Editing Ezio Auditore da Firenze (section)

===Liberation of Rome===

Ezio eventually awoke to find his wound being treated by a stranger, Margherita dei Campi, who told him that he had simply been dropped off at her home by a man who wished for Ezio to meet Niccolò Machiavelli at the Mausoleo di Augusto. The man who had brought him there had also supplied him with a new set of Assassin robes. After leaving the house, Ezio retrieved some medicine from a local doctor and searched for Machiavelli in front of the Mausoleum.

====A sadistic executioner====
Ezio's attention was soon caught, however, by the discussion of a group of guards who were set on injuring an innocent civilian for "causing the Borgia guards trouble". After following the guards to the Piazza di Spagna, he found a man weeping at the gallows before the hanging corpse of a woman—clearly someone who had been dear to him. Consoling the distraught man, he learned that the woman, Livia, had been his wife and that she had been raped then charged and executed for adultery by a henchman of the Borgia known simply as Il Carnefice. More than that, Il Carnefice had threatened to hang Livia's husband as well if he dared to remove her body for proper rites. Recalling how his own family had been murdered by injustice at the gallows, Ezio assured the victim that he could empathize with him and that he was free to remove Livia's body while he dealt with Il Carnefice. Making his way up to Il Carnefice's abode on the nearby hill, Ezio assassinated him before continuing on his way to meet with Machiavelli.

====Tour with Machiavelli====
Initially expecting Ezio to return to Florence, Machiavelli was surprised to hear that his friend was determined to stay in Rome to fight the Borgia. By now, Ezio had noticed how Rome had fallen into a state of disrepair under the Borgia and that its citizens were being heavily oppressed. Thereupon Machiavelli apprised him of the situation and most of all of Cesare Borgia, the man responsible for the attack on Monteriggioni and the death of Mario Auditore. He warned that Cesare was hellbent on conquering all of Italy and was on track to do so through his alliance with France..

As the two made their way through Rome, Ezio suggested that they continue on horseback, but Machiavelli informed him that the guards of the district had closed the stables, restricting access only to the Borgia. Not dissuaded, Ezio assassinated the local Borgia captain, Iacopo de Grassi, and demolished his command tower to break the Borgia's hold on the area. Almost immediately, the stable reopened to the public, with the Assassins providing funds for its renovation and purchasing their first Roman steeds.

The two Assassins resumed their tour of Rome but began to clash over their divergent philosophies. Machiavelli reprimanded Ezio for showing mercy to Rodrigo, but despite regretting Mario's death, Ezio maintained that "killing one man" would not have changed the outcome and that the Assassins had to instead focus on rallying the support of the people and establishing a social network. The cynical Machiavelli expressed little faith in the trustworthiness of the people, whereupon Ezio countered that this faith was core to the Assassin Brotherhood. Their debate was cut short by the sudden theft of Ezio's money pouch by a pickpocket, forcing Ezio into a brief chase to retrieve it.

Meeting back with Machiavelli at the Campidoglio, Ezio was informed by his friend that they had to search for an informant, Vinicio, who had been expected to deliver a letter he was to have intercepted from the Borgia. The two Assassins descended the hill to investigate the Roman Forum and found him threatened by guards. After killing them, Vinicio reported that he had failed to steal the letter, pointing to the courier that was still in their line of sight. Without further ado, Ezio chased the messenger into the Colosseum and snatched the document from him.

====Ambushed by the Followers of Romulus====
On the road to join Machiavelli, Ezio passed by the Baths of Trajan. There, he was attacked by men with wolf skins. After he killed them, he investigated in the area to know how they arrived there. He found an entrance of a Lair of Romulus and opened it. Through it, he arrived in the ruins of the Nero's Golden Palace. Exploring the place, Ezio found a key with a Scroll of Romulus wrote by Marcus Junius Brutus, a member of the Hidden Ones, the precursor of the Assassins. The scroll contained a drawing of the Armor of Brutus and indicated that someone locked it with six keys.

