Precursor box

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The Precursor box being used

The Precursor box is an ancient artifact created by the First Civilization, capable of interpreting and translating First Civilization language, most notably written in the Voynich manuscript.

History

Protecting the box

Ezio handing the box to Shao Jun

By November 1524, the Precursor box was in the possession of the retired Italian Assassin Ezio Auditore da Firenze, in his villa in Tuscany. The Chinese Assassin, Shao Jun, who had travelled there seeking Ezio's advice on resolving the problems in her homeland, was given the box and told that it would aid her. Ezio stated that she should only open it if she were to lose her way.

Upon returning to China, Shao Jun used the box as bait to lure Gao Feng, one of the Eight Tigers to her. She assassinated him but the box itself was taken by Yu Dayong. Eventually Shao reclaimed the box, assassinating Yu. Shao Jun entrusted the box to her shifu, Wang Yangming who took it to have someone help them study the box. However before he could do that Zhang Yong murdered him and took the box for the Templars, finally sending it out of China to other Templars.

The Assassins later recovered the box, which remained in the possession of the Chinese Assassins for about a hundred years after Jun's death. It was believed that they sent it to Acapulco with the Manila galleons.

Adéwalé handing the box to Bastienne

By 1735, the Precursor box had wound up in the possession of the French Templars, who were transporting it on aboard a galleon to Port-au-Prince, to be given to Bastienne Josèphe. However, the fleet transporting the artifact was attacked by the Assassin Adéwalé, who retrieved the parcel that contained the box from the Templar admiral. In July 1737, after two years of working alongside her, Adéwalé eventually handed the artifact to Bastienne.

Finding the Temples

By November 1751, both the Precursor box and the Voynich manuscript were in the possession of François Mackandal, Mentor of the Assassin Brotherhood in Saint-Domingue. Using the artifacts, Mackandal discovered the existence of a First Civilization Temple near Port-au-Prince and sent his subordinate, Vendredi, to investigate it. Unbeknownst to Mackandal, the Temple was part of a system that held the Earth together.

Vendredi activated the Temple's machinery, causing a massive earthquake which destroyed Port-au-Prince and the surrounding region. After the disaster, Master Templar Lawrence Washington stole the Precursor box and manuscript from Mackandal's camp and took the artifacts with him to Virginia, where the Templars studied the artifacts in an attempt to learn how to use them.

Shay holding the Precursor box

Shay Cormac, a member of the Colonial branch of the Assassin Order, assassinated Washington in search of the box in 1752. However, the box was already in possession of the Templar Samuel Smith, while the manuscript had been entrusted to James Wardrop, another noted Templar. In 1754, Shay had managed to track Smith down and assassinate him, with the help of a fellow Assassin, Chevalier de la Vérendrye. Shay recovered the Precursor box from Smith and delivered it to Benjamin Franklin, who was confident conducting electricity through the box would activate it.

With Shay and Hope Jensen's assistance, Franklin succeeded in powering the box, which projected a view of the Earth and displayed locations of several First Civilization sites, one of them being Lisbon, Portugal. The box was subsequently given to Achilles Davenport, the Mentor of Colonial Assassins, who kept it secure at the Davenport Homestead, the Assassins' primary base of operations in the British colonies.

In 1759, Hope managed to replicate Franklin's experiment and discovered another First Civilization Temple hidden in the Arctic. After the ordeal, Chevalier de la Vérendrye was tasked with hiding the box, and decided to ship it away from the colonies.

By December 1776, the box was in the possession of the French Assassins. Having switched sides to the Templars twenty years before, Shay learned of this and traveled to Paris. Rescuing Franklin from a group of criminals, Shay enlisted his aid in entering the Palace of Versailles, claiming to have a business meeting there. After a meeting in the palace, the Assassins entrusted the box to Charles Dorian. Having made his way inside, Shay assassinated Charles and took the box from him, reclaiming it for the Templars.

The Precursor Box and Voynich Manuscript in Napoleon's chest.

18th Century France

During the events of Assassin's Creed Unity Dead Kings the Precursor Box and the corresponding Voynich manuscript are shown to be in the possession of Napoleon Bonaparte. How he acquired the items remains unknown.

Modern times

In February 2014, the Assassins Harlan Cunningham and Arend Schut stole the artifact from an Abstergo Industries facility in Rotterdam. Abstergo's Sigma Team led by Juhani Otso Berg engaged the Assassins in combat, forcing them to leave the artifact behind.

Gallery

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  Concept art of the Precursor box
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  The box displaying a map of the Seismic Temples