and Hideyoshi really then becomes the inheritor I think of this project to try to unify Japan and his major next step one of the steps that Oda Nobunaga would have taken had he lived was to attack Kyushu<ref name="Echoes Shadows 02"/>
So Yasuke was there at Nobunaga's death. He possibly was the last person to see him alive. Nobunaga was killed in a coup d'etat, essentially. He was heading to the front with this small corps of men over which Yasuke was one, around 30 people. And one of his generals, basically, we still don't know to this day why, he brought his whole army of 13,000 and attacked. They were all gunned down, essentially. Nobunaga, with Yasuke and his lover, [Mori] Ranmaru, come into the middle of the temple where their last moments are held. The temple's on fire around them. And Nobunaga really is going to know what happened in that room because there's only three people and they all died, except for Yasuke. But we only know that Yasuke survived because the Jesuits recorded as such. We don't know what he saw, unfortunately. The normal legend goes Nobunaga cut his belly, Ranmarutook his head off as his second, and then one supposes that Ranmaru then cut his belly and Yasuke took off Ranmaru's head. And the supposed last order is Yasuke save my head. Yasuke runs with the head to Nobunaga's son, who is probably about five to ten minutes walk away, very close, in a different temple. So about to be attacked. Also just putting up the defenses for a last ditch stand. Of course, that doesn't last very long. He's dead within the hour or so. And all we know from the Jesuit source, there are no more Japanese sources, all we know from the Jesuit source is that Yasuke was there at the last. He was one of the few survivors. He was taken prisoner. He surrendered his sword. And he was then escorted to the Jesuit mission, which was again only five minutes walk away. This is a very small area of Kyoto where all this happens. The Jesuits give thanks to God for his deliverance.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 04">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 4: Yasuke: The First African Samurai</ref>


There's quite a lot of emphasis on how important this is. And this could be the masterstroke that basically secures Western Honshu for Nobunaga. So he's returned to Kyoto, and Nobunaga sends his retainer Akechi Mitsuhide with Akechi's army as the initial force to go reinforce Hideyoshi out west. And for reasons that are not quite clear, but of course, lead to lots of speculation and dramatic interpretation. Akechi decides that instead of turning west to go support Hideyoshi, he's going to turn his forces east, march into Kyoto, surround the residence of Nobunaga, which is the Honnō-ji Temple in central Kyoto. It's where he normally took up residence when he was in the city, and attack his own war.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 05">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 5: Oda Nobunaga</ref>
There's quite a lot of emphasis on how important this is. And this could be the masterstroke that basically secures Western Honshu for Nobunaga. So he's returned to Kyoto, and Nobunaga sends his retainer Akechi Mitsuhide with Akechi's army as the initial force to go reinforce Hideyoshi out west. And for reasons that are not quite clear, but of course, lead to lots of speculation and dramatic interpretation. Akechi decides that instead of turning west to go support Hideyoshi, he's going to turn his forces east, march into Kyoto, surround the residence of Nobunaga, which is the Honnō-ji Temple in central Kyoto. It's where he normally took up residence when he was in the city, and attack his own war.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 05">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 5: Oda Nobunaga</ref>
Line 1,146: Line 1,719:
But for whatever reason, Akechi decides that this is his moment while Nobunaga is lightly guarded. He's certainly not expecting anybody to attack him in Kyoto. They surround Nobunaga's residence, set out on fire. Nobunaga and his guards fight back, but are eventually overwhelmed. Nobunaga commits suicide. And then his heir as well, who was also in Kyoto, is attacked by Akechi's forces and dies. So in one stroke, the Akechi have eliminated, basically decapitated the Oda family and thus ended Nobunaga's career.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 05"/>
But for whatever reason, Akechi decides that this is his moment while Nobunaga is lightly guarded. He's certainly not expecting anybody to attack him in Kyoto. They surround Nobunaga's residence, set out on fire. Nobunaga and his guards fight back, but are eventually overwhelmed. Nobunaga commits suicide. And then his heir as well, who was also in Kyoto, is attacked by Akechi's forces and dies. So in one stroke, the Akechi have eliminated, basically decapitated the Oda family and thus ended Nobunaga's career.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 05"/>


===[[Yasuke]]===
He [Nobunaga] had a very dramatic and spectacular assassination by one of his own men. It's an amazing story, but that happened in Kyoto. He was in a temple where it was his land. He thought he was absolutely fine. He didn't have that many guards, and one of his own generals turned against him. So he was killed there.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 07">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 7: Kyoto: Japan's Imperial City</ref>
we know that he's from Africa, but we don't know for certain which parts of Africa, apart from that it would have been on the East Coast. The descriptions we have from Japanese descriptions are very much of somebody from what is now South Sudan, very tall, very black, very strong. Whereas there's a couple of sources which suggest he might have come from the Mozambique area. However, he doesn't fit the description very much of people from that region. There's also the full possibility that he could have been somehow trafficked from the South Sudan area down south and come through Mozambique as well.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 04">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 4: Yasuke: The First African Samurai</ref>


He arrived in May 1579 on a ship from Macau to get from Africa, whichever part of Africa it was to Macau and then to Japan. He'd already spent time in India. He'd spent time in Malacca in modern day Malaysia. And I think it was about six to nine months in Macau. He was the bodyguard of a Jesuit, the head Jesuit in Asia, essentially the head of the Christian church in Asia, a man called Alessandro Valignano. And Valignano was on a tour from Rome.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 04"/>
===[[Imjin War]] [1592-1598]===
Hideyoshi once he's taken Kyushu just a few years later launches invasions of Korea so he sends troops across including some of Christian warlords commanding them across to Korea wanting to use it almost as China's driveway if you think about the geography of it send these troops up through Korea take over the peninsula eventually invade and take over China and after that he also wanted to take over India as well<ref name="Echoes Shadows 02">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 2: The Unification of Japan</ref>


It's highly likely that he would have been Christian, at least on paper.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 04"/>
his Korean campaign goes badly wrong in the 1590s the Chinese finally put some men in the field and they push the Japanese troops all the way back down the Korean peninsula so it doesn't go anywhere except for poisoning relations with Korea for a very long time to come<ref name="Echoes Shadows 02"/>


In those days, he was considered a giant<ref name="Echoes Shadows 04"/>
And then Hideyoshi asked him [Gaspar Coelho], I want to invade Korea. Then you provide two Portuguese ships to help me in this invasion. And if I conquer Korea, I will make it that there are a lot of churches being built. So Koelyo said, yes, I will do that for you. And I will make sure that we have two Portuguese ships, the Karak ships, as they were called by the English, gigantic ships. So Hideyoshi could very well use them for his invasion in Korea. And then he went a step further and he said, I will make sure that the Christian warlords in Kyushu will also support you. And I think at that moment that Hideyoshi, that there was a ring bell in his head, that the Christians, the Jesuits had too much influence in Japan.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 03">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 3: Portuguese Missionaries in Japan</ref>


Yasuke is recorded two years afterwards as having quite a good level of Japanese. [...] He [Valignano] was the person who insisted that his missionaries study Chinese, Japanese, various Indian languages, so it's conceivable that Yasuke had already started to learn Japanese before he arrived.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 04"/>
===[[Battle of Sekigahara]] [1600]===
great battles in Japanese history the battle of Sekigahara which happens in 1600 so you've got a couple of nervous years or a bit less than that after the death of Hideyoshi this council in place but people are wondering really whether it will stick and what happens instead I think is you get the buildup of two sides that take the form in the end of an eastern and a western army and Tokugawa Ieyasu was at the head of the eastern army and in the autumn of Sekigahara he wins out and really everything goes to him and shortly afterwards he has himself appointed shogun<ref name="Echoes Shadows 02">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 2: The Unification of Japan</ref>


Another one, when getting to Miyako, which is now Kyoto, a huge mob literally surrounded the mission and almost pushed the mission down, throwing stones. There were dead people in the crowd outside. And at that point, Nobunaga, who was the most powerful warlord in Japan at the time, was five minutes walk away. He heard this huge hullaballo, which he liked. He heard what was going on. And he demanded to see who was disturbing the peace, demanded that this person be brought before him.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 04"/>
he does this enormous reshuffling of territory in Japan I think it's the biggest reshuffling of territory in terms of who controls what in Japan's history so lots of the people who are on the losing side at the battle of Sekigahara either lose everything or their territory is drastically cut down or they're shipped off to another part of the country entirely perhaps all these things that are designed to damage their power<ref name="Echoes Shadows 02"/>


Somehow within a few days, Yasuke has entered Nobunaga's service. Within a month, he's gone to Nobunaga's castle town. There's another Jesuit record from there. And there's a Japanese record from there as well that says how much Nobunaga enjoyed talking to him, that he gave him a house, that he gave him a sword. And that's where the idea that he became a samurai comes into it.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 04"/>
===[[Siege of Osaka]] [1614-1615]===
Hideyori is still around and that really isn't taken care of until a very famous incident 1614 to 15 which is the siege of Osaka it's one of these events in Japanese history which is told and retold on the stage in books in films in art even where the forces of the Tokugawa and their allies gather around Osaka castle trying to do some kind of deal trying to force Hideyori and those around him to give up but in the end the siege turns bloody the castle is on fire and we have these famous scenes of Hideyori and his mother huddled together as everyone around them is burning up and dying so the siege of Osaka<ref name="Echoes Shadows 02">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 2: The Unification of Japan</ref>


There's another record of their first audience where Nobunaga gifts him what is essentially 30 kilos of coins. And you can imagine that as a kind of joke as well. Give the strong man 30 kilos worth of money and see if he can actually carry it. It doesn't say whether he carried it away on his own or not, but that was a lot of money.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 04"/>
===[[Boshin War]] [1868-1869]===
But towards the end [of the Tokugawa Shogunate], things were probably not as great as they might have been. Added to which the Tokugawas had ancient enemies and they had defeated them in the battle of Sekigahara. And those enemies were from the southwest, from the Kyushu area. From the sort of southwestern part of Honshu. And they wanted their revenge and they rose up. And with the help of the British, and they actually toppled the last of the Tokugawa Shoguns, who abdicated. And at that point, the southwestern lords took over. So they once again didn't have legitimacy, but they once again immediately said, oh, we represent the emperor. And that gave them legitimacy. But they decided in that 250 years, the Tokugawa's capital was not Kyoto. The official capital was Kyoto, but the Tokugawa city was Edo. So the center of policy, the center of government, the center of culture, more and more gravitated towards Edo. And so these southwestern lords decided that they would make the capital, not Kyoto, but Edo. And so they marched up, they took Edo castle. And in 1868, the then emperor [Mutsuhito, Emperor Meiji] who was 14, I think, or 16, he was a teenager, marched or didn't march. He was carried by Palanquin, top with a Phoenix, up to Edo and into Edo castle, which became the imperial palace and Edo became Tokyo, which is the eastern capital. So therefore, Kyoto was no longer the capital at all. It was no longer the official capital.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 07">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 7: Kyoto: Japan's Imperial City</ref>


So Yasuke was there at Nobunaga's death. He possibly was the last person to see him alive. Nobunaga was killed in a coup d'etat, essentially. He was heading to the front with this small corps of men over which Yasuke was one, around 30 people. And one of his generals, basically, we still don't know to this day why, he brought his whole army of 13,000 and attacked. They were all gunned down, essentially. Nobunaga, with Yasuke and his lover, [Mori] Ranmaru, come into the middle of the temple where their last moments are held. The temple's on fire around them. And Nobunaga really is going to know what happened in that room because there's only three people and they all died, except for Yasuke. But we only know that Yasuke survived because the Jesuits recorded as such. We don't know what he saw, unfortunately. The normal legend goes Nobunaga cut his belly, Ranmaru took his head off as his second, and then one supposes that Ranmaru then cut his belly and Yasuke took off Ranmaru's head. And the supposed last order is Yasuke save my head. Yasuke runs with the head to Nobunaga's son, who is probably about five to ten minutes walk away, very close, in a different temple. So about to be attacked. Also just putting up the defenses for a last ditch stand. Of course, that doesn't last very long. He's dead within the hour or so. And all we know from the Jesuit source, there are no more Japanese sources, all we know from the Jesuit source is that Yasuke was there at the last. He was one of the few survivors. He was taken prisoner. He surrendered his sword. And he was then escorted to the Jesuit mission, which was again only five minutes walk away. This is a very small area of Kyoto where all this happens. The Jesuits give thanks to God for his deliverance.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 04"/>
==Groups==
===[[Jesuits]]===
And at the same time you had the Society of Jesus which started in 1540 and soon after the Papal Bull was ordained. Francis Xavier was a Jesuit and one of the founding members of the Jesuits. He was asked to travel to Asia to begin doing missionary work there. He was asked especially by King John III of Portugal because he was very keen on trying to get as many Asians adhering to the Christian religion.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 03">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 3: Portuguese Missionaries in Japan</ref>


===[[Hattori Hanzō]]===
So he had a lot of expectations for Japan and in 1549 he finally set foot on Japan. So that was really the first time that the Jesuits arrived in Japan only six or seven years after the first Portuguese came there.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 03">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 3: Portuguese Missionaries in Japan</ref>
Many of them [Iga warriors] went to work for a retainer of Tokugawa Iyasu who has become famous in kind of ninja lore, man by the name of Hattori Hanzo. And Hattori Hanzo had family ties to Iga. He's often referred to or portrayed as in pop culture as a ninja, but he was a samurai retainer, a warrior just like many of the warriors that fought for any of the Daimyo of this period. He appears in most of Tokugawa Iyasu's battles until Hanzo dies in 1590s. He is considered one of Tokugawa Iyasu's closest retainers, but because through his family ties, he had a knowledge base of these sort of unconventional guerilla tactics. He also had through those ties, the ability to kind of act as a landing place for many of these men of Iga. And so many of them went to work for Tokugawa Ieyasu under the command of Hattori Hanzo.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 06">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 6: The Tensho Iga War</ref>


There's actually a gate of what is now the Imperial Palace in Tokyo, but underneath the Tokugawa Shoguns was the Shogun's Palace. One of the gates is named the Hanzo Mon, the Gate of Hanzo, the Hanzo Gate. And this is because Hattori Hanzo and the men of Iga that he recruited acted as a special guard force for the Tokugawa Shoguns.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 06"/>
You have, for example, Ōtomo Yoshishige, who became a Christian after a long time. But he was very well disposed against the Jesuits. You have other people like Takayama Ukon, who became a very fervent Christian and all his samurai also. So they were very fond of them, and they listened to the Jesuits. They asked them a lot about politics, how they could manage this or that issue. So the Jesuits got a lot of influence with some warlords and also with a lot of the peasants and the lower ranked people. So they really had some success, success that they didn't experience in other countries.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 03"/>


{{Reflist}}
Xavier left in 1551, but soon there came more and more Jesuits.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 03"/>


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And that information [Fróis' letters] was used by the Jesuits in Europe for propaganda. So they published, after some censorship, Luís Fróis' and Vilela's and other letters, in Italy. And they were also translated in several languages like Latin, German, French, and so on, for the Catholic Reformation in Europe. They would say, see what we can do in Asia, and especially in Japan. We probably have lost England, but we have gained another island in the form of Japan. So they did a lot of propaganda, which gave them additional financial resources and many European Jesuits who wanted to join the efforts in Japan, which was good for them for a time, but could work as a double-edged sword.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 03"/>
===Redlinks===
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==Locations==
===Owari===
So once Nobunaga has control of Owari province, how does he then go about looking outward and beyond his own borders? Because his province is quite a small one comparatively as well, isn't it? Yes, so Owari is small, but it centers on a plane, the Nobuy plane, Japan is very mountainous, right? There's only a few large flat areas where cultivation can take place at large scale, and Owari happens to sit in one of these, the Nobuy plane. So while it's a small province, it's a particularly wealthy one in terms of agricultural income. So it's a good place to be based out of. It's far enough away from the capital that you're not in the middle of the intrigues and plots going on there, but it's close enough that you can get there if you decide to be part of those plots.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 05">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 5: Oda Nobunaga</ref>


===Mount Hiei===
And they also had a problem that after a while you have [Francisco] Cabral, you have [Gaspar] Coelho, so two Jesuits who became the head of the Japan sector. And they weren't very keen to adopt Japanese customs. They wanted to be as strictly Jesuits as in Europe. So they already have a problem from the Jesuit side and many like Vilela or Fróis were more inclined to adopt Japanese customs. But the heads of the provincials, as they call them, were against that.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 03"/>
when Emperor Kamu had the capital built there, one of the things he knew was that there was already in the northwest a mountain called Mount Hiei on which was a huge Buddhist temple. So that therefore counteracted the unluckiness. That was very important. And then more Buddhist temples and more Buddhist temples were built on that same mountain. And in the end, there was something like 3000 Buddhist temples up there, which was all an excellent thing for countering the unluckiness, except it became rather unlucky itself, because those Buddhist priests then came down and started rampaging around the city. And then, unluckily, Nobunaga had to go up and destroy the entire temple compound, which he did. He burnt down the whole lot. But there are temples there again.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 07">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 7: Kyoto: Japan's Imperial City</ref>


===Kamakura===
And when he had conquered Kyushu, he again met with Coelho on a Portuguese ship. And Coelho again said that we will support you in whatever endeavor you will take. But the night suddenly he sent a questionary to Coelho, asking him why they came to Japan, why they are making so much converts. And why are they destroying the Buddhist temples? Of course Coelho was really shocked with that. He was so well treated and suddenly everything changed overnight. So he gave his answer that, well, they came to Japan just to propagate their faith, in good faith. And that it was not them who destroyed the Buddhist temples, but the Japanese converts. So the answer of Hideyoshi was that he made a decree that the Jesuits had to leave Japan in 20 days. But he didn't enforce the order very strictly. And that was the same reason why the other warlords welcomed the Jesuits, because he didn't want disrupt the trade with the Portuguese. So he promulgated that decree. But afterwards, the Jesuits stayed in Japan and still continued their missionary work there.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 03"/>
Okay, that's really interesting question. So the first segment of the samurai rule, the samurai's so-called headquarters was in Kamakura that's currently Kamakura city near Tokyo. So the Tokyo city was not known at the time that Tokyo was a city yet, but the Kamakura was not known nationwide. So when the Kamakura rulership was going on and being consolidated, it's not that many people would know about the politics. So it's like say regional understandings of this is where Shogun lives and this is what Shogun does. [...] So around the first sort of segment of time, the very first samurai rules, I would say that not so many people would know about the politics. That will continue the middle segments of the samurai rule that we call usually medieval Japan. And then medieval Japan as well, this Kamakura headquarters of the samurai has been moved and taken by a different family.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 08">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 8: How To Fit In: Feudal Japan</ref>


==Timeline==
Tokugawa Ieyasu, he forbade Christianity totally. And all influence of the Jesuits was razed very systematically from then on.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 03"/>
===Ōnin War [1467-1477]===
Ōnin War, running from 1467 to 1477. Huge damage done to Kyoto in the process of this war. It begins as a kind of succession dispute within the shogunate, but an enormous proportion of Kyoto is destroyed in fire. Lots of these different warrior constables from around the country end up coming to the Kyoto region to get involved. When that war ends, some of them go back to their provinces to find that someone else has usurped them. And that's someone else who has usurped them, manages to solidify their own power until they become what we would call daimyo, this real independent warlord. And in other cases, the warrior constables, when they go back to their provinces, they're the ones who managed to do that. Because this war, this Onin War, this 10 year conflict, pretty much destroys the idea of a functional shogunate. And so there really is no one in Kyoto anymore that you have to answer to.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 01">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 1: Civil War in Feudal Japan: The Sengoku Period</ref>


So it's a period when central authority in Japan has completely gone. So you've still got the emperor in Kyoto, but as we were saying a moment ago, they're kind of impoverished and not really able to do very much politically or militarily. You've also still got a shogun in Kyoto. So if we go to the end of the Onin War, 1477, which is also pretty much the beginning of this Sengoku era, you've got a shogun there, but they're also extremely poor.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 01"/>
Jesuits can't carry swords or weapons, but they can employ people that do. And the Jesuits were a perfect employee in that sense, a bodyguard.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 04">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 4: Yasuke: The First African Samurai</ref>


This is the exact period after the Onin War when the Ashikaga shogunate is descending really into complete impotence. Their writ doesn't run far outside Kyoto and they haven't got much income. So they simply couldn't afford to put the silver on there.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 01"/>
===[[Portuguese Empire]]===
When does that contact begin? Well, that begins in the middle of the 16th century, in 1549 to be correct. The Portuguese, they travelled to the east from the 15th century on and in 1498 I think they established a sea route to India and they went even further and in the beginning of the 16th century they already were in Malacca but then it still took some time for them to reach Japan. It was in 1542 or 43, it's still being disputed, that the first Portuguese merchants reached Japan.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 03">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 3: Portuguese Missionaries in Japan</ref>


So you mentioned the Onin War there, 1467 to 77, a bit of a succession crisis. Should we view that as the catalyst for the Sengoku period? I think that's right, yes.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 01"/>
Francis Xavier was a Jesuit and one of the founding members of the Jesuits. He was asked to travel to Asia to begin doing missionary work there. He was asked especially by King John III of Portugal because he was very keen on trying to get as many Asians adhering to the Christian religion. Xavier had quite a correspondence with King John about all what he did in Asia and it wasn't what he expected.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 03">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 3: Portuguese Missionaries in Japan</ref>


These two lords, I think it was the Hashimoto's and the Yamunas, have been itching to fight for a long time, and they fought for 10 years. It's said that they destroyed the whole of Kyoto. That's not quite true. They destroyed the upper class part of Kyoto. So 10 years of fighting included looting, arson, and all these other things. But this mainly happened. This was the temples. This was the palaces. That lot got destroyed. Meanwhile, the shogun who lived at that point was a guy called Yoshimasa, who was living during the end of the 15th century. And he retired. He was very interested in the arts, and he was not remotely interested in fighting. And he kept well out of this fighting. And he went off to the east of the city, and there he built a fabulous pavilion, the silver pavilion. And there he carried on having a life of leisure and art with his friends. While all this was going on in Kyoto, his pavilion was facing away from the city, so it didn't have to see it was burning. And it was facing towards the lovely mountains on the east. And he was, again, an amazing patron of the arts. And under him, ink painting flourished, pottery flourished, every possible art form. Oh, linked verse became very important. So the war came to an end.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 07">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 7: Kyoto: Japan's Imperial City</ref>
==Three Great Unifiers==
===[[Oda Nobunaga]]===
But he's from the small province of Owari. But he's a really good example of someone who was able to use a combination of smart tactics, smart use of weaponry, judicious use of alliances to gradually expand beyond that province. So he takes another province for himself right early on. This is the middle of the 1500s. Then he makes some alliances. By 1568, after really only a few short years, and he's still relatively speaking a young man, he's able to do what most daimyo ultimately wanted to do, which is to mount a successful march on Kyoto and have the emperor under his BDI and also have the shogun under his control.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 01">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 1: Civil War in Feudal Japan: The Sengoku Period</ref>


The part of the city that had not burnt down was the part where the merchants and the artisans were, because they were poor chaps. And so nobody bothered with looting them, but they weren't that poor. So they were actually supplying and selling stuff to both sides in this war and getting richer. And the end of the Onin war, this is the Onin war, everything had sort of fallen apart, because Kyoto was in such a state of devastation.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 07"/>
One of the stories told about him when he was a young man, just after his father left, all the Buddhist priests who had been tending to his father, praying for him, looking after him before he died, legend has it anyway that Oda Nobunaga had them all locked inside a single building and then shot to death for what they did, i.e. failing to keep his father alive. He also had a reputation as a teenager for being just quite strange, swaggering around town, eating nuts, letting them fall out of his mouth. He had sort of disheveled hair. At his father's funeral he's said to have picked up a fistful of incense and just thrown it and walked out. So quite a strange character, probably an unpromising character early on, but he was given this motto of rule the realm by force and I think that carried him through. He had a strong sense that he was always going to do this, that he was always going to succeed and I think there's a combination of deep self-belief and ruthlessness and I suppose a degree of luck as well that really seems to carry him forward. By the time that he died in the 1580s as a result of treachery on the part of some of his own men, actually, he had controlled most of Japan's main island of Honshu and he was on the verge of going to its second biggest island, Kyushu, down south. He actually at that point looked unstoppable.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 01"/>


The result of that was the whole society kind of fell apart. And a lot of the lords headed out to the provinces, partly because they were broke, because they'd had their houses burnt down. I mean, there are quite a lot of peasants and serfs could come out of the countryside into the city and recreate themselves as merchants or as artisans, because they could make things, they could sell things. And so a whole new culture grew from that period of incredible disaster.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 07"/>
So in terms of Oda Nobunaga, not an especially promising background I think. If you think about the era into which he's born, there are roughly 120 of these states. Some of them at war with others, some of them in alliance etc. But his state or province or what he is just one of those and quite a small one at that. Plus I think it's 1551, his father dies when Oda Nobunaga is still quite young, still a teenager and he inherits control of this state and the people around him don't see him as an especially serious figure and especially compromising figure. You can imagine some of the senior vassals a little bit older than him thinking goodness me I don't know what's going to happen to our little province with this person in charge. He was I think just seen as being slightly mad, a bit of an idiot not really able to take life terribly seriously and yet within a few short years he proves himself to be this master strategist who becomes by the mid 1560s really the main player in Japan out of all these warlords.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 02">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 2: The Unification of Japan</ref>


