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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 in 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 beneath. Climbing out of the water, Ezio wandered the castle's 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.

In persuit

Mountain chase

As Leandros continued to ride, Ezio began to climb up the rope, barely dodging hedges and rocks along the way, as more Byzantines followed. Eventually reaching the rear of the carriage, an exhausted Ezio climbed onto it. Noticing this, Leandros signalled one of his men, who was also riding a carriage, to move next to him. Doing so, Leandros jumped onto the carriage and threw the soldier off. The carriage now riderless, the horses crashed and toppled onto the floor, sending Ezio with them. As this happened, another carriage rode past, surrounded by many other Byzantines on horseback. Ezio grabbed on underneath the carriage and, as he climbed ontop, killed the rider with his hidden blade and took the reigns.

Spurring the horses forward, another Byzantine crashed into Ezio with his own carriage. Using the same manouver, Ezio eventually destroyed the soldier's carriage and finally caught up with Leandros. The two repeatedly crashed into eachother, until Leandros delivered a final blow which sent Ezio dangerously close to the mountain's edge. Using this advantage, Leandros spurred his horses past, shouting at his men stationed at a nearby guard tower to make sure Ezio did not follow. A soldier then threw a hand-held bomb at Ezio's carriage, which exploded on impact, sending Ezio and the carriage over the edge. As he fell, he managed to grab onto a small outcropping, but ultimately fell and tumbled to the ground.

The journal

Severly injured, Ezio made his way to the top of the mountain, where he encountered Leandros and his entourage of Byzantine soldiers. Before leaving to a small Byzantine controlled village nearby, he ordered his men to finish off Ezio. Despite his injuries, Ezio managed to fight off the soldiers and make his way to the village's water wheel, which he used to reach the top of the village's walls. Now inside, he used his advanced senses to follow Leandros' path through the village, avoiding many Byzantine soldiers situated throughout the village, until he reached a courtyard.

Sword drawn, Ezio entered the courtyard, where Leandros called to him from a rooftop nearby. Mocking the Assassin, he wondered aloud whether he was as deadly as legend said, or if he, himself, was leading an army filled with drunks "swinging sticks." He then motioned a group of soldiers outside the gate behind Ezio to attack. Noticing this, he cut the chain holding the gate open with his sword, blocking them from reaching him. Enraged, Leandros called for other men to attack and fled to the courtyard's tower. Ezio then disposed of each attacker and searched through their bodies for medicine, which he eventually found. His wounds healed, Ezio took to the rooftops in persuit of Leandros.

Seeing he was at the top of the tower, Ezio began to climb it. As he did, several Byzantine arquebusiers attempted to shoot him down, though he was able to avoid their shots and climb closer to the top. Desperate, Leandros threw a soldier off the tower, hoping he would Ezio and cause him to fall, though the soldier missed and fell to his own demise. Now at the top, Ezio released his hidden blade and walked towards Leandros. In a last-ditch effort, Leandros retaliated, but Ezio effortlessly blocked this and stabbed Leandros in the chest.

Standing over a dying Leandros, Ezio asked him of the journal he carried. Leandros confessed, telling him it was wrote by Niccolò Polo and that it contained the location of the five keys needed to open the library. Leandros then told him of the directions the library held to the "Grand Temple." Ezio demanded Leandros tell more of the Grand Temple, but it was in vain; Leandros had died. Bitterly giving him last rites, Ezio took the journal from Leandros' hand and made his depature.

Aftermath

After reading Niccolò's journal, he discovered the location of the Masyaf keys: Constantinople. Sailing there, he made contact with the local Guild and its leader, Yusuf Tazim, who aided him in his search.

Source

• Assassin's Creed: Revelations