Staff of Hermes Trismegistus

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The Staff of Hermes Trismegistus, also known as the Staff of Hermes or the Caduceus, is an extremely powerful Piece of Eden created by the Isu philosopher Hermes Trismegistus.

It was notably wielded by Hermes himself, before he passed it on to Pythagoras who, in turn, passed it on to his daughter, Kassandra. 

Owners

• Hermes Trismegistus (? – "Sixth century BCE")
• Pythagoras (6th century BCE – 420s BCE)
• Kassandra (420s BCE – 2018 CE)
• Layla Hassan (2018 – present)

History

Isu Era

During the Isu Era, the Isu Aletheia replicated her own consciousness into the Staff, such that in the future, she could interact and help the staff wielder to master its power.

6th century BCE

Around the 6th century BCE, Hermes met the Greek philosopher Pythagoras along with his protégé Kyros of Zarax in a remote desert. Declaring the former a worthy successor, Hermes handed over the Staff to Pythagoras before disappearing. Pythagoras later parted ways with Kyros, embarking on a journey to learn about the Staff.

5th century BCE

Living abnormally long using the Staff, Pythagoras fathered a child with Myrrine of Sparta, and eventually discovered the sealed ruins of Atlantis, with which the Staff was connected. There, he spend years attempting to uncover the secrets of the place, only to find its entrance sealed by four artefacts.

During the time of the Peloponnesian War, the misthios Kassandra, Pythagoras and Myrrine's child, reach the entrance to Atlantis and encountered Pythagoras, still alive thanks to the Staff's power. Following the encounter, Pythagoras tasked Kassandra with finding the four artefacts that, together with the Staff, would allow the pair to either permanently seal off Atlantis or open its gates to obtain the knowledge contained within.

After Kassandra obtained all the artefacts, Pythagoras briefly considered opening Atlantis and after a brief argument relented in sealing Atlantis, passing off the Staff to Kassandra, causing him to pass away.

Sometime later, Kassandra began to hear the voice of Aletheia coming from the Staff and eventually an apparition-like hologram. Aletheia explained to Kassandra that her role as Keeper of the Staff was to hold it until she met the "Heir of Memories". Kassandra visited four different tombs under the directions of Aletheia, and slowly began to understand that the Heir of Memories Aletheia spoke of did not yet exist.

Under a last direction from Aletheia, Kassandra descended back into Atlantis and used her Hybrid Isu-Human blood to gain entrance to the outermost part of Atlantis, the Throne Room, where Aletheia presented Kassandra with three fictionalised simulations of the Sister Realms; Elysium, the Underworld and the last days of Atlantis; where Kassandra would learn to use the power of the Staff. After enduring these trials, Kassandra fully embraced her role as Keeper and fully obtained the power of the Staff.

21st century CE

In 2018, Layla Hassan and her cell of Assassins managed to find the entrance to Atlantis, using the genetic memories of Kassandra, recovered from the Spear of Leonidas. While in Atlantis, Layla met with Kassandra, who had used the Staff's power to survive until that time. Believing Layla to be the Heir of Memories that Aletheia had mentioned, Kassandra passed on the Staff to Layla, and instructed her to destroy it and all other Pieces of Eden with it, before passing away herself.

Following Kassandra's death, and experiencing more of her genetic memory in the Animus, Layla began communicating with the virtual consciousness of Aletheia and visited the four tombs that Kassandra visited before her time as Keeper, in order to find the right passcode to enter the Atlantis Throne Room proper.

Once inside, Layla once again experienced the genetic memories of Kassandra, this time of her time within the simulations. While within the the throne room, Victoria Bibeau accompanied her and attempted to stop her from continuing, noting her instability and fearing the Staff and her brief sojourn into the genetic memories of Deimos had caused a sort of corrupting Bleeding Effect.

Soon, the duo was ambushed by members of Sigma Team, elite Templar operatives under the command of the Juhani Otso Berg. Layla used the Staff to defend and kill most of the ambushing party, leaving only one alive to allow him to return to his leader. Noting Layla's brutality, Vicotria tried to actively stop her from continuing the simulations, causing Layla to strike her with the Staff in a fit of rage. Immediately contrite, Layla attempted to ensure Victoria's safety but soon returned to the simulation.

