The Shroud of Eden and The Elephant Man
Also known as the “Shroud of Turin”, is a linen cloth bearing the image of a man who appears to have suffered physical trauma in a manner consistent with crucifixion. There is no consensus yet on how the image was created. It is believed by some to be the burial shroud of Jesus of Nazareth, despite radiocarbon dating tests dating it to the Medieval period. However, Church records noted that the man's visage changed multiple times throughout history.
The image is much clearer in black-and-white negative than in its natural sepia color. The negative image was first observed in 1898 on the reverse photographic plate of amateur photographer Secondo Pia, who was allowed to photograph it while it was being exhibited in the Turin Cathedral. The shroud is kept in the royal chapel of the Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist in Turin, northern Italy.
The Shroud was usually kept in a simple wooden box.
The origins of the shroud and its image are the subject of intense debate among theologians, historians and researchers. Scientific and popular publications have presented diverse arguments for both authenticity and possible methods of forgery.
A variety of scientific theories regarding the shroud have since been proposed, based on disciplines ranging from chemistry to biology and medical forensics to optical image analysis. The Shroud of Turin is respected by Christians of several traditions, including Baptists, Catholics, Lutherans, Methodists, Orthodox, Pentecostals, and Presbyterians.
The Catholic Church has neither formally endorsed nor rejected the shroud, but in 1958 Pope Pius XII approved of the image in association with the devotion to the Holy Face of Jesus. More recently, Pope Francis and his predecessor Pope Benedict XVI have both described the Shroud of Turin as “an icon”. known to be a mystical object of restoration and healing. Numbered Piece of Eden #66, it was one of the many artifacts created by the First Civilization.
As of 1498, Perotto Calderon was an undercover Assassin spying on the Borgia, though he fell in love with the Templar Lucrezia Borgia, who eventually became pregnant with his child, Giovanni Borgia.
However, the boy was born deformed, and was expected to die within a few days. Knowing of the potentially life-saving artifact his Brotherhood kept, Perotto took his son and escaped to Agnadello. Perotto soon arrived at the home of Rinaldo Vitturi, who he knew was guarding the Shroud. Though he was forced to kill many of his own Brothers, Perotto successfully used the Shroud to heal his son, but was later executed by his fellow Assassins for breaking the Creed.
Joseph Carey Merrick (5 August 1862 – 11 April 1890), sometimes incorrectly referred to as John Merrick, was an English man with severe deformities who was exhibited as a human curiosity named the Elephant Man. He became well known in London society after he went to live at the London Hospital. Merrick was born in Leicester, Leicestershire and began to develop abnormally during the first few years of his life.
His skin appeared thick and lumpy, he developed enlarged lips, and a bony lump grew on his forehead. One of his arms and both of his feet became enlarged and at some point during his childhood he fell and damaged his hip, resulting in permanent lameness.
When he was 10, his mother died, and his father soon remarried. Merrick left school at 13 and had difficulty finding employment. Rejected by his father and stepmother, he left home. In late 1879, Merrick, aged 17, entered the Leicester Union Workhouse. In 1884, after four years in the workhouse, Merrick contacted a showman named Sam Torr and proposed that Torr should exhibit him.
Torr agreed and arranged for a group of men to manage Merrick, whom they named the Elephant Man. After touring the East Midlands, Merrick traveled to London to be exhibited in a penny gaff shop on Whitechapel Road which was rented by showman Tom Norman. Norman's shop, directly across the street from the London Hospital, was visited by a surgeon named Frederick Treves, who invited Merrick to be examined and photographed.
Soon after Merrick's visits to the hospital, Tom Norman's shop was closed by the police, and Merrick's managers sent him to tour in Europe. In Belgium, Merrick was robbed by his road manager and abandoned in Brussels. He eventually made his way back to London; unable to communicate, he was found by the police to have Dr. Treves's card on him. Treves came and took Merrick back to the London Hospital.
Although his condition was incurable, Merrick was allowed to stay at the hospital for the remainder of his life. Treves visited him daily, and the pair developed quite a close friendship. Merrick also received visits from the wealthy ladies and gentlemen of London society, including Alexandra, Princess of Wales. Aged 27, Merrick died on 11 April 1890. The official cause of death was asphyxia, although Treves, who dissected the body, said that Merrick had died of a dislocated neck.
He believed that Merrick—who had to sleep sitting up because of the weight of his head—had been attempting to sleep lying down, to "be like other people”.
Assassin’s Creed: Victory is supposed to take place in Victorian England, in London, presumably after 1850. Joseph Merrick (The Elephant Man), was born August 5th, 1862 in London. His deformity reminds me of a similar that ordeal Giovanni Borgia, Perotto Calderon’s son suffered from. Whether the illness was the same or different, The Shroud of Eden posses immense healing powers.
So I can’t help but think that we might encounter Joseph Merrick himself and we learn that he was after The Shroud of Eden himself to heal, and after his death, the Assassins or the Templars were inspired by his story or what he was after and wanted to acquire The Shroud to heal a similar disease, or perhaps someone, a Templar Master who’s son has a similar deformity whose father refuses to let him suffer and die the same way Joseph Merrick did, and instead seeks to find the Shroud.
The Shroud of Eden was owned by various figures from different parts of the world, and the Animus itself shows real history, not the one Abstergo re-wrote to hide whatever they wanted to make sure people forget or never know about.
So perhaps The Shroud was at some point brought to London during the Victorian Era and the Assassins somehow acquired it and stored it somewhere else, away from Templar hands, until later when it was found and kept in the royal chapel of the Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist in Turin, northern Italy.
