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"When I first set out from Roma ten months ago, I did so with a single purpose - to discover what our father did not. In a letter written a year before my birth, he makes mention of a library hidden beneath the stones of Masyaf's castle, a sanctum full of invaluable wisdom."

―Ezio, in a letter to his sister, Claudia.

Ezio Auditore da Firenze's pilgrimage to Masyaf was an event that occured in 1511, in which the Assassin journied to Masyaf, in search of a library hidden below the city's castle.

Discovery

Journey

With the Templar threat in Italy eliminated, Ezio Auditore shifted his focus to more internal matters. Further cementing the Assassins' place in Italy, he improved lines of communication from Sicily to Venice, and standardized methods of training for the Order's recruits.

In the year 1509, Ezio discovered a letter written by his father, along with many other letters and documents left behind by his late uncle, Mario Auditore. In this letter, his father made mention of a locked library built by legendary AssassinAltaïr Ibn-La'Ahad, hidden beneath a castle in the Syrian city of Masyaf, describing it as "a sanctum full of invaluable wisdom." Spurred by curiosity, Ezio once again took up his father's work and left Italy in the winter of 1510.

Eventually arriving in Syria, he took shelter in the coastal city of Acre. While there, he was told of foreign bandits and merceneries occupying Masyaf. Before leaving, Ezio wrote a letter to his sister, Claudia Auditore da Firenze. In it, he detailed his concerns of a possible Templar threat in Masyaf, and his wishes for her and the Order should he not survive. The following day, Ezio set off for Masyaf.

Arrival at Masyaf

Once arriving there, he found the city in ruins and its fortress overrun by Byzantines, remnants of a line fiercely supportive of Constantinople's former Sultan, Constantine XII, and a faction loyal to the Templar Order. As Ezio reached Masyaf's castle, an arrow was shot directly at his sholder, though it was blocked due to his armor. Immediately engaging in combat with the Byzantines, he dispatched many in the process, but was eventually bested. Stripped of his weapons, Ezio was led to the castle's watch tower to be hung.

Reaching the tower, the Byzantine captain, Leandros, walked Ezio out on to one of the tower's planks. After tying a noose around his neck, Ezio knocked Leandros away and made his escape by dropping to a wooden platform below. Making his way around the castle's walls, he eventually reached the castle's highest point and looked down below to the garden. Noticing the marble flooring, Ezio kicked a large eagle statue from the rooftop, which crashed and broke through the marble. Ezio then leapt from the rooftop, passing through the hole the statue had made and into the water below. Climbing out of the water, Ezio wandered the underground halls until he finally reached the library's door, which was surrounded by Byzantines. After silently dispatching all of them, Ezio noticed a man, who was without Byzantine uniform, standing next to the door. The man told Ezio he was merely hunting for treasure in Masyaf, but was captured by Byzantines. He then informed him of the keys needed to open the door, one of which the Byzantines already had in their possession, and of a journal of sorts, that Leandros carried with him at all times. Giving the man a sack full of money, Ezio persuaded him to pack his tools and leave Masyaf.

Ezio then made his way out to the castle's courtyard, overhearing a Byzantine soldier ordering his men to stay behind, so as to make sure he was not followed as he made his way to Leandros. As the soldier left, the castle's gates were closed. With the soldier as his only lead, Ezio fought his way up to a tower overlooking Masyaf's village and caught sight of him. He then leapt from the tower and opened his parachute, floating down into the village unseen. Ezio followed the soldier until he reached Leandros, who was preparing to leave Masyaf via a horse-drawn carriage. Noticing Ezio, he spurred his horses towards Masyaf's main gate. Ezio ran in persuit, cutting down two Byzantines with his sword in the process, and grabbed onto a length of rope attached to the carriage's rear.