Sage

"It's the eyes that mark him."

―Edward Kenway, describing the Sage Bartholomew Roberts, 1716.

A Mayan statue of a Sage's head in underground Tulum

Sages are human reincarnations of Aita, a member of the First Civilization and the husband of Juno.

Sages are typically born with personalities and memories of their own, but they also possess the memories of Aita, which usually manifest themselves as visions throughout a Sage's life. The Sages bear a strong physical resemblance to Aita, and possess a distinctive combination of anisocoria and heterochromia. According to Abstergo, while the genome of an average human contains 0.0002% to 0.0005% of First Civilization DNA, the concentration reaches from 5% to 6% in the genome of Sages. Even if, by 2015, only male Sages had been identified, the Assassins believe that there is a small chance that the recessive gene creating a Sage could also manifest itself into a female individual.

Notable Sages included Templar Grand Masters Jacques de Molay and François-Thomas Germain, carpenter and explorer Thomas Kavanagh, Jr., pirate Bartholomew Roberts, and Abstergo Entertainment employee John Standish.

History

Around 75000 BC, in an attempt to save Earth from a solar flare, Aita had volunteered to be a test subject of one of the solutions meant to prevent their civilization's destruction. His wife, the Isu scientist Juno tried to replicate some of Consus' work, by transfering Aita's consciousness into a more resistant synthetic body but Aita died in the attempt. However, before her imprisonment in the Grand Temple, Juno managed to manipulate the human genetic code, implanting a hidden trigger that would randomly activate and alter the genetic makeup of the individual, changing their appearance and imbuing them with Aita's memories, effectively reviving him in a human form.

Instances of Sages have been recorded throughout the known human history, in various regions around the globe. According to Bahlam, an Assassin Mentor and the father of Ah Tabai, there had been at least eight recorded Sages by the late 1600s, although several Abstergo Entertainment researchers later concluded that the real count was likely much higher.

A Sage's blood is required to open the passage to the Observatory, hidden in Long Bay, Jamaica, through inserting it into a blood vial. The Mayan civilization and Taíno people worshiped the Sages, and the Mayan ruins in Tulum, Mexico contained a statue resembling a Sage's head.

In 2012, following Desmond Miles' sacrifice in the Grand Temple which prevented the second solar flare from destroying the Earth, Juno was freed from her imprisonment, and integrated herself into the planet's digital network. A 21st century Sage, John Standish, began to search a suitable host for her, eventually deciding on an Abstergo Entertainment analyst. However, after an unsuccessful attempt of offering the analyst to Juno in the bunker beneath Abstergo's Montreal facility, and an attempt to poison the analyst afterwards, Standish was killed by security, and his body was taken by Abstergo.

During the following year, Abstergo scientists researched John's body, and focused on searching for other Sages throughout history, initiating the Phoenix Project to create a complete genomic map of First Civilization DNA and unlock the secrets of the Pieces of Eden through exploration of Sages' genetic memories. However, the Assassins recruited several Helix users to thwart the efforts of the Templars, and attempt to find the remains of past Sages before them.

In October 2015, a boy was brought to an Abstergo clinic and it was revealed that not only is the boy related to Desmond Miles, but is also a Sage. Álvaro Gramática wanted him kidnapped and dissected for study, but Isabelle Ardant turned him down immediately, saying it would be better to put the boy in an Animus for fifty years and study his lineage.

Gallery

Individuals speculated to be Sages by Abstergo Industries are marked with an asterisk. (*)

• 
  The Wanderer*
  (1st century)
• 
  Hunnic Sage*
  (5th century)
• 
  Byzantine Sage*
  (6th century)
• 
  Jacques de Molay
  (c. 1244 – 1314)
• 
  Chinese Sage*
  (14th century)
• 
  Thomas Kavanagh, Jr.
  (1652 – 1706)
• 
  Bartholomew Roberts
  (1682 – 1722)
• 
  François-Thomas Germain
  (1726 – 1794)
• 
  Indian Sage*
  (c. 1885 – ?)
• 
  Master Spy
  (? - 1916)
• 
  David Jones*
  (c. 1950 – ?)
• 
  John Standish
  (1975 – 2013)
• 
  Desmond Miles' son<ref name="ACS">
  (c. 2005 - ?)