The Observatory

The Observatory was a virtual representation of one of Edward Kenway's genetic memories, relived by a research analyst at Abstergo Entertainment through the Animus.

Description

Edward and the Sage Roberts finally enter the Observatory, where Edward finds an unpleasant surprise.

Dialogue

• Roberts: Is that pirate hunter dead?
• Edward: Aye. By my own hand. Why is it you alone can find what so many want?
• Roberts: I was born with memories of this place. Memories of another time entirely, I think. Like a... like another life I have already led.
• Edward: Curse you for a lurch, man, and speak some sense.
• Roberts: Not today. After you captain. The path ahead is dangerous. The men native to this land will put up a fight, Edward. Are you willing to push back if necessary? To kill if needed?

Edward made his way through the jungle and caves, reaching a strange building.

• Roberts: ...and the door opens, after almost eighty-thousand years.

Roberts shot his crew members.

• Edward: Jaysus Roberts! Have you gone mad?
• Roberts: Quite the contrary, Edward. These wags would have gone mad at seeing what lies beyond this gate. But you, ah... I suspect you're made of sterner stuff. Now, pick up that chest, and carry it hither. Dirty and decrepit. Not quite as I remember. But it has been over 80 millennia.
• Edward: Oh rot. That's impossible.
• Roberts: Step as if on thin ice, captain. I must say, I am quite taken by this new vocation of mine. And it may amuse you to know that I have authored my own articles of conduct.
• Edward: A creed of your own, eh?
• Roberts: To keep the peace, yes. I forbid all gambling upon the deck, for instance, for it leads to more conflict than camaraderie. Desertion during battle is forbidden. And I require that all men keep their pieces and cutlasses clean and fit for service at all times...
• Edward: Sensible.
• Roberts: And punishable by death if disobeyed.
• Edward: That's a step further than I'd go. Look at this place!
• Roberts: Beautiful, isn't it?
• Edward: Aye. Like something out of a fairy tale, or one of them old poems.
• Roberts: There were many stories about this place once. Tales that turned into rumours, and again into legend. The inevitable process of facts becoming fictions, before fading away entirely.
• Edward: More blood vials.
• Roberts: Yes. These cubes contain the blood of an old and ancient people. A wonderful race, in their time.
• Edward: The more you talk, man, the less I understand.
• Roberts: I don't expect you to. Only remember this; the blood in those vials is not worth a single reale to anyone anymore. It may be again, one day. But not in this epoch. Here we are. Place the chest just there.
• Edward: What's that noise?
• Roberts: Ah yes. A security measure. Just a moment. There we are.
• Edward: So what is this place?
• Roberts: Think of it as a large spyglass, such as we sailors carry. A device capable of seeing great distances.

Roberts activated the device.

• Edward: This is bloody witchcraft.
• Roberts: No. This is mister Jack Rackham. Somewhere in the world, at this moment.
• Edward: Nassau. This is happening right now? We're seeing through his eyes?
• Roberts: Aye.
• Anne: I don't know, Jim. I haven't the faintest idea how to pilot a ship. That ain't work a woman does.
• Mary: Tosh! I've seen a score of ladies who can reef a sail and spin a capstan.
• Anne: And would you teach me to fight? With a cutlass, like? And maybe handle a pistol?
• Mary: All that and more. But you have to want it. And work for it. There's no stumbling into true success.
• Rackham: Oy! Lad! That's my lass you're making love to! You lay off or I'll cut ya!
• Mary: Up your arse, Rackham. Lad is the last thing you should be calling me.
• Rackham: Oh! Oh, is that right, is it? LAD!
• Roberts: A curious bunch. Let's try another. Governor Woodes Rogers.
• Rogers: You have a bold idea. But I must think it carefully through.
• Torres: A simple pledge of loyalty is all you need suggest to the House of Commons. An oath, a gesture, and a simple ceremonial dram of blood taken from the finger. That's all.
• Rogers: The ministers may give me trouble, but it should be easy enough to convince the House of Lords. They do adore an excess of pomp and circumstance.
• Torres: Exactly. Tell them it's a show of fealty to the king... against those revolting Jacobites.
• Rogers: Yes. Indeed.
• Roberts: Ah, these Templars.
• Torres: The crucial detail is the blood. You must get a sample from each man. We want to be ready when we find the Observatory.
• Rogers: Agreed.
• Roberts: A precious tool, you see?
• Edward: Sorcery. That's what it is.
• Roberts: Not so. Every mechanism that gives this device its light is a true and physical thing. Ancient yes, but nothing supernatural or strange.
• Edward: We'll be masters of the ocean with that.
• Roberts: Oh... Such ambition.

Roberts pushed Edward off a cliff.

• Roberts: There's nothing in my code about loyalty, boy! You played your role, but our partnership is done!
• Edward: You're a dead man, Roberts!

Edward escaped from the Observatory and arrived at the beach, though severely injured.

• Edward: Roberts!
• Roberts: Oh, your Jackdaw has flown, Edward, eh? That's the beauty of a democracy... the many outvote the one. Aye, you could sail with me, but... with a temper as hot as yours, I fear you'd burn us all to cinders. Luckily, I know the king's bounty on your head is a large one. And I... intend to collect. Have you... have you ever seen the inside of a Jamaican prison, boy? Have you?

Outcome

Edward was betrayed by Roberts, and arrested by the British navy.

Reference

• Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag