Southeast Asian Pieces of Eden
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He who increaseth knowledge, increaseth sorrow. This article contains spoilers, meaning it has information and facts concerning Assassin's Creed: Forgotten Temple. If you do not want to know about these events, it is recommended to read on with caution, or not at all. |
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I wanted to ask you something. Which is... what's your name? This article title is conjecture. Although the article subject is canon, no official name for it has been given. |
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
- Crescent amulet
- Ferdinand Magellan (April 1521)
- Mad monk (until 1725)
- Rajah (1725)
- Edward Kenway (1725)
- Shimazu Saito (1725)
- Fenghuang crew (1725)
- Sultanate of Sulu (1725)
- Xialun Qing (1725)
- Xue Yan (1725)
- Edward Kenway (1725)
- Xiao Han (1725)
- SS Ourang Medan crew (1940s)
- Noa Kim (2023)
- Yuki (2023)
- Zhawang Corporation (2023 – present)
- Unknown Piece of Eden
- Lapu-Lapu (c. 1521)
Usage
The three Pieces of Eden 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 chief Lapu-Lapu to easily defeat an army of Spanish soldiers.[2]
The amulet, meanwhile, had a variety of powers, including mind control,[3] the ability to create illusions and resurrect the dead,[4] storing the wielder's memories,[5] and granting access to a form of calculations, allowing the user to witness future events.[6] These abilities came with a great risk, however, as long-time possession of the amulet could corrupt the wielder's mind.[7][8]
History
Early history
Created at some point during the Isu Era,[2] knowledge of the set, its location, and its powers were lost following the Great Catastrophe in 75,000 BCE, which wiped out the Isu civilization.[1]
Age of Discovery
- "Official annals of history contend that Magellan voyaged to the other side of the world... ostensibly to discover gold and spices. But in fact... that was not his true purpose. [...] He coveted an artifact instilled with a power that could only be described as godlike... A forbidden fruit, the stuff of sorcery capable of granting any wish. In short... the relics of Those Who Came Before."
- ―Hendrik, on Ferdinand Magellan's quest for the Pieces of Eden.[src]-[m]
By the early 16th century, two of the Pieces of Eden 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. 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.[2]
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.[2]
Golden Age of Piracy
By the early 18th century, one of the Pieces of Eden was 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.[2]
Hendrik eventually found Angkor and its Piece of Eden, but could not retrieve the artifact and was later killed in Macau in 1725.[9] 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.[2]
Struggle for the crescent amulet
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.[3] Edward and his ally Shimazu Saito confronted the monk, who used the amulet's powers against them,[10] including resurrecting his followers after they were killed,[4] and conjuring illusions of himself and an oni to attack the pair.[11]
While Saito was eventually defeated, Edward overcame the artifact's powers, forcing the monk to flee. He tried to slow down 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,[12] causing Edward to experience several visions of the past and the future.[6]
With Edward's body temporarily paralyzed, the monk tried to seize this opportunity to kill him, only to be struck by a spear thrown by Rajah, the leader of a Visayan resistance against the Spanish colonists. Finishing off the monk, Rajah claimed the amulet for himself, intending to use it to end the foreign occupation of his people's lands.[6]
During his brief occupation of Monkey Island, Rajah used the amulet to brainwash many of the natives and recruit them to his cause.[13] He also used the artifact to 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.[14] However, Rajah's men were ultimately defeated by the Union,[13] forcing the Visayan chief to leave the island and head to Cebu.[15]
In Cebu, Rajah retrieved one of Hendrik's sea logs, which had been hidden within Ferdinand Magellan's cross, and used the amulet to decipher its encrypted contents, learning the whereabouts of the other two Pieces of Eden.[16] During his fight against Edward at Fort San Pedro, Rajah used the amulet to summon illusions of countless Filipino warriors that overwhelmed the Assassin.[17] However, Edward used his Phantom Blade to separate Rajah from the artifact, defeating him.[5]
Edward subsequently seized the amulet, and escaped Cebu after fending off an attack by the Chinese Assassins Xiao Han, Liu Qing, and Xue Yan, who sought the Piece of Eden for their own ends.[18] When the amulet started to corrupt Edward, Shimazu Saito forcefully took it away from him and placed it in a chest, which was kept aboard the Fenghuang.[19]
In the Sultanate of Sulu, the Fenghuang's crew was betrayed by their ally Jan van Aert, who had made a deal with Sultan Badarud-Din I, promising to deliver the amulet into his hands. While the crew was imprisoned, the chest containing the amulet was stored in a warehouse until the sultan's arrival.[20] The Zhang Wei Union members later escaped confinement and sought to recover the amulet, but were forced to fight Xiao Han, Liu Qing, and Xue Yan, who had also arrived in Sulu.[21] During the chaos, the Union's doctor Xialun Qing retrieved the amulet, but she was killed by Xiao Han, who then seized the artifact and escaped alongside his fellow Assassins.[22]
Modern times
- "Based on the data extracted from the test subject, as summarized in your report... we've managed to locate the artifact discovered by Edward Kenway in the Philippines. I assume you're familiar with the SS Ourang Medan. The data shows a perfect match to a failed attempt to retrieve the artifact during Abstergo's early days."
- ―A Templar higher-up to Shimazu Sei, on the crescent amulet, 2023.[src]-[m]
At some point following these events, the crescent amulet was disposed of in the sea near the Strait of Malacca, where it would remain for almost three centuries. In the 1940s, Abstergo Industries, the front company of the Templar Order, located the Piece of Eden and dispatched the SS Ourang Medan to recover it. However, the mission ended in failure when the ship and its entire crew mysteriously vanished.[7]
In 2023, the Templar Shimazu Sei re-discovered the amulet's location through the genetic memories of Edward relived by his descendant Noa Kim, who had been abducted by Abstergo. After Sei contacted her superiors to inform them of her discovery, they ordered Noa's termination, believing he had outlived his usefulness.[7] However, Sei disagreed and secretly made a deal with the Assassin Nathan Zhang to ensure Noa's safety and that the amulet was kept out of Abstergo's hands.[23]
Noa and Sei's bodyguard Yuki were subsequently sent to recover the amulet and used a diving bell to descend to the Ourang Medan's wreck. After becoming separated from Yuki during their search,[24] Noa found the amulet, but its powers and the Bleeding Effect that Noa was suffering from caused him to experience visions of Edward's memories. Overcoming the hallucinations, including an apparition of Bartholomew Roberts, Noa took the amulet and returned to Yuki.[25]
After using the amulet to repel a shark that attacked them, Noa began succumbing to its effects, leaving him in a weakened state, and was brought by Yuki to Sei, whereupon the amulet was placed in a briefcase.[26] This briefcase was taken by Yuki when she, Noa and Sei later escaped from Abstergo with Nathan's help and traveled to a Zhawang Corporation safehouse in Singapore. There, while Noa recovered from the amulet's effects, Sei decided to track down another Piece of Eden that could cure him by reliving the memories of her ancestor Shimazu Saito.[8]
Gallery
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The crescent amulet -
Lapu-Lapu wielding one of the Pieces of Eden
Appearances
References
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