Markos

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"Everybody benefits!"

―Markos' trademark line

Markos was a Greek merchant from the island of Kephallonia who lived during the 5th century BCE.

At some point before the Peloponnesian War, Markos took in a young girl named Kassandra who had fled from Sparta and washed ashore on Kephallonia. He subsequently raised her to become a renowned misthios and would regularly enlist her help to solve the problems he caused with his failed get rich quick schemes. Although Kassandra eventually realized that Markos was using her and stopped helping him as frequently, the two nonetheless remained friends.

Biography

Early life

"Think back to that sunny day when I found you, Kassandra. That was your day of need, and Markos came to the rescue!"

―Markos to Kassandra, c. 420s BCE.

At some point during the 5th century BCE, Markos employed a mercenary named Cadmus. While working for Markos, Cadmus was hired by Ianthe, a member of the Order of the Ancients, to retrieve a treasure rumored to be entombed in the hills of Kephallonia. After locating the tomb, Cadmus informed Markos about it, and the latter decided to remain outside under the pretext of "defending" the area while Cadmus ventured inside the tomb.

Cadmus ultimately lost the treasure, an ancient blade, after being betrayed by Ianthe, who alongside five masked associates, stole it from him. Although the mercenary chased after them and managed to recover one half of the blade, one of the masked men fled with the other half. Markos witnessed the ordeal and suggested to Cadmus that they sell the blade, but the mercenary believed it was too valuable and later left Kephallonia to keep the blade safe from others who might attempt to steal it.

File:ACOD Debt Collector - Markos Giving Bread To Kassandra.png

Markos meeting Kassandra for the first time

Around 448 BCE, Markos found an unconscious young girl on the beaches of Kephallonia. As the girl woke up and threatened him with her spear, Markos, assuming she was hungry, offered her a piece of bread before proposing that they could help each other. The girl accepted his offer and Markos took her in, learning that her name was Kassandra. This marked the beginning of a lucrative partnership where Markos provided Kassandra with food and shelther and in return she performed various errands for him.

Markos and Kassandra would later gain another aide in Phoibe, an orphan from Athens. However, Markos frequently caused problems for the island's residents due to his schemes to get rich quickly, forcing Kassandra to step in and clean up his messes. When she eventually realized that Markos was using her, she stopped working for him and became a misthios for hire, though the two remained friends and Kassandra would still reluctantly help Markos from time to time.

Dealings with the Cyclops

Markos: "Think! What does the Cyclops value most? His men, his land, his ships? No. His obsidian eye."

Kassandra: "Get to the point, Markos."

Markos: "Oh, fine. We're going to steal it."

—Markos revealing his plan to deal with the Cyclops to Kassandra, 431 BCE.

At some point prior to 431 BCE, Markos got into trouble with a local crime lord known as the Cyclops of Kephallonia, and in turn his thugs began harassing Kassandra and Phoibe. Their problems only got worse after Markos decided to borrow money from the Cyclops in order to establish a vineyard on Mount Ainos, but failed to pay him back on time.

Markos confronted by Kassandra about the vineyard

After learning about Markos' purchase from Phoibe, Kassandra visited him at the vineyard and questioned his intentions, reminding Markos that he still owed from a previous errand. Markos then directed her to Duris, a merchant in Sami who owed him money, stating that she would be able to collect his debt from him. Markos reluctantly allowed Kassandra to take one of his horses as a form of repayment.

Shortly after, one of the Cyclops' thugs confronted Markos outside the Temple of Zeus and demanded the man quickly repay his debts before his leader returned to Kephallonia. As Markos and Kassandra devised a plan to deal with the Cyclops, Drucilla, the town's bowyer, confronted Markos about her stolen lumber shipment, a problem which Kassandra offered to fix.

Markos telling Kassandra about the bandits

While Kassandra was away, Markos came up with a plan to steal the Cyclops' obsidian eye and sell it to pay off his debt and exact retribution on the crime lord at the same time. When he informed Kassandra about his plan, she reluctantly agreed to help and stole the eye from the Cyclops' estate, which Markos advised her to hold onto. He also informed her of a group of bandits that had recently arrived in Kephallonia, and advised her to deal with them, believing they were working with the Cyclops.

After the Cyclops had been killed by Kassandra, annulling Markos' debt, she met with him and Phoibe at the harbour of Sami to say her goodbyes before she left Kephallonia. After bidding Kassandra farewell, Markos told Phoibe that he had a job for her and the two walked off.

Business on Kos

Sometime after Kassandra's departure from Kephallonia, Markos himself left the island as well and traveled to the island of Kos, where he sought to enter the wine business again and bought another vineyard with funds from a set of triplet criminals collectively known as the Cerberus. Markos ran the vineyard alongside the widowed wife of the former owner, but soon got into trouble with the Cerberus for failing to pay them back. After they put a bounty on his head, Markos was held prisoner at the Artemisia Fort, where he was eventually found and rescued by Kassandra, who happened to be in Kos at the time.

After explaining the situation to her, Markos gave Kassandra a sample of what he felt was his best wine to deliver to one of the Cerberus brothers as a peace offering. However, due to the wine's poor quality, the Cerberus brother and his bodyguards assumed it had been intentionally poisoned and attacked Kassandra. After the misthios returned to him and revealed what had happened, Markos decided to deal with the Cerberus to avoid their retribution and asked Kassandra to burn down their farm, which she reluctantly agreed to do.

Later, Markos informed Kassandra that he had accidentally sent her to destroy someone else's farm, much to her anger. As Markos begged her to protect him from the Cerberus' wrath, Kassandra, having had enough of sticking her neck out for him, was left to decide whether she would help her old friend for the final time.

Legacy

In the late 9th century, millennia after his death, Kassandra briefly reminisced about Markos when attending a wedding in Kiltaraglen on the Isle of Skye, fondly characterizing him as "an old friend" to the Viking Eivor Varinsdottir who was also present. When the Raven Clan shieldmaiden suggested a celebratory drinking game with mead, Kassandra agreed and mused that the Norse drink could not be any worse than Markos' infamously poor-quality wine, which she described as being strong enough to peel paint.

Personality and traits

Markos' catchphrase was "Everybody benefits", usually preceded by a suggestion of how he and whoever he was talking with could help each other. However, more often than not, this "mutual help" consisted of Kassandra or someone else having to get Markos out of whatever trouble he had gotten himself into. Despite his focus on personal gain, however, Markos was not completely selfish, as he genuinely regarded Kassandra as a close friend, even if he often times used her to solve his problems.

Behind the scenes

Markos is a character introduced in the 2018 video game Assassin's Creed: Odyssey, where he was voiced by Damon Papadopoulos, who later reprised the role as one of the many tour guides in Discovery Tour: Ancient Greece.

Gallery

• 
  Markos talking with Kassandra
• 
  Markos and Kassandra choosing a horse
• Markos threatened by one of the Cyclops' thugs
  Markos threatened by one of the Cyclops' thugs
• 
  Markos receiving the Cyclops' eye from Kassandra

Appearances

• Assassin's Creed: Odyssey (first appearance)
• Assassin's Creed: Odyssey novel
• Discovery Tour: Ancient Greece
• Assassin's Creed: Where's the Assassin? (non-canonical appearance)
• Assassin's Creed: Valhalla – Assassin's Creed Crossover Stories (mentioned only)
• Assassin's Creed: Escape Room Puzzle Book