Courtesan

For the multiplayer character, see Courtesan.

"You too must learn to blend like us: seen, but unseen."

―Paola's training on Ezio

The courtesans are one of the three factions of Assassin's Creed II helping the main character, Ezio, the other two being the thieves and the mercenaries. Florentine courtesans are led by Paola, while Venetian courtesans are led by Teodora Contanto.

Courtesans can work in two ways. All four can seduce a group of nearby guards, allowing Ezio to slip past, or they can hide Ezio by walking with him in a diamond formation (similar to how Altaïr blended with Scholars). Should Ezio encounter a group of guards while walking with the Courtesans, two of them will distract the guards, while the other two stay with Ezio in order to maintain the blend.

Courtesans cannot perform any sort of free-running, and will go down very quickly in a fight. Therefore they should be avoided when looking for assistance in combat.

Courtesans in Venice.

Known courtesans

Florence

• Paola

Venice

• Teodora Contanto
• Lucia

Functions

• They help Ezio learn how to blend in with the crowd.
• They can help fight guards with daggers when Ezio is attacked, though they go down very easily and quickly.
• They can be used to distract guards.
• Guards walking by Ezio can take two of the four Courtesans he has hired without notice. Two courtesans is still enough to distract any number of guards, as long they are grouped to each other.

Achievement/Trophy

You can win an achievement/trophy, "Red Light Addict," by spending 5000 florins on them. One group of courtesans costs 150 florins, which means you need to hire about 34 groups to get the achievement.

Trivia

• All ordinary courtesans are barefoot.
• Courtesans were used to assassinate Silvio Barbarigo's uncle.
• A glitch can be found while running around the outside of Forlì. One of the hired Courtesans becomes stuck, separated from the rest of the group, and left behind, but does not officially leave the group as when distracting guards. The remaining three courtesans will not activate any blending effects when surrounding Ezio until he approaches the lost courtesan's perimeter and again enters the 'middle' of the group.
• Should one of the courtesans in a group fall into the water, the remaining three will continue to activate the blending effect without her, indicating that the death of one courtesan is similar to when two leave the group to distract passing guards.
• Courtesans cannot be killed or grabbed by Ezio. However, you can still hurt them with your weapons.
• The appearance of Courtesans has five randomly generated options: hair, face, dress color, necklace, and sleeves.
• In Monteriggioni, after renovating the Brothel, random Courtesans appear to walk in the streets.
• Attracting attention after distracting guards with a group of Courtesans will cause the guards to attack the group and kill them.

• Courtesans in a brothel
  Courtesans in a brothel