Staves of Eden

"Better in the hands of the Earth, than in the hands of Man."

―Mario Auditore regarding the Staff after being lost during the Renaissance.

The Staves of Eden were Pieces of Eden embodying sovereignty and dominion. Known throughout history by names such as the Papal Staff or the Russian Imperial Sceptre, the Staves of Eden were used by various Egyptian Pharaohs, Roman Catholic Popes, and Russian Tsars.

Powers

Designed to control men's minds and bodies, the Papal Staff had a cradle in the headpiece where an Apple of Eden could be placed, in order to enhance its mind control effects. This conjunction of two Pieces of Eden could also be used to open the door to the Vatican Vault.

Its bottom end was sharpened, and could be wielded as a spear in combat. The artifact also granted the possessor the ability to conceal their presence entirely, and the ability of levitation; though whether these were physical effects or simply manipulations of the viewers' perceptions, remains unknown. Over the course of time, the Staves' appearances would change; either on their own or by successive bearers retaining its core and adding decorations.

When Nikolai Orelov approached one Staff in 1908, he heard several voices of the past emanating from it, playing almost like recordings, and speaking things such as "Always the fighter," "Adam, I have it," "Just like your father," and "Eve."

Staves of Eden

Moses

The earliest known use of a Staff seems to be by the prophet Moses, who used its innate powers of illusion and mind control to "part" the Red Sea, freeing the Israelites from Egypt.

Pharaohs

One Staff of Eden is also known to have been used by the Pharaoh Shabataka, who used it to rule over Ancient Egypt in the early 7th century BCE. It was likely used by various pharaohs before and after him.

Alexander the Great

During the 4th century BCE, the Templars somehow managed to acquire a Staff of Eden. They entrusted their ally Alexander the Great with it, who used it to create one of the largest empires in history. He presumably lost it when he was poisoned by the Assassin Iltani in 323 BC.

John the Baptist

A Staff was later kept by John the Baptist, the prophet and religious leader who baptized Jesus Christ (who himself owned at least one Piece of Eden).

Papal Staff

A Staff passed into the hands of the first disciple of Jesus, Saint Peter, who established Christianity and became the first Pope. It is assumed that the Staff circulated through the hands of the Roman Catholic Popes until it was used by Rodrigo Borgia, who became Pope Alexander VI in 1492 so that he could use the Staff to gain access to the Vault.

Rodrigo Borgia using the Staff.

On the 28th of December 1499, the Assassin Ezio Auditore infiltrated the Sistine Chapel to confront Rodrigo, and a fight ensued, during which the Staff was wielded as a spear or halberd-like weapon against Ezio. Eventually, Ezio defeated the despairing Rodrigo and used the Staff (combined with the Apple) to enter the Vault.

When leaving the Vault, Ezio tried to remove the Staff from the center of the room, where it was secured in the Vault floor. Upon doing so, Ezio activated machinery that made the Staff descend underground, despite Ezio's efforts to retrieve it.

Imperial Sceptre

A Staff was recovered by Tsar Alexander III as of 1888, and used, as the Imperial Sceptre, to maintain the Tsar's power over the Russian Empire. On October 29 of that year, while returning home to Petrograd, the Tsar was attacked by the Assassin Nikolai Orelov. After the Royal Train derailed, he threw the Staff to Orelov, challenging his assailant to attack him with it.

The Tsar subsequently repelled the assassination attempt, leaving with the Piece of Eden still in his possession. After his death, it was passed on to his son Tsarevich Nicholas II, who was unaware of the Staff's powers, though it was later secretly stolen by Grigori Rasputin, who had infiltrated the Royal House, and brought the Staff to a Templar research station in Tunguska.

The Tunguska Explosion.

In the summer of 1908, members of the Assassin Order contacted Nikola Tesla, offering him a chance for retribution on the Templars in revenge for being discredited by the Templar Thomas Edison. Using his mastery of electricity and the Wardenclyffe Tower, Tesla broadcast destruction into the facility, creating one of the largest explosions in history, in which more than 2,000 kilometers of forest were flattened in an explosion that was estimated to have had a force of more than 30 megatons of TNT. As such, this explosion obliterated the research facility and the Staff within.

The event was a complete Assassin victory, with the explosion destroying the Staff and injuring only one Assassin, Nikolai Orelov. Orelov later returned to his partner Anna, bloodied and barely alive, muttering that the Staff was destroyed.

However, the Staff had not been completely obliterated, as there was at least one shard that still existed. This shard somehow came into the possession of Rasputin, who used it to manipulate Nicholas' wife Alexandra Feodorovna and psychologically scar one of his disciples, a woman named Khioniya Guseva, after her failed attempt to kill him. In 1914, Rasputin was assassinated by the Assassins, and took the shard with him to his grave. In 1917, Orelov, having learned of the shard's existence from the Tsarevich and concluding that even a fragment of the Staff would be a threat, dug up Rasputin's body and retrieved the shard from his corpse.

Trivia

• It was possible to kill Rodrigo Borgia without triggering the cinematic cutscene while in the Sistine Chapel. Similarly, the Staff could be knocked from his hand by using the disarm technique with a heavy weapon. After this, it could be picked up and wielded, though none of its powers could be used.

Forms

• A Staff, as wielded by Moses.
  A Staff, as wielded by Moses.
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  A Staff, as wielded by Pharaohs.
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  A Staff, as wielded by Alexander the Great.
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  A Staff, as wielded by John the Baptist.
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  A Staff, as wielded by Saint Peter.
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  A Staff, as wielded by Tsars.
• Ezio attempting to remove the Papal Staff.
  Ezio attempting to remove the Papal Staff.
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  Nikolai Orelov while destroying the Imperial Sceptre.
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  The shard from a Staff as Rasputin's necklace.