Journal Day 3

I always thought I’d hate myself for killing a person. Well, I did it in real life, so apparently that is not true. But even in the Animus, where I’m not really killing anyone I can’t help but notice that getting rid of dozens of guards doesn’t really get to me. You could argue that it is mostly self defense, but I do start a lot of the fights on my own as well. How couldn’t I? I can live with ignoring an even fight, but when 3 or more guards team up on a helpless woman or priest I simply have to jump in. Before I start sounding like a Good Samaritan, I have to point out that I always get something in return for my “good” deeds. Whether it is the help of the local brawlers who hold the guards chasing me or the option to mix amongst a group of priests to gain access to parts of the cities which are otherwise off limits, I can’t say my help goes unrewarded.

But Altair was an assassin, so most of my time is spent either planning an assassination or actually carrying it out. It might be the Animus messing this up, but I feel rather limited to how this stuff is usually carried out. After arriving to a new city I usually climb on a tall building and scout my surroundings. After I locate the local assassination’s bureau (tracked on my handy Animus GPS) I pay it a short visit and get enough information to start gathering clues about my victim. This is usually done by either listening in on conversations, pick pocketing somebody with information about the victim or beating the living hell out of somebody. Regardless, once I have enough information  I return to the bureau and get my assassination feather – I need to soak it in the blood of my victim to claim the kill, so long range assassinations are out of the question.

This leaves me with the final stage of my mission – the kill. I’ve only carried out 3 strikes so far, but it seems that the Animus is holding my hand here. I always have to carry out the assassination at a fixed location, and whether I like it or not my victim doesn’t usually stray away from a predetermined routine. So, with enough patience I can usually find the perfect moment to strike and be done with it. The tricky thing is than getting away. So far I was unable to perform a completely silent kill (perhaps due to the fact that I usually want to hear the dying words of the soon to be dead guy), so I ended up running for my life away from dozens of guards. But thanks to Altair’s amazing agility it usually doesn’t take more than a minute or so to break sight with my pursuers, after which it is only a matter of hiding in a haystack or blending in with some monks to disappear.