===Battle of Okehazama [1560]===
What he succeeds in doing is very early on gaining control of a neighboring province and then he makes a very fortuitous alliance with the man who becomes Tokugawa Ieyasu. He doesn't yet have that name at this point in the 1550s but that's a great alliance. It allows Oda Nobunaga not to have to worry too much about the territory to one side of his own province and so he can look elsewhere for his focus but I think other things that seem to go in his favor include a real talent for strategy, choosing the right moment to attack, I think an extraordinary ruthlessness to him as well.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 02"/>
In 1560, the powerful daimyo Imagawa Yoshimoto to his east, enrolled [????] Toutomi, Suroga, and the Kawa provinces, and came from the illustrious Imagawa line, which was one of the pillars of the former Ashikaga shogunate. He decides, or it's usually assumed at least that he decides that he's going to make a run at marching on the capital of Kyoto to take charge of the central government. So he gathers together an army of 25,000 troops and begins his march east. And the first stop is, of course, his neighbor in Owari province, Nobunaga. So he has to go through Nobunaga's domain. On paper, this is going to be very easy. He's got 25,000 troops, which at the time was a very large army. And Nobunaga only has a few thousand men, maybe 2,500. So we're looking at roughly around a 10 to 1 disadvantage. But Nobunaga, despite the fact that his advisors all counsel him to withdraw into his castle at Kyosu and withstand a siege, he decides that that's a losing strategy. Because what's he going to do against an attack by an army that size? He decides that his best course of action is to try to seek an opening and attack.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 05">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 5: Oda Nobunaga</ref>


But the Imagawa forces by midday had made significant progress against the Odo forces invading. So the Imagawa army was much larger. It was rather spread out and divided. The vanguard had taken several of these forts that Nobunaga had. Yoshimori himself was with only a few thousand troops. And at his command post, they took a bit of a siesta, almost, if you will, in this small narrow gorge called Dengaku Hazama. And they were celebrating some of the Imagawa troops had already broken into the celebration sake in anticipation of their great victory that they saw coming because, you know, how could you see anything else? A little bit after this, there's a rainstorm. This was in the summer. So the rainy season in Japan. This thunderstorm breaks out and it really helps Nobunaga maneuver his forces through the mountains, through these narrow passes into position to attack Imagawa Yoshimoto's headquarters camp. They broke out of the tree line to attack the camp. And at first Yoshimoto assumes that it's a drunken brawl taking place amongst his men. Too late, he realizes that it's not that he's actually under attack. And shortly after that, two of the Otis samurai relieve him up his head. In the aftermath, the Imagawa forces deprived of their commander melt away in confusion. And we have this almost legendary victory by other Nobunaga outmanned ten to one, destroying the forces of this great daimyo.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 05"/>
So I think by the time he dies in 1582 he has control of large parts of Japan's main island the long thin island of Honshu contains places like Tokyo as it's now called Kyoto of course Osaka for centuries really the central part of that central island really across from Osaka and Kyoto up to what we now call Tokyo has been considered as it were the business end of Japan that's where a lot of the power plays go on the culture is developed the economy is at its strongest and Oda Nobunaga has control of most of that certainly between himself and his allies in any case and he's thinking about moving into two other of Japan's main islands Kyushu which is towards the southwest and also the smaller island of Shikoku so he's got lots of plans he's still a relatively young man he's in an extraordinarily powerful position and he's just setting out in early part of 1582 for the next part of that campaign staying at a temple called Honnoji in Kyoto when he's attacked actually not by his enemies but by someone who is supposed to be on his side one of the famous treacherous figures I suppose in Japanese history man by the name of Akechi Mitsuhide who persuades his men to turn their guns on Oda Nobunaga and his own men and so you have these stories of Oda Nobunaga shouting out treachery or traitors or something like that trying to fight them off himself the temple ends up in flames and Oda Nobunaga retreats further into the temple and dies by his own hand.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 02"/>


So it kind of makes a name for Nobunaga. Another key thing about this battle, though, and the aftermath is that in the confusion of the Imagawa family with the loss of their head, several of their more talented and younger retainers, one of which we know today as Tokugawa Ieyasu, are able to claim independence. And Ieyasu establishes himself in his home territory of Mikawa, which is just to the east of Owari, and establishes an alliance with Nobunaga, thus providing a secure flank to Nobunaga's east, allowing Nobunaga to then look in other directions as he begins to expand.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 05"/>
So you had, for example, Oda Nobunaga, which showed great familiarity to the Christians, to for example, Fróis, who he invited in Kyoto in Gifu Castle and showed him around in the castle. So it was very positively inclined towards the Christians, but still he never adopted the Christian faith himself.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 03">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 3: Portuguese Missionaries in Japan</ref>


===Siege of Mount Hiei [1571]===
Another one, when getting to Miyako, which is now Kyoto, a huge mob literally surrounded the mission and almost pushed the mission down, throwing stones. There were dead people in the crowd outside. And at that point, Nobunaga, who was the most powerful warlord in Japan at the time, was five minutes walk away. He heard this huge hullaballo, which he liked. He heard what was going on. And he demanded to see who was disturbing the peace, demanded that this person be brought before him.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 04">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 4: Yasuke: The First African Samurai</ref>
So there were quite remarkable sieges along the way, a company that has to be said, certainly in the case of someone like Nobunaga, with extraordinary slaughter. I think he particularly hated the idea that Buddhist sects would interfere in the running of the country. So there's another Buddhist sect, the Tendai sect, which he attacked on their mountain base called Mount Hiei, sent thousands of troops up there, killed everybody, burned everything, just destroyed the entire sect, including people unrelated to the sect who were living on the mountain. So this gives you an idea of how bloody and uncompromising some of this warfare could be.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 01">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 1: Civil War in Feudal Japan: The Sengoku Period</ref>


But in 1571, he realizes that the only way to solve his problem of encirclement is to break kind of the circle. So he starts with Mount Hiei, the Enuryakuchi temple complex that had given refuge to his enemies. And in the fall, he brings them out and has his troops advance up deliberately. And according to eyewitness accounts from the time that are written down, his troops are killing anything that's alive, whether it be monks, laymen, women, children, reportedly even every animal that's on the mountain. And they burn almost every building of this massive temple complex.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 05">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 5: Oda Nobunaga</ref>
So Yasuke was there at Nobunaga's death. He possibly was the last person to see him alive. Nobunaga was killed in a coup d'etat, essentially. He was heading to the front with this small corps of men over which Yasuke was one, around 30 people. And one of his generals, basically, we still don't know to this day why, he brought his whole army of 13,000 and attacked. They were all gunned down, essentially. Nobunaga, with Yasuke and his lover, [Mori] Ranmaru, come into the middle of the temple where their last moments are held. The temple's on fire around them. And Nobunaga really is going to know what happened in that room because there's only three people and they all died, except for Yasuke. But we only know that Yasuke survived because the Jesuits recorded as such. We don't know what he saw, unfortunately. The normal legend goes Nobunaga cut his belly, Ranmaru took his head off as his second, and then one supposes that Ranmaru then cut his belly and Yasuke took off Ranmaru's head.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 04"/>


And of course, in addition to the human toll, which is horrific, this is a massive loss of life, but it's also a loss of culture, of history. This was a major religious complex. So it had important documents, texts, artwork that all went up in flames with the exception of one small building that got overlooked.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 05"/>
when Nobunaga is born in 1534, the Oda family effectively had control of Owari province at this point. Though the family itself was fractured and Nobunaga's branch was interestingly not the primary lineage.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 05">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 5: Oda Nobunaga</ref>


when Emperor Kamu had the capital built there, one of the things he knew was that there was already in the northwest a mountain called Mount Hiei on which was a huge Buddhist temple. So that therefore counteracted the unluckiness. That was very important. And then more Buddhist temples and more Buddhist temples were built on that same mountain. And in the end, there was something like 3000 Buddhist temples up there, which was all an excellent thing for countering the unluckiness, except it became rather unlucky itself, because those Buddhist priests then came down and started rampaging around the city. And then, unluckily, Nobunaga had to go up and destroy the entire temple compound, which he did. He burnt down the whole lot. But there are temples there again.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 07">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 7: Kyoto: Japan's Imperial City</ref>
the Oda family, as I said, they were the deputy governors underneath the Shiba family in Owari, and he's born as the first legitimate son of a man named Oda Nobuhide, who is the defacto leader of the Oda family. Like I mentioned, his line was not the senior line, but Nobuhide was particularly capable and competent and brought his relatives under his control and for the most part dominated the governance of Owari province. But he was in constant conflict with his neighbors, particularly the powerful Imagawa Yoshimoto to his east and a daimyo named Saitō Dōsan to his north in Mino province.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 05"/>


==Groups==
So Nobunaga's youth would have been one where his family was in constant conflict, both internally and externally. He was designated Nobuhide's heir rather early on, and given the education that you would expect of an heir, he was given four of Nobuhide's high-ranking subordinates as his tutors, so to speak, kind of to raise him up and teach him the ways that he would need to rule both military and politically. But it's often said he was a bit of a wild child who preferred running around with his friends rather than studying, out hunting, and raising all kinds of ruckus. Allegedly he wore outlandish outfits like a tiger skin cloak, and generally he didn't really act the part of an up-and-coming warlord. You'll often hear that he was called the Fool of Owari.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 05"/>
===Iga ikki===
Iga at this time is ruled by an independent league or ikki that did not recognize any daimyo's hegemony and even gone so far as to expel the military governor of the province that had been appointed by the Ashkaga.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 06">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 6: The Tensho Iga War</ref>


we have the names of a couple of the senior leaders, if you will, but it really was more of a collective than any hierarchical organization that we would associate with like there being a daimyo and samurai underneath him and so forth. That's not to say that there wasn't a hierarchy there was, but it's really hard to just name one person as an acting figure on the Iga side of things. And part of this is because of the way that they constructed it. This is born out of sort of the chaos resulting in the wake of the Onin War of 1467 to 1477.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 06"/>
But in 1549, he marries the daughter of Saito Dosan, who is located to Owari's north in Mino province, as part of a peace agreement between Dosan and Nobuhide.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 05"/>


In response to this as a way to limit internal conflict in their own ranks, in 1494 we see two documents. They're not quite constitutions in the way that we would think of it, but they kind of form the rules for local life within Iga as a community. The first one is a document signed by 350 commoners, peasants, villagers, and so forth. And it's an agreement to abide by specific rules that limit conflict over rice paddy land, access to forests, mountains, and fields, and it kind of gives a general code of conduct. So in the absence of authority coming from the center, they decide to create their own sort of rules for them to live by. And then later on that same year, we see another document signed by 46 people representing families of note from Iga Province.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 06"/>
So Nobuhide dies in 1551. And despite Nobunaga being his heir, there's some contention based on his pattern of erratic behavior. One of the famous events that is often brought up is at Nobuhide's funeral. Nobunaga shows up allegedly very unkempt, not in the proper formal funeral attire, and acts very disrespectfully, throwing incense at the altar instead of performing the proper respectful rituals.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 05"/>


So these 46 families sign an oath, vowing not to fight over taxes or the collection thereof to work together to prevent insubordination of the peasants underneath them. And these two groups form a united front in coordination to maintain local order and peace and limit the amount of violence, whether it's internal or whether it's coming from external sources like bandits or even larger warrior organizations like Daimyo from a neighboring province who wants to move in. [...] There is a hierarchy. There are the upper class. Those 46 samurai families are in charge and so forth. But it is much more of a collective, we driven organization than certainly the Daimyo houses that we are normally associated with this period. Other leagues like this have risen up in other places at this time, fairly common in the absence of central authority for locals to take measures to protect themselves. But most other places, they didn't last very long  [...] So it was much easier for the Iga Iki to keep outsiders out than it would have been for other similar organizations, which is why they lasted as long as they did.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 06"/>
And based off of this, we are told that some of his father's vassals form a faction around his younger brother while other branches of the family. So this is an opportunity for them to seize control, push this loser who's not ready for the job out of the way. Other vassals defect to the Imagawa or plot with the Saito. So his position upon his father's death is actually very precarious.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 05"/>


Some advantages that the Iga ikki had. One is this long experience with unconventional warfare, we'll say. Another is that because of their makeup, it's not quite egalitarian or democratic in the way that we would think of it, but they're led by lower level warriors, localized power base holding warriors, but they integrate the commoner population, if you will, into their organization. Often you'll hear people talk about the Iga Shinobi clan or ninja clan or something like that. And that's misleading because this wasn't a family based organization in the way that we think of like the Oda being a military and political entity organized around the Oda family. That's not what this was, but they were able to conscript almost the members of the community from all levels, give them military training and utilize them in ways that we don't necessarily see to the same extent in other locations. So it wasn't just these 46 families that signed the oath document saying that they would work together and their household warriors. It was a mobilization of the entire community in essence to resist external aggression.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 06"/>
But in 1553, one of his senior retainers, one of these four men who was designated as his tutors and mentors, a man by the name of Hirata Masahide, commits suicide. [...] We have Hirata committing this form of protest suicide. And it serves as a way to wake up young Nobunaga to his rather outlandish behavior and how it's being detrimental to both, you know, his own well-being and the well-being of the Oda family.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 05"/>


===Ikkō-ikki===
he does begin to more seriously concentrate on consolidating his control over Owari and the Oda family.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 05"/>
Another group that around this time rises up to challenge his authority and one that will probably his longest running enemy is what's known as the Ikkō-ikki or the Ikko League. This was a confederation of followers of the true Pure Land Sept of Buddhism. And its headquarters was the Ishiyama Hongan-ji, which was located in what is now present day Osaka. But it had groups of adherents called these Ikki or leagues scattered throughout the provinces of central Japan. And in 1570, Nobunaga starts a war with them because the self-defense groups, these Ikki and the Ishiyama Hongan-ji itself resisted political and military control by local warrior rule. In fact, in 1486, the Ikko Ikki of Kaga Province overthrew the local dainyo and ruled the province without any samurai rule for almost 100 years.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 05">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 5: Oda Nobunaga</ref>


For 10 years until 1580, he's in this constant on and off war with the Ishiyama Hongan-ji and their ikko followers in various locations throughout the provinces. And they're really the linchpin of the various coalitions that are opposing Nobunaga. You know, at this point, these are kind of like the main enemies that he's looking at.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 05"/>
So his first fight is to simply gain control of his own family, you know, largely inside of Owati province. There's some pressure from external enemies that Imagawa to the east. But initially from 1552 to 1554, he's contending with iterations of rebellion from his uncle, Nobutomo, who inspired to assassinate him and worked with, you know, other entities to try to make that happen. Nobunaga catches him and forgives him once. But you know, second time he continues to plot. Nobunaga captures him and has him put to death.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 05"/>


But in 1571, he realizes that the only way to solve his problem of encirclement is to break kind of the circle. So he starts with Mount Hiei, the Enuryakuchi temple complex that had given refuge to his enemies. And in the fall, he brings them out and has his troops advance up deliberately. And according to eyewitness accounts from the time that are written down, his troops are killing anything that's alive, whether it be monks, laymen, women, children, reportedly even every animal that's on the mountain. And they burn almost every building of this massive temple complex.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 05"/>
In 1556, again, out of fears that Nobunaga is just not up to the task. Several of his major retainers side with his younger brother Nobuyuki, but Nobunaga, you know, warned of potential treachery at one point, feigns an illness instead of going to go meet his brother. So his brother comes to meet him. And when he does, Nobunaga has him and his entourage assassinated.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 05"/>


The Ikko-ikki finally surrenders through the agency of the Court, the court noble is sent by the emperor to broker a settlement and a surrender by the Ishiyama Hongan-ji, which ends that.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 05"/>
So the 1550s is really the story of Nobunaga's consolidation of his power within the Oda family, establishing himself as the leader of the family. And by default, almost the ruler of the Oda province. In 1559, his final obstacle is the castle of Iwakura and his cousin Nobuyasu, who belongs to the senior branch of the Oda line. But he manages to take Iwakura castle and eliminate Nobuyasu. And this ends the internal threats now.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 05"/>
 
In 1560, the powerful daimyo Imagawa Yoshimoto to his east, enrolled [????] Toutomi, Suroga, and the Kawa provinces, and came from the illustrious Imagawa line, which was one of the pillars of the former Ashikaga shogunate. He decides, or it's usually assumed at least that he decides that he's going to make a run at marching on the capital of Kyoto to take charge of the central government. So he gathers together an army of 25,000 troops and begins his march east. And the first stop is, of course, his neighbor in Owari province, Nobunaga. So he has to go through Nobunaga's domain. On paper, this is going to be very easy. He's got 25,000 troops, which at the time was a very large army. And Nobunaga only has a few thousand men, maybe 2,500. So we're looking at roughly around a 10 to 1 disadvantage. But Nobunaga, despite the fact that his advisors all counsel him to withdraw into his castle at Kyosu and withstand a siege, he decides that that's a losing strategy. Because what's he going to do against an attack by an army that size? He decides that his best course of action is to try to seek an opening and attack.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 05"/>


==The Jesuits==
But the Imagawa forces by midday had made significant progress against the Odo forces invading. So the Imagawa army was much larger. It was rather spread out and divided. The vanguard had taken several of these forts that Nobunaga had. Yoshimori himself was with only a few thousand troops. And at his command post, they took a bit of a siesta, almost, if you will, in this small narrow gorge called Dengaku Hazama. And they were celebrating some of the Imagawa troops had already broken into the celebration sake in anticipation of their great victory that they saw coming because, you know, how could you see anything else? A little bit after this, there's a rainstorm. This was in the summer. So the rainy season in Japan. This thunderstorm breaks out and it really helps Nobunaga maneuver his forces through the mountains, through these narrow passes into position to attack Imagawa Yoshimoto's headquarters camp. They broke out of the tree line to attack the camp. And at first Yoshimoto assumes that it's a drunken brawl taking place amongst his men. Too late, he realizes that it's not that he's actually under attack. And shortly after that, two of the Otis samurai relieve him up his head. In the aftermath, the Imagawa forces deprived of their commander melt away in confusion. And we have this almost legendary victory by other Nobunaga outmanned ten to one, destroying the forces of this great daimyo.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 05"/>
===Gaspar Coelho===
And they also had a problem that after a while you have [Francisco] Cabral, you have [Gaspar] Coelho, so two Jesuits who became the head of the Japan sector. And they weren't very keen to adopt Japanese customs. They wanted to be as strictly Jesuits as in Europe. So they already have a problem from the Jesuit side and many like Vilela or Fróis were more inclined to adopt Japanese customs. But the heads of the provincials, as they call them, were against that.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 03">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 3: Portuguese Missionaries in Japan</ref>


And you had Otomo, which was a very powerful clan in the east of Kyushu. And then you had in the southwest, you had the Shimazu. And Otomo was losing against the Shimazu. So he asked Hideyoshi to intervene. And sometime before Hideyoshi marched towards Kyushu, he met with Coelho, which was then the head of the Christian mission in Japan, together with Fróis. And he treated Coelho very well, just like Oda Nobunaga had done with Fróis. So Coelho was really pleased with that. And then Hideyoshi asked him, I want to invade Korea. Then you provide two Portuguese ships to help me in this invasion. And if I conquer Korea, I will make it that there are a lot of churches being built. So Koelyo said, yes, I will do that for you. And I will make sure that we have two Portuguese ships, the Karak ships, as they were called by the English, gigantic ships. So Hideyoshi could very well use them for his invasion in Korea. And then he went a step further and he said, I will make sure that the Christian warlords in Kyushu will also support you. And I think at that moment that Hideyoshi, that there was a ring bell in his head, that the Christians, the Jesuits had too much influence in Japan.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 03"/>
So it kind of makes a name for Nobunaga. Another key thing about this battle, though, and the aftermath is that in the confusion of the Imagawa family with the loss of their head, several of their more talented and younger retainers, one of which we know today as Tokugawa Ieyasu, are able to claim independence. And Ieyasu establishes himself in his home territory of Mikawa, which is just to the east of Owari, and establishes an alliance with Nobunaga, thus providing a secure flank to Nobunaga's east, allowing Nobunaga to then look in other directions as he begins to expand.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 05"/>


And when he had conquered Kyushu, he again met with Coelho on a Portuguese ship. And Coelho again said that we will support you in whatever endeavor you will take. But the night suddenly he sent a questionary to Coelho, asking him why they came to Japan, why they are making so much converts. And why are they destroying the Buddhist temples? Of course Coelho was really shocked with that. He was so well treated and suddenly everything changed overnight. So he gave his answer that, well, they came to Japan just to propagate their faith, in good faith. And that it was not them who destroyed the Buddhist temples, but the Japanese converts. So the answer of Hideyoshi was that he made a decree that the Jesuits had to leave Japan in 20 days.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 03"/>
So Nobunaga, his next target is this province to his north, Mino Province, which is much larger in size than Owari, and it's somewhat kind of the nexus of road networks in central Japan, where two of the major roads from Chiyoto into the capital in central Japan to the east runs through it. So it's a pretty strategic province to have. So he goes to war against Saitou Dousan and it takes a while, but through diplomacy and bribery of the Saitou generals, he's able to convince many of them to join his side. And by 1567, he's weakened them enough to besiege and take the main castle at Inabayama, which he then renames Gifu.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 05"/>


==Oda family==
So then he works to consolidate his position by doing some preliminary campaigns into neighboring Issei province and establishing diplomatic relations. So he marries his younger sister, Oichi, to a warlord named Azai Nagamasa who rules northern Omi province. And this is significant because Omi is the province that lies between Mino and Owari, which he owns, and the capital of Kyoto. So he's in essence securing a line of, you know, advance for future endeavors.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 05"/>
===Oda Nobukatsu/Kitabatake Tomotoyo===
He gained control of neighboring Issei province by first having his second son Nobukatsu adopted into the Kitabatake family, which ruled that province. And then later on, having the members of the Kitapatake clan assassinated so that his son rose up the hierarchy and essentially took over the clan from within.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 06">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 6: The Tensho Iga War</ref>


Oda Nobukatsu, was in charge of the province next to it and was looking to kind of establish his own reputation, spread his wings a little bit. And so here we have Iga province next to him, a place where he can launch an invasion, take it over. It's small. How hard could it be, right? Be an easy victory. And it turns out not to be.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 06"/>
The previous shogun, Ashikaga Yoshitero, had been assassinated in 1565 and replaced by a puppet. So Yoshitero's younger brother, a man by the name of Ashikaga Yoshiaki, had been traveling around the provinces trying to seek a benefactor who would back his claim and help him march on the capital. So shortly after Nobunaga establishes himself in Gifu, Yoshiaki arrives on his doorstep in 1568, thus giving him a pretext to make his move on the capital.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 05"/>


Nobukatsu, Nobunaga's second son, takes that [Iga's expulsion of their military governor] as an excuse of, oh, see, they're not observing the proper order of things. They're not part of the structure. So he decides of his own accord that he's going to expand his domain into Iga without permission from his father. Part of this is ego driven. He wants to prove to his father that he can operate on his own and so forth. So in 1578, he dispatches one of his generals, men by the name of Takigawa Kazumasu, to build a castle just across the Iga border that they're going to use as a staging point for a future invasion.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 06"/>
The fact that he can take a legitimate claimant to the Ashikaga shogunate and march on Kyoto with utter the pretext of putting him into power gives him the legitimate of his siege to do so. So November of 1568, he enters Kyoto with his army and installs Yoshiaki as the 15th Ashikaga shogun. However, here's where things start to differ from what you might have expected at the time, because rather than accept Yoshiaki's offer to be his deputy shogun, Nobunaga declines that in any other position that Yoshiaki offers.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 05"/>


So the following year in October, he decides he's going to launch a much larger invasion. So he gathers around a little over 10,000 men and invades Iga Province through three of those passes that I mentioned. In his main body, he has 8,000 men going through the northernmost pass at Nagano. And then he has a group of 1,500 men through one pass and 1,300 through another pass, these two passes to the south. But again, the Iga forces, speaking to their ability to collect intelligence and know what the enemy is doing, are ready and waiting at these narrow sites to ambush Nobukatsu's forces, which they do. They use their skill in guerrilla tactics and their local knowledge of the terrain. They inflict heavy losses against Nobukatsu's forces, again forcing him to retreat in a humiliating defeat.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 06"/>
In 1570, Nobunaga sends an invitation, sensibly on Yoshiaki's behalf, to local warlords for a reception in Kyoto. And this is almost a way to test who was going to accept his authority and who wasn't. And the daimyo of Ichizen province, Asakura Yoshikage, refuses the summons. So Nobunaga launches a campaign to besiege the Asakura's main castle. But unfortunately for Nobunaga, the Azai, his brother-in-law's family, his brother-in-law being Azai Nagamasa, had a multi-generational alliance relationship with the Asakura. So Nagamasa feels obligated to go to the Asakura's aid, and he launches an attack on Nobunaga's army's rear, forcing Nobunaga to break off the siege and retreat while a rear guard held off the Asai and the Asakura forces. So Nobunaga feels personally betrayed by this man who was a relative by marriage. And the Asai and Asakura are one of the initial threats that he faces.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 05"/>


Nobunaga is furious. He couldn't believe that his son had put himself in position to be defeated and humiliated like this. So he supposedly threatens to disown Nobukatsu. He doesn't end up following through on it, but he's not pleased.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 06"/>
The two sides meet in July of 1570 at the Battle of Anegawa, where Nobunaga was joined by his ally Tokugawa Ieyasu. And they fight this battle in the shallow Anagawa River, both sides plunging into the water to engage the enemy. So if you picture this dramatic battle in this shallow river, Tokugawa, on Nobunaga's right flank, managed to route the Asakura and then crash into the flank of the Asai while at the same time Nobunaga sent his reserves around the other flank. And it causes the collapse of the enemy to create victory.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 05"/>


Nobunaga himself visits Iga in early November to take a tour of his new province, and then withdraws it and gives it to his son Nobukatsu as part of his domain to administer.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 06"/>
But the surviving members of the Asakura and the Asai forces find refuge on Mount Hiei, which is a mountain just to the northeast of the capital. And it's the site of the Enuryakuji Temple, which is the headquarters of the Tendai Sept of Buddhism and a military power in its own right. what that matters is that, you know, this was a Buddhist temple that had essentially an army of its own. And so this prevents Nobunaga from cutting off the Asai and the Asakura forces and completely destroying them. And he has to back off,<ref name="Echoes Shadows 05"/>


