Vulture

A vulture is a scavenging bird of prey.

History

During the Peloponnesian War vultures were a common sight in Greece. The Spartan misthios Kassandra often saw them gathering around a kill, but the birds were quick to flee as she approached them.^[1]

During the Ptolemaic dynasty, vulture skulls were in demand in Egyptian markets and were worth 7 drachmae in 48 BCE.^[2]

In Egypt the member of the Order of the Ancients known as The Vulture was killed in Alexandria by Aya, as a revenge for the death of her son, Khemu.^[2]

In the non-canon Assassin's Creed comics published by Les Deux Royaumes, the vulture is treated as the animal motif of the Templars and their counterpart to the Assassins' eagle. Just as Assassin characters, like Aquilus, are often named after the eagle, Templars adversaries like Caius Fulvus Vultur are conspicuously named after vultures. This is to the point that Desmond Miles correctly deduces that the doctor Herman Geier is actually the Templar mole in their cell by mere virtue of his surname being German for 'vulture'.