Scepter of Aset

The Scepter of Aset, or Piece of Eden #24, was an ancient artifact created by the Isu, which conferred charisma and leadership to its wielder. It originally belonged to the Isu Isis, also known as Aset.

Owners

• Isu (? – ?)
• Isis (? – ?)
• Lugos (2nd century)
• Italian fishermen (c. 1200)
• Egyptian merchant (c. 1200)
• Egyptian Brotherhood of Assassins (c. 1200 – 1250)
  • Egyptian Assassin (1250)
• Bahri dynasty (1250 – 1340)
  • Al-Nasir Muhammad (1309 – 1340)
• Egyptian Rite of the Templar Order (1340 – 1341)
• Ali Al-Ghraib (1341)
• Numa Al'Khamsin (1341)
• Ali Al-Ghraib (1341)
• Leila (1341)

History

Antiquity

The Scepter was originally owned by Isis, a famous Isu deified by the ancient Egyptians. By the mid-2nd century CE, the Scepter and another artifact, the Ankh, were in the hands of Lugos, who was a founding member of the Liberalis Circulum, a group of Hidden Ones active in the territories of the Roman Empire. Unfortunately, both Pieces of Eden were lost in a shipwreck off the coast of a small island in the Mediterranean Sea.

Middle Ages

The Scepter of Aset reappeared over a thousand years later, when some Italian fishermen found it amid the debris of Lugos' ship, in the early 13th century. Subsequently, the fishermen sold the artifact for a very low price to an Egyptian merchant, who in turn sold it to the Egyptian Assassins, who kept the artefact in their possession for half a century. In 1250, still in Egypt, the Brotherhood gave the artifact to the Mamluks in an effort to help them in their slave revolt against the rule of their Ayyubid overlords.

A Mamluk wielding the Scepter

The Scepter remained for nearly a century in the possession of the Bahri dynasty Sultans, placed in power by the revolt of the Mamluks, until 1340 when the Templars stole it from the Sultan Al-Nasir Muhammad. The Assassins then entrusted one of their own, Numa Al'Khamsin, with the task of finding the artifact, which could be a dangerous weapon in the hands of the Templars.

Some time later in 1341, Numa Al'Khamsin and his disciple Ali Al-Ghraib retrieved the Scepter from the Templars. However, instead of returning to the Sultan's Palace, the artifact stayed in Assassin' hands. Because of his distrust to the Sultan's deputies, Numa was imprisoned.

In the meantime, the Scepter was guarded by Numa's apprentice Ali. The Templars in their turn had tortured Ali and set up a trap to kill Numa. Upon his return, Numa was ambushed and killed by the Templar agent Leila. Ali however, was spared and escaped with the Scepter hidden under the bandages around his arm. The boy then decided to throw the Scepter in a well near Edfu. Despite a failed attempt by Leila to retrieve the artifact, the Scepter remains there until today.

Trivia

• In the non-canonical modern day storyline of the Assassin's Creed French comic series, the Assassins and Templars fight a battle against time on who retrieves the Scepter first. Ultimately, the Assassin Jonathan Hawk is able to beat the Templars to the artifact and brings it back to the Brotherhood.
• The Scepter of Aset resembles a was-sceptre, an ancient Egyptian symbol of power and dominion that is attributed to the gods (such as Set or Anubis) and the Pharaoh.

Gallery

• 
  An ancient wall painting depicting the Scepter
• 
  The Scepter being given to the Mamluks
• 
  The Scepter in an ankh-shaped box, disassambled
• 
  The Scepter lying at the bottom of the well
• 
  The Scepter shown among other Pieces of Eden (on the left)

Appearances

• Assassin's Creed 4: Hawk (first appearance)
• Assassin's Creed 5: El Cakr
• Assassin's Creed 6: Leila
• Assassin's Creed: Forgotten Temple (cameo)