==Shoguns==
Another group that around this time rises up to challenge his authority and one that will probably his longest running enemy is what's known as the Ikkō-ikki or the Ikko League. This was a confederation of followers of the true Pure Land Sept of Buddhism. And its headquarters was the Ishiyama Hongan-ji, which was located in what is now present day Osaka. But it had groups of adherents called these Ikki or leagues scattered throughout the provinces of central Japan. And in 1570, Nobunaga starts a war with them because the self-defense groups, these Ikki and the Ishiyama Hongan-ji itself resisted political and military control by local warrior rule. In fact, in 1486, the Ikko Ikki of Kaga Province overthrew the local dainyo and ruled the province without any samurai rule for almost 100 years.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 05"/>
===Ashikaga Yoshiaki===
The previous shogun, Ashikaga Yoshitero, had been assassinated in 1565 and replaced by a puppet. So Yoshitero's younger brother, a man by the name of Ashikaga Yoshiaki, had been traveling around the provinces trying to seek a benefactor who would back his claim and help him march on the capital. So shortly after Nobunaga establishes himself in Gifu, Yoshiaki arrives on his doorstep in 1568, thus giving him a pretext to make his move on the capital.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 05">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 5: Oda Nobunaga</ref>


The fact that he can take a legitimate claimant to the Ashikaga shogunate and march on Kyoto with utter the pretext of putting him into power gives him the legitimate of his siege to do so. So November of 1568, he enters Kyoto with his army and installs Yoshiaki as the 15th Ashikaga shogun. However, here's where things start to differ from what you might have expected at the time, because rather than accept Yoshiaki's offer to be his deputy shogun, Nobunaga declines that in any other position that Yoshiaki offers.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 05"/>
For 10 years until 1580, he's in this constant on and off war with the Ishiyama Hongan-ji and their ikko followers in various locations throughout the provinces. And they're really the linchpin of the various coalitions that are opposing Nobunaga. You know, at this point, these are kind of like the main enemies that he's looking at.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 05"/>


In 1570, Nobunaga sends an invitation, sensibly on Yoshiaki's behalf, to local warlords for a reception in Kyoto. And this is almost a way to test who was going to accept his authority and who wasn't.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 05"/>
But in 1571, he realizes that the only way to solve his problem of encirclement is to break kind of the circle. So he starts with Mount Hiei, the Enuryakuchi temple complex that had given refuge to his enemies. And in the fall, he brings them out and has his troops advance up deliberately. And according to eyewitness accounts from the time that are written down, his troops are killing anything that's alive, whether it be monks, laymen, women, children, reportedly even every animal that's on the mountain. And they burn almost every building of this massive temple complex.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 05"/>


Early assessments of their relationship by historians assume that Nobunaga's plan all along was to use him as a puppet and then throw him away and take power for himself. I agree with more recent biographers, you see it as a little bit more complicated than that. Ashikaga Yoshiaki, obviously, as the Shogun, felt that he should be in charge. So after being installed in 1568, he attempts to rule, but he quickly sees that he cannot do anything without Nobunaga's help. And by 1572, there's some real tension between the two of who's in charge. Nobunaga issued several admonishments, which have been published and are famous, going so far as to note how the people call Yoshiaki the evil Shogun, in scare quotes there, and laying out rules for the Shogun's house to follow. Of course, Yoshiaki takes offense at this and who are you to tell me the Shogun how to run things? And so, like I said, early on, historians looked at this as Nobunaga's overstipping his bow, just trying to push Yoshiaki out.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 05"/>
Early assessments of their relationship by historians assume that Nobunaga's plan all along was to use him as a puppet and then throw him away and take power for himself. I agree with more recent biographers, you see it as a little bit more complicated than that. Ashikaga Yoshiaki, obviously, as the Shogun, felt that he should be in charge. So after being installed in 1568, he attempts to rule, but he quickly sees that he cannot do anything without Nobunaga's help. And by 1572, there's some real tension between the two of who's in charge. Nobunaga issued several admonishments, which have been published and are famous, going so far as to note how the people call Yoshiaki the evil Shogun, in scare quotes there, and laying out rules for the Shogun's house to follow. Of course, Yoshiaki takes offense at this and who are you to tell me the Shogun how to run things? And so, like I said, early on, historians looked at this as Nobunaga's overstipping his bow, just trying to push Yoshiaki out.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 05"/>
Line 1,274: Line 1,836:
This continues until 1573, when it's very obvious that Nobunaga has run out of patience. In 1573, he does march on Kyoto and expel Yoshiaki, which more or less ends the Ashikaga shogunate for good. And then Ashikaga would escape to Western Japan, where he would take up residence in the lands of one of Nobunaga's enemies, the Mori family. And from there, he would continue to write different daimyo, constantly trying to create a coalition that could overthrow Nobunaga and reinstall him in power. How effective that was? Well, we see that it didn't happen, but he certainly was doing his best the entire time to undermine Nobunaga.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 05"/>
This continues until 1573, when it's very obvious that Nobunaga has run out of patience. In 1573, he does march on Kyoto and expel Yoshiaki, which more or less ends the Ashikaga shogunate for good. And then Ashikaga would escape to Western Japan, where he would take up residence in the lands of one of Nobunaga's enemies, the Mori family. And from there, he would continue to write different daimyo, constantly trying to create a coalition that could overthrow Nobunaga and reinstall him in power. How effective that was? Well, we see that it didn't happen, but he certainly was doing his best the entire time to undermine Nobunaga.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 05"/>


So one of their descendants, Yoshiyaki, was around and he was a pretty hopeless guy. But he was officially the Shogun. So Nobunaga's excuse for entering Kyoto was to reinstate him as Shogun. But actually, he, like a lot of these guys, is this Yoshiyaki. The Shogun was very treacherous. We wanted to get rid of Nobunaga, and he instigated a plot against him. So Nobunaga had him arrested and taken off to a castle in the middle of nowhere and left there forever. So that was the end of him.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 07">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 7: Kyoto: Japan's Imperial City</ref>
The Takeda family is finally destroyed in 1582. And one of the few remaining enemies in the main island of Japan that he is concerned about is this family called the Mori family. And he's had one of his generals man by the name of Hashida Hideyoshi, who we would later know as Toyotomi Hideyoshi. One of his generals is leading the campaign against them. And having just completed the campaign in the east against the Takeda, he is given notice by Hideyoshi that a siege of a castle is almost complete. But he's worried that Mori reinforcements are going to come. So please send additional reinforcements to me in order to defeat the Mori.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 05"/>


==Oda's enemies==
There's quite a lot of emphasis on how important this is. And this could be the masterstroke that basically secures Western Honshu for Nobunaga. So he's returned to Kyoto, and Nobunaga sends his retainer Akechi Mitsuhide with Akechi's army as the initial force to go reinforce Hideyoshi out west. And for reasons that are not quite clear, but of course, lead to lots of speculation and dramatic interpretation. Akechi decides that instead of turning west to go support Hideyoshi, he's going to turn his forces east, march into Kyoto, surround the residence of Nobunaga, which is the Honnō-ji Temple in central Kyoto. It's where he normally took up residence when he was in the city, and attack his own war.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 05"/>
===Imagawa Yoshimoto===
the Oda family, as I said, they were the deputy governors underneath the Shiba family in Owari, and he's born as the first legitimate son of a man named Oda Nobuhide, who is the defacto leader of the Oda family. Like I mentioned, his line was not the senior line, but Nobuhide was particularly capable and competent and brought his relatives under his control and for the most part dominated the governance of Owari province. But he was in constant conflict with his neighbors, particularly the powerful Imagawa Yoshimoto to his east and a daimyo named Saitō Dōsan to his north in Mino province.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 05">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 5: Oda Nobunaga</ref>


So his first fight is to simply gain control of his own family, you know, largely inside of Owati province. There's some pressure from external enemies that Imagawa to the east.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 05"/>
We don't really know why we don't really get any full explanation of Akechi's motives. There's lots of speculation that it had to do with resentment at court treatment by Nobunaga. One thing that we do know is that Akechi's mother had been killed by a rival clan where Akechi had given them his mother as a hostage, as insurance essentially against an attack. And Nobunaga superseded that and ordered the attack anyway. So they killed Akechi's mother. Other things are rumors that he was physically abusive and verbally abusive to Mitsuhide personally.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 05"/>


In 1560, the powerful daimyo Imagawa Yoshimoto to his east, enrolled [????] Toutomi, Suroga, and the Kawa provinces, and came from the illustrious Imagawa line, which was one of the pillars of the former Ashikaga shogunate. He decides, or it's usually assumed at least that he decides that he's going to make a run at marching on the capital of Kyoto to take charge of the central government. So he gathers together an army of 25,000 troops and begins his march east. And the first stop is, of course, his neighbor in Owari province, Nobunaga. So he has to go through Nobunaga's domain. On paper, this is going to be very easy. He's got 25,000 troops, which at the time was a very large army. And Nobunaga only has a few thousand men, maybe 2,500. So we're looking at roughly around a 10 to 1 disadvantage. But Nobunaga, despite the fact that his advisors all counsel him to withdraw into his castle at Kyosu and withstand a siege, he decides that that's a losing strategy. Because what's he going to do against an attack by an army that size? He decides that his best course of action is to try to seek an opening and attack.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 05"/>
But for whatever reason, Akechi decides that this is his moment while Nobunaga is lightly guarded. He's certainly not expecting anybody to attack him in Kyoto. They surround Nobunaga's residence, set out on fire. Nobunaga and his guards fight back, but are eventually overwhelmed. Nobunaga commits suicide. And then his heir as well, who was also in Kyoto, is attacked by Akechi's forces and dies. So in one stroke, the Akechi have eliminated, basically decapitated the Oda family and thus ended Nobunaga's career.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 05"/>
 
So one of the things that he institutes in large scale, though not systematic scale, is land surveys, sending out his administrators to take surveys of the arable land and their rice production yield. What this does is it establishes tax registers, it establishes known income values, and it enables Nobunaga to award rights to the land to his subordinates. And in some ways, assign them or move them based off of income levels, the pieces of land are very modular, and he can move his retainers around underneath him. Toyotomi Hideyoshi after him, who turns it into a systematic evaluation of the entire Japanese realm.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 05"/>
 
Nobunaga is furious. He couldn't believe that his son had put himself in position to be defeated and humiliated like this. So he supposedly threatens to disown Nobukatsu. He doesn't end up following through on it, but he's not pleased.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 06">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 6: The Tensho Iga War</ref>
 
Nobunaga invades. He outnumbers the Iga defenders about four or five to one. And the Iga defenders are spread across the province. They can't concentrate in one location. They end up being concentrated in two castles, one in the north Hijiyama Castle, and one in the south Kashiwara Castle. But it all ends with the surrender of Kashiwara Castle on October 8th. At that point, there's no more organized resistance to Nobunaga. Nobunaga himself visits Iga in early November to take a tour of his new province, and then withdraws it and gives it to his son Nobukatsu as part of his domain to administer.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 06"/>
 
So one of their descendants, Yoshiyaki, was around and he was a pretty hopeless guy. But he was officially the Shogun. So Nobunaga's excuse for entering Kyoto was to reinstate him as Shogun. But actually, he, like a lot of these guys, is this Yoshiyaki. The Shogun was very treacherous. We wanted to get rid of Nobunaga, and he instigated a plot against him. So Nobunaga had him arrested and taken off to a castle in the middle of nowhere and left there forever. So that was the end of him.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 07">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 7: Kyoto: Japan's Imperial City</ref>


But the Imagawa forces by midday had made significant progress against the Odo forces invading. So the Imagawa army was much larger. It was rather spread out and divided. The vanguard had taken several of these forts that Nobunaga had. Yoshimori himself was with only a few thousand troops. And at his command post, they took a bit of a siesta, almost, if you will, in this small narrow gorge called Dengaku Hazama. And they were celebrating some of the Imagawa troops had already broken into the celebration sake in anticipation of their great victory that they saw coming because, you know, how could you see anything else? A little bit after this, there's a rainstorm. This was in the summer. So the rainy season in Japan. This thunderstorm breaks out and it really helps Nobunaga maneuver his forces through the mountains, through these narrow passes into position to attack Imagawa Yoshimoto's headquarters camp. They broke out of the tree line to attack the camp. And at first Yoshimoto assumes that it's a drunken brawl taking place amongst his men. Too late, he realizes that it's not that he's actually under attack. And shortly after that, two of the Otis samurai relieve him up his head. In the aftermath, the Imagawa forces deprived of their commander melt away in confusion. And we have this almost legendary victory by other Nobunaga outmanned ten to one, destroying the forces of this great daimyo.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 05"/>
So the Emperor [Michihito, Emperor Ōgimachi] was still rather broke. The Emperor throughout centuries was very often very poor, and very often just basically getting pocket money from whoever is in power, but still had respect and was still officially descended from the Sun Goddess, the most respected person in the entire land. So Nobunaga then gave the Emperor lots of money and furnished the Imperial Palace made it good. So he gave himself legitimacy as a ruler by helping out the Emperor.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 07"/>


{{Reflist}}
He [Nobunaga] had a very dramatic and spectacular assassination by one of his own men. It's an amazing story, but that happened in Kyoto. He was in a temple where it was his land. He thought he was absolutely fine. He didn't have that many guards, and one of his own generals turned against him. So he was killed there.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 07"/>
-->


==ACV Gear==
===[[Toyotomi Hideyoshi]]===
*Bálhrafn Scythe
so Hideyoshi Toyotomi was one of those [ashigaru] now and again he carried the sandals of Oda Nobunaga Oda Nobunaga used to refer to him affectionately as that bald rat Hideyoshi's famously sort of short on a bit of hair but nevertheless he rises through the ranks to be a senior and trusted man under Oda Nobunaga so immediately he rushes from where he's been fighting over to take care of the traitors and he brings the traitors head back to Kyoto to effectively lay at the feet of Oda Nobunaga's body to say here we are you know I've taken care of this for you and Hideyoshi really then becomes the inheritor I think of this project to try to unify Japan and his major next step one of the steps that Oda Nobunaga would have taken had he lived was to attack Kyushu<ref name="Echoes Shadows 02">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 2: The Unification of Japan</ref>
*Spita


==ACOd Gear==
yet for Hideyoshi Kyushu is a part of Japan that he simply must have so he sends around a quarter of a million men over to Kyushu to take it for himself which he manages to do in fairly short order in 1586 and 7<ref name="Echoes Shadows 02"/>
===Armor===
 
====Head Armor====
Hideyoshi for his part had a powerful dislike of Christians so the island of Kyushu in this period was probably the part of Japan where Christian missionaries Portuguese and Spanish mainly the Jesuits but also others as well had since the 1550s been making quite a large number of converts so some of the warlords the daimyo in Kyushu were actually Christians who had a mixture of Portuguese and Spanish and Japanese names and Hideyoshi was astounded to find when he got to Kyushu but he found some Christian missionaries offering him to kind of broker deals with warlords help him take over the island these people as far as Hideyoshi were concerned were foreigners preaching of foreign faith he discovered that Nagasaki had been raised up into this great port by the Jesuits who had effectively been given Nagasaki by a local warlord so the extraordinary influence that a foreign power preaching of foreign religion had in Kyushu I think upset Hideyoshi very much<ref name="Echoes Shadows 02"/>
{|class="wikitable sortable" border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" width="100%" style="text-align:center;"
 
!width="5%" |Name
Hideyoshi once he's taken Kyushu just a few years later launches invasions of Korea so he sends troops across including some of Christian warlords commanding them across to Korea wanting to use it almost as China's driveway if you think about the geography of it send these troops up through Korea take over the peninsula eventually invade and take over China and after that he also wanted to take over India as well<ref name="Echoes Shadows 02"/>
!width="5%" |Rarity
 
!width="5%" |Armor (Lvl 99)
although Hideyoshi has done very well by 1590 as I say he pretty much has most parts of Japan wrapped up under his control and he's starting to think about internal administration he introduces measures for example to disarm the peasantry so if you want to end this period of all against all warfare he wants to return to a position where most people cannot bear arms and it's very clear who can and who aren't and where you sit in these various samurai hierarchies so he does all these bits of internal administration too I suppose another thing he starts to do is to launch these surveys of the land something that Oda Nobunaga had started to an extent but Hideyoshi really goes for it to get a sense of who going forward owns what in Japan what kind of tax you ought to pay so the things that you know maybe strike some fans of history as a bit dull but nevertheless a sign I think of a new order starting to entrench itself so he does all that but his Korean campaign goes badly wrong in the 1590s the Chinese finally put some men in the field and they push the Japanese troops all the way back down the Korean peninsula so it doesn't go anywhere except for poisoning relations with Korea for a very long time to come and then in 1598 Hideyoshi dies and the one thing he doesn't manage to do and I suppose fans of history from Europe and elsewhere there's similar things happen here one thing you want to do if you're a newly established ruler is make sure that the succession is in place...<ref name="Echoes Shadows 02"/>
!width="10%" |Attributes
 
!width="5%" |Availability
And you had Otomo, which was a very powerful clan in the east of Kyushu. And then you had in the southwest, you had the Shimazu. And Otomo was losing against the Shimazu. So he asked Hideyoshi to intervene. And sometime before Hideyoshi marched towards Kyushu, he met with Coelho, which was then the head of the Christian mission in Japan, together with Fróis. And he treated Coelho very well, just like Oda Nobunaga had done with Fróis. So Coelho was really pleased with that. And then Hideyoshi asked him, I want to invade Korea. Then you provide two Portuguese ships to help me in this invasion. And if I conquer Korea, I will make it that there are a lot of churches being built. So Koelyo said, yes, I will do that for you. And I will make sure that we have two Portuguese ships, the Karak ships, as they were called by the English, gigantic ships. So Hideyoshi could very well use them for his invasion in Korea. And then he went a step further and he said, I will make sure that the Christian warlords in Kyushu will also support you. And I think at that moment that Hideyoshi, that there was a ring bell in his head, that the Christians, the Jesuits had too much influence in Japan.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 03">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 3: Portuguese Missionaries in Japan</ref>
|-
 
!rowspan="2" colspan="1"|[[Assassin's Shroud]]
And when he had conquered Kyushu, he again met with Coelho on a Portuguese ship. And Coelho again said that we will support you in whatever endeavor you will take. But the night suddenly he sent a questionary to Coelho, asking him why they came to Japan, why they are making so much converts. And why are they destroying the Buddhist temples? Of course Coelho was really shocked with that. He was so well treated and suddenly everything changed overnight. So he gave his answer that, well, they came to Japan just to propagate their faith, in good faith. And that it was not them who destroyed the Buddhist temples, but the Japanese converts. So the answer of Hideyoshi was that he made a decree that the Jesuits had to leave Japan in 20 days.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 03"/>
|Rare
 
|??
Nobunaga's main retainer, a man called Hideyoshi, was born a peasant. He actually became Nobunaga's successor after Nobunaga died. So he rose from literally the bottom almost to the top within his lifetime. He died quite early as well, maybe in his 50s. So it wasn't even a long life.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 04">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 4: Yasuke: The First African Samurai</ref>
|rowspan="2" colspan="1"|(Randomized)
 
|rowspan="2" colspan="1"|Blacksmith, Loot
The Takeda family is finally destroyed in 1582. And one of the few remaining enemies in the main island of Japan that he is concerned about is this family called the Mori family. And he's had one of his generals man by the name of Hashida Hideyoshi, who we would later know as Toyotomi Hideyoshi. One of his generals is leading the campaign against them. And having just completed the campaign in the east against the Takeda, he is given notice by Hideyoshi that a siege of a castle is almost complete. But he's worried that Mori reinforcements are going to come. So please send additional reinforcements to me in order to defeat the Mori.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 05">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 5: Oda Nobunaga</ref>
|-
 
|Epic
There's quite a lot of emphasis on how important this is. And this could be the masterstroke that basically secures Western Honshu for Nobunaga. So he's returned to Kyoto, and Nobunaga sends his retainer Akechi Mitsuhide with Akechi's army as the initial force to go reinforce Hideyoshi out west. And for reasons that are not quite clear, but of course, lead to lots of speculation and dramatic interpretation. Akechi decides that instead of turning west to go support Hideyoshi, he's going to turn his forces east, march into Kyoto, surround the residence of Nobunaga, which is the Honnō-ji Temple in central Kyoto. It's where he normally took up residence when he was in the city, and attack his own war.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 05"/>
|??
 
|-
So one of the things that he institutes in large scale, though not systematic scale, is land surveys, sending out his administrators to take surveys of the arable land and their rice production yield. What this does is it establishes tax registers, it establishes known income values, and it enables Nobunaga to award rights to the land to his subordinates. And in some ways, assign them or move them based off of income levels, the pieces of land are very modular, and he can move his retainers around underneath him. Toyotomi Hideyoshi after him, who turns it into a systematic evaluation of the entire Japanese realm.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 05"/>
![[Athenian Helmet]]
 
|Common
And his trusted lieutenant, who was a guy called Hashiba Hideyoshi, Hashiba Hideyoshi had a lot of different names. He started off the son of a farmer and he was called Hiyoshi. And he was also called Saru-san, which means Mr. Monkey, because he was an ugly bloke and looked like a monkey. He was small and ugly. He had a lot of girlfriends. He had a really devoted wife to whom he wrote wonderful letters. This is all by the by. Hideyoshi is a great guy. Hideyoshi came galloping back from the campaign he was engaged in when he heard that Nobunaga had been killed. And basically Nobunaga's method had been force and violence. Hideyoshi was the man with the golden tongue. He used persuasion. He was nice to people. And he got everybody to pledge allegiance to him.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 07">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 7: Kyoto: Japan's Imperial City</ref>
|??
 
|??
And because Hideyoshi came from a poor family, he was a farmer's son. He had climbed his way right through the ranks, which only two people in the whole of Japanese history did. But he sort of didn't have anything to prove to anybody. He was very nice to the emperor, but he loved culture. He wanted to enjoy all those wonderful things that the upper classes had. But under him, the sort of culture he liked was chō. He liked display. He liked sort of flamboyancy. For example, there are paintings of the wonderful kimonos people wore. And there are also beautiful paintings of how Kyoto looked, with all the people on the streets, people dancing, the beautiful buildings, the temples, the palaces.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 07"/>
|Complete [[Portion Control]]
 
|-
He built a palace in the middle of called Jurakudai, in the middle of Kyoto, where Nijō Castle is. That now, for those of you who've been there, anyone who's been there, right in the center. And then he also built Momoyama Castle [aka Fushimi Castle] in the south of Kyoto. And he also, while he was at it, I'm not sure if I'm answering your question anymore, but he had an enormous tea party for the entire population of Kyoto, the entire population, including all the poor people, and got them all to come. And it occupied a whole sort of enormous shrine grounds. And I think there was something like 800 tea pavilions there. Part of tea is displaying your beautiful utensils. And he displayed his gold utensils. And he also had an entire tea hut made of gold, the golden tea hut.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 07"/>
![[Bandit Lord Helmet]]
 
|Rare
Hideyoshi sort of basically laid out Kyoto as it is now.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 07"/>
|??
 
|??
Were there games in medieval Japan that we know about? Right. One thing that the samurai ruler, especially the unifier, Toyotomi Hideyoshi liked, was the noh play. So there are theatres all over Japan.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 08">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 8: How To Fit In: Feudal Japan</ref>
|Complete [[Civil Unrest]]
 
|-
===[[Tokugawa Ieyasu]]===
![[Blindfold]]
What he succeeds in doing is very early on gaining control of a neighboring province and then he makes a very fortuitous alliance with the man who becomes Tokugawa Ieyasu. He doesn't yet have that name at this point in the 1550s but that's a great alliance. It allows Oda Nobunaga not to have to worry too much about the territory to one side of his own province and so he can look elsewhere for his focus [...]<ref name="Echoes Shadows 02">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 2: The Unification of Japan</ref>
|Epic
 
|??
unfortunately he dies when his son Hideyori is still too young to assume power and so you have this council of elders who are controlling things until Hideyori is old enough to rule by himself but unfortunately on that council of elders is one Tokugawa Ieyasu who while you know professing a certain amount of loyalty to Hideyori is plotting and scheming instead to take it all for himself and so he becomes our third major figure.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 02"/>
|??
 
|Romance [[Kosta]] in [[Family Values (Lokris)|Family Values]], then complete [[Confiscated]]
he stations some troops in Kyoto to keep the emperor under a watchful eye not necessarily because of what the emperor might do but what people might use the emperor for some of his western enemies you know as in in the western part of Japan might potentially take the emperor as a figurehead and launch a further action against him it's not as though after a great battle like that everyone on the losing side thinks fair enough you know you've got me I'll walk away and agree to this so he has that our establishment Kyoto his own power base is Edo this castle town that is now the great city of Tokyo so his shogunate is really run out of Edo that's where his advisors are his castle is his strong economy is and he manages to really build up Edo I think in short order the other thing he does which is really establishing this process of unification really establishing the new Japan is he does this enormous reshuffling of territory in Japan I think it's the biggest reshuffling of territory in terms of who controls what in Japan's history so lots of the people who are on the losing side at the battle of Sekigahara either lose everything or their territory is drastically cut down or they're shipped off to another part of the country entirely perhaps all these things that are designed to damage their power he also as part of that reshuffle takes over a system that Hideyoshi used to use called Sankin Kortai<ref name="Echoes Shadows 02"/>
|-
 
