This article contains content from pre-release sources that may or may not be reflective of canon upon release. This article therefore likely contains spoilers.
After recovering and decoding the intel from Schmidt about a possible Piece of Eden, the Witnesses leave Paris on the trail of the Templar's Seneschal to the Pas-de-Calais region in northern France. Once in Saint-Omer, the German presence quickly becomes evident. The Witnesses approach the target location with the help of a local boatman navigating the Canal de Neufossé aboard his tugboat. Meanwhile, they review the plan to free the kidnapped French professor and retrieve the artifact, studying the map of the small town at the center of which a red circle surrounds the Saint-Bertin Abbey structure: their objective.
While the twilight starts to shroud Saint-Omer in darkness, your French boatman docks his tugboat on the muddy quay of the Canal de Neufossé. Cautiously, following your plans, you successfully pass the roadblocks and patrols to reach the monastery surroundings. While regular Wehrmacht units patrol the occupied town, SturmbannführerHeinz Müller's SS troops garrison the Abbey of Saint-Bertin. You catch a glimpse of a terrified Lèo Dubois, the Sorbonne French history professor kidnapped by the Templars to help them find the artifact, as he's escorted out of the monastery. Suddenly shots ring out, missing you by no more than a couple of inches—an ambush! The boatman must have sold you out. The Professor is in extreme danger, and you, too, are caught in a deadly crossfire.
The Professor is in mortal danger: his SS escorts have orders to execute him down by the river. Although now they are focused on the Witnesses, at any moment they could decide to complete their mission.
Challenges
Wehrmacht Ambush: A unit of 5 Wehrmacht soldiers hidden behind a nearby house attack the Witnesses with machine guns.
Executioners: 2 SS soldiers escort Professor Lèo Dubois from the courtyard down to the river. When the Wehrmacht opened fire, the Professor was thrown to the ground while they took cover behind sandbag barricades.
Crossfire:Wehrmacht soldiers ambush the Witnesses from behind, while the SS soldiers prepare to open fire from up ahead. Until the Witnesses overcome the Executioners or the Wehrmacht Ambush Challenges, they must make a Reaction check at the end of each Approach check.
Searchlight Turrets: The abbey is garrisoned by SS troops reporting directly to Müller. Most of them are stationed in the area of the monastery and will only become a threat if the Reinforcements Setback is triggered, but the troopers in the courtyard sweep two searchlight turrets about the town to direct fire at the Witnesses.
Weaknesses
Turn Out the Lights (minor): Knocking out the searchlights by shooting them or disabling them would make it harder for the soldiers to see them. In this case, the Witnesses overcome the Searchlight Turrets Challenge and have 1 Free raise on any Reaction check made to face the Crossfire Challenge.
Once they have rescued Lèo Dubois, the Professor tells the Witnesses that the Templar Seneschal has found a Shard of Eden hidden in the abbey (see Appendix, page 173). It's a geometrical object the size of a small apple, vibrating with Precursor energy. The Witnesses must then enter the abbey where Sturmbannführer Heinz Müller and his SS guards have barricaded themselves in. The rest of the German troops begin to converge on the abbey, alarmed by shouts, searchlights, and gunfire. Luckily for the PCs, air raid sirens begin to sound all over Saint-Omer: the German outpost is under attack!
The ruined monastery is huge, with multiple access routes to it, but the main entrances are all protected by sandbag barricades behind which SS soldiers ready their guns. A humming sound fills the night sky and suddenly an air raid siren begins to wail. You were unaware of any planned raid, but one thing's for sure: you're right in the target zone of the RAF's bombs!
Challenges
SS Garrison:SS soldiers take position at the abbey's windows and doors, ready to shoot the Witnesses on sight.
Templar Guards: 4 guards guard Müller at all times. Elite soldiers of the Templar Order, they are equipped with deadly weapons and know many of the Brotherhood's techniques, making them formidable opponents even for an Assassin. Defeating them requires 2 separate Approach checks.
