Glyphs

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Glyphs are encrypted messages that can appear in various locations in Assassin's Creed and Assassin's Creed II, created by Subject 16. In the first game they appear shortly before Desmond falls asleep and near the end. You can also find them in the Animus 2.0.

Just before Subject 16 died, he left messages in the original Animus to tell anybody who finds it an important secret. The only way somebody would find these is to solve the puzzles relevant to the information given. There are a total of 20 glyphs found in Italy. Each provides, whether through Subject 16 or the coded messages hidden in some files, snippets of backstory of the Templars and Pieces of Eden.

Locations

Florence

Santa Croce- Japanese torii gate

La Rosa Colta- Omega

Mercato Vecchio- Chinese characters 前事不忘，后事之师 ("Not forgetting the past, a teacher in the future")

'''Ospedale Degli Innocenti - Eye of Horus'''

San Lorenzo- Nazca line drawing of a monkey

Monteriggioni

Villa Auditore- Barcode with 12/21/2012 date

Tuscany/San Gimignano

Torrei Dei Salvucci- two pagodas

Torre Del Diavolo- All-Seeing Eye

Santa Maria Assunta- Machu Picchu

Monte Oliveto Maggiore- Mayan pyramid

Antico Teatro Romano- Butterfly

Romagna/Forlì

Abbazia San Mercuriale- Hebrew writing עולם הבא ("The World To Come")

Avamposta Veneziano- a Sun and Mt. Fuji

Venice

San Giacomo Rialto- a pyramid full of eyes with an apple on top

Gilda Dei Ladri Di Venezia- three pyramids of Giza

Torre dell' Orologio- trefoils

Ponte Di Rialto- Nazca line drawing of a spider

Campanile di San Marco- pentacle

San Pietro di Castello- Mandelbrot Set

Scuola Grande Di San Marco- Nazca line drawing of a hummingbird

Truth Files

File Number	Location	Solution	Story/Secret Messages
Truth File 1 - In The Beginning	In the second zone of Florence, once you get the hidden blade repaired by a rather well known artist, the next memory marker will be at the door of Paola's house. It is on a wall on the roof of that house.	Solve the puzzle by choosing the paintings with an apple in them. They are pictures 3, 5, 6, 7, and 9.	Subject 16 explains that everything he's been told is a lie and has split 20 codes in the animus, and along the way, the truth would be revealed.
Truth File 2 - Sixty-Four Squares	In the second zone of Florence, toward the North Eastern corner, is a big buliding, known as Ospedale Degli Innocenti, shaped like a box. It is colored grey on the map. Next to it are two doctors and a blacksmith. It is on a wall on the roof.	Solve the puzzle more easily by rotating the circle puzzle pieces from towards the middle, then going to the biggest, and finally the smallest.
Truth File 3 - Descendants	While standing on a roof, it’s on a wall	Solve the puzzle by highlighting the circular object in each photo. The first one is right in front of the two men sitting down before the table. The second one is right below the left hand of the man hanging upside down. The last one is directly on the man in the middle's right elbow.	Pigpen cipher on the photo of Roosevelt reads "The Masons brought it across the sea. George Washington passed it on". George Washington was a member of the Masons, along with a number of the founding fathers, who supposedly were the Knights Templar reborn. Morse code on the photo of Houdini reads "They hit him in the stomach". This is reference to the fact that after he was hit in the stomach for a trick, he died of a ruptured appendix. Morse code on the photo of Gandhi reads "The bullet hit him in the chest".
Truth File 4 - Infinite Knowledge	While hanging from the roof, it’s on a wall at Villa Auditore	Solve the puzzle by taking the hints literally	Hexadecimal cipher on the photo at Brest reads "Antikythera Mechanism, much older than 150 B.C.E." Caesar number cipher on the photo at the US civil war reads "Ancient city, Rajastan, Inda, irradiated by PoE". Binary code reads "Sumerian. Me 23.".
Truth File 5 - Instruments of Power	In the bottom dwellings of Santa Maria Assunta, it’s on a wall near pillars	Solve the puzzle by choosing the paintings with a sword in them, then, in the next set, all those with a staff
Truth File 6 - Brothers	While standing on a roof, it’s on a wall at Torri Dei Salvucci	Solve the puzzle more easily by rotating the circle puzzle pieces from smallest circle to the largest, while keeping an eye on the two outer layers that will connect	Morse code text reads "Templar texts adapted by Mr. Smith" The Templar emblem is revealed as the Mark of Cain, showing Cain to be the first Templar.
Truth File 7 - Keep On Seeking, And You Shall Find	While standing on a roof, it’s on a wall at Torre Del Diavolo	Solve the puzzle by choosing the paintings with red in them, this can be done in any order
Truth File 8 - Martyrs	While standing on a roof, it’s on a wall at San Lorenzo	Solve the puzzle by finding the Pieces of Eden (success is indicated with a sound). Then putting the flame over Joan on the world map. And finally, by moving Rasputin’s photo to the top of Czar Nicholas II’s photo	Binary code on photo of Czar Nicholas II reads "17th July 1918". This date was the day the Czar and his family were killed off. Binary code on painting of Joan of Arc reads "30th May 1431" The day Joan was burned at the stake. It is revealed that the Templars stole the Sword from Joan of Arc.  Rasputin stole the Staff from Czar Nicholas II. Without the staff to control the populace, the Russian Revolution occured.
Truth File 9 - Hat-Trick	While standing on a roof, it’s on a wall at Mercato Vecchio	Solve the puzzle by taking the hints literally, with the last one being 6=1	According to the letter, JFK (John F. Kennedy) was planning on giving the people of the US the right to vote to something, so the Templars decided to kill him and take Piece of Eden #3 at the same time. Oswald and an unnamed co conspirator carried it out, and the grassy knoll gunman was a 'phantom' created by a PoE to distract people from the co conspirator. Presumably Jack Ruby, Oswald's killer, was an assassin or Templar ordered to take him out to prevent him talking.
Truth File 10 - Apollo	While standing on a roof, it’s on a wall at Monte Oliveto Maggiore	Solve the puzzle by not looking for the Eagle Apollo lander on the moon. When found, it’s best to rotate the layers of the puzzle from the inside out until they all align, but note that inner layer 1 rotates on its own despite being connected to layer 4 as well in one instance, same story for layer 6. Lastly, the Piece of Eden is on the Moon’s surface.	Pigpen cipher reads "Johnson was one of them. The bees drone too. Follow the money." The flag of the USA contains the Abstergo logo. The white flag contains the Templar emblem. The title of the Moon photo reads "Apollo 11 photograph released to public". Underneath it reads "Original unreleased negative". This means that the original copy was when the US flag was Abstergo and that the white flag is a Templar flag.
Truth File 11 - The Inventor	While standing on the floor, it’s under a stone arch at Antico Teatro Romano	Solve the puzzle by highlighting the light bulbs. After that highlight the middle of the photo above the doorway. Then highlight Nikola Tesla’s lap.	The picture of Wardenslyffe contains three quotes of Tesla's Caesar cipher in the picture of Tesla's lab reads "He used it to develop a bottomless source of energy. Telefunken Wireless Station".
Truth File 12 - Titans of Industry	While standing on a roof (not the church tower itself), look down to the side of a wall attached to where you stand at Abbazia Di San Mercuriale	Solve the puzzle by aligning red 4 with gray 1 on the wheel and entering the related code. Then turn off all the lights on the globe. Select the orb in the middle of the next photo. Solve the last puzzle by lining up the wheel like this: 1=II. 2=I.	Morse code reads "They used it to make Tesla go insane. The organization took his research. Alien property, custodian office".
Truth File 13 - "I am Become Death, the Destroyer of Worlds"	Climb the base lookout tower until you see it on part of the stone walling on Avamposto Veneziano	Solve the puzzle by lining up the wheel like this: 5=circle, square, square. 2=circle 9=triangle. Next press the red button so-to-speak. The last part you’ll find near the left-middle bottom of the letter
Truth File 14 - Bloodlines	Swim under the Ponte Di Rialto bridge, where you’ll find it on a wall near the edge of the water	Solve the puzzle by choosing the paintings with Gods in them: Jupiter, Zeus, Cupid, the Swan and Europa
Truth File 15 - Guardians	While standing on a roof, it’s on a higher up wall at Gilda Dei Ladri Di Venezia, right above a wooden hatch	Solve the puzzle by working from the inside out, and realizing that these layers are connected: 1 to 6, the middle two, and 4 to 5
Truth File 16 - The Cavalry	Climb up the Campanile Di San Marco bell tower, until you can climb in, at which point you’ll find it on the floor	Solve the puzzle by selecting Tunguska. It's OK if you select others first but Tunguska solves the puzzle. Give the staff to the picture.
Truth File 17 - The Bunker	Climb up the Torre Dell ‘Orologio and on the floor you’ll find it	Solve the puzzle by lining up the wheel like this: 7=broken square symbol, 9=six-sided hourglass symbol, 1=square with little square inside of it. Then the attic on the top-right will reveal an Assassin symbol for you to ID	Cipher reads "His double was killed in his bunker". Near the bottom left of the picture, it'll read RIP in the magnified area
Truth File 18 - Synapses	While standing on a roof (not the highest roof), it’s on a wall at San Pietro Di Castello	Solve the puzzle by aligning the wheel like this: 6=YYY, 0=the equivalent of 17 (in Summarian) <YYY,YYY,Y, 3= (31) or <<<Y.
Truth File 19 - The Fourth Day	It’s on the back of one of the rounded-top walls that stick out on the side-parts of Scuola Grande Di San Marco	Solve the puzzle by choosing the paintings with a sun in them. I’m not sure if this has to be done in any specific order, if so it’s: Aztec Calendar, Easter Gate, Sistine Chapel Ceiling, Nazca Textile and Book of the Dead. Then find the part of the sun photo that has the most radiation and ID it
Truth File 20 - The Origin of the Species	From the roof with a fire near it, it’s there when you look down to a wall on the side of San Giacomo Di Rialto	Solve the puzzle by working from the inside out, and realizing that these layers are not connected: 2nd inner layer, 5th outer layer. Then ID the sun. Next you can line up the code wheel any way you want to complete the puzzle. Any symbols you choose will complete the code. In the final puzzle, move the cursor over the bones to change the skeleton from an ape into a human