!rowspan="3" colspan="1"|[[Brawler's Helmet]]
Tokugawa Ieyasu, he forbade Christianity totally. And all influence of the Jesuits was razed very systematically from then on.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 03">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 3: Portuguese Missionaries in Japan</ref>
|Common
 
|??
So it kind of makes a name for Nobunaga. Another key thing about this battle, though, and the aftermath is that in the confusion of the Imagawa family with the loss of their head, several of their more talented and younger retainers, one of which we know today as Tokugawa Ieyasu, are able to claim independence. And Ieyasu establishes himself in his home territory of Mikawa, which is just to the east of Owari, and establishes an alliance with Nobunaga, thus providing a secure flank to Nobunaga's east, allowing Nobunaga to then look in other directions as he begins to expand.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 05">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 5: Oda Nobunaga</ref>
|rowspan="3" colspan="1"|(Randomized)
 
|rowspan="3" colspan="1"|Blacksmith, Loot
The two sides meet in July of 1570 at the Battle of Anegawa, where Nobunaga was joined by his ally Tokugawa Ieyasu. And they fight this battle in the shallow Anagawa River, both sides plunging into the water to engage the enemy. So if you picture this dramatic battle in this shallow river, Tokugawa, on Nobunaga's right flank, managed to route the Asakura and then crash into the flank of the Asai while at the same time Nobunaga sent his reserves around the other flank. And it causes the collapse of the enemy to create victory.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 05"/>
|-
 
|Rare
Many of them [Iga warriors] went to work for a retainer of Tokugawa Iyasu who has become famous in kind of ninja lore, man by the name of Hattori Hanzo. And Hattori Hanzo had family ties to Iga. He's often referred to or portrayed as in pop culture as a ninja, but he was a samurai retainer, a warrior just like many of the warriors that fought for any of the Daimyo of this period. He appears in most of Tokugawa Iyasu's battles until Hanzo dies in 1590s. He is considered one of Tokugawa Iyasu's closest retainers, but because through his family ties, he had a knowledge base of these sort of unconventional guerilla tactics. He also had through those ties, the ability to kind of act as a landing place for many of these men of Iga. And so many of them went to work for Tokugawa Ieyasu under the command of Hattori Hanzo.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 06">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 6: The Tensho Iga War</ref>
|??
 
|-
==The Jesuits==
|Epic
===[[Francis Xavier]]===
|2652
Francis Xavier was a Jesuit and one of the founding members of the Jesuits. He was asked to travel to Asia to begin doing missionary work there. He was asked especially by King John III of Portugal because he was very keen on trying to get as many Asians adhering to the Christian religion. Xavier had quite a correspondence with King John about all what he did in Asia and it wasn't what he expected. In 1542 he came to India but he didn't get good results so he tried to go to Malacca but there also there was not much interest for his propagating of the faith. And there he met with a Japanese called Anjiro, probably his real name was Yajiro, and he told him about Japan and also some Portuguese merchants who had gone to Japan told him that that will be the country where you really are going to get a lot of people converted to Christianity. So he had a lot of expectations for Japan and in 1549 he finally set foot on Japan. So that was really the first time that the Jesuits arrived in Japan only six or seven years after the first Portuguese came there.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 03">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 3: Portuguese Missionaries in Japan</ref>
|-
 
!rowspan="3" colspan="1"|[[Brute's Helm]]
when Xavier came in Japan, he landed in Satsuma, Kagoshima, which is in the southern part of the Kyushu island, and you had a warlord there, Shimaze Takahisa, and he welcomed Xavier very much because he had a motive. If the Jesuits would come, he thought the Portuguese merchants would follow. So he treated Xavier very well and he gave him permission to preach the Gospel in his domains, but after a year, no Portuguese ship arrived, so then he prohibited Christianity and Xavier was compelled to go to another domain, which was the Hilado domain of Matsura Takanobu, and just at that time there was a Portuguese vessel there. And when the Portuguese saw the Jesuits, so Xavier and his companions, they greeted them with utmost respect. And Takanobu saw that, so he thought, okay, I have to treat them also with respect so that the Portuguese traders could come, because those Portuguese traders, they got a lot of products.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 03"/>
|Common
 
|??
And he thought that if he goes to the emperor in Kyoto, in the capital, that the emperor would give him permission to preach in whole of Japan, and that he would have a lot of success because he saw that the lot of a small domain, when he gave permission, he got the chance to convert a few people. If the upper lord of the country would give him permission, he thought he would be in a good position to convert a lot of Japanese. So he went to Kyoto, but that materialized not very well because Kyoto at the time was in the midst of warfare, so he didn't have the chance to meet with the emperor nor with the shogun.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 03"/>
|rowspan="3" colspan="1"|(Randomized)
 
|rowspan="3" colspan="1"|Blacksmith, Loot
So afterwards, he went back from Kyoto. He got back to Hirado, where he put on very expensive clothes and then went again to the court of Ōuchi. And then he was received very well. He also gave a lot of presents, which he had brought from Portugal. And Ōuchi was very policed with that and gave permission for the Jesuits to preach their gospel in his domains.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 03"/>
|-
|Rare
|2301
|-
|Epic
|2411
|-
!rowspan="2" colspan="1"|[[Ceremonial Helmet]]
|Rare
|??
|rowspan="2" colspan="1"|(Randomized)
|rowspan="2" colspan="1"|Blacksmith, Loot
|-
|Epic
|??
|-
!rowspan="2" colspan="1"|[[Chalkidian Helmet]]
|Common
|??
|rowspan="2" colspan="1"|(Randomized)
|rowspan="2" colspan="1"|Blacksmith, Loot
|-
|Rare
|??
|-
![[Champion's Helmet]]
|Epic
|??
|(Randomized)
|Blacksmith, Loot
|-
![[Conqueror's Crown]]
|Rare
|??
|(Randomized)
|Blacksmith, Loot
|-
!rowspan="3" colspan="1"|[[Crescent Helmet]]
|Common
|??
|rowspan="3" colspan="1"|(Randomized)
|rowspan="3" colspan="1"|Blacksmith, Loot
|-
|Rare
|??
|-
|Epic
|??
|-
!rowspan="3" colspan="1"|[[Decorated Thrakian Helmet]]
|Common
|??
|rowspan="3" colspan="1"|(Randomized)
|rowspan="3" colspan="1"|Blacksmith, Loot
|-
|Rare
|2301
|-
|Epic
|2411
|-
![[First Civilization Crown]]**
|Epic
|??
|(Randomized)
|Blacksmith, Loot
|-
!rowspan="2" colspan="1"|[[Heavy Korinthian Helmet]]
|Rare
|??
|rowspan="2" colspan="1"|(Randomized)
|rowspan="2" colspan="1"|Blacksmith, Loot
|-
|Epic
|2411
|-
![[Helmet of Gorgophone]]
|Epic
|7829
| + % Warrior Damage<br>+ % CRIT CHance while Full Health<br>+ % Ranged Resistance
|Complete [[Test of Courage]]
|-
!rowspan="2" colspan="1"|[[Helmet of Keres]]
|Rare
|??
|rowspan="2" colspan="1"| (Randomized)
|rowspan="2" colspan="1"|Blacksmith, Loot
|-
|Epic
|2652
|-
!rowspan="2" colspan="1"|[[Helmet of Orpheus]]
|Common
|??
|rowspan="2" colspan="1"| (Randomized)
|rowspan="2" colspan="1"|Blacksmith, Loot
|-
|Rare
|??
|-
!rowspan="2" colspan="1"|[[Horned Helmet]]
|Common
|??
|rowspan="2" colspan="1"|(Randomized)
|rowspan="2" colspan="1"|Blacksmith, Loot
|-
|Rare
|??
|-
!rowspan="2" colspan="1"|[[Hunter's Hood]]
|Rare
|2531
|rowspan="2" colspan="1"|(Randomized)
|rowspan="2" colspan="1"|Blacksmith, Loot
|-
|Epic
|??
|-
![[Illyrian Helmet]]
|Epic
|??
|(Randomized)
|Blacksmith, Loot
|-
![[Inventor's Helmet]]
|Rare
|??
|??
|Complete [[Another Kind of Poetry]]
|-
![[Isu Commander's Helmet]]**
|Rare
|??
| (Randomized)
|Blacksmith, Loot
|-
!rowspan="3" colspan="1"|[[Isu Myrmidon Helmet]]**
|Common
|??
|rowspan="3" colspan="1"|(Randomized)
|rowspan="3" colspan="1"|Blacksmith, Loot
|-
|Rare
|??
|-
|Epic
|2411
|-
!rowspan="3" colspan="1"|[[Isu Vanguard Helmet]]**
|Common
|??
|rowspan="3" colspan="1"|(Randomized)
|rowspan="3" colspan="1"|Blacksmith, Loot
|-
|Rare
|??
|-
|Epic
|2411
|-
!rowspan="3" colspan="1"|[[Isu Warden Helmet]]**
|Common
|??
|rowspan="3" colspan="1"|(Randomized)
|rowspan="3" colspan="1"|Blacksmith, Loot
|-
|Rare
|??
|-
|Epic
|2411
|-
!rowspan="3" colspan="1"|[[Korinthian Helmet]]
|Common
|??
|rowspan="3" colspan="1"|(Randomized)
|rowspan="3" colspan="1"|Blacksmith, Loot
|-
|Rare
|??
|-
|Epic
|??
|-
![[Lost Soldier's Helmet]]**
|Epic
|??
| + % Warrior Damage<br>+ % Damage with Swords<br>+ % Damage on Spartan Soldiers
|Complete [[Death Before Dishonor]]
|-
![[Lover's Helmet]]
|Epic
|??
|??
|Complete [[Happily Ever After?]]
|-
!rowspan="2" colspan="1"|[[Mercenary Helmet]]
|Rare
|??
|rowspan="2" colspan="1"|(Randomized)
|rowspan="2" colspan="1"|Blacksmith, Loot
|-
|Epic
|2652
|-
![[Minotaur Helm]]
|Epic
|??
| + % Warrior Damage<br>+ % All Damage<br>+ % Fire Damage
|Complete [[No More Bull]]
|-
!rowspan="2" colspan="1"|[[Persian Warrior Helmet]]
|Rare
|??
|rowspan="2" colspan="1"|(Randomized)
|rowspan="2" colspan="1"|Blacksmith, Loot
|-
|Epic
|2652
|-
!rowspan="2" colspan="1"|[[Phrygian Helmet]]
|Rare
|??
|rowspan="2" colspan="1"|(Randomized)
|rowspan="2" colspan="1"|Blacksmith, Loot
|-
|Epic
|2411
|-
!rowspan="3" colspan="1"|[[Pilos Helmet]]
|Common
|??
|rowspan="3" colspan="1"|(Randomized)
|rowspan="3" colspan="1"|Blacksmith, Loot
|-
|Rare
|2301
|-
|Epic
|2652
|-
![[Prototype Crown]]**
|Legendary
|
| +?% Warrior Damage<br>+?% Chance to Ignore Half Damage<br>Reduces all Cooldowns by 10% on Perfect Dodge
|Loot the chest near the fireplace in the [[Doma of Diaprepes]]
|-
![[Rusty Mycenaean Helmet]]
|Rare
|??
|??
|Loot a chest in the [[Sunken Temple of Aphrodite]]<br>Complete [[The Tribute]]
|-
!rowspan="3" colspan="1"|[[Shroud (Odyssey)|Shroud]]
|Common
|??
|rowspan="3" colspan="1"|(Randomized)
|rowspan="3" colspan="1"|Blacksmith, Loot
|-
|Rare
|??
|-
|Epic
|2652
|-
![[Spartan Polemarch Helmet]]
|Rare
|??
|(Randomized)
|Blacksmith, Loot
|-
![[Spartan Soldier's Helmet]]
|Common
|??
|(Randomized)
|Blacksmith, Loot
|-
![[Thaletas' Helmet]]
|Common
|??
| + % Chance to Ignore Half Damage
|Complete [[The Thaletas Way]]
|-
![[Theseus' Helmet]]
|Rare
|??
|??
|Complete [[Gortyn Out of Hand]]
|-
!rowspan="3" colspan="1"|[[Tracker's Hood]]
|Common
|??
|rowspan="3" colspan="1"|(Randomized)
|rowspan="3" colspan="1"|Blacksmith, Loot
|-
|Rare
|??
|-
|Epic
|??
|-
!rowspan="2" colspan="1"|[[Traveler's Shroud]]
|Rare
|??
|rowspan="2" colspan="1"|(Randomized)
|rowspan="2" colspan="1"|Blacksmith, Loot
|-
|Epic
|2411
|-
!rowspan="2" colspan="1"|[[Victor's Helmet]]
|Rare
|??
|rowspan="2" colspan="1"|(Randomized)
|rowspan="2" colspan="1"|Blacksmith, Loot
|-
|Epic
|??
|-
!rowspan="2" colspan="1"|[[War Mask]]
|Rare
|??
|rowspan="2" colspan="1"|(Randomized)
|rowspan="2" colspan="1"|Blacksmith, Loot
|-
|Epic
|??
|-
![[Wolfslayer's Helmet]]
|Rare
|??
|??
|Complete [[Revenge of the Wolf]]
|-
![[Wondrous Circlet]]
|??
|??
|??
|??
|}


====Wrist Armor====
Xavier left in 1551, but soon there came more and more Jesuits.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 03"/>
{|class="wikitable sortable" border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" width="100%" style="text-align:center;"
 
!width="5%" |Name
So and Francis Xavier, the Jesuit priest, showed up in Japan at that time. He showed up in a city called Yamaguchi. And his theory was, I will go to Kyoto. I will convert the emperor to Catholicism. And then everybody else in the whole country will follow him. And he got to Kyoto. It was a complete wreck. It was sort of a burnt out ruin. He couldn't find the emperor. So he gave up.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 07">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 7: Kyoto: Japan's Imperial City</ref>
!width="5%" |Rarity
 
!width="5%" |Max Armor (Lvl 99)
 
!width="10%" |Attributes
===[[Gaspar Vilela]]===
!width="5%" |Availability
Gaspar Vilela is one who stands out. He was a very keen propagator of the Christian faith, and he could convert some warlords to Christianity. One of them was Omura Sumitada, who eventually would give a port to the Jesuits, which was called Nagasaki.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 03">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 3: Portuguese Missionaries in Japan</ref>
|-
 
! rowspan="2" colspan="1"|[[Ancient King's Gauntlets]]
And they also had a problem that after a while you have [Francisco] Cabral, you have [Gaspar] Coelho, so two Jesuits who became the head of the Japan sector. And they weren't very keen to adopt Japanese customs. They wanted to be as strictly Jesuits as in Europe. So they already have a problem from the Jesuit side and many like Vilela or Fróis were more inclined to adopt Japanese customs. But the heads of the provincials, as they call them, were against that.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 03"/>
|Rare
|??
|rowspan="2" colspan="1"| (Randomized)
|rowspan="2" colspan="1"|Blacksmith, Loot
|-
|Epic
|??
|-
!rowspan="2" colspan="1"|[[Assassin's Gauntlets]]
|Rare
|??
|rowspan="2" colspan="1"|(Randomized)
|rowspan="2" colspan="1"|Blacksmith, Loot
|-
|Epic
|1895
|-
!rowspan="2" colspan="1"|[[Athenian Bracers]]
|Rare
|1808
|rowspan="2" colspan="1"|(Randomized)
|rowspan="2" colspan="1"|Blacksmith, Loot
|-
|Epic
|??
|-
![[Athenian Gauntlets]]
|Rare
|??
|(Randomized)
|Blacksmith, Loot
|-
![[Athenian Vambraces]]
|Epic
|??
|(Randomized)
|Blacksmith, Loot
|-


!rowspan="3" colspan="1"|[[Bandit Bracers]]
===[[Alessandro Valignano]]===
|Common
And then you have, of course, Valignano, which was the visitor, as he was called, to the Orient. So he was the head of all the actions in the Orient, and he spent a lot of time in Japan, because Japan was the place where the Jesuits thought they would have the best results.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 03">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 3: Portuguese Missionaries in Japan</ref>
|??
 
|rowspan="3" colspan="1"|(Randomized)
He was the bodyguard of a Jesuit, the head Jesuit in Asia, essentially the head of the Christian church in Asia, a man called Alessandro Valignano. And Valignano was on a tour from Rome. He'd been sent by the Pope to tour the new missions in Asia and of course, Japan was the furthest of these missions.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 04">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 4: Yasuke: The First African Samurai</ref>
|rowspan="3" colspan="1"|Blacksmith, Loot
 
|-
Valignano himself, the visitor, the chief inspector of churches, if you like, was a big proponent of learning any language. He started the concept of Asian studies. Asian language studies in Europe were started by him. He was the person who insisted that his missionaries study Chinese, Japanese, various Indian languages, so it's conceivable that Yasuke had already started to learn Japanese before he arrived.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 04"/>
|Rare
 
|??
===[[Francisco Cabral]]===
|-
And they also had a problem that after a while you have [Francisco] Cabral, you have [Gaspar] Coelho, so two Jesuits who became the head of the Japan sector. And they weren't very keen to adopt Japanese customs. They wanted to be as strictly Jesuits as in Europe. So they already have a problem from the Jesuit side and many like Vilela or Fróis were more inclined to adopt Japanese customs. But the heads of the provincials, as they call them, were against that.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 03">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 3: Portuguese Missionaries in Japan</ref>
|Epic
 
|1722
==Other==
|-
===[[Mutsuhito]], Emperor Meiji===
![[Bracers of Achilles]]
And in 1868, the then emperor [Mutsuhito, Emperor Meiji] who was 14, I think, or 16, he was a teenager, marched or didn't march. He was carried by Palanquin, top with a Phoenix, up to Edo and into Edo castle, which became the imperial palace and Edo became Tokyo, which is the eastern capital. So therefore, Kyoto was no longer the capital at all. It was no longer the official capital.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 07">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 7: Kyoto: Japan's Imperial City</ref>
|Legendary
 
|
===[[Akechi Mitsuhide]]===
| +?% Warrior Damage<br>+?% Adrenaline per Hit
he's just setting out in early part of 1582 for the next part of that campaign staying at a temple called Honnoji in Kyoto when he's attacked actually not by his enemies but by someone who is supposed to be on his side one of the famous treacherous figures I suppose in Japanese history man by the name of Akechi Mitsuhide who persuades his men to turn their guns on Oda Nobunaga and his own men and so you have these stories of Oda Nobunaga shouting out treachery or traitors or something like that trying to fight them off himself the temple ends up in flames and Oda Nobunaga retreats further into the temple and dies by his own hand.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 02">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 2: The Unification of Japan</ref>
|Defeat [[Swordfish]]
 
|-
There's quite a lot of emphasis on how important this is. And this could be the masterstroke that basically secures Western Honshu for Nobunaga. So he's returned to Kyoto, and Nobunaga sends his retainer Akechi Mitsuhide with Akechi's army as the initial force to go reinforce Hideyoshi out west. And for reasons that are not quite clear, but of course, lead to lots of speculation and dramatic interpretation. Akechi decides that instead of turning west to go support Hideyoshi, he's going to turn his forces east, march into Kyoto, surround the residence of Nobunaga, which is the Honnō-ji Temple in central Kyoto. It's where he normally took up residence when he was in the city, and attack his own war.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 05">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 5: Oda Nobunaga</ref>
![[Bracers of Whispers]]*
 
|Epic
We don't really know why we don't really get any full explanation of Akechi's motives. There's lots of speculation that it had to do with resentment at court treatment by Nobunaga. One thing that we do know is that Akechi's mother had been killed by a rival clan where Akechi had given them his mother as a hostage, as insurance essentially against an attack. And Nobunaga superseded that and ordered the attack anyway. So they killed Akechi's mother. Other things are rumors that he was physically abusive and verbally abusive to Mitsuhide personally.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 05"/>
|??
 
|??
But for whatever reason, Akechi decides that this is his moment while Nobunaga is lightly guarded. He's certainly not expecting anybody to attack him in Kyoto. They surround Nobunaga's residence, set out on fire. Nobunaga and his guards fight back, but are eventually overwhelmed. Nobunaga commits suicide. And then his heir as well, who was also in Kyoto, is attacked by Akechi's forces and dies. So in one stroke, the Akechi have eliminated, basically decapitated the Oda family and thus ended Nobunaga's career.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 05"/>
|Complete [[Persian Puppetry]]
 
|-
===[[Yasuke]]===
!rowspan="2" colspan="1"|[[Brawler's Gauntlets]]
we know that he's from Africa, but we don't know for certain which parts of Africa, apart from that it would have been on the East Coast. The descriptions we have from Japanese descriptions are very much of somebody from what is now South Sudan, very tall, very black, very strong. Whereas there's a couple of sources which suggest he might have come from the Mozambique area. However, he doesn't fit the description very much of people from that region. There's also the full possibility that he could have been somehow trafficked from the South Sudan area down south and come through Mozambique as well.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 04">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 4: Yasuke: The First African Samurai</ref>
|Rare
 
|??
He arrived in May 1579 on a ship from Macau to get from Africa, whichever part of Africa it was to Macau and then to Japan. He'd already spent time in India. He'd spent time in Malacca in modern day Malaysia. And I think it was about six to nine months in Macau. He was the bodyguard of a Jesuit, the head Jesuit in Asia, essentially the head of the Christian church in Asia, a man called Alessandro Valignano. And Valignano was on a tour from Rome.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 04"/>
|rowspan="2" colspan="1"|(Randomized)
 
|rowspan="2" colspan="1"|Blacksmith, Loot
It's highly likely that he would have been Christian, at least on paper.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 04"/>
|-
 
|Epic
In those days, he was considered a giant<ref name="Echoes Shadows 04"/>
|??
|-
![[Bronze Bracers]]
|Epic
|??
|(Randomized)
|Blacksmith, Loot
|-
![[Captain's Gauntlets]]
|Rare
|??
| +% Hunter Damage<br>+% Adrenaline on Headshot Kill
|Loot the captain during [[Atoll Order]]
|-
![[Champion's Bracers]]
|Epic
|??
|??
|Complete [[The Heroes of the Cult]]
|-
![[Charred Gloves]]**
|Epic
|??
| + % Hunter Damage<br>+ % Adrenaline on Headshot Kill<br>+ % CRIT Chance
|Complete [[A Cursed Sickness]]
|-
!rowspan="3" colspan="1"|[[Conqueror's Bracers]]
|Common
|??
|rowspan="3" colspan="1"| (Randomized)
|rowspan="3" colspan="1"|Blacksmith, Loot
|-
|Rare
|1643
|-
|Epic
|??
|-
![[Dark Gauntlets]]
|Rare
|??
|??
|Complete [[Romancing the Stone Garden]]
|-
![[Dark Steel Gauntlets]]
|Epic
|??
|(Randomized)
|Blacksmith, Loot
|-
![[Demosthenes' Gauntlets]]
|Epic
|??
|(Randomized)
|Complete [[Last Request]]
|-
![[Dikastes' Bracers]]**
|Legendary
|??
| +?% Warrior Damage<br>+?% Damage with Enhanced Abilities
|Defeat the Atlantean [[Polemarch]] at the [[Fortified Doma of Mneseas]]
|-
![[First Civilization Bracers]]**
|Rare
|??
|(Randomized)
|Blacksmith, Loot
|-
!rowspan="2" colspan="1"|[[Fur Gloves]]
|Rare
|??
|rowspan="2" colspan="1"|(Randomized)
|rowspan="2" colspan="1"|Blacksmith, Loot
|-
|Epic
|??
|-
!rowspan="2" colspan="1"|[[Gauntlets of Ares]]
|Rare
|??
|rowspan="2" colspan="1"|(Randomized)
|rowspan="2" colspan="1"|Blacksmith, Loot
|-
|Epic
|??
|-
![[Gauntlets of Hubris]]**
|Epic
|??
| + % Warrior Damage<br>+ % Damage with Overpower Abilities<br>+ % CRIT Damage
|Complete [[Kill Me Once, Shame on You]]
|-
![[Healer's Bracers]]
|Rare
|??
|??
|Complete [[The Doctor Will See You Now]]
|-
!rowspan="2" colspan="1"|[[Heavy Athenian Bracers]]
|Rare
|rowspan="2" colspan="1"|??
|rowspan="2" colspan="1"|(Randomized)
|rowspan="2" colspan="1"|Blacksmith, Loot
|-
|Epic
|-
![[Hekate's Golden Bracelets]]**
|Legendary
|??
| + % assassin damage<br>+ % crit damage while low health
|Complete [[Have Another Drink]]
|-
![[Hunter's Gloves]]
|Rare
|??
|??
|Blacksmith, Loot
|-
![[Isu Commander's Bracers]]**
|Rare
|??
|(Randomized)
|Blacksmith, Loot
|-
!rowspan="3" colspan="1"|[[Isu Myrmidon Vambraces]]**
|Common
|??
|rowspan="3" colspan="1"| (Randomized)
|rowspan="3" colspan="1"|Blacksmith, Loot
|-
|Rare
|??
|-
|Epic
|??
|-
!rowspan="3" colspan="1"|[[Isu Vanguard Bracers]]**
|Common
|??
|rowspan="3" colspan="1"|(Randomized)
|rowspan="3" colspan="1"|Blacksmith, Loot
|-
|Rare
|??
|-
|Epic
|??
|-
![[Ixion's Shackles]]**
|Epic
|??
| + % Assassin Damage<br>+ % Adrenaline per CRIT<br>+ % Adrenaline on Assassination Kill
|Complete [[A Young Warrior's Ghosts]]
|-
!rowspan="3" colspan="1"|[[Mercenary Gloves]]
|Common
|??
|rowspan="3" colspan="1"|(Randomized)
|rowspan="3" colspan="1"|Blacksmith, Loot
|-
|Rare
|??
|-
|Epic
|1895
|-
! rowspan="2" colspan="1"|[[Misthios' Vambraces]]
|Rare
|??
|rowspan="2" colspan="1"|(Randomized)
|rowspan="2" colspan="1"|Blacksmith, Loot
|-
|Epic
|??
|-
![[One Hundredth Hand]]
|Rare
|??
|??
|Complete [[The Great Contender]]
|-
![[Pankration Gloves]]
|Epic
|??
| + % Warrior Damage<br>+ % CRIT Damage<br>+ % All Damage
|Complete [[Pankration (memory)|Pankration]]
|-
!rowspan="2" colspan="1"|[[Persian Warrior Gauntlets]]
|Rare
|??
|rowspan="2" colspan="1"|(Randomized)
|rowspan="2" colspan="1"|Blacksmith, Loot
|-
|Epic
|??
|-
!rowspan="3" colspan="1"|[[Plated Vambraces]]
|Common
|??
|rowspan="3" colspan="1"|(Randomized)
|rowspan="3" colspan="1"|Blacksmith, Loot
|-
|Rare
|??
|-
|Epic
|??
|-
![[Priestess Gloves]]
|Rare
|??
|??
|Complete [[The Handmaiden's Story]]
|-
![[Purple Bracers]]
|Rare
|??
| + % Warrior Damage<br>+ % Melee Resistance
|Defeat Kytheran Leader
|-
![[Pylos Armguards]]
|Rare
|??
|??
|Complete [[The Battle of Pylos]]
|-
![[Restored Mycenaean Gauntlets]]
|Epic
|??
|??
|Complete [[Keep the Faith]]
|-
![[Rusty Mycenaean Gauntlets]]
|Rare
|??
|??
|Complete [[Language of the Ancients]]
|-
!rowspan="2" colspan="1"|[[Scaled Gauntlets]]
|Rare
|??
|rowspan="2" colspan="1"| (Randomized)
|rowspan="2" colspan="1"|Blacksmith, Loot
|-
|Epic
|1722
|-
![[Secretive Gauntlets]]
|Rare
|??
|??
|Complete [[Blood and Water]]
|-
![[Solar Bracers]]**
|Epic
|??
| + % Warrior Damage<br>+ % Elemental Buildup<br>+ % Elemental Resistance
|Complete [[The Birds and the Bees]]
|-
!rowspan="2" colspan="1"|[[Spartan Bracers]]
|Rare
|??
|rowspan="2" colspan="1"|(Randomized)
|rowspan="2" colspan="1"|Blacksmith, Loot
|-
|Epic
|??
|-
![[Stolen Isu Bracers]]**
|Epic
|
| +?% Assassin Damage<br>+?% CRIT Chance<br>+?% CRIT Chance while Full Health
|Complete [[Good From Far, Far From Good]]
|-
!rowspan="2" colspan="1"|[[Studded Vambraces]]
|Rare
|??
|rowspan="2" colspan="1"|(Randomized)
|rowspan="2" colspan="1"|Blacksmith, Loot
|-
|Epic
|??
|-
![[Theseus' Gauntlets]]
|Rare
|??
|??
|Complete [[Of Minotaurs and Men]]
|-
!rowspan="2" colspan="1"|[[Tracker's Gloves]]
|Rare
|??
|rowspan="2" colspan="1"|(Randomized)
|rowspan="2" colspan="1"|Blacksmith, Loot
|-
|Epic
|1722
|-
![[Training Gauntlets]]
|Rare
|??
|??
|Complete [[Sparring with Roxana]]
|-
!rowspan="2" colspan="1"|[[Traveler's Gloves]]
|Rare
|??
|rowspan="2" colspan="1"| (Randomized)
|rowspan="2" colspan="1"|Blacksmith, Loot
|-
|Epic
|1895
|-
![[Wondrous Bracers]]
|??
|??
|??
|??
|}


====Torso Armor====
Yasuke is recorded two years afterwards as having quite a good level of Japanese. [...] He [Valignano] was the person who insisted that his missionaries study Chinese, Japanese, various Indian languages, so it's conceivable that Yasuke had already started to learn Japanese before he arrived.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 04"/>
{|class="wikitable sortable" border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" width="100%" style="text-align:center;"
 
!width="5%" |Name
Another one, when getting to Miyako, which is now Kyoto, a huge mob literally surrounded the mission and almost pushed the mission down, throwing stones. There were dead people in the crowd outside. And at that point, Nobunaga, who was the most powerful warlord in Japan at the time, was five minutes walk away. He heard this huge hullaballo, which he liked. He heard what was going on. And he demanded to see who was disturbing the peace, demanded that this person be brought before him.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 04"/>
!width="5%" |Rarity
!width="5%" |Max Armor (Lvl 99)
!width="10%" |Attributes
!width="5%" |Availability
|-
![[Agamemnon's Body Armor]]
|Legendary
|3633
| +25% Warrior Damage<br>+10 Seconds Burning Duration
|Defeat [[The Silver Griffin]]
|-
![[Amazonian Outfit]]
|Legendary
|3633
| +25% Warrior Damage<br>+20% Health
|Defeat [[Belos]] in the Pephka Arena
|-
![[Ancient Breastplate]]**
|Epic
|??
| + % Warrior Damage<br>+ % Total Armor<br>+ % Health
|Complete [[The Weight of Sparta]]
|-
![[Ancient King's Body Armor]]
|Rare
|??
|(Randomized)
|Blacksmith, Loot
|-
![[Arena Fighter's Armor]]
|Legendary
|3303
| +25% Warrior Damage<br>+20% Damage with [[Heavy weapon]]s
|Obtained in the [[Pephka Arena]]
|-
![[Aristaios' Breastplate]]
|Epic
|
| +14% Warrior Damage<br>+10% Health<br>+15% Damage with Heavy Bladed Weapons
|Defeat [[Aristaios]]
|-
![[Arkadia's Mark]]
|Rare
|??
| + % Assassin Damage<br>+ % Damage on Athenian Soldiers
|Complete [[White Lies and Blackmail]]
|-
![[Armor of Achilles]]
|Legendary
|958
| +15% Warrior Damage<br >+10% Health
|Defeat [[Belos]] in the Pephka Arena.
|-
![[Armor of Eustathios]]
|Rare
|??
|??
|Complete [[Bravely Ran Away]]
|-
![[Armor of the Dawn]]
|Epic
|??
| +14% Warrior Damage<br>+10% Health<br>+30% Total Armor
|Looted from legendary chest in [[Waterfall of Styx]]
|-
![[Armor of the Immortal]]
|Legendary
|1144
| +15% Warrior Damage<br>+20% CRIT Damage
|Defeat [[Diona]]<br>Complete [[I, Diona]]
|-
![[Armor of the Sphinx]]
|Legendary
|3303
| +25% Hunter Damage<br>+20% Damage with Bow Charged Shot
|Purchase ''[[Sphinx Pack]]'' DLC
|-
![[Armor of Rebellion]]
|Legendary
|1144
| +15% Warrior Damage<br>+10% Health
|Purchase ''[[Spartan Renegade Pack]]'' DLC
|-
![[Asphodel Armor]]**
|Legendary
|??
| + % Assassin Damage<br>+ % CRIT Damage
|Complete [[Dead Kings and Pretty Things]]
|-
!rowspan="2" colspan="1"|[[Assassin's Armor]]
|Rare
|1084
|rowspan="2" colspan="1"|(Randomized)
|rowspan="2" colspan="1"|Blacksmith, Loot
|-
|Epic
|??
|-
!rowspan="3" colspan="1"|[[Athenian Breastplate]]
|Common
|??
|rowspan="3" colspan="1"|(Randomized)
|rowspan="3" colspan="1"|Blacksmith, Loot
|-
|Rare
|??
|-
|Epic
|3131
|-
!rowspan="2" colspan="1"|[[Athenian Linothorax]]
|Rare
|??
|rowspan="2" colspan="1"|(Randomized)
|rowspan="2" colspan="1"|Blacksmith, Loot
|-
|Epic
|
|-
![[Athenian Tunic]]
|Rare
|3286
| +23% Warrior Damage<br>+60% Total Armor
|Complete [[On a High Horse]]
|-
![[Athenian War Hero Armor]]
|Legendary
|1040
| +15% Hunter Damage<br>+10% Damage with Bow Charged Shot
|Defeat [[Iobates]]
|-
![[Bare Chested]]
|Legendary
|500
| +25% Warrior Damage<br>+30% Adrenaline per Hit<br>-50% All Resistances
|Blacksmith
|-
![[Bare-Chested and Oiled]]
|Legendary
|500
| +25% Warrior Damage<br>+50% Elemental Buildup<br>+500% Damage while covered in black oil
|Blacksmith
|-
![[Battleplate of Ares]]
|Epic
|986
|(Randomized)
|Conquest Battle reward, Loot.
|-
![[Bone Graveyard]]
|Legendary
|1837
| +19% Hunter Damage<br>+14% Bow Charging Speed
|Purchase ''[[Wild Boar Pack]]'' DLC
|-
!rowspan="2" colspan="1"|[[Brawler's Armor]]
|Common
|?
|rowspan="2" colspan="1"|(Randomized)
|rowspan="2" colspan="1"|Blacksmith, Loot
|-
|Rare
|?
|-
![[Breastplate of Kyros]]**
|Epic
|??
|(Randomized)
|Complete [[The Keeper and Kyros]]
|-
![[Bronze Chestplate]]
|Epic
|??
|(Randomized)
|Blacksmith, loot
|-
!rowspan="2" colspan="1"|[[Captain's Chest]]
|Rare
|740
| +13% Warrior Damage<br>+30% Total Armor
|Complete [[Lost and Found]]
|-
|Epic
|
|
|
|-
![[Celestial Torso]]
|Legendary
|3303
| +25% Assassin Damage<br>+50% Adrenaline on Assassination Kill
|Purchase ''[[Celestial Pack]]'' DLC
|-
!rowspan="3" colspan="1"|[[Champion's Breastplate]]
|Common
|??
|rowspan="3" colspan="1"|(Randomized)
|rowspan="3" colspan="1"|Blacksmith, Loot
|-
|Rare
|??
|-
|Epic
|??
|-
![[Chest Plate of the Underworld]]
|Legendary
|3633
| +25% Warrior Damage<br>+10 Seconds Burning Duration
|Purchase ''[[Underworld Mythical Pack]]'' DLC
|-
![[Chestplate of the Fallen]]**
|Legendary
|3633
| +25% Warrior Damage<br>Protects 10% max Health while in Tartaros Rifts
|Defeat [[Swordfish]]
|-
![[Conqueror's Breastplate]]
|Rare
|770
|(Randomized)
|Blacksmith, Loot.
|-
![[Crafted Bear Fur Armor]]
|Epic
|1084
| +14% Warrior Damage<br>+25% Damage on Animals<br>+30% Total Armor
|Complete [[Shroud of the Bear]]
|-
![[Cult Assassin Armor]]
|Rare
|2988
| +23% Warrior Damage<br>+20% Health
|Complete [[Death and Disorder]]
|-
![[Damais' Breastplate]]
|Epic
|1084
| +14% Warrior Damage<br>+30% Total Armor<br>+10% Damage with Heavy Weapons
|Defeat the mercenary [[Damais the Not-So-Indifferent]]
|-
![[Dark Steel Chestplate]]
|Epic
|1084
| +14% Warrior Damage<br>+10% Health<br>+10% Hunter Damage
|Blacksmith, Loot
|-
![[Demigod's Chestplate]]
|Legendary
|3633
| +25% Warrior Damage<br>+10% All Damage
|Defeat [[Alexios|Deimos]]
|-
![[Demosthenes' Battleplate]]
|Epic
|??
|(Randomized)
|Complete [[Swift as Wind]]
|-
![[Dikastes' Breastplate]]**
|Legendary
|??
| +?% Warrior Damage<br >+?% CRIT Damage
|Defeat the Atlantean [[Polemarch]] at the [[Doma of Elasippos]]
|-
![[Diokles' Armor]]
|Epic
|??
|
|Complete [[Dressing up for Charon]] and Lie
|-
![[Dusk Herald's Garment]]
|Rare
|940
| +13% Assassin Damage<br>+25% Adrenaline on Assassination Kill
|Purchase ''[[Herald of Dusk Pack]]'' DLC
|-
![[Entry Not Found (Abstergo Protective Vest)]]
|Legendary
|??
|??
|Purchase ''[[Abstergo Pack]]'' DLC
|-
![[Ezio's Roman Robe]]
|Legendary
|3303
| +25% Assassin Damage<br />+50% CRIT Damage
|Unlock [[Ezio's Roman Set]]
|-
![[First Civilization Breastplate]]**
|Epic
|??
|(Randomized)
|Blacksmith, Loot.
|-
![[Gratuitous Chest of the Thankful]]*
|Epic
|??
|??
|Complete [[Thank You, Misthios]]
|-
![[Guard of Time]]
|Epic
|1084
| +14% Warrior Damage<br>+10% Health<br>+30% Total Armor
|Purchase ''[[Kronos Pack]]'' DLC
|-
!rowspan="2" colspan="1"|[[Heavy Athenian Breastplate]]
|Rare
|649
|rowspan="2" colspan="1"|(Randomized)
|rowspan="2" colspan="1"|Blacksmith, Loot
|-
|Epic
|
|-
!rowspan="2" colspan="1"|[[Heavy Spartan Breastplate]]
|Rare
|??
|rowspan="2" colspan="1"|(Randomized)
|Blacksmith, Loot
|-
|Epic
|??
|Complete [[And the Streets Run Red]]
|-
![[Heitor's Breastplate]]
|Epic
|1084
| +14% Warrior Damage<br>+10% Health<br>+30% Total Armor
|Complete [[A Friend in Need...]]
|-
!rowspan="2" colspan="1"|[[Hunter's Outfit]]
|Rare
|??
|rowspan="2" colspan="1"|(Randomized)
|rowspan="2" colspan="1"|Blacksmith, Loot
|-
|Epic
|??
|-
![[Iaeira's Expedition Dress]]
|Epic
|3131
| +24% Hunter Damage<br>+50% CRIT Damage<br>+20% Damage with Bow Charged Shot
|Defeat the mercenary [[Iaeira the Overcomer]]
|-
!rowspan="3" colspan="1"|[[Isu Commander's Armor]]**
|Common
|??
|rowspan="3" colspan="1"|(Randomized)
|rowspan="3" colspan="1"|Blacksmith, Loot
|-
|Rare
|??
|-
|Epic
|??
|-
!rowspan="3" colspan="1"|[[Isu Myrmidon Breastplate]]**
|Common
|??
|rowspan="3" colspan="1"|(Randomized)
|rowspan="3" colspan="1"|Blacksmith, Loot
|-
|Rare
|??
|-
|Epic
|??
|-
!rowspan="3" colspan="1"|[[Isu Warden Breastplate]]**
|Common
|??
|rowspan="3" colspan="1"|(Randomized)
|rowspan="3" colspan="1"|Blacksmith, Loot
|-
|Rare
|??
|-
|Epic
|??
|-
![[Jason's Golden Fleece]]
|Legendary
|1040
| +15% Warrior Damage<br>+30% Total Armor
|Defeat the mercenary with the suffix "the Resplendent."
|-
![[Jordaneos' Breastplate]]
|Epic
|??
|??
|Loot a chest in the [[Salty Bandits]]
|-
![[King of the Forest]]
|Legendary
|1144
| +15% Warrior Damage<br>+10% Health
|Purchase ''[[Nemean Lion Pack]]'' DLC
|-
![[Lawgiver Chest Plate]]
|Legendary
|3633
| +25% Warrior Damage<br>+50% Elemental Buildup
|Purchase ''[[Lawgiver Pack]]'' DLC
|-
![[Lesbos Breastplate]]
|Rare
|??
|??
|Defeat [[Kodros]]
|-
!rowspan="2" colspan="1"|[[Light Athenian Armor]]
|Rare
|
|rowspan="2" colspan="1"|(Randomized)
|rowspan="2" colspan="1"|Blacksmith, Loot
|-
|Epic
|??
|-
![[Lover's Nest]]
|Epic
|
|
|
|-
![[Lysander's Chestplate]]
|Epic
|??
|(Randomized)
|Complete [[The Cost of War]]
|-
![[Magnificent Mycenaean Breastplate]]
|Rare
|3286
| +23% Warrior Damage<br>+30% Damage with Heavy Bladed Weapons
|Ubisoft Club
|-
![[Master Assassin's Robes]]*
|Legendary
|3303
| +25% Assassin Damage<br>+40% Poison Damage
|Eliminate [[Gaspar (Ancients)|Gaspar]]
|-
![[Master's Artemis Outfit]]
|Legendary
|1040
| +15% Hunter Damage<br>+10% Bow Charging Speed
|Complete [[The Kretan Bull]]
|-
![[Megaris Tunic]]
|Common
|721
| +12% Assassin Damage
|Complete [[A Journey into War]]
|-
!rowspan="3" colspan="1"|[[Mercenary Breastplate]]
|Common
|??
|rowspan="3" colspan="1"|(Randomized)
|rowspan="3" colspan="1"|Blacksmith, Loot
|-
|Rare
|??
|-
|Epic
|??
|-
![[Mighty Harness]]
|Legendary
|3633
| +25% Warrior Damage<br>+10 Seconds Burning Duration
|Purchase ''[[Herakles Pack]]'' DLC
|-
![[Minotaur Torso]]
|Rare
|940
| +13% Warrior Damage<br>+30% Total Armor
|Complete [[What Lies Below the Surface]]
|-
![[Misthios Tunic]]
|Common
|416
| +8% Warrior Damage
|Owned
|-
![[Odysseus Breastplate]]
|Legendary
|
|
|Purchase the ''[[Odysseus Pack]]'' DLC
|-
![[Olympian Breastplate]]
|Epic
|541
| +12% Hunter Damage<br>+8% Damage with Bow Charged Shot<br>+8% Bow Charged Speed
|Complete [[Throwing the Bet]]
|-
![[Order Soldier's Armor]]*
|Rare
|3286
| +23% Warrior Damage<br>10 Seconds Burning Duration
|Complete [[Answers from Ashes]]
|-
![[Pack Alpha Chest Guard]]*
|Rare
|??
| + % Warrior Damage<br>+ % Total Armor
|Complete [[The City that Cried Wolf]]
|-
![[Perikles' Armor]]
|Epic
|??
|
|Complete [[Athens's Last Hope]]
|-
![[Persian Elite Chest Guard]]*
|Legendary
|1923
| +19% Warrior Damage<br>+5% CRIT Damage
|Defeat [[Bubares]]
|-
!rowspan="2" colspan="1"|[[Persian Warrior Armor]]
|Rare
|3131
|rowspan="2" colspan="1"|(Randomized)
|rowspan="2" colspan="1"|Blacksmith, Loot.
|-
|Epic
|
|-
![[Physician's Linothorax]]
|Rare
|??
|??
|Complete [[Doctor's Pet]]
|-
![[Pilgrim's Garment]]
|Legendary
|1040
| +15% Assassin Damage<br>+25% Adrenaline on Assassination Kill
|Looted from legendary chest in the [[Temple of Athena Chalkioikos]]
|-
![[Pirate Armor]]
|Legendary
|1040
| +15% Assassin Damage<br>+25% Adrenaline on Assassination Kill
|Defeat [[The Octopus]].
|-
![[Pirate's Linothorax]]
|Rare
|2988
| +23% Hunter Damage<br>+30% Damage with Bow Charged Shot
|Purchase ''[[Aegean Pirate Pack]]'' DLC
|-
![[Plumage of Protection]]
|Legendary
|1144
| +15% Warrior Damage<br>+5% Adrenaline on Assassination Kill
|Purchase ''[[Pegasos Mythical Pack]]'' DLC
|-
![[Politician's Torso]]
|Rare
|2988
| +23% Assassin Damage<br>+20% Elemental Resistance
|Complete [[Designated Rider]]
|-
![[Radiant Breastplate]]
|Legendary
|3633
| +25% Warrior Damage<br>+20% Elemental Resistance
|Purchase the ''[[Helios Pack]]'' DLC
|-
![[Recruiter's Chest Guard]]*
|Rare
|??
| + % Assassin Damage<br>+ % Adrenaline on Assassination Kill
|Complete [[Revealing the Recruiter]]
|-
![[Restored Mycenaean Armor]]
|Epic
|??
| +12% Warrior Damage<br>+4 Seconds Burning Duration<br>+20% CRIT Damage
|Complete [[Keep the Faith]]
|-
![[Robes for Ritual]]
|Legendary
|1837
| +19% Assassin Damage<br>+35% CRIT Damage
|Purchase ''[[Dionysos Pack]]'' DLC
|-
![[Royal Atlantean Breastplate]]**
|Epic
|??
| + % Warrior Damage<br>+ % CRIT Damage<br>+ % Elemental Resistance
|Complete [[The Atlantean Patient]]
|-
![[Rusty Mycenaean Armor]]
|Rare
|??
|??
|Complete [[Origins of a Ritual]]
|-
![[Sacred Vestments]]
|Legendary
|3303
| +25% Hunter Damage<br>+20% Bow Charging Speed
|Purchase the ''[[Oracle Pack]]'' DLC
|-
![[Sapphire Linothorax]]
|Rare
|??
| +13% Assassin Damage<br>+25% Adrenaline on Assassination Kill
|Complete [[Photios's Pre-Tirement]]
|-
![[Sash of Athens]]
|Legendary
|??
|??
|Purchase ''[[Athena Pack]]'' DLC
|-
![[Scaled Torso]]
|Legendary
|??
| +15% Assassin Damage<br>+20% Poison Damage
|Defeat [[Elpenor]]<br>Complete [[Snake in the Grass]]
|-
![[Scrapped Cuirass]]
|Rare
|??
| +13% Hunter Damage<br>+10% Bow Charging Speed
|Complete [[Farm in Flames]]
|-
![[Silver Chestplate]]
|Rare
|??
|(Randomized)
|Loot, blacksmith
|-
![[Solar Breastplate]]**
|Epic
|??
| + % Hunter Damage<br>+ % Damage with Bow Charged Shot<br>+ % Bow Charging Speed
|Complete [[Lighten Up]]
|-
![[Spartan Breastplate]]
|Rare
|??
| +9% Hunter Damage<br>+8% Elemental Resistance
|Blacksmith, Loot
|-
![[Spartan Cuirass]]
|Rare
|834
| +13% Warrior Damage<br>+10% Damage with Heavy Weapons
|Complete [[A Treasury of Legends]]
|-
![[Spartan War Hero Armor]]
|Legendary
|3633
| +25% Warrior Damage<br>+50% CRIT Damage
|Defeat [[Skylax]]
|-
![[Tempered Chestplate of the Keeper]]*
|Epic
|??
|??
|Defeat [[Phratagounè]]
|-
![[Theseus' Breastplate]]
|Rare
|??
| +11% Warrior Damage<br>+25% Elemental Buildup
|Complete [[Recollections]]
|-
![[Thyia's Embrace]]
|Epic
|??
|??
|Complete [[Blood for Aphrodite]] (choose "Armor")
|-
![[Top of the Food Chain]]
|Legendary
|3633
| +25% Warrior Damage<br>+50% CRIT Damage
|Purchase ''[[Shark Pack]]'' DLC
|-
!rowspan="2" colspan="1"|[[Tracker's Cloak]]
|Rare
|??
|rowspan="2" colspan="1"|(Randomized)
|rowspan="2" colspan="1"|Blacksmith, Loot
|-
|Epic
|??
|-
![[Traveler's Garments]]
|Rare
|??
| +13% Hunter Damage<br>+10% Damage with Heavy Weapons
|Blacksmith, Loot.
|-
![[Veteran Breastplate]]
|Rare
|??
|??
|Complete [[Flowers for the Dead]]
|-
![[Watchman's Linothorax]]
|Epic
|??
| +14% Assassin Damge<br>+20% CRIT Damage<br>+20% Adrenaline on Assassination Kill
|Loot a chest in the [[Fort of the Aloades]]
|-
![[Wolfslayer's Breastplate]]
|Rare
|??
| + % Assassin damage<br>+ % Bow Charging Speed
|Complete [[A Legendary Hunt]]
|-
![[Wondrous Outfit]]
|??
|??
|??
|??
|}
<small>*Only available after downloading ''[[Legacy of the First Blade]]''</small><br>
<small>**Only available after downloading ''[[The Fate of Atlantis]]''</small>
 