Leaving the lair, Ezio met again with Machiavelli who informed him that the men who attacked him were the Followers of Romulus, a cult manipulated by the Borgia to terrorize the citizens and drove them to the arms of the Church. Ezio gave him the letter from the messenger but it was ciphered. The Assassins then decided to make some allies. Machiavelli informed Ezio they could use the tunnels of the city to be undetectable will joining their first ally.

====The campaign begins====
Together, Ezio and Machiavelli met with Fabio Orsini, the cousin of Bartolomeo d'Alviano who had been forced into serving Cesare Borgia. Fabio lent to the Assassins an old storehouse of his on Tiber Island, in the hope that they would find a better use for it. When Fabio left, Machiavelli was ready to attack the Borgia but Ezio informed him that they captured Caterina and had the Apple. When Ezio asked if they had a network in the city, Machiavelli explained that the mercenaries were fighting the French allies of Cesare while the courtesans weren't totally for the Assassins cause. Also, the thieves guild refused to work with them. Ezio decided to met their leaders to strengthen their position in Rome.

From here, Ezio travelled to the Rosa in Fiore in an attempt to gather the support of the city's courtesans. When he arrived however, he learned that Madonna Solari, the madam of the brothel, had been kidnapped by the Cento Occhi, Cesare's hired thugs, and was being held for ransom.

Gathering the funds necessary, Ezio made his way to the kidnappers' location, only to be double-crossed. Madonna Solari was killed, and the Cento Occhi attacked Ezio. Ezio survived the ambush and returned to the Rosa in Fiore to discover his mother and sister there. With no one to lead them, the courtesans turned to Claudia Auditore to act as their Madam, with a very reluctant Ezio agreeing to her appointment. He also tasked her to retrieve Caterina Sforza.

Ezio helped his sister and mother to develop the brothel, protecting the courtesans who were targeted by the Borgia and killing the ambassadors working for the Templars. He beat Madonna Solari's brother Santino to reclaim the Rosa in Fiore and expelled the courtesan Giuletta who was a mole for the Borgia.

Arriving another day at the Caserma di Alviano, Ezio met Bartolomeo d'Alviano who presented his wife Pantasilea Baglioni to his friend. While Bartolomeo said that his mercenaries had no difficulties fighting the Templar forces, Pantasilea revealed to Ezio that her husband hid the truth as they were French Army. She tasked Ezio to assassinate the Borgia captain of the district to let her husband focus on the French. After stealthy killing the captain and burning the tower, Ezio met again with Bartolomeo to require his help against the Templars. The Condottiero agreed but asked Ezio to help him to renovate the barrack.

Later, as the Caserma di Alviano was reconstructed, Bartolomeo recruited more mercenaries. Ezio tasked them to monitored Cesare and Rodrigo Borgia. Pantasilea informed Ezio that Machiavelli had made a list of targets that he sent through Pigeon coop. Ezio began to accomplish this contract to help the Brotherhood.

Ezio then moved on to gather the support La Volpe's Roman thieves but the Assassin refused as he suspected that Machiavelli was a traitor working for the Borgia. As Ezio refused to believe him, La Volpe led Ezio to a secret meeting where a Borgia guard gave a document to Machiavelli. As Machiavelli left the place, a group of thieves attacked the guards. As the young thief Claudio was hurt, Ezio and La Volpe intervened to save him. After killing the guards, Ezio helped Claudio to leave the area by hiding in the crowd as they were highly searched. As Claudio was safe, Ezio reduced his notoriety to be incognito.

Returning to La Volpe, Ezio told him that Machiavelli wasn't a traitor and that he must have an explication for what they saw. The thief reluctantly accepted to help Ezio. Together they buy an old building to install the Thieves' Guild and renovated as an inn known as La Volpe Addormentata. Through this building, they could collect information from the Borgia guards who drank there and taking their money through gambling games. As the guild was well installed, Ezio tasked La Volpe to search for information on the location of the Apple of Eden. La Volpe also informed Ezio that the guild was attacked by the Cento Occhi who worked for Cesare. Ezio helped the thieves in their rivalry against the Cento Occhi.

