Assassin's Creed/Memory Block Five

Al Mualim will finally show you the piece of Eden that the Templars are after, and according to him it has great power. After strengthening your resolve to stop the Templars, you'll receive two more assassination missions, one in Damascus and one in Acre. Along with another synchronization bar, you'll learn the the Defense Break skill which will allow you to knock your opponent's sword away to open them up to a strike. The weapons master won't force you to train this time, but you can go down and do so if you want before heading out of Masyaf to the first city.

Damascus: Middle District
Enter the city and visit with the rafiq at the Bureau if you like, although there's only one district left, so it should be fairly obvious where you need to go. If you were to come straight south down the main street through the Poor District to the Middle District, then climb the stairs just to your right when you get down there, you'll be heading right down an alley that will lead you to the middle View Point in the district. You can easily gain access to where you need to start climbing by taking the ladder behind the building to the west of it, then jumping across from that roof to the building with the View Point on it. The rest of the View Points aren't really anything new. For the one along the northern border in the middle of the eastern half of the district, you can easily gain access by taking the ladder up to the roofs by heading along the outside of the area where the View Point on the west to a ladder going up to the roofs to the south. From there you can hop across some beams to the northern rooftops, then jump to the View Point tower. The only other note is to be careful of the View Point to the east, as there are a lot of archers along the rooftops over there.
 * Objective: Assassinate Jubair Al Hakim

Investigations

 * Eavesdropping: Within the inner courtyard at the east side of the district, you'll see two gray-robed men standing together. Take a seat at one of the benches on the west side of the well to listen in and find out that Jubair holds daily meeting in the Madrasah.
 * Informer: North of the center of the district, you'll find one of your brethren at the side of a shallow pool of water. He gives you a five minute time limit to take out five different targets. Start off by running back out to the street to the north, then following it around the walls to the west, where you'll see a narrow alley with lunatics in it leading to a small room where the first target will be, or will be heading. From there, head east down the alleyway directly across from you (right behind the wall where the informer is) to find the next target. Take him out when he's between the guards at each end of the alley and in the middle that he talks with. Go back out west from where you came, then take a left and go south then back east around the other side of the building to get the next target. Keep going around the building that way, then go down the the street to the north as though you were heading back to the informer. Follow the target there down the stairs across from the informer so his body doesn't get in your way when you go back to finish the mission. The last guy is on top of the roof north of the informer. You'll receive a map with two of the six book burning locations ruled out, which will help you narrow down where to find Jubair later.
 * Interrogation: In the center of the district a building with a tree-lined walkway going up to the eastern side of it, where you'll see the target speaking about how great Jubair is. Follow him north away from the guards, then pummel him to learn nothing that will help you with the assassination.
 * Pickpocket: The Investigation takes place within the courtyard of a large building along the northern border of the district where a crowd has gathered to listen to a speaker. The targets are the two gray-robed men around the corner of the building. The trick to this mission is to avoid all the wandering lunatics who may push you into a guard or the target. After the men talk, they hand off a document for a young man to deliver. As soon as you can move, run over to the target and pickpocket him, as he doesn't stop and look around right away like others do, and this way you can avoid getting pushed around by lunatics while you're following him. You'll get a map of the book burning locations in the city, with two of them ruled out as not being in enclosed gardens. This will come in handy later when you need to find the right spot.


 * Console version
 * Informer: In front of the southern gate, just east of the obelisk in the center of the plaza, you'll find the informer. You'll have three minutes to take out three targets. Head out into the plaza and take out the soldier walking around the obelisk. Be very careful of the group of guards that walks around here, and remember to face away from the target when you're ready to take him out to make the beggar women go to the opposite side before quickly turning back and assassinating him. Climb up the ladder to the rooftops at the northwest side of the plaza and kill the target up there. Continue on across the rooftops to the last target, who walks up and down the street to the east. Watch out for lunatics, then quickly dispatch him and return to the informer. You'll get a map showing the book burning locations with one crossed out and the information that Jubair wears a big pouch on his belt.
 * Pickpocket: On the side of the street in the west of the district, you'll see two men – one in gray robes and one in brown – talking beneath a palm tree. Your target is the one in the brown robes, and he heads to the southeast, so start behind him. You'll also need to be careful of the roaming group of guards around here, who are more suspicious than the single ones. You'll get a letter from Jubair from him.