Notes

The puzzles are not necessarily in the same places here. For example, when we found the glyph at the Mercato Vecchio, we were on Truth File 17, (The Calvary), not Truth File 9, (Hat Trick). But this is helpful when trying to find locations.

Despite what order you find the glyphs in, the story behind it of Subject 16 and the puzzles will be shown in its correct order, so even if you found Glyph 20 first, the puzzle will relate to Glyph 1. If you, for example, then found Glyph 10, it will then relate to Glyph 2, and so on. Also if you are unsure as to where to find the Glyphs, go to the Animus menu page, then database, and finally locations. Specific location pictures have a Glyph symbol in the top left corner. It will tell you where you can find them (and the Assassin's Tombs) in each area.

If you find a glyph it will automatically become the first glyph, and no matter where you find them, they will go up from 1-20 in order.

List of Glyphs

This list of glyphs is in no particular order:

• Japanese Torii Gate
• Chinese Writing (前事不忘，后事之师, literally "Not forgetting the past, a teacher in the future", meaning "Learn from past experience")
• Nazca Line: The Monkey
• Eye of Horus
• Omega
• Butterfly
• Twin Pagodas
• Step Pyramid
• Macchu Picchu
• Eye of Providence
• Hebrew Writing (עולם הבא, meaning "The World To Come")
• Mt. Fuji and the Sun
• 12212012 Barcode
• Nazca Line: The Spider/Ant
• The Apple and Pyramid of Eyes
• Pyramids of Giza
• Pentacle/Pentagram
• Nazca Line: The Hummingbird
• The Mandelbrot Set
• The Trefoils

Trivia

• The number on Glyph #4 (the barcode) is actually 12/21/2012, which is the date that some believe to be the end of the world.

• The binary at the end of the video:
  

01000101

01000100

01000101

01001110

When converted to ASCII is "EDEN"