====Aiding Copernicus====

In 1500, while passing the Campidoglio, Ezio noticed a scholar by the name of Nicolaus Copernicus giving a strange speech to the Roman citizens. After having asked another spectator about the man's identity, he learned that the man came from the Vatican, though spoke contrary to the Church's teachings.

However, Ezio soon saw a battalion of Borgia guards attack Copernicus, and swiftly stepped in to defend him. Afterward, the two men introduced themselves to one another, with Copernicus admitting to having been a Templar himself until he disagreed with the other Templars on keeping the findings of his scientific experiments hidden from the public.

Upon hearing that more Borgia guards were looking for Copernicus, they quickly left the Campidoglio and went looking for a hideout. Evading the Borgia guards, Ezio found shelter for Copernicus in a small house in the Antico District, next to the Colosseum.

Once they were safe, Copernicus realized that his fellow scholars would be in danger as well, and asked Ezio to deliver a letter of warning to each of them. Despite being insecure on whether to trust Copernicus or not, Ezio agreed to deliver the letters.

Ezio travelled across the Centro District, handing letters to several scholars, and managing to reach most of them in time. He returned to Copernicus in the countryside, who told him that the Master of the Sacred Palace, a priest appointed by the Pope to ensure that Roman religious philosophy remained pure, was most likely the person responsible for the attacks.

Ezio followed a cardinal roaming nearby, who eventually led him to the Master. Eavesdropping on their conversation, Ezio found out that the Master had sent his best men to kill the scholars whom Ezio had delivered the letters to, and he quickly rushed to save them. Ezio successfully managed to assassinate all of the hired men, and returned to Copernicus.

He informed Copernicus that his suspicions were correct, and warned him of his own safety, but Copernicus forewent caution, as he wanted to chronicle an eclipse that night. Ezio set off once again, with the intention of killing the Master.

Ezio found the Master and killed him with his Hidden Blade, and with his dying breath, the Master revealed that he had already sent his best man to kill Copernicus. Ezio quickly set off to where Copernicus would research the eclipse and arrived just in time to kill the assassin.

As they looked up at the eclipse together, Copernicus revealed to Ezio that the sun was most likely the midpoint of the universe, contrary to common belief that it was the Earth. Copernicus thanked Ezio for his aid, and they went their separate ways.

====Infiltrating the Castel Sant'Angelo====

After receiving intelligence reports from Claudia, La Volpe and Bartolomeo indicating that Caterina Sforza was being held in the Castel Sant'Angelo, Ezio departed to rescue her, though not before Niccolò demanded that, given the chance, he prioritize killing Cesare and Rodrigo.

Infiltrating the stronghold in 1501, Ezio scaled the fortress' double walls and apprehended Lucrezia Borgia, who was holding the keys to Caterina's cell. From there Ezio and Caterina escaped, making sure that they remained undetected until they reached the stables. They fled across the Ponte Sant'Angelo, and Ezio ordered Caterina to ride on as he dealt with the pursuing guards. Only a timely explosion from within the Castel prevented him from being overwhelmed.

Returning to his base of operations, Ezio decided that in order to free Rome from its Borgia oppression, he needed to involve those who were being oppressed. Despite Niccolò's protests, the two agreed to begin recruiting citizens of Rome into Ezio's new Brotherhood, so that the liberation of Rome could begin.

====Expanding the Brotherhood====

Within a year, Ezio had turned a number of Rome's citizens into Assassin apprentices, and had adopted several existing members of the Order into his guild, such as Francesco Vecellio, whose former master had betrayed the Order.

The apprentices fought and trained alongside Ezio, and undertook missions to aid their fellow Assassins in cities across Europe and beyond, including Calicut, India. Ezio also had his apprentices aid him in removing a number of Templar agents, such as Malfatto and Silvestro Sabbatini.

Eventually, Ezio received a surprise visit from his old friend Leonardo da Vinci, who informed him that he had been pressed into providing the Borgia with various forms of advanced weaponry and War Machines. Leonardo promised to provide Ezio with the tools necessary to destroy his weapons, albeit at a small monetary cost. Ezio agreed and managed to demolish all of Leonardo's machines in his war against the Borgia.