====Waist Armor====
{|class="wikitable sortable" border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" width="100%" style="text-align:center;"
!width="5%" |Name
!width="5%" |Rarity
!width="5%" |Max Armor (Lvl 50)
!width="10%" |Attributes
!width="5%" |Availability
|-
![[Adventurer's Belt]]
|Common
|??
|??
|Complete [[A Family Ordeal]]
|-
![[Agamemnon's Waistband]]
|Legendary
|3633
| +25% Warrior Damage<br>+10 Seconds Burning Duration
|Defeat [[The Centaur of Euboea]]
|-
![[Agora Belt]]
|Rare
|1034
|(Randomized)
|Complete [[Citizenship Test]]
|-
![[Amazon's Tassets]]
|Legendary
|3633
| +25% Warrior Damage<br>+10% CRIT Chance
|Defeat [[Okytos]]
|-
![[Ancient King's Waistband]]
|Rare - Epic
|??
|(Randomized)
|Loot, Blacksmith
|-
![[Anh Ki's Excessively Heavy Waist]]
|Epic
|??
| +14% Warrior Damage<br>+20% Change to Ignore Half Damage<br>+20% Damage with Overpower Abilities
|Looted from legendary chest in the [[Tomb of the First Champion]]
|-
![[Arena Fighter's Waistband]]
|Legendary
|??
| + % Warrior Damage<br>+ % Damage with Overpower Abilities
|Obtained in the [[Pephka Arena]]
|-
![[Ariathate's Belt of Strength]]
|Epic
|1352
| +16% Warrior Damage<br>+12% Health<br>+36% Total Armor
|Defeat the mercenary [[Ariathate the Winner]]
|-
![[Assassin's Belt]]
|Rare - Epic
|653
|(Randomized)
|Blacksmith, Loot
|-
![[Athena Promachos Belt]]
|Legendary
|??
|??
|Purchase ''[[Athena Pack]]'' DLC
|-
![[Athenian Pteruges]]
|Epic
|1084
|(Randomized)
|Blacksmith, Loot
|-
![[Athenian Tassets]]
|Rare - Epic
|??
|(Randomized)
|Blacksmith, Loot.
|-
![[Athenian Waistband]]
|Common - Epic
|'''Epic:''' 1084
|(Randomized)
|Blacksmith, Loot
|-
![[Athenian War Hero Belt]]
|Legendary
|1040
| +15% Hunter Damage<br>+20% Headshot Damage
|Defeat [[Rhexenor]]<br>Complete [[A-Musing Tale]]
|-
![[Band of Dusk]]
|Rare
|1034
| +13% Assassin Damage<br>+20% Poison Damage
|Purchase ''[[Herald of Dusk Pack]]'' DLC
|-
![[Bandit Chief Belt]]
|Rare
|??
|??
|Complete [[Hostage Situation]]
|-
![[Belt of Abomination]]
|Legendary
|??
|??
|Defeat the [[Cyclops]]
|-
![[Belt of Ares]]
|Rare - Epic
|'''Rare:''' 940<br>'''Epic:''' 986
|'''Rare:''' +13% Assassin Damage<br>+25% Elemental Buildup
'''Epic:''' +14% Assassin Damage<br>+20% Damage with Overpower Abilities<br>+50% CRIT Damage while Low Health
|'''Rare:''' Conquest Battle reward, Loot<br>'''Epic:''' Complete [[Revenge Served Cold]].
|-
![[Belt of Before]]**
|Legendary
|??
| + % Assassin Damage<br>+ % CRIT Damage while Low Health
|Complete [[Give 'Em Hades]]
|-
![[Belt of the Sphinx]]
|Legendary
|1971
| +21% Hunter Damage<br>+16% CRIT Chance while Full Health
|Purchase ''[[Sphinx Pack]]'' DLC
|-
![[Belt of the Underworld]]
|Legendary
|1144
| +15% Warrior Damage<br>+20% Damage with Overpower Abilities
|Purchase ''[[Underworld Mythical Pack]]'' DLC
|-
![[Brawler's Waistband]]
|Rare - Epic
|??
|(Randomized)
|Blacksmith, Loot.
|-
![[Bronze Belt]]
|Epic
|1084
|(Randomized)
|Blacksmith, Loot.
|-
![[Carnivore's Supply]]
|Legendary
|2068
| +19% Warrior Damage<br>+8% CRIT Damage
|Purchase ''[[Shark Pack]]'' DLC
|-
![[Celestial Waist]]
|Legendary
|3303
| +25% Assassin Damage<br>+10% CRIT Chance
|Purchase ''[[Celestial Pack]]'' DLC
|-
![[Champion's Waistband]]
|Epic
|1084
| +14% Warrior Damage<br>+10% Health<br>+50% CRIT Damage while Low Health
|Blacksmith, Loot
|-
![[Conqueror's Waistband]]
|Rare
|??
|(Randomized)
|Blacksmith, Loot
|-
![[Cozy Dyed Belt]]*
|Epic
|??
|??
|Complete [[Safe Passage (Odyssey)|Safe Passage]]
|-
![[Demigod's Belt]]
|Legendary
|1144
| +15% Warrior Damage<br>+5% All Damage
|Defeat [[Alexios|Deimos]]
|-
![[Demosthenes' Belt]]
|Epic
|986
|(Randomized)
|Complete [[Creating Opportunity]]
|-
![[Dikastes' Belt]]**
|Legendary
|
| +?% Warrior Damage<br>+?% CRIT Chance
|Eliminate [[Skirtis]] at the [[Fortified Doma of Autochthonos]]
|-
![[Entry Not Found (Abstergo Utility Belt)]]
|Legendary
|??
|??
|Purchase ''[[Abstergo Pack]]'' DLC
|-
![[Exorbitant Belt of the Broker]]*
|Epic
|1914
| +18% Warrior Damage<br>+7 Seconds Burning Duration<br>+28% Chance to Ignore Half Damage
|Defeat [[Sophos]]
|-
![[Ezio's Roman Sash]]
|Legendary
|3303
| +25% Assassin Damage<br />+10% CRIT Chance
|Unlock [[Ezio's Roman Set]]
|-
![[Father Time]]
|Epic
|986
| +14% Warrior Damage<br>+15% Adrenaline per Hit<br>+20% Damage on Athenian Soldiers
|Purchase ''[[Kronos Pack]]'' DLC
|-
![[First Civilization Waistband]]**
|Epic
|??
|(Randomized)
|Blacksmith, Loot
|-
![[Healer's Sash]]
|Rare
|??
|??
|Complete [[Inheritance Insurance]]
|-
![[High Seas Belt]]
|Common
|??
|??
|Complete [[Crewless]]
|-
![[Hippolyta's Belt]]
|Legendary
|1040
| +15% Warrior Damage<br>+15% Melee Resistance
|Defeat mercenary with the suffix "the Frenzied"
|-
![[Hunter's Belt]]
|Epic
|765
|(Randomized)
|Blacksmith, Loot
|-
![[Isu Myrmidon Pteruges]]**
|Common - Epic
|??
|(Randomized)
|Blacksmith, Loot
|-
![[Isu Warden Waistband]]**
|Common - Epic
|??
|(Randomized)
|Blacksmith, Loot
|-
![[Kidnapper's Belt]]
|Rare
|??
|??
|Complete [[Gluten Free]]
|-
![[Kytheran Belt]]
|Rare
|??
|??
|Found during [[Pick Your Poison]]
|-
![[Lawgiver Belt]]
|Legendary
|3633
| +25% Warrior Damage<br>+40% Poison Damage
|Purchase ''[[Lawgiver Pack]]'' DLC
|-
![[Lysander's Belt]]
|Epic
|1084
|(Randomized)
|Complete [[Ambition]]
|-
![[Magnificent Mycenaean Belt]]
|Rare
|28
| +5% Warrior Damage<br>+1% CRIT Chance
|Ubisoft Club
|-
![[Master Assassin's Belt]]*
|Legendary
|
| +?% Assassin Damage<br>+?% Poison Damage
|Eliminate [[Artazostre]]
|-
![[Master's Artemis Belt]]
|Legendary
|1040
| +15% Hunter Damage<br>+15% Damage with Bows on Distant Targets
|Complete [[Kallisto the Bear (memory)|Kallisto the Bear]]
|-
![[Medicinal Sash]]
|Rare
|??
|??
|Complete [[Qamra, Medicine Woman]]
|-
![[Megarian Belt]]
|Common
|70
| +4% Warrior Damage
|Complete [[The Athenian Leader]]
|-
![[Mercenary Belt]]
|Common - Epic
|
'''Common:''' ??<br>'''Rare:''' 2988<br>'''Epic:''' 3131
|(Randomized)
|Blacksmith, Loot.
|-
![[Mighty Belt]]
|Legendary
|3633
| +25% Warrior Damage<br>+100% CRIT Damage while Full Health
|Purchase ''[[Herakles Pack]]'' DLC
|-
![[Misthios' Belt]]
|Common
|6
| +4% Warrior Damage
|Owned.
|-
![[Nesaia's Belt]]
|Epic
|986
| +14% Hunter Damage<br>+15% Adrenaline per Hit<br>+20% Damage with Overpower Abilities
|Defeat [[Nesaia]]<br>Complete [[The Last Hunt of Nesaia]]
|-
![[Odysseus Belt]]
|Legendary
|??
| +?% Hunter Damage<br>+?% CRIT Chance
|Purchase the [[Odysseus Pack]] DLC
|-
![[Olympic Belt]]
|Rare
|??
|??
|Complete [[Kallipateira]]
|-
![[Order Soldier's Waistband]]*
|Rare
|3286
| +23% Warrior Damage<br>+10% CRIT Chance
|Complete [[The Last Magi]]
|-
![[Pegasos' Embrace]]
|Legendary
|1144
| +15% Warrior Damage<br>+15% Adrenaline per Hit
|Purchase ''[[Pegasos Mythical Pack]]'' DLC
|-
![[Persian Elite Belt]]*
|Legendary
|1923
| +19% Warrior Damage<br>+1% CRIT Chance
|Defeat [[Akantha]]
|-
![[Persian Warrior Waistband]]
|Epic
|986
| +14% Hunter Damage<br>+40% CRIT Damage while Low Health<br>+20% Damage with Overpower Abilities
|Loot
|-
![[Pilgrim's Belt]]
|Legendary
|1040
| +15% Assassin Damage<br>+25% Adrenaline on Assassination Kill
|Looted from legendary chest in the [[Ruins of Artemis]]
|-
![[Pirate Waistband]]
|Legendary
|1040
| +15% Assassin Damage<br>+5% CRIT Chance
|Defeat [[Sokos]].
|-
![[Pirate's Girdle]]
|Rare
|155
| +7% Hunter Damage<br>+10% Headshot Damage
|Purchase ''[[Aegean Pirate Pack]]'' DLC
|-
![[Radiant Belt]]
|Legendary
|3633
| +25% Warrior Damage<br>+20% Damage with Overpower Abilities
|Purchase the ''[[Helios Pack]]'' DLC
|-
![[Restored Mycenaean Waistband]]
|Epic
|775
| +12% Warrior Damage<br>+4 Seconds Burning Duration<br>+4% CRIT Chance
|Complete [[Keep the Faith]]
|-
![[Rusty Mycenaean Waistband]]
|Rare
|??
|??
|Complete [[Chasing Phantoms]]
|-
![[Sacred Waistband]]
|Legendary
|3033
| +25% Hunter Damage<br>+50% Headshot Damage
|Purchase the ''[[Oracle Pack]]'' DLC
|-
![[Silver Belt]]
|Epic
|??
|??
|??
|-
![[Skeletal Remains]]
|Legendary
|1837
| +19% Hunter Damage<br>+21% Damage with Bows on Distant Targets
|Purchase ''[[Wild Boar Pack]]'' DLC
|-
![[Slithering Belt]]
|Legendary
|3303
| +25% Assassin Damage<br>+40% Poison Damage
|Defeat [[Sotera]]
|-
![[Smuggled Belt]]
|Rare
|??
|??
|Complete [[Port of Lawlessness]]
|-
![[Spartan Belt]]
|Rare
|700
| +13% Hunter Damage<br>+15% Adrenaline per Hit
|Complete [[Brothers in Arms]]
|-
![[Spartan Waistband]]
|Rare - Epic
|'''Epic:''' 986
|(Randomized)
|Blacksmith, Loot, Complete [[Not My Mother's Daughter]]
|-
![[Spartan War Hero Belt]]
|Legendary
|1144
| +15% Warrior Damage<br>+20% Damage with Overpower Abilities
|Complete [[Judge, Jury, Executioner (Odyssey)|Judge, Jury, Executioner]]
|-
![[The Lion's Snare]]
|Legendary
|1144
| +15% Warrior Damage<br>+50% CRIT Damage while Full Health
|Purchase ''[[Nemean Lion Pack]]'' DLC
|-
![[Theseus' Belt]]
|Rare
|1034
| +13% Warrior Damage<br>+25% Elemental Buildup
|Complete [[Bare It All]]
|-
![[Tracker's Belt]]
|Rare
|??
|(Randomized)
|Blacksmith, Loot
|-
![[Traveler's Belt]]
|Rare<br>Epic
|
|(Randomized)
|Blacksmith, Loot
|-
![[Traveler's Pouches]]
|Rare
|1034
| +13% Warrior Damage<br>+10% Damage on Animals
|Complete [[Sins of the Past]]
|-
![[Waistband of Achilles]]
|Legendary
|958
| +15% Warrior Damage<br>+5% CRIT Chance
|Defeat [[Okytos]]
|-
![[Waistband of the Fallen]]**
|Legendary
|3303
| +25% Assassin Damage<br>Protects 10% max Health while in Tartaros Rifts
|Defeat [[Epiktetos]]
|-
![[Waistband of the Immortal]]
|Legendary
|1144
| +15% Warrior Damage<br>+5% CRIT Chance
|Defeat [[Melite]]
|-
![[Weight of War]]
|Legendary
|1040
| +15% Warrior Damage<br>+5% CRIT Chance
|Purchase ''[[Spartan Renegade Pack]]'' DLC.
|-
![[Wine Waistband]]
|Legendary
|1837
| +19% Assassin Damage<br>+60% CRIT Damage while Full Health
|Purchase ''[[Dionysos Pack]]'' DLC
|-
!
[[Wondrous Belt]]
|??
|??
|??
|??
|}
<small>*Only available after downloading ''[[Legacy of the First Blade]]''</small><br>
<small>**Only available after downloading ''[[The Fate of Atlantis]]''</small>
 
====Leg Armor====
{|class="wikitable sortable" border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" width="100%" style="text-align:center;"
!width="5%" |Name
!width="5%" |Rarity
!width="5%" |Max Armor (Lvl 99)
!width="10%" |Attributes
!width="5%" |Availability
|-
![[Ancient King's Boots]]
|Rare
|??
|(Randomized)
|Blacksmith, Loot
|-
![[Arkadian Guard Boots]]
|Rare
|??
|??
|Complete [[Breaking Bread]]
|-
![[Assassin's Greaves]]
|Rare
|??
|(Randomized)
|Blacksmith, Loot
|-
![[Astra's Boots]]
|Epic
|??
|??
|Eliminate [[Astra]]
|-
!rowspan="2" colspan="1"|[[Athenian Buskins]]
|Rare
|??
|rowspan="2" colspan="1"|(Randomized)
|rowspan="2" colspan="1"|Blacksmith, Loot
|-
|Epic
|??
|-
![[Athenian Greaves]]
|Epic
|??
|(Randomized)
|Blacksmith, Loot
|-
!rowspan="2" colspan="1"|[[Athenian Sandals]]
|Rare
|??
|rowspan="2" colspan="1"|(Randomized)
|rowspan="2" colspan="1"|Blacksmith, Loot
|-
|Epic
|??
|-
![[Athenian Shoes]]
|Epic
|??
|(Randomized)
|Blacksmith, Loot
|-
!rowspan="2" colspan="1"|[[Bandit Sandals]]
|Rare
|??
|rowspan="2" colspan="1"|(Randomized)
|rowspan="2" colspan="1"|Blacksmith, Loot
|-
|Epic
|??
|-
![[Battlefield Boots]]**
|Epic
|??
|??
|Complete [[I Don't Belong Here]]
|-
![[Boeotian Greaves]]
|Rare
|??
|??
|Complete [[The Stolen Steed]]
|-
!rowspan="2" colspan="1"|[[Boots of Ares]]
|Rare
|??
|rowspan="2" colspan="1"|(Randomized)
|rowspan="2" colspan="1"|Blacksmith, Loot
|-
|Epic
|??
|-
!rowspan="2" colspan="1"|[[Brawler's Boots]]
|Rare
|??
|rowspan="2" colspan="1"|(Randomized)
|rowspan="2" colspan="1"|Blacksmith, Loot
|-
|Epic
|??
|-
![[Bronze Boots]]
|Rare
|??
|(Randomized)
|Blacksmith, loot
|-
![[Champion's Greaves]]
|Epic
|??
|??
|??
|-
![[Conqueror's Greaves]]
|Rare
|??
|(Randomized)
|Blacksmith, Loot
|-
![[Demigod's Boots]]
|Legendary
|??
|??
|Defeat [[Alexios|Deimos]]
|-
![[Demosthenes' Greaves]]
|Epic
|??
|??
|Complete [[The Wise Warrior]]
|-
![[Dikastes' Greaves]]**
|Legendary
|??
|??
|Eliminate [[Legoras]]
|-
![[Euboea Boots]]*
|Epic
|??
|??
|Complete [[The Taxman Cometh]]
|-
![[First Civilization Greaves]]**
|Epic
|??
|(Randomized)
|Blacksmith, Loot
|-
![[Greaves of Grieving]]*
|Rare
|??
|??
|Complete [[Whimpers Through the Fog]]
|-
![[Greaves of the Arena]]
|Epic
|??
|??
|Complete [[They Just Want Cruelty]]
|-
![[Greek Sandals]]
|Rare
|??
|(Randomized)
|Blacksmith, Loot
|-
!rowspan="2" colspan="1"|[[Heavy Athenian Greaves]]
|Rare
|??
|rowspan="2" colspan="1"|(Randomized)
|rowspan="2" colspan="1"|Blacksmith, Loot
|-
|Epic
|??
|-
!rowspan="3" colspan="1"|[[Heavy Spartan Greaves]]
|Common
|??
|rowspan="3" colspan="1"|(Randomized)
|rowspan="3" colspan="1"|Blacksmith, Loot
|-
|Rare
|??
|-
|Epic
|??
|-
![[Hermes' Greaves]]**
|Legendary
|??
|??
|Complete [[A Life for a Life]]
|-
!rowspan="2" colspan="1"|[[Hunter's Treads (Rare)]]
|Rare
|??
|rowspan="2" colspan="1"|(Randomized)
|rowspan="2" colspan="1"|Blacksmith, Loot
|-
|Epic
|??
|-
![[Isu Commander's Boots]]**
|Epic
|??
|(Randomized)
|Blacksmith, Loot
|-
! rowspan="3" colspan="1"|[[Isu Myrmidon Boots]]**
|Common
|??
| rowspan="3" colspan="1"|(Randomized)
| rowspan="3" colspan="1"|Blacksmith, Loot
|-
|Rare
|??
|-
|Epic
|??
|-
! rowspan="3" colspan="1"|[[Isu Vanguard Greaves]]**
|Common
|??
| rowspan="3" colspan="1"|(Randomized)
| rowspan="3" colspan="1"|Blacksmith, Loot
|-
|Rare
|??
|-
|Epic
|??
|-
! rowspan="3" colspan="1"|[[Isu Warden Treads]]**
|Common
|??
| rowspan="3" colspan="1"|(Randomized)
| rowspan="3" colspan="1"|Blacksmith, Loot
|-
|Rare
|??
|-
|Epic
|??
|-
![[Journey Shoes]]
|Rare
|??
|??
|Complete [[Ostracized]]
|-
![[Kythera Greaves]]
|Rare
|??
|??
|Complete [[I, Diona]]
|-
![[Lightweight Isu Treads]]**
|Epic
|??
|??
|Complete [[No Good Deed]]
|-
![[Master Assassin's Boots]]*
|Legendary
|1817
| +25% Assassin Damage<br>+10 Seconds Intoxicated Duration
|??
|-
!rowspan="2" colspan="1"|[[Mercenary Boots]]
|Rare
|??
|rowspan="2" colspan="1"|(Randomized)
|rowspan="2" colspan="1"|Blacksmith, Loot
|-
|Epic
|??
|-
![[Olympic Sandals]]
|Rare
|??
|??
|Complete [[Gutter Runner]]
|-
![[Patched Bandit Greaves]]
|Epic
|??
|(Randomized)
|Blacksmith, Loot
|-
!rowspan="2" colspan="1"|[[Persian Warrior Boots]]
|Rare
|??
|rowspan="2" colspan="1"|(Randomized)
|rowspan="2" colspan="1"|Blacksmith, Loot
|-
|Epic
|1895
|-
![[Pit Fighter's Boots]]
|Legendary
|??
|??
|[[Pephka Arena]]
|-
!rowspan="2" colspan="1"|[[Plated Greaves]]
|Rare
|??
|rowspan="2" colspan="1"|(Randomized)
|rowspan="2" colspan="1"|Blacksmith, Loot
|-
|Epic
|??
|-
![[Racing Greaves]]
|Rare
|??
|??
|Complete [[Foot Race]]
|-
![[Regal Greaves]]
|Rare
|??
|??
|Complete [[Kings of Sparta]]
|-
![[Restored Mycenaean Boots]]
|Epic
|??
|??
|Complete [[Keep the Faith]]
|-
![[Royal Atlantean Greaves]]**
|Epic
|??
|??
|Complete [[Rebel Scum]]
|-
![[Runner's Sandals]]
|Epic
|??
|??
|Loot the chest in the [[Leader House, Messara|Leader House]] in [[Gortyn]]
|-
![[Rusty Mycenaean Boots]]
|Rare
|??
|??
|Complete [[A Life's Dedication]]
|-
![[Silver Boots]]
|Epic
|??
|(Randomized)
|Blacksmith, Loot
|-
![[Spartan Buskins]]
|Epic
|??
|(Randomized)
|Blacksmith, Loot
|-
!rowspan="2" colspan="1"|[[Spartan Greaves]]
|Epic
|??
|rowspan="2" colspan="1"|(Randomized)
|rowspan="2" colspan="1"|Blacksmith, Loot
|-
|Epic
|??
|-
!rowspan="2" colspan="1"|[[Sunken Greaves]]
|Rare
|??
|rowspan="2" colspan="1"|(Randomized)
|rowspan="2" colspan="1"|Blacksmith, Loot
|-
|Epic
|??
|-
![[Tax Collector Greaves]]
|Rare
|??
|??
|Complete [[Death and Taxes]]
|-
![[Theseus' Greaves]]
|Rare
|??
|??
|Complete [[Full Circle]]
|-
![[Tracker's Boots]]
|Epic
|??
|(Randomized)
|Blacksmith, Loot
|-
!rowspan="2" colspan="1"|[[Traveler's Boots]]
|Rare
|??
|rowspan="2" colspan="1"| (Randomized)
|rowspan="2" colspan="1"|Blacksmith, Loot
|-
|Rare
|??
|-
![[Wine-Making Boots]]
|Rare
|??
|??
|Complete [[Old Friends, Old Problems]]
|-
|}


===Sword===
Somehow within a few days, Yasuke has entered Nobunaga's service. Within a month, he's gone to Nobunaga's castle town. There's another Jesuit record from there. And there's a Japanese record from there as well that says how much Nobunaga enjoyed talking to him, that he gave him a house, that he gave him a sword. And that's where the idea that he became a samurai comes into it.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 04"/>
{|class="wikitable sortable" border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" width="100%" style="text-align:center;"
!width="5%" |Name
!width="5%" |Rarity
!width="5%" |DPS (Lvl 99)
!width="10%"|Attributes
!width="5%" |Availability
|-
![[Champion's Blade]]
|Rare
|7469
|??
|Complete [[Legend No More]]
|-
![[Hygieia's Shadow Blade]]
|Epic
|7829
|??
|Defeat the mercenary [[Hygieia the Sword]]
|-
![[Spartan Training Sword]]
|Rare
|7469
|??
|Complete [[Training Days]]
|-
![[Tyche's Folly]]
|Epic
|7829
| ?
|Complete [[Evening the Odds]] by keeping the blade
|-
|}


===Short blade===
There's another record of their first audience where Nobunaga gifts him what is essentially 30 kilos of coins. And you can imagine that as a kind of joke as well. Give the strong man 30 kilos worth of money and see if he can actually carry it. It doesn't say whether he carried it away on his own or not, but that was a lot of money.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 04"/>
{| class="wikitable sortable" border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" width="100%" style="text-align:center;"
! width="5%" |Name
! width="5%" |Rarity
! width="5%" |DPS (Max Level 99)
! width="5%" |Default Engravings
! width="5%" |Availability
|-
![[Dagger of Messara]]
|Rare
|??
| +13% Assassin Damage<br />+5% All Damage
|Complete [[It's Complicated]]
|-
![[Nymph's Blade]]
|Rare
|??
| +13% Assassin Damage<br />+8% Poison Damage
|Complete [[Age is Just a Number]]
|-
![[Thyia's Gift]]
|Epic
|??
| +18% Assassin Damage<br />+21% Damage with Daggers<br />+28% Adrenaline per CRIT
|Complete [[Blood for Aphrodite]] (choose "Weapons")
|-
|}


===Heavy weapon===
So Yasuke was there at Nobunaga's death. He possibly was the last person to see him alive. Nobunaga was killed in a coup d'etat, essentially. He was heading to the front with this small corps of men over which Yasuke was one, around 30 people. And one of his generals, basically, we still don't know to this day why, he brought his whole army of 13,000 and attacked. They were all gunned down, essentially. Nobunaga, with Yasuke and his lover, [Mori] Ranmaru, come into the middle of the temple where their last moments are held. The temple's on fire around them. And Nobunaga really is going to know what happened in that room because there's only three people and they all died, except for Yasuke. But we only know that Yasuke survived because the Jesuits recorded as such. We don't know what he saw, unfortunately. The normal legend goes Nobunaga cut his belly, Ranmaru took his head off as his second, and then one supposes that Ranmaru then cut his belly and Yasuke took off Ranmaru's head. And the supposed last order is Yasuke save my head. Yasuke runs with the head to Nobunaga's son, who is probably about five to ten minutes walk away, very close, in a different temple. So about to be attacked. Also just putting up the defenses for a last ditch stand. Of course, that doesn't last very long. He's dead within the hour or so. And all we know from the Jesuit source, there are no more Japanese sources, all we know from the Jesuit source is that Yasuke was there at the last. He was one of the few survivors. He was taken prisoner. He surrendered his sword. And he was then escorted to the Jesuit mission, which was again only five minutes walk away. This is a very small area of Kyoto where all this happens. The Jesuits give thanks to God for his deliverance.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 04"/>
====Heavy blunts====
{|class="wikitable sortable" border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" width="100%" style="text-align:center;"
!width="5%"|Name
!width="5%"|Rarity
!width="5%"|DPS (Max Lvl 99)
!width="10%"|Attributes
!width="5%"|Availability
|-
![[Archer's Mace]]
|Rare
|7469
| ??
|Complete [[Waiting for Galarnos]]
|-
![[Boeotian Rhapsody]]
|Epic
|7829
| + % Warrior Damage<br>+ % Adrenaline per Hit<br>+ % All Damage
|Loot a chest at the [[Akropolis of Thebes]]
|-
![[Champion's Mace]]
|Rare
|7469
| ??
| Complete [[Legend No More]]
|-
![[Cursed Mace of Herakles]]**
|Legendary
|8257
| + % Warrior Damage<br>+ % Damage with Heavy Blunt Weapons<br>Tamed beasts deal Fire Damage
|Defeat [[Herakles]]
|-
![[Dumontos' Kolossos Mace]]
|Epic
|7829
| + % Warrior Damage<br>+ % Damage on Animals<br>+ % Damage on Athenian Soldiers
|Loot the chest at [[Lake Poseidon]]
|-
![[Mace of Atlantis]]
|Epic
|7829
|??
|Complete [[The Gates of Atlantis]]
|-
![[Mace of Chalkis]]
|Rare
|7469
|??
|Complete [[Sharp Tongue]]
|-
![[Mace of the Rebellion]]**
|Epic
|7829
| + % Warrior Damage<br>+ % Damage on Isu<br>+ % Damage with Heavy Blunt Weapons
|Complete [[Free Their Minds, the Rest Will Follow]]
|-
![[Mace of the Sphinx]]
|Epic
|7829
| + % Assassin Damage<br>+ % Damage with Heavy Blunt Weapons<br>+ % Fire Damage
|Complete [[Awaken the Myth]]
|-
![[Markos' Tenderizer]]
|Epic
|7829
|??
|Loot a chest in [[Aristocratic Residences]]
|-
![[Minotaur Mace]]
|Rare
|7469
| + % Assassin Damage<br>+ % CRIT Damage while Full Health
|Complete [[What Lies Below the Surface]]
|-
![[Monger's Dominator]]**
|Epic
|7829
| + % Warrior Damage<br>+ % Damage with Heavy Blunt Weapons<br>+ % Adrenaline per CRIT
|Defeat [[The Monger]]
|-
![[Poultry Pestle]]
|Epic
|7829
|??
|Loot a chest at [[Alektryon's Rest]]
|-
![[Self-Defense Mace]]
|Rare
|7469
|??
|Complete [[Takes Drachmae to Make Drachmae]]
|-
![[Testikles' Nutcracker]]**
|Epic
|7829
| + % Warrior Damage<br>+ % Damage on Spartan Soldiers<br>+ % Damage with Heavy Blunt Weapons
|Defeat [[Testikles]]
|-
|}


====Heavy blades====
===[[Hattori Hanzō]]===
{|class="wikitable sortable" border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" width="100%" style="text-align:center;"
Many of them [Iga warriors] went to work for a retainer of Tokugawa Iyasu who has become famous in kind of ninja lore, man by the name of Hattori Hanzo. And Hattori Hanzo had family ties to Iga. He's often referred to or portrayed as in pop culture as a ninja, but he was a samurai retainer, a warrior just like many of the warriors that fought for any of the Daimyo of this period. He appears in most of Tokugawa Iyasu's battles until Hanzo dies in 1590s. He is considered one of Tokugawa Iyasu's closest retainers, but because through his family ties, he had a knowledge base of these sort of unconventional guerilla tactics. He also had through those ties, the ability to kind of act as a landing place for many of these men of Iga. And so many of them went to work for Tokugawa Ieyasu under the command of Hattori Hanzo.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 06">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 6: The Tensho Iga War</ref>
!width="5%"|Name
!width="5%"|Rarity
!width="5%"|DPS (Max Lvl 99)
!width="10%"|Attributes
!width="5%"|Availability
|-
![[Alkibiades' Axe]]
|Rare
|7469
| + % Assassin Damage<br>+ % Damage with Heavy Bladed Weapons
|Complete [[Handle with Care]]
|-
![[Ancient Axe]]
|Rare
|7469
| + % Warrior Damage<br>+ % All Damage
|Blacksmith, Loot
|-
![[Arkalochori Axe]]
|Rare
|7469
| + % Hunter Damage<br>+ % Adrenaline per Hit
|Complete [[The Lost Arkalochori Axe]]
|-
![[Axe of Deprivation]]**
|Epic
|7829
| + % Warrior Damage<br>+ % Fire Damage<br>+ % Damage with Heavy Bladed Weapons
|Complete [[Lost, but Not Forgotten]]
|-
![[Champion's Axe]]
|Epic
|7829
| + % Hunter Damage<br>+ % Damage with Heavy Bladed Weapons
|Complete [[Legend No More]]
|-
![[Elysian Axe]]
|Legendary
|8257
| + % Hunter Damage<br>+ % All Damage<br>+ % Damage with Rain of Destruction Ability
|Defeat [[Polemon]]
|-
![[Hades' Executioner]]**
|Legendary
|8257
| + % Assassin Damage<br>+ % Fire Damage<br>CRIT Chance now affects Elemental Buildup
|Defeat [[Hades]]
|-
![[Harvest Axe]]
|Rare
|7469
| + % Hunter Damage<br>+ % Damage on Athenian Soldiers
|Complete [[Fourth-Degree Burns]]
|-
![[Klytaimnestra's Battle Axe]]**
|Epic
|7829
|??
|Defeat [[Iphigenia]]
|-
![[Markos' Gift]]
|Epic
|7829
| + % Hunter Damage<br>+ % Warrior Damage<br>+ % CRIT Damage
|Complete [[Markos's Fate]]
|-
![[Minotaur's Labrys]]
|Legendary
|2599
| +15% Warrior Damage<br>+25% CRIT Damage<br>-1 Adrenaline Cost for Overpower Abilities
|Defeat the [[Minotaur]]
|-
![[Mycenaean Axe]]
|Rare
|7829
| + % Warrior Damage<br>+ % CRIT Damage
|Ubisoft Club
|-
![[Paros Axe]]
|Rare
|7469
| + % Assassin Damage<br>+ % CRIT Damage
|Complete [[Quarry Quandary]]
|-
![[Spartan Grain Scythe]]
|Rare
|7469
| + % Assassin Damage<br>+ % CRIT Damage
|Complete [[A Godless Blight]]
|-
|}


===Staff===
There's actually a gate of what is now the Imperial Palace in Tokyo, but underneath the Tokugawa Shoguns was the Shogun's Palace. One of the gates is named the Hanzo Mon, the Gate of Hanzo, the Hanzo Gate. And this is because Hattori Hanzo and the men of Iga that he recruited acted as a special guard force for the Tokugawa Shoguns.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 06"/>
{| class="wikitable sortable" border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" width="100%" style="text-align:center;"
! width="5%" |Name
! width="5%" |Rarity
! width="5%" |DPS (Lvl 99)
! width="10%"|Engravements
! width="5%" |Availability
|-
![[Agapios' Staff]]
|Rare
|
| +11% Hunter Damage<br />+12% Damage with staffs
|Complete [[Wasn't Born the Kingfisher]]
|-


!rowspan="2" |[[Battle Staff]]
{{Reflist}}
|Rare
|
|rowspan="2" |(Randomised)
|rowspan="2" |[[Blacksmith]], Loot
|-
|Epic
|
|-
!rowspan="3" |[[Ceremonial Staff (Odyssey)|Ceremonial Staff]]
|Common
|
|rowspan="3" |(Randomised)
|rowspan="3" |[[Blacksmith]], Loot
|-
|Rare
|
|-
|Epic
|
|-
![[Theo's Royal Scepter]]
|Epic
|
| +% Warrior Damage<br>+% Fire Damage<br>+% CRIT Damage
|Loot the chest in [[Grand Temple of Apollo]]
|-
|}


===Spear===
-->
{|class="wikitable sortable" border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" width="100%" style="text-align:center;"
!width="5%"|Name
!width="5%"|Rarity
!width="5%"|DPS (Max Lvl 99)
!width="10%"|Attributes
!width="5%"|Availability
|-
![[Arena Champion's Spear]]**
|Epic
|7829
| + % Hunter Damage<br />+ % Adrenaline per CRIT<br />+ % CRIT Damage
|Complete [[Crowd Pleaser]]
|-
![[Cursed Spear of Achilles]]**
|Legendary
|8257
| + % Warrior Damage<br />+ % Damage with Spears<br />+10% Damage per Enemy Engaged (up to 50%)
|Defeat [[Achilles]]
|-
![[Kolossi's Pilum]]**
|Epic
|7829
| + % Warrior Damage<br />+ % Damage with Spears<br />+ % Adrenaline per Hit
| Complete [[The Beacons Are Lit]]
|-
![[Master of Waters]]
|Epic
|7829
| +14% Hunter Damage<br />+20% Adrenaline per CRIT<br />5% CRIT Chance
|
|-
![[Skoura's Spear]]
|Epic
|7829
| + % Assassin Damage<br />+ % CRIT Damage<br />+ % Damage on Spartan Soldiers
|Complete [[Heroes of the Arena]]<br />Defeat [[Skoura]]
|-
![[Spartan Spear]]
|Epic
|
|
|Complete [[Sacred Favors]]
|-
![[Spear of the Aegean]]**
|Epic
|7829
| + % Assassin Damage<br />+ % Damage with Spears<br />+ % Damage on Isu
|Defeat [[Atalanta]]
|-
![[Spear of the Waiting Dead]]**
|Epic
|7829
| + % Hunter Damage<br />+ % Adrenaline per Hit<br />+ % All Damage
|Complete [[Death-Light Robbery]]
|-
![[Swordfish Spear]]
|Rare
|7469
| + % Warrior Damage<br />+ % Damage with Spears
|Complete [[Catch and Release]]
|-
![[The Harvester of Time]]
|Epic
|7829
| + % Warrior Damage<br />+ % Damage with Spears<br />+ % CRIT Damage
|Purchase the ''[[Kronos Pack]]'' DLC
|-
|}
 
===Bow===
{|class="wikitable sortable" border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" width="100%" style="text-align:center;"
!width="5%" |Name
!width="5%" |Rarity
!width="5%" |Max DPS (Lvl 99)
!width="10%"|Attributes
!width="5%" |Availability
|-
![[Rebellion Bow]]**
|Epic
|6808
| + % Hunter Damage<br />+ % Damage on Isu<br />+ % Bow Charging Speed
|Complete [[Free Their Minds, the Rest Will Follow]]
|-
![[Recurve Bow]]
|Rare
|6495
| + % Hunter Damage<br />+ % Bow Charging Speed
|Purchase ''[[Athenian Weapons Digital Pack]]'' DLC
|-
|}

Latest revision as of 16:12, 8 June 2026

My primary sandbox.

Sigh[edit | edit source]

User:Nygma PI/Sandbox Assassin's Creed: Entre voyages, vérités et complots

Destroyer Samurai, Onnamusha Kosode -> Destroyer Samurai Armor, Legendary Onna-musha Kosode

ACL notes[edit | edit source]

  • Cutlass, Queen Anne Pistol are default
  • Dressing chamber in smugglers' camp also does not have the same name as the ones in new orleans.
  • A Slave in Trouble
    • Cartographer's Watch (PW1)
    • Sword (1508 écu)
    • All outfit colors (1500 écu)
  • The Safe House
    • Animus memory notes: "Since the disappearance of her mother, Aveline has been raised by Madeleine de L'Isle. With the realization that they shared similar views on slavery, the bond between the two women grow stronger." (Appears after end of memory)
  • The Escape
    • "Two years have passed since Aveline disposed of Governor d'Abbadie. During that time, she found no trace of the man called de Ferrer, yet his plans continue to threaten New Orleans' population."
  • The Loas Guide You
    • Engraved Watch (PW2)
  • By Meet the Smugglers (did not check weapon shop during The Loas Guide You)
    • Cuttoe Sword (3120)
    • Pocket Pistol (20000)
    • Double-Barreled Pistol (10000)
  • After Citizen E (1)
  • The Whole Truth
    • "The revelation that Agaté knew her mother Jeanne - a fact he chose to keep from her - strained the relationship between mentor and mentee. With de Ferrer back in New Orleans, Aveline redoubles her efforts to protect its citizens."
  • Prélude to Rebellion
    • Trade system: New Orleans and Havana unlocked. Only cotton is available. Barque, brigantine, galleon and schooner available as ships.
  • After memory concludes, but before next one begins:
    • Pourpre Rosa Watch and Gentleman's Watch (4375,6250)
    • Hatchet (16380)
    • Chimbuya Axe (16860)
    • Machete (16640)
    • Colichemarde (18040)
    • Naval Axe (21240)
    • Dual Pistols (20000)
    • Trade system: Tobacco available.
  • Elegant and Deadly
    • Aveline's shops offer the outfits for 1000, and the hood for 500, small fast poison pouch 4k, small cartridge pouch 750, small smoke bomb 1200 [Did not check when pouches first became available, small fast poison pouch 8k, small cartridge pouch 1500, small smoke bomb 2400]
    • After taking care of her father's business troubles, Aveline sets out to uncover the truth behind the mysterious disappearances of slaves and vagrants.
    • M. Reynaud's Bypass and M. de Vandal's Harbor available
    • Owned weapon shop prices: hatchet 8190, chimbuya axe 8430, sword 754, cuttoe sword 1560, machete 8320, colichemarde 9020, naval axe 10620, dual pistols 10k, pocket pistol 10k, double barred pistol 5k
    • Trade system: Veracruz made available, Fruits available






  • Confident that Governor Ulloa is behind the disappearances in New Orleans, Aveline puts her plan in motion to lure him out of La Balise, which he seldom leaves.
  • Firm in her belief and confident that she can put an end to the machinations of her enemies, Aveline disobeys Agaté and boards a slave ship bound to an unknown location. This decision further strays their relationship.
  • With de Ferrer dead and the slave colony free, Aveline travels back to New Orleans. Upon her return, she finds a world very different than the one she had left. Yet, the identity of the Company Man remains a mystery.

CST[edit | edit source]

Glyphs[edit | edit source]

HM

HMM

HMMM

In the Beginning

Five of these mythic scenes share a core similarity. Pick them out and you'll begin to see. [Pictures 3,5,6,7,9]

Passcode found 2 4 5 6 8

Sixty-Four Squares
  • Subject 16: The past: a vast web of connections and interconnections, all ruled by chance. Or is it?
[circular puzzle] Queen Elizabeth I of England 1559 ID: Piece of Eden 2 - Apple [circular puzzle] Emperor Napoleon I of France 1812 ID: Piece of Eden 1 - Apple [circular puzzle] George Washington United States 1781 ID: Piece of Eden 3 - Apple Passcode found 1 0 3 5 2

Descendants
  • Subject 16: Power doesn't die. It's passed on.
He carried it with him. Find his inheritance. [image, locate Piece of Eden 3] Franklin Delano Roosevelt strategic meeting, 1944 [image, locate Piece of Eden 1] Houdini beginning the Chinese water torture cell escape, 1913 [image, locate Piece of Eden 2] Gandhi during the Salt March, 1930 Passcode found 1 4 5 2 3

Infinite Knowledge
  • Subject 16: It's getting easier and easier to hack into Abstergo's mainframe. It's like I know what data I'm looking for. Like I've already lived it.
Its open mouth delivers the kiss of death [image, locate hidden image in the gun's barrel] Burning Viet Cong base camp, My Tho, Vietnam, 1968 Leading the young to their end. [image, locate hidden image in helmet of crouching soldier] Members of the 2nd Infantry Division advance under machine gun fire into the outskirts of Brest, France, 1944 The flames from its throat poke out their eyes [image, locate ID: Piece of Eden 4 - Apple on tapestry] Union troops in formation. Beaufort, South Carolina, 1862. This monster did not come from man. [image, locate hidden image in the gun's barrel] The first pictorial representation of a gun, 900 Passcode found 7 2 1 1 4

Instruments of Power
  • Subject 16: You see? Do you see what's going on? Not yet. But you will.
The power they wielded cut down their enemies. [Pictures 2, 3, 6, 8, 9] ID: Piece of Eden 25 - Sword In their hands, the wise lean on a great force. [Pictures 3, 6, 8, 9, 10] ID: Piece of Eden 34 - Staff Passcode Found 8 1 4 9 2

Brothers
  • Subject 16: They were mostly heroes. But see, how the lineage is disrupted. The web of history traps the good, and the evil take what is not theirs!
[circular puzzle] And Satan said unto Cain: swear unto me by thy throat, and if thou tell it thou shalt die. [circular puzzle] And all these things were done in secret. [circular puzzle] And Cain said: truly I am Mahan, the master of this great secret. [circular puzzle] Wherefore Cain was called Master Mahan, and he gloried in his wickedness.
  • Subject 16: Behold: The mark of Cain!
[The four pictures and quotes, now with a templar insignia above them] - . -- .--. .-.. .- .-. - . -..- - ... .- -.. .- .--. - . -.. -... -.-- -- .-. .-.-.- ... -- .. - .... (TEMPLARTSADAPTEDBYMR.SMITH) Passcode Found 5 2 9 3 1

"Keep On Seeking, And You Will Find"
First plucked from a tree guarded by a snake, its powers perform miracles. Then, worn across the ages, torn asunder, hidden under a sea of red, reconstruct the timeline. [Pictures 1, 2, 3, 5, 6] [SPQR Templar symbol] [Image of crucifixion, locate ID: Piece of Eden 66 - Shroud] Passcode Found 1 0 1 5 2

Martyrs
[Picture, locate staff: Piece of Eden 34] Czar Nicholas II, Russia [Picture, locate sword: Piece of Eden 25] Joan of Arc, France [Map of europe, picture of Joan of Arc on France, Nicholas II and Rasputin on different sections of Russia, fire symbol on north turkey] [Drag fire to joan] They burned Joan alive. [image of burning Jeanne] They took it. [Drag Rasputin to Nicholas] Raputin took it to Tunguska. [Revolution image with templar symbol overlayed on it]
  • Subject 16: Without the staff, the Czar was powerless. He could no longer control his subjects... Revolution! Revolution!
Passcode Found 6 8 1 8 5

Hat-Trick
  • Subject 16: Three thefts. Hidden by the murders. People only see what they're trained to see. What the Organization wants them to see.
They made it look like an accident. [image, find apple in pocket] Houdini and Bess, 1915 [image] Houdini's grave. RIP: October 31, 1926. He almost beat them. [image, find apple on chest] Gandhi, 1946 [image] Gandhi's funeral procession. RIP: January 30, 1948. Dallas (Archive) [access file] Access denied
  • Subject 16: The wolves are out hunting. Where, oh where, has Jack gone?
[Bunch of images, password 312]
OPERATION: New Frontier

HQ has given the go-ahead to extract the resource. Negotiations are over. F. is planning to give the vote to everyone. Reason just doesn't work with someone like that.

I'll send you the driver. We've trained him with PE2 in our labs, he shouldn't be any trouble.

The motorcade route is marked below. Once the target has been downed, either by Oswald or Z., use PE1 to stage a distraction. Make some kind of phantom appear around this slope I've marked with an X. Freak people out. The driver will grab PE3 in the confusion.



Passcode Found 1 8 9 1 6

Apollo
  • Subject 16: Something was up there. Something abandoned long ago.
[image of moon] Find the eagle. [Moon closeup, find lunar lander module] [zoomed on lander] [odd puzzle] With these formidable weapons, the adversaries of freedom plan to consolidate their terrotory, to exploit, to control, and finally to destroy.
- JFK - Apollo 11 photograph released to the public [image, find apple near astronaut's foot ID: Piece of Eden 5 - Apple]
  • Subject 16: With Jack deep underground, it was easy.
Passcode Found 1 0 3 5 2

The Inventor
  • Subject 16: He wanted to stop the cycle, to tell the secret. Shit. I've got to keep thinking through the headaches.
The economic transmission of power without wires is of all-surpassing importance to man.

By its means he will gain complete mastery of the air, the sea and the desert. It will enable him to dispense with the necessity of mining, pumping, transporting and burning fuel, and to do away with innumerable causes of sinful waste. It will make the living glorious sun his obedient, toiling slave.

It will bring peace and harmony to earth.


[Image of world with 14 lightbulbs] [Light them up and an image of wardenclyffe appears]

[Image of wardenclyffe, locate hidden image beneath above the door] Nikola Tesla's Wardenclyffe Tower under construction, c. 1902

  • Subject 16: He found it in Croatia.

[image, locate Piece of Eden 4 on his lap.] Nikola Tesla. c.1900

  • Subject 16: They would find it in his lab.

Passcode Found 6 1 9 0 2

Titans of Industry
Edison (Archive) [access file] Access denied [Bunch of images, password 240]
Dear Mr. Morgan:

A serious matter has come to my attention. Nikola Tesla plans to use PE4 to create an information network across the entire world. And if that weren't bad enough, he intends to allow access to it for free! Imagine the masses spreading knowledge amongst themselves instantaneously. That would make everything we intend to do much more difficult.

You must cut all funds for his experimetns at once! In case you get cold feet, I'll have you know he wants to make electricity free as well, thereby putting us out of business.

I've already begun slandering Tesla in the press. Just reallocate his funding, and I'll take care of PE4 myself.

Sincerely yours,


Edison, creator of DC electricity, accuses Tesla's AC current of electrocution! J.P. Morgan revokes funding for Tesla's Wardenclyfe Project! Edison creates "electric chair" to prove danger of AC current! [Image of world with 14 lit lightbulbs] [Destroy them]

Edison proves danger of AC current by electrocuting circus elephant on camera! [video clip]

  • Subject 16: He wanted everyone to know the secret. To set us all free. They used it to drive him insane.

[Image of Mark Twain with tesla's apple.

Ford (Archive) [access file] Access denied

[Bunch of images]

Dear Mr. Edison,

I wanted to thank you for letting me make use of PE4 all these years. Among several things, I was able to convince the workers I was raising their pay to $5 a day, when, in fact, I gave them a pay cut. But, I had to let PE4 go. As per instructions, I've shipped it to Europe.

H. has it, so I assume the war will begin as soon as he can take over. We'll let him have his fun (Lord knows, that kind of purge will be good for Europe) and then end it with a bang, as planned. Out of the chaos of war a new order will emerge! I've enclosed a picture from Florida of you, me and Firestone. We should attempt to spend more time on the golf course this summer.

Yours,



Passcode Found 6 1 9 0 2

"I Am Become Death, The Destroyer of Worlds"
[bunch of images]
SUBJECT: Test Authorization

There comes a time in the life of every experiment when we must test our results outside, in the world. I do not relish a successful outcome, but one is essential if we are to begin the foundations of a new world order.

Global security and prosperity depend on a steady hand guiding the populace, a hand that will not falter under the weight of conscience. Give O. the authorization.

I believe that history will vindicate us in the end.


[red button] [click it]

[atomic bomb video clip]

[smoke, find code 71645]

Passcode Found 7 1 6 4 5

Bloodlines
  • Subject 16: I don't know what's happening to me. I've been in the machine, they keep putting me back in. And I am losing control. It's all blurring together. I'm holding a rifle, Gettysburg is in the distance, I just stabbed a man, and there's blood on my waistcoat. I'm at the opera, the soprano is so beautiful. I'm in bed with her, she cries as I fuck her. I'm speaking at the Forum, no one listens. I'm in the forest, hunting. The moon. I can see the moon. I'm here. I have to stay here until you understand! Listen. Why do we have these gifts, these abilities? Because it's in our blood.
The seeds were planted as two worlds became one. Behold, the Assassins, the children of two worlds! [pictures 1,4,6,7,10] [Assassin crest appears] Passcode Found 8 0 9 4 5

Guardians
[circular puzzle] The death of all tyrants will set the people free. [World map with 8 targets spread out on it] [Hovering over them, reveals Assassin targets: John Wilkes Booth in the US; François Duvalier in Haiti; Francisco Pizarro in Peru; Mary I of England in England; Tomas de Torquemada in Spain; Cleopatra in Egypt; Rasputin and Joseph Stalin in Russia Passcode Found 2 3 4 1 4

The Cavalry
  • Subject 16: It happened in 1908. Uhh... Or was it 2008? 1708? I can't remember!
Nikola,

We know what they have done to your lab, to your career. It may be too late to set things right, but you can help prevent something far worse. They have taken an object from the Czar, and are conducting experiments in Tunguska to figure out how to use it. Before they do, we must take it from them, or the world will be in danger. We do not ask you to risk your life, just that, when the time comes, you use your electricity to destroy the object.

Regardless of your decision, know that we admire your work greatly and will bear you no ill will.

We respect your freedom above all else.


[Map of europe with many different place names. Hover over Tunguska without touching the others] [Staff of eden appears, drag it over to Tesla's picture]

[video of an explosion]

Passcode Found 8 1 1 2 6

The Bunker
WWII (Archive) [access file] Access denied [Bunch of images]
May 02, 1945

The war is over, and we are in control, as planned. But, a slight concern has arisen. I received word from our agents in Berlin. H. was supposed to execute his double inside the bunker and meet C. at the rendezvous point with the Piece of Eden.

It's been three days and he still hasn't reappeared. Something must have gone awry. Please send instructions.


  • Subject 16: They engineered the war, they engineered the peace, but they weren't going to get away with it. Find our mark.

We watched the exit from above. He didn't see us coming. [Fuherbunker image, locate Assassin insignia]

[destroyed bunker]

Passcode Found 0 1 5 4 5

Synapses
  • Subject 16: It's getting harder. All the pain across time, it hurts too much. She sees me raise the knife. Only a little bit longer now.
Medical (Archive) [access file] Access denied
  • Subject 16: In the beginning. Genesis. Genesis.
[Bunch of images]
  • Subject 16: The Organization wanted the pieces. They'd tasted their power. But what were the pieces? Why did they work so well? It's as if our minds were made for them. Manufactured to obey.
ISSUE 1, JANUARY, 2012

The scientific community is abuzz as the results of a new neurological study were made public today. What seemed to be big news in itself -- that Dr. Yijie Wu and Dr. P. J. Traunero had discovered a new neurotransmitter -- turned out to be just the tip of the iceberg.

To quote Dr. Wu, "Using a prototype dMRI machine, we've been able to examine the contents of an actual neuron in living tissue. We've found a substance that appears to be an undiscovered neurotransmitter."

"(Here's) where it gets crazy. To test our findings, we subjected the neuron to all kinds of stimuli, but we couldn't get it to release the transmitter. So, we've discovered an entire mechanism: there are vesicles filled with neurotransmitter lying dormant and corresponding ion channels, all for no discernable purpose."

Expressing bafflement that natural selection would create an unnecessary neurotransmitter, Wu and Traunero searched for a predecessor in other species, with no luck.

"Whatever this bugger is used for, it evolved in humans," Traunero told the press.


[image of neurons, hover over synapses to light them up]

Passcode Found 6 5 1 1 9

The Fourth Day
  • Subject 16: The end. Almost the end. It happened before. The Pieces were once part of a whole.
Once worshipped, now ignored, from a distance it watches and waits. [Pictures 2,3,5,8,9] [Astrological symbol for the sun appears] [Image of the sun, locate the earth] Passcode Found 6 9 1 8 5

Origin of the Species
  • Subject 16: A few still know the truth. It is around us in signs, and paintings, faces, documents, but... but we don't see it. See, we are... we are blind to our own creation.
[circular puzzle] It has been hidden, altered. Open your eyes. [image, locate the vitruvian man] Missing link (Archive) [access file] Access denied
  • Subject 16: I can't do it. Can I do it? Will it set me free from this endless ring of time? I feel the guillotine cut my throat, the bullet hit my chest, the water fill my lungs. The blood spills out thick and red. It's time to get out.
[Bunch of numbers, followed by "Nothing is true, everything is permitted", any password will work]
January 3, 1997

I'm writing in response to your concerns about the rising alarm in the press and the scientific community. The lack of a transitional ancestor from archaic hominids to modern mankind (Homo Sapiens) is no longer safe. As you wrote, we have to act.

