Southeast Asian Pieces of Eden

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"If any were to acquire all three... the fate of the entire world may be at stake."

―Shimazu Saito, 1725.

A set of three Pieces of Eden were located in Southeast Asia. The artifacts varied in shape, size, and the abilities they granted to wielders, but were all considered part of the same set.

Owners

Complete set

• Isu (? – ?)

Crescent amulet

• Ferdinand Magellan (1521)
• Mad monk (1725)
• Rajah (1725)

Unknown Piece of Eden

• Lapu-Lapu (c. 1521 – ?)

Usage

The three artifacts that made up the set consisted of a crescent amulet, a sphere resembling an Apple, and a flower-shaped disk. At least one of the artifacts granted considerable physical strength, allowing the Visayan chieftain Lapu-Lapu to easily defeat an army of Spanish soldiers.

The amulet, meanwhile, had a variety of powers, including mind control, the ability to create illusions and resurrect the dead, and granting access to a form of calculations.

History

Early history

Created during the Isu Era, knowledge of the set, its location, and its powers were lost following the Great Catastrophe in 75,000 BCE. Millennia later, in the early 16th century, two of the artifacts were located in the Philippines, with the crescent amulet hidden on the island of Cebu and another artifact in the possession of Lapu-Lapu, the chieftain of Mactan Island.

Age of Discovery

Ferdinand Magellan finding the crescent amulet

In 1521, the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan arrived on Cebu to search for the amulet and converted the island's population to Christianity in the process. After finding the Piece of Eden, Magellan was informed by Cebu's chieftain Rajah Humabon of the other two artifacts and attempted to seize the Piece of Eden in Lapu-Lapu's possession.

However, Lapu-Lapu used the artifact's power to defeat the Spanish troops under Magellan's command and personally killed the explorer. With Magellan's death, knowledge of the set became lost once again for the next two centuries.

Golden Age of Piracy

By the early 18th century, all three Pieces of Eden were rumored to be located in the former Khmer capital of Angkor. Investigating the legend, the Dutch navigator Hendrik learned about Magellan's own search for the artifacts from a monk at the Basilica del Santo Niño in Cebu, but the monk refused to disclose the fate of Magellan's treasure following the explorer's death.

Hendrik eventually found Angkor and at least one of its Pieces of Eden, but could not retrieve it and was later killed in Macau in 1725. That year, various parties, including the Japanese Templars and the British Assassin Edward Kenway, sought to find Angkor and its "treasure", and used information from Hendrik's sea log to aid their search for the lost city.

After being arrested in Manila while traveling to Cebu to investigate a lead they had found, Edward and the members of his Zhang Wei Union discovered that one of the Pieces of Eden, the crescent amulet, was in the city. It was wielded by a monk, who used it to control the masses and instigate a riot against the Governor-General of the Philippines. Edward and his ally Shimazu Saito confronted the monk, who used the amulet's powers against them, including resurrecting his followers after they were killed and conjuring illusions of himself and an oni to attack the pair.

Edward Kenway trying to take the crescent amulet from the monk

While Saito was eventually defeated, Edward overcame the artifact's powers, forcing the monk to flee. He tried to slow the Assassin, using the amulet to tamper with his Eagle Vision and command several civilians to attack him, but was soon cornered. As Edward attempted to take away the amulet, the monk used the artifact on him, causing Edward to experience several visions of the past and the future.

With Edward's body temporarily paralyzed, the monk tried to use this chance to kill him, only to be struck by a spear thrown by Rajah, the leader of a Visayan resistance against the Spanish colonists in the Philippines. Finishing off the monk, Rajah claimed the amulet for himself, intending to use it to end the foreign occupation of his people's lands, while Edward was forced to flee alongside Saito.

During his brief occupation of Monkey Island's fort, Rajah used the amulet to brainwash and empower his warriors and sent them to eliminate any "foreign trespassers" that set foot on the island, including the members of the Zhang Wei Union. However, Rajah's men were ultimately defeated by the Union members, forcing the Visayan chief to leave the island and proceed towards Cebu.

Gallery

• 
  The crescent amulet
• 
  Lapu-Lapu wielding one of the Pieces of Eden

Appearances

• Assassin's Creed: Forgotten Temple