With Aletheia doubtful of Layla's role as Keeper of Memories after this violent episode, Layla discovered that she had, in fact, murdered Victoria. Still, Layla continued into the simulations, despite Aletheia's doubts. After finishing the last simulation, Layla awoke to discover that Otso Berg himself had come to Atlantis' throne room to confront her and take both Atlantis and the Staff. Using the Staff as a spear, Layla deafeated Otso in combat. Soon afterwards, she stabbed Otso, leaving him paralysed — bleeding, but stable — and gloated over her newfound immortality. Taking the earpiece from Victoria's corpse, Layla called for an extraction.

Functionality

The Staff of Hermes' most prominent ability is to bestow its wielder with biological immortality. It has the power preserve its owner and protect them from the passages of time as well as sustain them. This was seen when Pythagoras was kept alive for a very long time by the Staff as he lived inside Atlantis without proper food or sustenance due to the Staff's power sustaining him.

However, once he finally passed down the Staff of Hermes to one of his children, Kassandra, he immediately passed away. The Staff was able to keep Kassandra unchanged and un-aged for far longer, more than two thousand years, until she was able to pass it down to Layla, after which Kassandra succumbed to her age and finally passed away. Whether physical contact between the wielder and the Staff is required to impart such longevity is unknown. Those who passed ownership of the Staff onto another individual, either willingly or by force, at a point that was past the former owners natural lifespan would die almost instantly. This passage of ownership required both parties to maintain simultaneous physical contact on the Staff.

Aside from its life-giving powers, the Staff of Hermes was the key to sealing off Atlantis, and could take the form of whatever its user wished, given that Kassandra came back to Atlantis to greet Layla with the Staff in the shape of a lantern. In a possible, though innacurate, simulation of Kassandra's memories, Kassandra was lead to fight Pythagoras over the sealing of Atlantis, where the Staff gave Pythagoras the physical attributes of a young man, despite his elderly appearance. Pythagoras was able to use the Staff to create precise blasts of energy and teleport short distances during combat. Pythagoras could also conjure up balls of energy, channel the Staff's power into himself, and project that energy from his hands. As long as the Staff was not passed on to a successor, the current wielder would remain alive and maintain its abilities even after physically separating from it. ^{[citation needed]}

The Staff could easily corrupt those who do not possess the strength to wield it. Aletheia, thus, created simulations for Kassandra to learn how to control it and through her, the Heir of Memories. The simulations allowed Kassandra to learn and fully control the staff, however while Layla was experiencing these memories, it became clear to Aletheia that Layla was becoming corrupted by the staff and began to doubt her role as Heir of Memories after her violent fit that resulted in the death of Victoria.

Behind the Scenes

The Staff of Hermes Trismegistus first appeared in Assassin's Creed: Project Legacy, where it was gifted to Pythagoras by Hermes Trismegistus in Chapter 2 of the Divine Science pack of memories. In these, the staff is described as having living snakes adorning it, capable of speech and choosing Pythagoras as the successor of Hermes Trismigestus. Similarly, it is implied in these that the Staff passed hands multiple times before Hermes Trismegistus passed it on to Pythagoras. These characteristics of the Staff have since been abandoned and potentially rendered apocryphal.

The Staff reappeared in Assassin's Creed: Odyssey as an important item in the Atlantis quest lines and The Fate of Atlantis DLC episodes. Further, the Staff can be obtained as a weapon after the memory Ancient Revelations. Curiously, despite its name, the Staff is registered as a Spear and shares the same animations as all other Spear weapons, differing only in stats and Engravings.

Weapon statistics

Rarity	DPS (Lvl 99)	Default Engravings	Availability
Legendary	8257	+25% Warrior Damage +40% Chance to Ignore Half Damage Low chance to gain a 30% Health Shield when Hit	Complete The Gates of Atlantis

Gallery

• Hermes Trismegistus holding the Staff
  Hermes Trismegistus holding the Staff
• 
  Pythagoras holding the Staff
• 
  Kassandra wielding the Staff
• 
  Layla Hassan holding the Staff

Appearances

• Assassin's Creed: Project Legacy (first appearance)
• Assassin's Creed: Odyssey
  • The Fate of Atlantis: Fields of Elysium
  • The Fate of Atlantis: Torment of Hades
  • The Fate of Atlantis: Judgment of Atlantis