====Finding the Banker====

Ezio met with Niccolò, La Volpe, Claudia, and Caterina in the Assassin hideout, where they discussed their plans to attack the Borgia. Ezio asked them for the source of Cesare's funds, to which La Volpe replied that Cesare had his own personal banker, whose identity was unknown, as he was only referred to as "the Banker".

Additionally, Ezio revealed that he intended to kill the French general, Octavian de Valois, so that Cesare would lose the protection of his foreign allies. La Volpe also remarked that there was a side entrance into the Castel Sant'Angelo that Ezio could use and that Lucrezia's lover Pietro Rossi had a key to enter it.

Upon leaving the hideout, Ezio noticed Caterina about to leave on horseback; she said that she was of no good to anyone without Forlì in her possession and that she wanted to be with her children in Florence. Despite Ezio's request for her to stay, Caterina left Rome.

Ezio met Claudia in the Rosa in Fiore, and she told him that senator Egidio Troche frequently came into the brothel to complain about his debts to the Banker and that he could be found at the Campidoglio. Hearing several men on the Campidoglio talking about Egidio making failed attempts to get finances, Ezio eventually found him under attack of Borgia guards and rescued him.

Together, they went through the district looking for a safe place for Egidio to hide out in. Finally, Egidio found shelter in the home of his brother Francesco, who was angry at Egidio for warning the ambassador of Venice of Cesare's plans for Romagna.

Egidio was willing to aid Ezio, telling him that the Borgia guards usually led him to the Banker, and that he needed money to meet with them. Ezio brought him the required amount of florins, and Egidio met with the guards, while Ezio followed them from above.

Eventually, they arrived at the Pantheon, where the money was given to the Borgia captain Luigi Torcelli. Ezio infiltrated the Pantheon via the roof and killed Luigi, taking his clothes and impersonating him. Together with two Borgia guards, Ezio was able to carry the money to the right location—a feast Cesare was throwing in celebration of his conquests—and passed the chest of money on to the next guard.

Ezio was given entry to the party, but the guards soon found out that Luigi had been killed in the Pantheon, and they went out looking for Ezio. However, with the aid of Claudia's courtesans, he was able to remain undetected while following the chest carrier to the party.

Once there, Ezio overheard the Banker introduce himself as Juan Borgia to a courtesan. Ezio followed them both to where Cesare was giving a speech. Ezio avoided the patrolling guards and took a seat on a bench, killing Juan Borgia as he passed him.

Ezio escaped and returned to the Rosa in Fiore, where a group of courtesans who had stolen the chest of money cried out that the Borgia guards had followed them to the brothel and that they had gone after Claudia and Maria. Ezio rushed inside, only to find out that Claudia had already killed all the Borgia guards by herself using a knife.

====Battle with the French====

Following the Banker's death, Ezio travelled to Bartolomeo d'Alviano's barracks and met with the condotierro and his wife, Pantasilea Baglioni, just before the barracks was attacked by a French army under the command of Octavian de Valois, a Templar working in concert with Cesare Borgia. Although the Assassin mercenary army was able to beat back the French with Ezio's help, Pantasilea was captured by the Baron in the midst of battle. Despite having put up a valiant defense of his barracks, Bartolomeo saw no feasible way that he could secure his wife's safety short of surrendering; Ezio however, had another idea.

After Ezio eliminated a large number of French soldiers, Bartolomeo's mercenaries donned their armor and took on the guise of a French patrol escorting a defeated Bartolomeo to the Castra Praetoria, the base of operations for the Baron de Valois' forces.

Infiltrating the fortress, Bartolomeo and Ezio came face to face with the Baron, who very nearly killed Pantasilea, had not Ezio interrupted him with a shot from his Hidden Gun. Battle soon broke out, and with Bartolomeo's mercenaries engaging the French forces, Ezio was free to pursue the Baron and Pantasilea, eventually freeing her and killing him.