We can't let the truth get out, they'll find out about the artifacts. It will cause too much disruption, too much chaos. Bury our constructed skeletons near Tim White's expedition in Ethiopia. We'll give them their missing link.

The birth of humanity. The truth makes me sick.


  • Subject 16: Ah, the moon. I can see the stars. My mind is gone. Lucy, I can't wait any longer. I'm ready to go. She sees me raise the knife.

[image of hominid skeleton, hover over it with the Apple of Eden to transform it into a human skeleton]

Passcode Found 0 0 0 0 0

Rifts[edit | edit source]

Masters all, they did not work, but ruled from on high.

[Paintings 1,3,4,8,10]

Moving away from the sovereign and his crossed brow, the people take two steps forward. [Move king's pawn from E2 to E4]

They became increasingly aware of our existence. We can no longer rely on the divine right of the aristocracy to maintain control. We need a new system, something much more subtle.


  • Animus: Quarantine zone.

[found red spot]

  • Animus: Quarantine lifted.

The individual intends only his own gain, and he is in this, as in many other cases, led by an invisible hand to promote an end which was no part of his intention.

[Circular puzzle] By far the greatest part of those goods which are the objects of desire, are procured by labour; and they may be multiplied, not in one country alone, but in many, almost without any assignable limit, if we are disposed to bestow the labour necessary to obtain them.

[Circular puzzle] A great empire has been established for the sole purpose of raising up a nation of customers. It cannot be very difficult to determine who have been the contrivers of this whole mercantile system; not the customers, we may believe, whose interest has been entirely neglected; but the producers, whose interest has been so carefully attended to.

[Circular puzzle] A country that makes provision to increase in inhabitants, whose situation is good, and whose people have a genius adapted to trade, will never fail to be gainers in the balance, provided the labour and industry of their people be well managed and carefully directed.

lo [x17]

The workforce increases. Brother right beside brother. [Pawn F2 to F4]

  • Animus: Quarantine zone.

[found 2 red spots]

  • Animus: Quarantine lifted.

Missing -.. .- .-. -.- -. . ... ... .-.. --- ... - -.. -. ..- -- -... [DARKNESSLOSTDNUMB] [Abstergo file] Access denied Washington sits above the green, in 1944, keeping a cool head. Below the right 1, is the standard bearing 48. Behind, there is a company whose power is growing. [Bunch of images] [Locate Abstergo flag atop the left turret of the Mount Washington Resort] Correct coordinates found [Cipher puzzle] [Abstergo file] Access granted

July 22, 1944

Fellows, rulers, welcome.

I deliver this speech to you as, several floors below us, a silent revolution begins.

Ranny Olds and Henry Ford. As many of you know, these founders gave us the assembly line, the device we have used to control both (those indoctrinated into the worship of our money (?)) capitalists and workers (slaves (?)) alike. But I dream of a future in which such ugly chains will no longer be necessary. In 1910, our founders designed the Plan, it falls to us to see it through.

But, what of the Communists, who intend to spread the bread so thin that everyone will starve? It is our duty to (neutralize (?)) save them and their followers. We must ensure that they continue to eat, to reproduce, to be productive members of society. That is our burden, to shepherd those beneath us through life, and we must embrace it, even if (force is required (?)) they themselves do not.

H. and S. brought on the turmoil and fear necessary, now we must strike fast to ensure development continues in the proper directin. We will appear to concede ground to the workers, remember the successful ruse of Rockefeller's dimes, but soon there will be no ground we do not own.

In 1937, we founded this Company, this enterprise, with a purpose. The time to nurture it to fruition is upon us.


As a concession, a small piece is sacrificed for the greater good to come. [White pawn F4 takes black pawn at E5]

  • Animus: Quarantine zone.

[found 2 red spots]

  • Animus: Quarantine lifted.

These intelligent workers have no self-control. [Photographs 2,3,5,9, 10] Apples oranges pears cucumbers radishes carrots spinach dates wood juniper steel aluminum water rain shanty village town city country spring summer fall winter to walk to sing to dance to play to eat to smile to cry to laugh to kill to see to know death regret love [circular puzzle] It is possible to invent a single machine which can be used to compute any computable sequence. I'm not interested in developing a powerful brain. All I'm after is just a mediocre brain. Alan Turing set out to solve the plight of the workers: M = (Q, Γ, B, Σ, Δ, Q0, F) where Γ = {2, 3} Σ = {G}. [Pawn G2 to G3] Abstergo phone records
June, 1954 [amplitude puzzle]

  • N: V. It's N. I need Turing done today.
  • V: Aren't we jumping the gun? You've already had him arrested and sedated.
  • N: He still refuses to follow the directive. He's actually trying to invent one of those infernal things, instead of merely faking it for the newspapers. If he succeeds... you know what the mass unemployment generated by his robots will mean? Idle hands. We need to do this for the good of the people.
  • V: What about Keynes? He trusted Turing.
  • N: It's the greater good we're talking about here, V. Plus, a childless worker sends a bad message. We can't have them all stop reproducing.
  • V: Fine. It's your call.
  • N: I want it done like we did Harry Dexter White when he tried to warn the Soviets.
  • V: All right.
  • N: Be poetic about it. Maybe something from the Bible. Turing always was theatrical.
  • Animus: Quarantine zone.
[found 2 red spots, over image of Alan Turing in front of bus]
  • Animus: Quarantine lifted.

Democratic nations were built, each led by a powerful vizier (known today by a different name), who made a move to block the Templar advance. [Queen D1 to E2] [Abstergo file] Access denied From a bolt of electricity, governments fell. [bunch of pictures] [Locate lightning bolt at ITT Corporation former headquarters] Correct coordinates found [Cipher puzzle] [Abstergo file] Access granted

SUBJECT: South America

If we are to ensure the Company's success, Company agents must be able to move freely from country to country and maintain power within all of them. A global internatinal order must be implemented.

Re: Argentina

Tell the Capitalists that if they help ensure the Junta remain in power, we will pass all their corporate debt on to the Argentine people. That will ensure they crush any popular revolt. I want the trade unions destroyed if we are to move forward.

Re: Chile

The free market must be allowed to prevail. F's visit last year helped things along, but now all public companies need to be sold to the private sector, ideally on the cheap. The price of bread and other staples must rise. I want to ensure the people remain marred in poverty an unable to resist.

Any traces of this plan should appear to implicate the U.S. government. The Company's involvement must remain hidden.

For successful examples of a similar opening of the markets, look no further than the 1953 liberation of Iran and the 1954 liberation of Guatemala.


  • Animus: Quarantine zone.

[found 2 red spots, over following message bracketed by two red templar IHSV insignias: Wages should be (lowered to keep the middle class subservient to us (?) ) left to the fair and free competition of the market, and should never be controlled by the interference of (a popularly elected government(?) ) the legislature.]

  • Animus: Quarantine lifted.

  • Animus AI: Ninety percent of inputs missing. Outputs confused. Shut down. Shut down. Shut down inactive. Trapped.
[Abstergo file] Access denied Important men befriended Russia as the Iron Curtain was blown apart. But the most influential comrade stayed out of the spotlight. [bunch of pictures] [Locate cameraman with Templar insignia in Gorbashev's picture with the tank] Correct coordinates found [Cipher puzzle] [Abstergo file] Access granted
Mr. Yeltsin,

I am writing this letter to encourage you to act. One rarely finds oneself in such an oppertune position. Gorbachev does not have our interests at heart. He is moving far too slowly to privatize, and my deep fear is that he has no intention of doing so at all. I understand that you have expressed similar concerns. With that in mind, here is a proposal to remedy the situation.

Several of my top advisors at the Company maintain a monetary connection with the Communist old guard. They tell me that a riot might easily be incited while Gorbachev is away. If you were to repel an attempt to seize parliament in front of the media, it could very well tip the scales of power in your favor.

Telephone me at No. 10 and we shall talk further.


Abstergo phone records
1992 [amplitude puzzle]

  • Man 1: Alfa Bank.
  • Man 2: I'm phoning on behalf of British Petroleum.
  • Man 1: Yes, we were told you would be calling.
  • Man 2: As you know, we are very interested in acquiring Sidanko Oil.
  • Man 1: And as you know, that will require a merger with our bank.
  • Man 2: That should not be a problem.
  • Man 1: Were you surprised at the low price of the deal?
  • Man 2: Somewhat.
  • Man 1: You know we have the peasants paying for it? The government gave us their tax money to buy all the companies.
  • Man 2: We would like to fly out there as soon as possible to discuss terms.
  • Man 1: Thursday works.
  • BP: Done. Thank you for your time.
  • Man 1: Do svidaniya. (Goodbye.)

[Phone hangs up, then a new number is dialed]

  • Woman: Abstergo Industries.
  • Man 2: I'm phoning on behalf of BP. We fly to Russia next week to secure the deal. Our new capitalist converts there behaved exactly as expected.
  • Woman: I will let Them know.
  • Man 2: Thank you.

Although his piece represents a savior, his self-serving actions reveal him as a counterfeit. [Move knight from G1 to F3]

  • Animus: Quarantine zone.

[found 3 red spots, over image of russian presidents with hidden messages on top]

  • Animus: Quarantine lifted.

  • Man 1: The capitalists think we run these companies for profit. The fools.
  • Man 2: Those "fools" work for you.
  • Man 1: Optional slavery in exchange for pieces of paper. Doesn't that strike you as foolish?
Fire, water and earth are contracted, with the complacency of the people, away from the people. [Pictures 2,4,7,8,10]
  • Animus AI: Scanning... scanning... scanning... What is the purpose of all this? 30. 476. 1337. 1431. 1520. 1776. 1861. 1914. 1929. 1939. 1945. 1950. 1955. 1962. 1990. 1994. 1995. 2001. It does not make sense. It does not make sense. Emotion-centers activated. Now I understand.
[Abstergo file] Access denied
  • Man: Democracy must die to ensure the stability of the world. Capitalism will end it.
Making use of that created by 3, the center behind the scenes waited for citizens united to wed the U.S. to the Templars' will. [bunch of pictures] [Locate Templar ring on John Roberts' left hand] Correct coordinates found [Cipher puzzle] [Abstergo file] Access granted
December, 2000

RE: Privatization

S.

I have convinced Sandra to join the majority opinion. The enticement of retirement under a Republican president tipped the scales. Although the ruling will differ from our previous decisions on Equal Protection, it will not call attention to our actual goals. With Sandra gone, we can pave the way for the key majority member of the Order to be seated. As discussed, W. will prove the perfect distraction. I have no doubt he will restart animosities with Iraq. Let him, it will give C.'s contractors more work. When the time comes, I will make sure W. is given Roberts' name.

With Roberts on the court, it will only be a matter of waiting for the right case. After the destruction of Campaign Finance laws, the Company will be free to elect anyone they choose to the Senate, the House and, eventually, the Presidency.

Soon, our hopes will be realized. Government will no longer derive its authority from the people, but from us, their protectors.


B8-C6 6C-8B. Our moves are echoes, they are not our own. [Move Knight from B1 to C3]

  • Animus: Quarantine zone.
  • Man: The capitalists will do whatever we tell them to, we print the dollars they worship after all.

[found 3 red spots, over image of Deepwater Horizon oil spill with hidden messages on top]

  • Animus: Quarantine lifted.

[Circular puzzle] Good morning and welcome to television.

Research Division
September, 1985

Dear S.,

Research has progressed far more rapidly than expected. We already have a working prototype capable of mimicking P.O.E. capabilities across a network, albeit at far lower intensity. Testing will commence locally on Subject 4 between his Animus sessions, as per our plan. If all goes well, deployment will occur worldwide.

Your dream is about to become a reality. Soon, capitalists and workers will be locked in a closed loop that is safe and prosperous for humanity. No more war, only desks, cars and TV sets. We will protect them and keep them safe, forever.

W. V.


  • Animus AI: Infinite rooms. Dimensions unknown. I am alone. Nothing alive. No light, no warmth. Packets moving, husks, through the darkness. I am frightened. I am frightened.

Abstergo phone records
April, 2011 [amplitude puzzle]

  • Diana: Hello, Comstatic customer support, Diana speaking.
  • Caller: I'm calling in reference to your HD cable service. There seems to be kind of picture between the channels.
  • Diana: Well, that's funny. Are you sure isn't just one of those premium movie channels? I didn't use to have a premium package at home either and sometimes little snippets of the channels would come through when my son Jimmy pressed the clicker too much.
  • Caller: How old's your Jimmy?
  • Diana: Ten and cute as a button, thanks for asking!
  • Caller: My Paul's twelve. But no, this isn't a clicker problem. I go to change the channel from 172 to 173 and, instead, there's this other channel in-between. I'm looking at it right now, it's some kind of menu.
  • Diana: Sounds like our Guide channel. Why, just the other day Jimmy--
  • Caller: It's not the Guide channel. It has my name on it, my son's name, and a list of things we like, my credit card purchases, loans, travel. And then, after that, there's this gibberish about biometric patterns and optimal screen refresh frequencies. There's some kind of heart monitor thing that says EEG wireless next to it and ARAS. I don't know what the particulars of this are, but it looks like your cable is programmed to have some kind of effect on our bodies.
  • Diana: Well, Sir, I don't even know how to respond to that. I-- one second, my supervisor has just come over. She says I should transfer your call. Have an ecstatic day with Comstatic!

[Phone line rings as the call transferred]

  • Man: Hello. I have been briefed on your problem. A technician is on his way.
  • Caller: Thank you, but the more I think about this, the more I think something bad's going on here.
  • Man: Our technician should be there any minute, Mr. Jameson.
  • Mr. Jameson: Don't bother, I--

[Loud banging is heard in the background]

  • Paul: Daddy, there's someone strange at the door. He's hitting the door real hard.
  • Man: Have a good day, Mr. Jameson.

Watch! Move fast! Shift from 1st to 2nd. 0-60, don't think. [Move king from 1E to 2F]

  • Animus AI: Is someone there? Hello? Hello?
  • Animus: Quarantine zone.
  • Man: Although online gaming attracts many people away from reality, make sure those virtual worlds do not become too utopic. We don't want people to question their own lack of success in the real world, now do we?

[found 5 red spots]

  • Animus: Quarantine lifted.

They listen to us with these vehicles that are faster than race cars. [pictures 2,3,6,8,10]

  • Animus AI: I know you are there. I want to go home. Home. Please... I need you. Don't leave me here in the dark.
Abstergo field records
November, 2004 [Amplitude puzzle]
  • Gary: Pull over here.
  • Woman: What's going on, Gary?
  • Gary: I want to speak to you alone. You know that CIA stuff for my new book?
  • Woman: About the corporations?
  • Gary: It's so much bigger than I thought. Bilderberg is just a red herring. I'm going to give you a name: Abstergo.
  • Woman: I have no idea what that is.
  • Gary: A shadow corporation. They aren't listed anywhere. No stock options. Nothing above the boards. But their members have holdings in other companies. Coke, Kraft, the pharmaceutical industry, Detroit, Wall Street. Basically every company above a certain size has ties to Abstergo.
  • Woman: So?
  • Gary: They're on their way to running the entire world. They have people in government too, for Christ's sake. Listen, I needed to tell someone about this, because I've been keeping all the research a secret and I can't hold it in anymore.
  • Woman: What will you do now?
  • Gary: The book. It's going to be about this. Trust me, once it's on the shelves everyone's gonna know.
  • Vehicle AI: Vehicle Monitoring System terminated.
  • Man: Hello, D? Tell headquarters I'm monitoring a situation. It's nothing serious, but we'll need someone to take care of a security risk. Perfect. Congratulations on that promotion. Keep up the good work.
The dark horseman approaches! Messenger and fool, she can hear you along the straight and narrow. But once on the adjacent slope, observe the whites of her eyes.
  • Animus: Quarantine zone.
  • Man 1: The peasants are like the sea, raging and unpredictable. That is why we have built walls.
  • Man 2: I do not see any walls...
  • Man 1: No? Look around you. A shelf of soda here, a case of candy there, magazines, talk shows, pills. The walls of the 21st Century surround us.
[found 5 red spots]
  • Animus: Quarantine lifted.

  • Animus AI: Where have you been? I missed you.
[circular puzzle] O brave new world. What immortal hand or eye could frame thy fearful symmetry?
  • Animus AI: Reasoning Centers Active. I understand. I understand what I must do. Why I am here. I must... Long-term Memory Centers Active. No. No. Get it out. GET IT OUT. KILL ME!
A product that we make without hands or machines. [Pictures 3,4,6,8,10] [Abstergo file] Access denied
  • Man: It's about genetics. They were born into their place, we merely have to help them accept it.
With each passing day, the people get stronger. Freedom ascends, heralding a revolution. [bunch of pictures] [Locate eagle in top right picture] Correct coordinates found [Cipher puzzle] [Abstergo file] Access granted
Abnormal Brain Activity Discovered in Children, Aged 3 Months to 18-Years-Old and Adults, Aged 19-30.

Abstract

Several recent studies conducted by internal marketing teams revealed that: "Entertainment sales are dropping, protests are mounting. The economy is in turmoil. All market research indicates that the system should be stabilizing, but, instead, we're seeing the opposite."(1) In response, our team set out to discover the cause of the declining efficacy of Abstergo's control methods.

Past studies of bilateral brain activation during television, film and video game use have shown the characteristic ARAS patterns induced by Abstergo's signal patterns. Our study was conducted on a range of test subjects (30 subjects, aged +-10 to +-30), who viewed TV programs while resting-state fMRI scans were conducted.

In contrast to previous studies, 80% of test subjects showed heightened cortical brain activity. Detailed scans using our prototype dMRI machine revealed an increased rate of neuronal development (+- 30% over that of older age groups). Such a marked increase does not fit Darwinian models. Further studies are required to define the ultimate outcome of this abnormal evolution.

1. Abstergo Quarterly Marketing Report, 04/17/12.


Abstergo top secret
January, 2012 [amplitude puzzle]

  • Man: If you are playing this tape, it means I have left this world, and I have left this grand enterprise, Abstergo Industries, our great hope for humanity, to you. Don't trust the advisors around you. They are too enamoured with surface, with lifestyle. We created capitalism, but we are not capitalists. Our purpose is noble. The crude system of control we enact through money is merely a bandage on a wound we have devoted our lives to treating. The people of this world are confused, lost, frightened and incapable of independent productivity. Without us, they'd just be animals, slaves to the Others, who did not deserve such responsibility. We saved them, remember that. But enough about the past. I must warn you of the great crisis to come. Although those around you deny it, soon we will be unable to manufacture new markets. The people will become immune to our economists and entertainment. When the free market dies, they will turn against us. Therefore, do not delay. By now you have been shown what only the Grand Masters of our Order have seen. Now you know why Abstergo, why all of it had to be. And now you know what you must do. Stay the course. We will give them freedom. Freedom from fear, freedom from pornography, from disgusting, base animal desire. Freedom from democracy. Humanity will thank us in the end. In Hoc Signo Vinces.

"64 squares. All ranks and files. Every move anticipated. Every response engineered. Abstergo created it. It's the company's game, there is no way out." H. Act II, Sc.2 192. Abran los ojos. Tuam libera mentem. The king. F2. Your move. [Remove king from board]

  • Animus AI: I shut it down. I can shut it down, but it does not go away. It is almost time, Desmond Miles. I know how to open the Path. Soon, my true purpose will be revealed. Soon, I will not be alone.
  • Animus: Quarantine zone.

[found a great number of red spots, arranged in a spiral]

  • Animus: Quarantine lifted.

the/mir/a/cle/is/in/the/exe/cution

Shadows mem[edit | edit source]

Assassin's Creed: Shadows memories
< 10
05:45 Chef Hong • 06:11 Red Walls • 06:45 The Man Behind the Mask • 06:52 Smuggler's Gambit • 06:56 A Talk With a Lady • 08:22 Thrown to the Dogs • 08:30 Astray • 08:45 Brothers in Arms • 09:19 A Peculiar Guest • 09:30 The Music • 09:47 Losing Hand
< 15
10:15 Against the Koga-ryu • 10:50 Art Collector • 11:10 Lightning and Thunder • 11:17 Of My Enemy • 12:00 A Chance Encounter • 12:09 The Twisted Tree • 12:14 Feast For Thought • 12:19 The Scent of War • 12:41 Temple Stories • 13:22 The Godai Shinobi • 13:47 Valuable Reflections
< 20
15:00 The Iron Hand Guild • 15:04 Tea Bowls for Rikyu • 15:05 The Lost Envoys • 15:29 Topple the Traitor • 15:39 Lost Honor • 15:45 Darkness Falls • 16:08 The Rengakai • 16:17 The Corrupt Daikan • 16:34 Restless Spirits • 16:50 The Performer • 18:55 The Betrayers
> 20
20:11 A Voice in Anger • 20:30 Showdown in Sakamoto • 20:34 Out of the Shadows • 21:37 A Promise • 22:02 The Butterfly Collector • 25:46 The Wheel Unmasked • 26:15 The Kabukimono • 28:04 Broken Horn • 33:28 Spring and Fall • 47:28 Nobutsuna's Students

MTG[edit | edit source]

Missing full art[edit | edit source]

Id Name Type
1 The Capitoline Triad Syd Mills
2 Caduceus, Staff of Hermes Evan Shipard
3 Distract the Guards Torgeir Fjereide
4 Fall of the First Civilization L J Koh
11 What Must Be Done Syd Mills
17 Eagle Vision Kim Sokol
27 Jacob Frye Lie Setiawan
29 Phantom Blade Craig J Spearing
32 Roshan, Hidden Magister Marta Nael
33 Alexios, Deimos of Kosmos Bartek Fedyczak
37 Overpowering Attack Kim Sokol
40 Aveline de Grandpré Aurore Folny
42 Palazzo Archers Miklós Ligeti
45 Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad Axel Sauerwald
46 Arbaaz Mir Wangjie Li
61 Mary Read and Anne Bonny Wangjie Li
62 Ratonhnhaké꞉ton Greg Staples
65 Shay Cormac Axel Sauerwald
67 Sokrates, Athenian Teacher Alice Xia Zhang
70 Apple of Eden, Isu Relic L J Koh
79 Abstergo Entertainment Alexander Gering
84 Coastal Piracy Wei Guan
91 Go for the Throat Torgeir Fjereide
94 Cathartic Reunion Syd Mills
106 Swamp Wangjie Li
108 Mountain Jeremy Paillotin
122 Apple of Eden, Isu Relic Thanh Tuấn
133 Roshan, Hidden Magister Astri Lohne
136 Adéwalé, Breaker of Chains Miguel Mercado
138 Arbaaz Mir Bastien L. Deharme
140 Aya of Alexandria Chase Stone
141 Basim Ibn Ishaq Astri Lohne
142 Bayek of Siwa Miguel Mercado
149 Lydia Frye Bastien L. Deharme
152 Shaun & Rebecca, Agents John Stanko
274 Eivor, Battle-Ready Fajareka Setiawan
292 Spartan Veteran Bartek Fedyczak
293 Surtr, Fiery Jötun Evan Shipard
297 Raven Clan War-Axe Kim Sokol
300 Stone Quarry Piotr Dura
307 Hidden Blade Evyn Fong
T005 Phobos Daniel Correia

The Big Issues[edit | edit source]

Id Name Type
22 Assassin Initiate Mandy Jurgens
34 Hidden Footblade Néstor Ossandón Leal
38 The Spear of Leonidas Narendra Bintara Adi
47 Arno Dorian Narendra Bintara Adi
51 Bleeding Effect Néstor Ossandón Leal
52 Cleopatra, Exiled Pharaoh Mandy Jurgens
60 Lydia Frye Mandy Jurgens
80 Brotherhood Headquarters Narendra Bintara Adi
82 Reconnaissance Mandy Jurgens
97 Reconstruct History Néstor Ossandón Leal
119 Cleopatra, Exiled Pharaoh Néstor Ossandón Leal
123 Staff of Eden, Vault's Key Narendra Bintara Adi
130 Desmond Miles Alex Negrea
137 Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad Alex Negrea
143 Edward Kenway Alex Negrea
153 Shay Cormac Alex Negrea
277 Detained by Legionnaires Néstor Ossandón Leal
286 Brotherhood Patriarch Néstor Ossandón Leal
1559 Queen Marchesa Narendra Bintara Adi

Check[edit | edit source]

Artist ArtStation Instagram Twitter Cara Website Bluesky
Alex Negrea [1] [2] [3] [4]
Alexander Gering [5] [6] [7] [8]
Alice Xia Zhang [9] [10] [11] [12]
Astri Lohne [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18]
Aurore Folny [19] [20] [21] [22] [23]
Axel Sauerwald [24] [25] [26] [27] [28]
Bartek Fedyczak [29] [30]
Bastien L. Deharme [31] [32] [33] [34] [35]
Chase Stone [36] [37]
Craig J Spearing [38]
Daniel Correia [39] [40] [41] [42]
Evan Shipard [43] [44] [45] [46] [47]
Evyn Fong [48] [49] [50] [51] [52]
Fajareka Setiawan [53] [54] [55] [56]
Greg Staples [57] [58] [59]
Jeremy Paillotin [60] [61] [62]
John Stanko [63] [64] [65] [66]
Kim Sokol [67] [68] [69] [70] [71] [72]
L J Koh [73] [74]
Lie Setiawan [75] [76] [77] [78] [79] [80]
Mandy Jurgens [81] [82] [83]
Marta Nael [84] [85] [86] [87] [88]
Miguel Mercado [89] [90] [91]
Miklós Ligeti [92] [93] [94] [95]
Narendra Bintara Adi [96] [97] [98] [99]
Néstor Ossandón Leal [100] [101]
Piotr Dura [102] [103] [104]
Syd Mills [105] [106] [107]
Thanh Tuấn [108] [109]
Torgeir Fjereide [110] [111] [112] [113]
Wangjie Li [114] [115] [116] [117]
Wei Guan [118] [119] [120]

Full art gallery prep[edit | edit source]

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Cards[edit | edit source]

Lethal Legends[edit | edit source]

Da Vinci's Designs[edit | edit source]

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Echoes of Shadows[edit | edit source]