Sturmbannführer Heinz Müller: Müller has already found the Precursor artifact fragment in the abbey (a Shard of Eden)—he only wants to flee Saint-Omer before it is destroyed. When the Witnesses locate him, they can see the Shard of Eden clutched in his hand.
Special
Thanks to this Shard of Eden, the SS Sturmbannführer can inflame the emotions of his subordinates, turning them into fearless cannon fodder to cover his escape.
Weaknesses
Secret Passageway (minor): A hidden passageway might be used to enter the abbey undetected, bypassing the soldiers guarding the doors and windows facing the courtyard. By activating the Eagle Vision skill, a Witness can find the secret entrance and overcome the SS Garrison Challenge.
Whether or not the characters made it to Heinz Müller and the Shard of Eden, RAF bombers hit their target area, ending the mission.
When you hear the dreadful roar of the approaching bombers, it's already too late—you are standing exactly where you shouldn't be. You try to escape the falling bombs with a final effort, but it is impossible, and darkness swallows you all. Trapped amidst the rubble, smoke and dust, the noise of German trucks withdrawing leaves a worse taste than the blood that fills your mouth.
"Sorry mates, but apparently the bloody Templar managed to escape..." Ziggy's voice sounds muffled over the crackling of the Simulation's flames and wounded soldiers' cries. "Don't worry lads, we will find it... you did good, let me pull you out..."
Despite the weariness stemming from days of grueling sessions in the Animus, the Descendants find themselves with no time to spare. With a blend of astonishment and incredulity, Ziggy uncovers traces of the Shard of Eden in the genetic memories of all the Crew's PCs. Each character appears linked to the artifact through one of their Ancestors. Regrettably, the technician cannot process the DNA of all the characters simultaneously, requiring a few additional hours to begin narrowing down the field.
The first memory block displaying traces of the artifact seems to correspond to the Descendant inheriting the genetic memory of an Ancestor from the Archaic Rome Time Frame. As Ziggy autonomously processes the data of the other subjects to cross-reference them with the trace of the Shard of Eden, the technician has already prepared the Animus to launch the next Simulation.
It's early morning and the sky over London is still gray above the rooftops. Ziggy appears triumphantly in the green room of the Stardust, wearing tinted shades and holding a cup of steaming coffee. He explains how his program has found not one, but many matches between the unknown Shard of Eden you lost track of during the World War II Simulation.
"I don't think I've ever seen anything like this before. All of you lads are connected to that specific Shard of Eden through one of your Ancestors. That's a bit of a turn-up!" he exclaims, giving you just a few moments to contemplate the revelation. "Unfortunately, I cannot process all your DNA at once, and it'll take me a few more hours to start narrowing down the field, if you know what I mean." he adds, motioning for you to follow him in the Animus room.
"I already got one ready, though. Strangely, it's not a more recent trace but an older one, much older indeed!" The Simulation that Ziggy has loaded may not be useful for discovering where the artifact ended up after 1943, although he assures you he is working on that. Instead, this Simulation could prove helpful in learning more about the artifact's origins and capabilities. There was a connection between the relic shard and one of your Ancestors in 8th century BCE Rome.
"I bet that it costs less to visit the past using all this electronic equipment than it does to take a Roman holiday nowadays! You're bloody lucky, lads: the Eternal City, 717 BCE. I've never gone so far back. Come on, your fave technician will be waiting for you in the other room, as soon as you're ready."
A charismatic and ruthless commander, Heinz Müller is a high-ranking member of the SS and a Seneschal of the Templar Order. Born into a prominent aristocratic family in Munich, Müller's thirst for power and urge to shape the world led him down a dark path of extremism and intrigue. He orchestrated the abduction of Professor Dubois in Paris, recognizing the potential significance of his research into the Isu and the Pieces of Eden.
Lèo Dubois is an esteemed scholar of ancient history at the prestigious Sorbonne University in Paris. With a deep passion for uncovering the secrets of the past, the Professor has dedicated his life to studying the remnants of lost civilizations and the mysteries surrounding their existence. He caught the eye of the Templars when he published his theories about a Precursor Civilization, leading to his kidnapping in 1942.