====Securing the keys to the Castel====

Not long after his victory over the Baron de Valois, Ezio travelled once more to La Volpe Addormentata, where he and La Volpe discussed the latter's suspicion that Niccolò had betrayed the Assassins by guiding the Papal Army to Monteriggioni, and by informing Rodrigo and Cesare to stay away from the Castel during Ezio's infiltration. Ezio disagreed, but promised to look into the presence of a traitor.

La Volpe informed Ezio that Pietro Rossi, an actor and Lucrezia Borgia's lover, had the key to the Castel and that Cesare intended to kill Pietro over his feelings for Lucrezia. Locating Cesare at one of the city gates, Ezio witnessed the assassination of Francesco Troche, brother of Egidio, by Cesare's personal assassin Micheletto Corella.

Ezio then tailed Micheletto, who was to infiltrate the play that Pietro would appear in, and kill him. As he followed him, Ezio had his apprentices discreetly replace the guards Micheletto tasked with partaking in the murder.

Eventually, Micheletto arrived at the site of the play, the Colosseum. Climbing up the outside of the structure, Ezio made his way down from the roof to the backstage area below, picking off Micheletto's marksmen as he went. Ezio soon struck Micheletto but spared his life when he learned that Pietro had been poisoned previously, as a means of insurance.

Ezio hurried from the Colosseum with Pietro in his arms, while his apprentices covered the retreat. After handing Pietro over to a doctor and receiving the key to the Castel from him, Ezio spotted Paganino, a member of the Venetian thieves guild who had been present at the siege of Monteriggioni.

When approached, Paganino ran and Ezio gave chase. Ezio quickly caught him and reasoned that he was in fact the traitor, not Niccolò. Paganino pressed Ezio's Hidden Blade into his own throat to kill himself rather than risk divulging anymore information. Ezio raced back to Tiber Island to stop La Volpe from killing Niccolò.

Later meeting with La Volpe inside the Tiber Island hideout, Ezio ordered him to gather the Assassins and bring Claudia as well. They gathered in the ceremony hall, and there Ezio offered Claudia a chance to join the Order, just as the others of their family had. She agreed and was inducted into the Order.

At the time, Niccolò also decided to step down from leading the Order and to promote Ezio to the position of Mentor, realizing that Ezio was both a better leader and "exactly what the Order needed". Ezio, in turn, appointed Niccolò as his trusted adviser, who then recommended he finish what he started. Ezio consented and left for the Castel Sant'Angelo.

====Fall of the Borgia====

With Cesare's supporters in Rome dead, the Brotherhood and its allies were in command of the city. Ezio was informed that Cesare had returned to Rome and was meeting with his father in the Castel Sant'Angelo. Once again infiltrating the Castel, Ezio witnessed Rodrigo's attempt to poison his son, only to be murdered in retaliation.

As Cesare hurried off to obtain the Apple of Eden that his father had hidden away, Ezio entered the Castel and gave Rodrigo's body his blessing. He then learned from Lucrezia where Rodrigo had hidden the Apple and raced out of the fortress.

Ezio arrived at St. Peter's Basilica and took possession of the Apple before Cesare, with just moments to spare. Cesare arrived with a sizable contingent of Papal soldiers, though Ezio managed to escape them. Over the next few months, and with the help of his fellow Assassins, Ezio used the Apple to completely destroy what little support Cesare still had in Rome.

Eventually, the Assassins caught up with Cesare himself, who was awaiting reinforcements from Micheletto and his army by the gates of Rome. Cesare's forces were defeated although their leader had retreated behind the city portcullis. However, he soon realized that he was not safe as he was quickly arrested by Fabio Orsini on the orders of Pope Julius II. As he was dragged away, Cesare screamed that chains would not hold him and that no man could murder him.

Despite their victory, Ezio was troubled by Cesare's comments, and upon meeting with Leonardo, he confessed his concerns. At Leonardo's suggestion, Ezio decided to look into the Apple to see if Cesare's threats were true. Upon doing so, Ezio quickly let go of the Apple, standing before Leonardo could question him and commenting that he had to leave immediately. Before he departed, however, Ezio left Leonardo a parting gift: a chest full of gold, in compensation for losing his patron.