 * Windows version
 * Informer: This informer mission is easy to perform by running across the rooftops from one part of the district to the other. When you get back you'll get a letter from Jubair.
 * Informer: You'll have three minutes to destroy three market stalls. The mission is complicated by guards being positioned right by one of the stalls. Destroying it makes more guards fight you, so you'll have to take them out to finish the mission. When you're done, the informer will tell you that Jubair wears a big pouch on his belt and you'll get a map with one of the book burning locations crossed out.

Assassination
Jubair is in a building with no ground entrance in the center of the district, so enter from the rooftop, taking out or avoiding archers as necessary. Once you get inside you'll find that Jubair is dressed the same way as his underlings, and you'll need to use the information you gleaned from your investigations to tell him apart from the others. If you recall, you were told that he wears a pouch on his hip – the only one of the black-robed scholars to do so. If you did all the Investigations, you would have received three maps, each with some of the six book burning locations crossed off. By reason of elimination, you will be left with one spot: this is where you will find Jubair.

When your enemies move out, you will be able to go out into the city to look for the target. There are six scholars preaching and burning books around the city, and using what you know about Jubair, you are supposed to check on the scholars until you find the right one. When you find Jubair, he's within a small walled off room with no ceiling. The easiest way to dispatch him is to climb the wall on the side and do a leaping kill with the hidden blade. Jubair walks around inside, so don't wait forever perched on the wall, because he will spot you eventually.

Afterward, climb out of there and head for the Bureau, hiding and waiting for your alert status to go down before reporting in. You should accept the option to head back to Masyaf and receive short blade expertise from Al Mualim before heading to the next city.

Acre: Middle District
The rafiq will tell you that Sibrand lives in the Venetian quarter and spends his time in the port. From the top of the Bureau, you should be able to see a fort directly east of you with birds circling the roof. It's as good a place as any to start, and the building must be jumped to from the rooftop to the west anyway. If you want to skip the the Bureau, there are also two View Points along the western border of the Middle District that can be approached fairly directly from where you enter the city, one in the north and one in just south of that.
 * Objective: Assassinate Sibrand

For the View Point in the southeast at the far end of the quay, take the northernmost pier out to the end, then jump across the posts in the water to the north of the View Point. Take them across to the tower and start your climb up from the scaffolding on the eastern side. Be careful of all the drunkards out here, as Altaïr can't swim and the boardwalks are narrow. When you take the leap of faith down from the View Point, you'll want to get out of there quickly, as the guards don't allow anyone to be out on the boats. For the View Point in the northeast, you'll want to climb up the scaffolding along the city wall to the northwest of it and approach from that side.

Investigations

 * Eavesdropping: In front of the northern gate, take a seat on one of the benches flanking an obelisk in the middle of the courtyard, and listen in on the two knights talking to the southeast of you. You'll get to see Sibrand firsthand, but you don't learn anything very valuable for your mission.
 * Informer: Down the steps across from the eastern gate, you'll find the informer tucked away in a little alley. You'll have three minutes to take out three Teutonic Knights. Start by heading up the stairs to the east and taking out the knight walking around the plaza, but remember to go into blend mode whenever the group of knights comes walking by. From there, jump the wall around the building to the north and take out the knight wandering around the far side of the area. If you haven't done the Citizen Save, give the guards hassling the woman a wide berth so they don't get involved. Jump back out to the city over the wall and kill the last target who walks by in front of the area you just left. Make sure you don't get pushed by the lunatic in front of the gate here. When you're done, take the stairs in front of the guarded entrance down to the alley where your friend waits at the south end. You'll get a map showing all the drunkards in the docks.
 * Interrogation: The interrogatin in the east of the district takes place overlooking the northwest corner of the docks, but approach from the city, not the docks outside the walls. Follow the man explaining Sibrand's order around to the other side of the building up there, and beat him for information, though it won't help with the assassination.
 * Pickpocket: By the hay cart outside the guarded southern entrance to the docks, you'll see two men talking. Your target is the tall one, who turns around and enters the dock through the guards. Approach from the northwest and keep facing away from him to get the beggar woman out of your way, then pick his pocket before he gets to the docks. You'll receive a paranoid letter from Sibrand informing you that he has his own ship.


 * Console version
 * Informer: In the northwest section of the city is a church with buildings fencing it on northwest and southeast sides. At the northern end is a washing fountain in a depression, and the informer is around a wall to north of it. This time you have four minutes to take out five demons. Start with the one in the washing area nearby, then take the alley to the east out to a large street where another target walks by. Head back the way you came and go down the southeast side of the church past where you killed the first target. Take out the guy there, then climb the buildings to the west of him to get the knight at the top. Jump back down into the courtyard, then take out the knight down the steps to the west. When you go back to the informer, you'll get a map showing the guards routes at the docks and a path you can take to Sibrand's ship.
 * Pickpocket: In the center of the district by the western border's most eastern point, you'll find the targets, a man talking to a guard with no helmet, in a small area with two market stalls and a bunch of wandering madmen. The old man is your target, and he heads northwest through the nearby alley. Make the grab quickly before you're jostled by a lunatic. You'll receive a map of the docks, showing a circuitous route from the northern docks over to Sibrand's ship.


 * Windows version
 * Informer: Another escort mission, this time you'll be attacked twice by groups of three guards. Simply take them out to help your assassin friend escape. You'll get a map showing the locations of Sibrand's gaurds at the docks.
 * Informer: The informer gives you four minutes to take out five bad guys. Start at one end or the other and take them clockwise or counterclockwise so you don't run back across guards investigating a dead body. When you get back you'll learn that Sibrand will go to his private ship as soon as he can.

Assassination
Head toward the port, and after the cut scene the target will head off to a private boat in the corner of the quay. Sibrand is a paranoid coward, so if you tip him off to your presence, he'll run away from you through the city. If you can't catch him with a running kill, he'll face you, and then you'll have to use a normal drawn-out fight to kill him. You can successfully assassinate him stealthily, however, if you take a path across the water to his ship. From the intel you received from your investigations, you'll have two paths to the ship. It's easier to take the shorter path starting at the ship southwest of the pier you're in front of after the cut scene. From there you can jump across the pegs in the water to the southeast. You'll come to a ship with a lunatic on it, from which you can jump to a couple more ships before stopping at the one just on the side of the end of the pier. Wait until the guards patrolling the pier are away from you, then from the end of the pier jump out to a ship and take the pylons behind it out to the side of the back of Sibrand's ship. Hang on the side there until Sibrand comes up to look around. When his back is to you, jump up and take him out with your hidden blade.

Even though the bell will start tolling since you killed Sibrand, no one sees you do it, so you alert status is still clear. The case is otherwise if you botched it or you had to chase him down with the guards all over the place. You'll immediately be seen as an assassin if any guards catch you on the boats or pylons, but if you head north across the boats to the far northern dock, you'll get back to anonymous status once you get far enough away from them. Whichever way you're doing things, lose your alert status if needed and head back to the Bureau leader to report in. It will end the memory block and you'll exit the Animus.

Epilogue
Back in the current time, Vidic is upset and will quickly leave the apartment. Take this time to talk with Lucy some more, then head back to your bedroom. Use the code to go back out and read both Vidic's and Lucy's emails. Be aware that there is something new in Lucy's deleted messages box. When you're done exploring head back to bed, after which you'll be awakened by Vidic the next day to continue your work in the Animus.